average, taking year after year, for the earnings of each family. The nailers have "struck" for higher wages frequently, and endeavoured to win them by virtue of self-imposed suffering, but apparently in this age of machinery and cheaper foreign labour, there is but little improvement possible. In the United States almost every kind of what we call "wrought," or hand-made nail has disappeared. Even our horse-nails, which most need to be hammered, are coming to be produced largely by machinery. Then cheap and abundant as is hand labour in England, in every other country in Europe it is cheaper. Especially the competition of Belgian operatives presses more and more heavily upon the English workman in the nail trade. In 1851, it was estimated that they produced hand-made nails to the amount of from eight to nine thousand tons per annum, and it is said to have been increasing since that time. The manufacture of tea-chest nails used to be a large business in itself for this district; but machinery has greatly cheapened and monopolized their production. Before 1830 the East India Dock Company contracted for about ninety tons of hand-made tea-chest nails annually; but now they order but a small quantity.
The truck system was another screw that was turned down with relentless cruelty upon the poor nailer's earnings. This differs from what is called
