n; it
is not only injurious to the public, but it is most unfair to people in
misfortune, if they are shut out of employments by the artificial
restrictions of those who already carry on those employments.

#46. What is a Fair Day's Wages?# It is a favourite saying that #a man
should have a fair day's wages for a fair day's work; but this is a
fallacious saying#. Nothing, at first sight, can seem more reasonable
and just; but when you examine its meaning, you soon find that there is
no real meaning at all. It amounts merely to saying, that #a man ought
to have what he ought to have#. There is no way of deciding what is a
fair day's wages. Some workmen receive only a shilling a day; others
two, three, four, or five shillings; a few receive as much as ten, or
even twenty shillings a day; which of these rates is fair? If the saying
means that all should receive the _same_ fair wages, then all the
different characters and powers of men would first have to be made the
same, and exactly equalised. We have seen that wages vary according to
the laws of supply and demand, and as long as workmen differ in skill,
and strength, and the kind of goods they can produce, there must be
differences of demand for their products. Accordingly, there is no more
a fair rate of wages than there is a fair price of cotton or iron. It is
all a matter of bargain; he who has corn or cotton or iron or any other
goods in his possession, does quite right in selling it for the best
price he can get, provided he does not prevent other people from selling
their goods as they think best. So, any workman does quite right in
selling his labour for the highest rate of wages he can get, provided
that he does not interfere with the similar right of other workmen to
sell their labour as they like.

CHAPTER VIII.

TRADES-UNIONS.

#47. The Purposes of Trades-Unions.# Working-men commonly think that the
best way to raise their earnings is to form trades-unions, and oblige
their employers to pay better wages. #A trades-union is a society of men
belonging to any one kind of trade, who agree to act together as they
are directed by their elected council, and who subscribe money to pay
the expenses.# Some trades-unions are very different from others, and
they are not all well conducted nor all badly conducted, any more than
people are all well behaved or all badly behaved. Moreover, the same
trades-union often does different kinds of business. Usually they