COALPORTERS are employed in filling the waggons of the merchants at their respective wharfs, and in conveying and delivering the coal at the residence of the customers. Their distinguishing dress is a fantail hat, and an outer garment—half smock-frock and half jacket—heavy and black with coal dust: this

At time, when their earnings were considerable, these coalporters spent large sums in drink. Now their means are limited, and their drunkenness is not in excess. The men, as I have said, are ill-informed. They have all a pre-conceived notion that beer sometimes in large quantities ( porter said he limited himself to a pint an hour, when at work), is necessary to them "for support." Even if facts were brought conclusively to bear upon the subject to prove that so much beer, or any allowance of beer, was injurious, it would, I think, be difficult to convince the porters, for an ignorant man will not part with a preconceived notion. I heard from man, more intelligent than his fellows, that a temperance lecturer once went among a body of the coalporters and talked about "alcohol" and "fermentation," and the like, until he was pronounced either mad or a Frenchman.

The question arises, Why is this ignorance allowed to continue, as a reproach to the men, to their employers, and to the community? Of the kindness of masters to the men, of discouragement of drunkenness, of persuasions to the men to care for the education of their children, I had the gratification of hearing frequently. But of any attempt to establish schools for the general instruction of the coalporters" children, of any talk of almshouses for the reception of the worn-out labourer, of any other provision for his old age, which is always premature through hard work,—of any movement for the amelioration of this class, I did not hear. Rude as these porters may be, machines as they may be accounted, they are the means of wealth to their employers, and deserve at least some care and regard on their part.

The way in which the barges are unladen to fill the waggons is the same in the rivers as in the canals. men standing in the barge fill the sacks, and (or ) carry them along planks, if the barge be not moored close ashore to the waggon, which is placed as near the water as possible. In the canals, this work is carried on most regularly, as the water is not influenced by the tide, and the work can go on all day long. I will describe, therefore, what I saw in the , Regent"s Canal. This canal has been opened about years. It commences at the Grand Junction at Paddington, and falls into the Thames above the . Its course is circuitous, and in it are tunnels — at , -quarters of a mile long; the other at the a quarter

From the statement with which I was favoured by a house carrying on a very extensive business, it appears that the average earnings of the men in their employ was, the year through, upwards of I give the payments of men regularly employed as the criterion of their earnings, on the best paid description of coalporters" labour, for weeks at the busiest time:—

This gives an average of more than per man a-week for this period; but the slackness of trade in the summer, when coals are in smaller demand, reduces the average to the amount I have stated. In the weeks omitted in the above statement, viz. those ending and , men had to be employed, on account of the briskness of trade. Their joint earnings were week, and the other. By this firm each waggoner is paid a-week, and extra if he "do" tons; that is, between him and the trimmer. For every ton above carried out by their waggoner and trimmer, extra is paid, and sometimes are carried out, but only at a busy time; have been carried out, but that only was remembered as the greatest amount at the wharf in question. For each waggon sent out, the waggoner and the trimmer together receive for "beer money" from their employers. They frequently receive money (if not drink) from the customers, and so the average of and upwards is made up. I saw waggoners fully employed, and they fully corroborated this statement. Such payment, however, is not the rule. Many give the waggoner a-week, and employ him in doing whatever work may be required. A waggoner at what he called "poor work," or days a-week, told me he earned about on the average.

The scurfs are looked upon as, in many respects, the refuse of the trade. They are the men always hanging about the wharfs, waiting for any "odd job." They are generally coalporters who cannot be trusted with full and regular work, who were described to me as "tonguey, or drunken," anxious to get a job just to supply any pressing need, either for drink or meat, and careless of other consequences. Among them, however, are coalporters seeking employment, some with good characters. These scurfs, with the sifters, number, I understand, more than ; thus altogether making, with the coalbackers and other classes of coalporters, a body of more than .

I now come to the following statement, made by a gentleman who for more than years has been familiar with all matters connected with the coal-merchants" trade. "I cannot say," he began, "that the condition of the coalporter (not referring to his earnings, but to his moral and intellectual improvement) is much amended now, for he is about the same sort of man that he was years ago. There may be, and I have no doubt is, a greater degree of sobriety, but I fear chiefly on account of the men"s earnings being now smaller, and their having less means at their command. years ago, before the general peace, labourers were scarce, and the coalporters then had full and ready employment, earning from to a-week. I have heard a coalporter say that week he earned ; indeed, I have heard several say so. After the peace, the supply of labour for the coal-trade greatly increased, and the coalporters" earnings fell gradually. The men employed in a good establishment years ago, judging from the payments in our own establishment as a fair criterion, were in the receipt of nearly a-week on the average. At that time coal was delivered by the chaldron. A chaldron was composed of sacks containing bushels, and weighing about cwt. (a ton and aquarter). For the loading of the waggons a gang of men, called "fillers," was, and is, employed. They were paid per chal-

