The Life of Sir William Hartley

The reputation of an employer of labour largely stands or falls with his treatment of those whom he employs. No munificent gifts to the Churches, no lavish expenditure on philanthropy, can atone for failure here. It is therefore vital to ascertain how Mr. Hartley stood this test. Our answer may start from a statement of his own. At a Young Men's Class a paper was read in which it was stated that he paid wages to some of his female employees of such a character that in order to make a living no option was left them but to lead immoral lives, Mr. Hartley was naturally both distressed and indignant at a statement so criminally reckless and so spitefully untrue. His reply was as follows: "1. I pay from 20 per cent. to 40 per cent. more for female labour than the general payment by my competitors or others in Liverpool and neighbourhood.

-"2. In July, 1903, I voluntarily increased the wages of all my workpeople both male and female. I had not a single complaint from any person, but being desirous to crush selfishness in some measure, I voluntarily increased the wages, and this cost me at the rate of £2, 000 a year. This is the third time that I have made a voluntary increase in the past ten or twelve years.