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COMBINATIONS AMONGST

(274.) In some establishments, it is customary forthe master to give a small gratuity whenever anyworkman has exercised a remarkable degree of skill,or has economized the material employed. Thus, insplitting horn into layers for lanterns, one hornusually furnishes from five to eight layers ; but ifa workman split the horn into ten layers or more, hereceives a pint of ale from the master. These pre-miums should not he too high, lest the material shouldbe wasted by the workman in unsuccessful attempts :hut such regulations, when judiciously made, arebeneficial, as they tend to promote skill amongst themen, profit to the masters, and diminished cost to theconsumers.

(275.) In some few factories, in which the men arepaid by the piece, it is usual, when any portion ofwork, delivered in by a workman, is rejected by themaster on account of its being badly executed, to finethe delinquent. Such a practice tends to remedy oneof the evils attendant upon that mode of payment,and greatly assists the master, since his own judgmentis thus supported by competent and unprejudicedjudges.

(276.) Societies exist amongst some of the largerbodies of workmen, and there are also others formedby the masters engaged in the same branches of trade.These have different objects in view ; but it is verydesirable that their effects should be well under-stood by the individuals who compose them ; andthat the advantages arising from them, which arecertainly great, should be separated as much aspossible from the evils which they have, unfortu-nately, too frequently introduced. Associations of