I had heard from so many quarters that "beer" was a necessity of the coal-labourers" work, that finding the coalwhippers the most intelligent of the whole class, I thought it best to call the men together, and to take their opinion generally on the subject. Accordingly I returned to the basketmen"s waiting-room at the coalwhippers" office, and, as before, it was soon crowded. There were present. Wishing to know whether the coalbacker"s statement already given, that the drinking of beer was a necessity of hard labour, was a correct , I put the question to the men there assembled: "Is the drinking of fermented liquors necessary for performing hard work? How many present believe that you can work without beer?" Those who were of opinion that it was necessary for the performance of their labour, were requested to hold up their hands, and out of the did so.

A basketman who had been working at the business for years, and for of those years had been a whipper, and so doing the heaviest labour, said that in the course of the day he had been of a gang who had delivered as many as tons. For this he had required no drink at all; cocoa was all he had taken. men in the room had likewise done without beer at the heaviest work. was a coalwhipper, and had abstained for years. Some difference of opinion seemed to exist as to the number in the trade that worked without beer. Some said , others not . man stated that it was impossible to do without malt liquor. " a day properly spent in drink would prolong life full years," he said. This was received with applause. Many present declared that they had tried to do without beer, and had injured themselves greatly by the attempt. Out of the present, had tried teetotalism, and had thrown it up after a time on account of its injuring their health. man, on the other hand, said he had given the total-abstinence principle a fair trial for months, and had never found himself in such good health before. Another man stated, that to do a day"s work of turns, pints of beer were requisite. All but believed this. The pints were declared to be requisite in winter time, and pints, or pots, were considered to be not too much in a hot summer"s day. Before the present office was instituted, each man, they

Since this meeting I have been at considerable pains to collect a large amount of evidence in connexion with this most important question. The opinion of the most intelligent of the class seems to be, that no kind of fermented drink is necessary for the performance of the hardest labour; but I have sought for and obtained the sentiments of all classes, temperate and intemperate, with the view of fairly discussing the subject. These statements I must reserve till my next letter. At present I shall conclude with the following story of the sufferings of the wife of of the intemperate class:—

I have been married nineteen or twenty years. I was married at Penton, in Oxfordshire. We came to London fifteen years ago. My husband first worked as a sawyer. For eleven years he was in the coal-trade. He was in all sorts of work, and for the last six months he was a "scurf." What he earned all the time I never knew. He gave me what he liked, sometimes nothing at all. In May last he only gave me 2s. 8d. for the whole month, for myself and two children. I buried four children. I can"t tell how we lived then. I can"t express what we"ve suffered, all through drink. He gave me twenty years of misery through drink. [This was repeated four or five times.] Some days that May we had neither bit nor sup; the water was too bad to drink cold, and I had to live on water put through a few leaves in the teapot— old leaves. Poor people, you know, sir, helps poor people; and but for the poor neighbours we might have been found dead some day. He cared nothing. Many a time I have gone without bread to give it to the children. Was he ever kind to them, do you say, sir? No; they trembled when they heard his step; they were afraid of their very lives, he knocked them about so; drink made him a savage; drink took the father out of him." This was said with a flush and a rapid tone, in strong contrast with the poor woman"s generally subdued demeanour. She resumed:—"Twenty miserable years through drink! I"ve often gone to bring him from the public-house, but he seldom would come. He would abuse me, and would drink more because I"d gone for him. I"ve often whispered to him that his children was starving: but I durstn"t say that aloud when his mates was by. We seldom had a fire. He often beat me. I"ve 9s. in pawn now. Since we came to London I"ve lost 20l. in the pawnshop.

This man had died a fortnight before, hav- ing ruptured a blood-vessel. He lay ill days. The parish doctor attended him. His comrades "gathered" for his burial, but the widow had still some funeral expenses to pay by instalments. The room she and the children occupied was the same as in the husband"s lifetime. There was about the room a cold damp smell, arising from bad ventilation and the chilliness of the weather. wretched beds almost filled the place. No article was worth a penny, nor could a penny have been obtained at a sale or a pawnshop. The woman was cleanly clad, but looked sadly pinched, miserable, and feeble. She earns a little as a washerwoman, and did earn it while her husband lived. She bears an excellent character. Her repetition of the words, "," was very pitiful. I refrained from a prolonged questioning, as it seemed to excite her in her weak state.