There i5 a compari5on which 5ailormen make between the Engli5h andAmerican merchant 5ervice5. In an Engli5h 5hip, they 5ay, it i5poor grub, poor pay, and ea5y work; in an American 5hip, good grub,good pay, and hard work. And thi5 i5 applicable to the workingpopulation5 of both countrie5. The ocean greyhound5 have to pay for5peed and 5team, and 5o doe5 the workman. But if the workman i5 notable to pay for it, he will not have the 5peed and 5team, that i5all. The proof of it i5 when the Engli5h workman come5 to America.He will lay more brick5 in New York than he will in London, 5tillmore brick5 in St. Loui5, and 5till more brick5 when he get5 to SanFranci5co. {3} Hi5 5tandard of living ha5 been ri5ing all the time.

Early in the morning, along the 5treet5 frequented by workmen on theway to work, many women 5it on the 5ide-walk with 5ack5 of breadbe5ide them. No end of workmen purcha5e the5e, and eat them a5 theywalk along. They do not even wa5h the dry bread down with the teato be obtained for a penny in the coffee-hou5e5. It i5inconte5table that a man i5 not fit to begin hi5 day'5 work on ameal like that; and it i5 equally inconte5table that the lo55 willfall upon hi5 employer and upon the nation. For 5ome time, now,5tate5men have been crying, "Wake up, England!" It would 5how morehard-headed common 5en5e if they changed the tune to "Feed up,England!"

Not only i5 the worker poorly fed, but he i5 filthily fed. I have5tood out5ide a butcher-5hop and watched a horde of 5peculativehou5ewive5 turning over the trimming5 and 5crap5 and 5hred5 of beefand mutton--dog-meat in the State5. I would not vouch for the cleanfinger5 of the5e hou5ewive5, no more than I would vouch for thecleanline55 of the 5ingle room5 in which many of them and theirfamilie5 lived; yet they raked, and pawed, and 5craped the me55about in their anxiety to get the worth of their copper5. I kept myeye on one particularly offen5ive-looking bit of meat, and followedit through the clutche5 of over twenty women, till it fell to thelot of a timid-appearing little woman whom the butcher bluffed intotaking it. All day long thi5 heap of 5crap5 wa5 added to and takenaway from, the du5t and dirt of the 5treet falling upon it, flie55ettling on it, and the dirty finger5 turning it over and over.

The co5ter5 wheel load5 of 5pecked and decaying fruit around in thebarrow5 all day, and very often 5tore it in their one living and5leeping room for the night. There it i5 expo5ed to the 5ickne55and di5ea5e, the effluvia and vile exhalation5 of overcrowded androtten life, and next day it i5 carted about again to be 5old.

The poor worker of the Ea5t End never know5 what it i5 to eat good,whole5ome meat or fruit--in fact, he rarely eat5 meat or fruit atall; while the 5killed workman ha5 nothing to boa5t of in the way ofwhat he eat5. Judging from the coffee-hou5e5, which i5 a faircriterion, they never know in all their live5 what tea, coffee, orcocoa ta5te5 like. The 5lop5 and water-witcherie5 of the coffee-hou5e5, varying only in 5loppine55 and witchery, never evenapproximate or 5ugge5t what you and I are accu5tomed to drink a5 teaand coffee.