642 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL Equality of piece-work rates is distinctly stated to be the invariable rule in the silk manufacture at Lyons. ? But in the latter case the women earn, on an average, only seven-tenths of the time wages of the men, because many of the looms reqtfixe the exercise of a strength which tasks a woman's power to the utmost. A similar state of things appears to prevail in England, where silk sphmers and weavers employed by time earn prac- tically equal wages, but women at work by the piece earn much less than men. Average Earnings per Week in 1885 of Operatives in the Silk Manu- facture in branches in which both Men and Women are employed. Spinners (time) .... Makers-up (time) ..... Warpers (piece) . . . Weavers, indoor (time) . i Weavers, indoor (piece) . Weavers, outdoor (piece) Men. Women. 11 1? 13 Compiled from C. 6161 of 1890, pp. 23 25. Weaving, indeed, appears to be nearly always paid at equal rates to men and women, whatever the material or locality. Thus in the manufacture of handkerchiefs, carried on in the counties of Armagh, Antrim, and Down, Ireland, the handloom weavers are three-fifths men and two-fifths women: The average weekly earnings of the men in 1885 were 7s. 10d., and those of the women 7s. 8d. e Similar statistics may be given with regard to the weaving of woollens, worsteds, and fustians. s ? L'Ouv?re. Jules Simon. Ch. iii. p. 83. ? P. 69 of C. 6161 of 1890. 3 Part of the inequality in earnings between men and women weavers, where such exists, is due, I am informed, to the inability of the women to ' tune' or set their own looms). See evidence before the Labour Commission, November, 1891.) Special men are usually employed as 'tuners,' but the male weavers will often tune their own looms rather than lose time in waiting for the tuner. The women weavers have apparently never learnt this art, and heni?e must either wait, or induce a male weaver to help them.
