The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-07 00:00:00

HEALTH AND OCCUPATION.

FOUR years ago, when the Sultan of Zanzi-
bar came to London for a brief visit, he was
being conveyed in a steamboat up the
Thames; and, while the vessel was passing
between miles and miles of houses on either
bank of the river, the sable ruler, impressed
with the idea of the presence of a vast popu-
lation, exclaimed, "The greatness of this
city had not been reported to us." What
was true of London may to a certain extent
be applied to the country at large. England
is one great hive of industry, London being
tin, seat and centre of its commerce, and
the first of its ports. A long distance from
the sea, forests of masts are crowded thickly
in its docks, and from these ocean steamers
issue, bound to all parts of the world. The
products of the universe are brought home
and stored in warehouses within sound of
the chimes of St. Paul's, which so often
ring out upon the troubled air over the
bustling city. The metropolis is but the
embodiment of a land full of animation and
of labour. A very large proportion of men
and women are workers. In the last Census,
out of the 23,000,000 persons 'who made up
the entire population of England and Wales,
less than 170,000 returned themselves as
persons of rankand property—that is to say.
as having no professed occupation, and as
living entirely on their means. In consider-
ing the number of labourers in this great
human hive, it is important to bear in mind
that what may be called the hardworkers
are engaged in pursuits so widely different
in character that no rule bearing on health
and occupation can be drawn of a general
kind, or which admits of any general appli-
cation.

The most superficial glance at this ques-
tion will show that in the various occupa-
tions in which the people of England are
employed, there are found great differences
in respect to health. The first order of the
professional class consists of those who are
concerned purely in carrying out the govern..
ing affairs of the kingdom. All civil servants
in the direct employment of the Legislature
for governmental purposes belong to this
class, which includes some members of both
sexes. After the governing order come
those who are engaged purely in the defence
of the country., and in maintaining public
authority. Soldiers come under this head
if they belong to the regular army; the
sailors who are stationed at home as well as
the police, are also incladed. It may seem
strange to include these in the professional
class, but the description is that of the
Registrar-General. Another section of this
class embraces those who are engaged in the
fine arts, in teaching, and in many other
pursuits beyond what used to be called
strictly the professions of law, physic, and
divinity. The sum total of the whole pro-
fessional class, comprising three orders is
684,102. The number is remarkably small,
when compared with the whole of the popu-
lation ; and it accounts in a signal manner
for the overwork with which many repre-
sentatives of these classes are taxed. Let
one of them come into notice who has any
particular quality of excellence over his
fellovc s, and too often the pressure upon him
becomes too severe for natural human en-
durance. In the second division of our
English community, are those employed in
domestic or household labour, and these are
nearly six millions. The third are the com-
mercial men and women, who number
815,000. In such a great trading country
as England, it would be supposed at first
thought that a third or a fourth at least of
the people would be employed in commercial
occupations. But it is seen that the fact is
not so; for there are really only a few more
people engaged in commercial life than in
professional. Passing on to the cultivation
of the soil, it is seen that the number of
persons occupied in agricultuaal pursuits is
1,657,000. But by far the largest of all
classes of workers in this kingdom is the
I industrial. It is that which has built our
towns and constructed our ships, which has
formed our docks, and belted our land with
our fortresses. It comprises nearly a fourth
of the entire population, who work for their
daily bread. Every variety of occupation
of a productive kind is suggested in looking
at the labours of this great multitude.
There remains after all those which have
been enumerated a very large class of per-
sons who do no definable productive work.
People with indefinite occupations, 'together
with scholars and children, come within the
classification of this category.