The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-10-26 00:00:00

[From Punch.]
In the MULTITUDE of COUNCILLORS.

"How came we into the mess ?"
Well, we ARE in, not a doubt of it.
And just now the practical point
Is, which is the best way out of it?

"Hold hard!" says Lord LAWRENCE;
"Go along!" says STEPHEN ;
"Hang backward, or push forward,"
Says FEERE, "the danger's even."

'Forge ahead I" says RAWLI.NSON ;
"Turn astern I" says Ahrx :
Among her many councillors,
Pity a poor Lady!

Puzzled stands BRITANNIA,
All in the dark—
From Cabinet or Durbar
Of light not a spark I

THREATENED LABOURERS' LOCK-OUT.

The Times of Wednesday publishes the following letter :
Sir,—At the request of some thouands of agricul-
tural labourers, I write, asking will you kindly allow
me to explain -what threatens to become an immense
labour dispute in the beautiful counties of Kent and
Sussex.
To the great astonishment of the peasantry of Kent
and East Sussex, farmers have these past few
days been giving wholesale orders to reduce wages,
and piteous appeals for advice are crowding
in upon me from all over the place. Private
meetings have .been held by farmers, and the re-
ductions are evidently organized. The men have no
right, neither do they complain of that, but in the
absence of any reasons—for none are publicly given—l
am at a loss to imagine upon what pretence the farmers
are acting. It is a fact that the 15,000 or 16,000 men
comprising this Kent and Sussex Labourers' Union
have been so extremely moderate in their actions
that large employers of labour and clergymen have
congratulated us upon our system of conducting our
labour affairs. While some other labourer's unions
have been getting up strikes, we here have proceeded
upon an altogether different line. We have by moral
suasion induced wages to rise somewhat, and at the
same time have devoted ourselves to educating our
people, and to getting together an immense sick benefit
society. We pay to our members thousands of pounds
annually in sick relief; we have prevented hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of poor families from falling into
pauperism and pauper graves.
After all this moderation and good work, the farmers
suddenly turn upon us, and, without cause, threaten
to reduce the wages, which, perhaps, if we had indulged
in strikes, might have been much higher than they are
at this time. Myriads of labourers here only receive
2s. 6d. per day, with more than an average loss of one
day per week for wet weather, and cottage rent very
high. If the threatened reductions are enforced and
accepted, the only results will be to enrich the farmer
at the expense of these poor families, and to largely
increase that pauperism which this labourers' union
has made strenuous efforts to decrease. At the same
time, great crowds of men, feeling that their mode-
ration of the past seven years has been ill-requited,
are stoutly refusing to accept the order for reduced
wages.
Under these circumstances the great lock-out
threatened by the Kentish farmers will surely take
place, and as some 3,000 or 4,000 labourers are already
under the reduction order, I fear that by this ill-
advised conduct on the part of our farmers a great
labour difficulty is thrust upon us.
Remember, Sir, that the ancestors of these Kentish
people have ever been brave and hardy patriots, and
have in their days done much towards making our
country what it is. Is it not, then, too much to expect
poor agricultural labourers to maintain, educate, and
clothe tqeir families, and to remain honest in the bar-
gain, upon 9s. or 10s, per week? For this is really
what the reduction means to thousands of them.—
Yours faithfully, ALFRED SIMMONS.
Kent and Sussex Labourers' Union, Maidstone, Oct. 19

On the subject of labourers' wages, the Pall Mall
Gazette of Wednesday, remarks
"The agitation in the Kent and Sussex Labourers' Union
at the prospect of a reduction of wages at the present time
must have been expected. An agricultural labourer's wages
are never great at the best times' and any diminution, such
as at present threatened, will be hard to bear. But as
a matter of fact all classes connected with the laud
are suffering ju4t now. Farming in many districts has
been very far from profitable of late. The very low
price of wheat, the competition of imported cattle,
and the bad seasons have combined with enhanced wages
to render it no easy matter to make both ends meet.
Kent and Sussex are by no means peculiar in this re-
spect. All over England the same complaints are heard,
and many a landlord finds his farms thrown upon his hands
or is forced to let them to his tenants at reduced rates.
Under such circumstances it is difficult to see how wages
are to be maintained at their present level. The farmer
may fairly point to the low price of wheat, for
Instance, as benefiting the labourer, whilst distinctly
disadvantageous to him; and the same with respect to
other imported food, as bacon, eggs, &c. He can show that
of late years he most certainly has not been working to a
profit any than the ironmaster or the cotton lord, and
it is no answer to this contention to say that the men must
have this or that wage in return for previous good conduct.
For stalwart agricultural labourers who understand their
business there are far better openings in the colonies than
here at home, and they have, besides, the assurance that
their children, while remaining Englishmen, will themselves
be much richer than their parents."