[Footnote 170-1: At least where the supply of labor in general surpasses the demand. Compare _J. S. Mill_, Principles, II, ch. 14, 3d ed. The dangerous industries in which lead, quicksilver, arsenic, etc. are manipulated or employed, should be and can be better paid than they actually are. In the Bavarian Palatinate, stone-cutters rarely reach their 45th year; and yet their wages are very low, because of the comparative over-population of the country. (_Rau_, _Haussen's_ Archiv., N. T. X., 228.) But the lowness of wages here is certainly and mainly caused by the little thought the workmen themselves give to considerations of health.] [Footnote 170-2: The lower the rate of wages of any class sinks, the more difficult it becomes for parents to devote their children to another career.] [Footnote 170-3: In Paris, 24,463 workmen with less than 3 francs daily; 157,216, with from 3 to 5; 10,393, with from 5 to 20 and even 3 to 5 francs. It is remarkable, however, how uniform the average wages in the different trades is: _vêtements_, 3.33 francs; _fils et tissus_, 3.42; _boisellerie_, _vannerie_, 3.44; _garçons boulangers_, _bouchers_ 3.50; _arts chimiques et céramiques_ 3.71; _bâtiments_, 3.81; _carosserie_, 3.86; _peaux et cuirs_, 3.87; _ameublement_, 3.90; _articles de Paris_, 3.94; _métaux communs,_ 3.98; _métaux précieux_, 4.17; _imprimerie_, 4.18. (Journal des Economistes, Janv. 1853, 111.)] [Footnote 170-4: How the Roman advocates were given to all sorts of ostentation, and even borrowed costly rings in order to raise their _honoraria_, see _Juvenal_, VII, 105, ff.] [Footnote 170-5: The salaries paid to the employees in the office of the minister of finance in France and the United States were as follows: to the porter, 1,500 and 3,734 francs; the lowest clerk, 1,000 to 1,800, and 5,420 francs; to the head clerk, 3,200 to 3,600, and 8,672 francs; the secretary general, 20,000 and 10,840 francs; to the minister, 80,000 and 32,520 francs. (_Tocqueville_, Démocratie aux États-Unis, II, 74.) In the treasury department, at Washington, of 158 employees, only 6 received less than $1,000 salary, but only 2 over $2,000. (_M. Chevalier_, Lettres sur l'Amérique du Nord, II, 151, 456.) Compare _Büsch_, Geldumlauf, IV, 34. In Russia, the wages of the higher classes of laborers as compared with those paid the commoner class is much higher than in Germany. (_Kosegarten_, in _Haxthausen_, Studien, III, 583.) On the other hand, in England, since 1850, the rate of wages for unskilled labor has risen relatively more than any other. (_Tooke_, Hist. of Prices, VI, 177.)] SECTION CLXXI. HISTORY OF THE WAGES OF COMMON LABOR.--IN THE LOWER STAGES OF CIVILIZATION.