Wages in 1873

Synopsis

It is too often alleged that the recent advance of wages is attributable to a series of successful strikes.  I maintain, on the contrary, that a strike against a falling market is never successful, and that Trades Unions, as an organisation for the purpose of raising wages, can never do more than assist the workman to obtain an advance at a somewhat earlier date than that at which the competition among employers would have brought about the same result.  I may quote the unfortunate strike in South Wales, at the commencement of this year, as a signal instance of the inability of Trades Unions to cope with the superior resources of employers when firmly united together.

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