Note 167-4 — Chapter III

I need only recall Richelieu and Mazarin, the last of whom left an estate worth 200,000,000 livres. (Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XIV., ch. 6.) In Parisian industries, few workmen are as well paid as those who are skilled in rapidly effecting changes of form. The so-called premières de modes frequently received more than 1,800 francs a year, while the apprêteuses received only from 15 to 20 sous a day. (Revue des deux Mondes, Sept. 15, 1850.) There are women there paid very well for making pin-cushions, pen-wipers, etc., each one of a different form; but as soon as any one form ceases to be a novelty, the wages paid for making it sinks to a minimum. (M. Mohl, Gewerbswissenschaftliche Reise durch Frankreich, 87.)