The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-05-11 00:00:00

E4t 3tour4ribge (Nsertur.

SATURDAY, MAY 11, DM.

AGRICULTURAL WAGES.

We cannot but think that on the whole the
agitation among the agricultural community has
hitherto produced very little for the general
public to regret and much to be gratified with.
We desire to look at the whole matter impar-
tially—as partisans neither of landowners, far
mars, nor labourers—but examining the move-
ment on its merits; and looking at the matter
in this light there is much cause for congratula-
tion at the moderate demands of the men and
the conciliatory spirit manifested by landowners
and employers. There is a natural tendency to
discuss such questions as these in a local and
confined spirit, with reference to the demands
or requirements of a few men in a particular
locality, and the manner in which these demands
are met by a few employers in the same locality;
but really the agricultural movement is one in
motive and result, though it may vary ever so
muoli in detail, according to circumstances.
Looking thou at the action of the men, we can-
not but regard it as on the whole warranted by
the exigencies of their position, the state of the
labour market, and the value of their work. Let
no glance briefly at these three considerations.
The position of the labouring man in agricultu-
ral districts imperatively calls for reform. He
is badly fed, badly housed, and uneducated. By
all means let him improve his position if it be
possible. And it is in the state of the labour
market that he sees his opportuni,y. Every-
where labour, even unskilled labour is in de-
mand ; and a I are demand, the supply being not
increased, means increased price. Wily the
agrieultural labourer should not take advantage
of thia futidalueutal principle of political eco-
nomy we cannot understand. The value of the
labourer's work has, in fact, risen, and he is
availing himself of his opportunity. In nume•
rims districts—in fact in districts so numerous
that it would be tedious to mention them—the
agricultural labourer has gained an advance of
wages. This advance has in no ease been very
great, though his previous position was so bad
that a couple of shillings, or even a shilling per
week, has been proportionably a great boon to
him. In other cases, there having been a diffi-
culty about the advance, agricultural labourers
have emigrated or have migrated to towns, and
have been absorbed into other descriptions of
labour. The position of the farm labourers that
have still continued in their old occupations has
thus naturally been improved; their chances of
victory have been increased ; and, to give them
their due, they have not been slow to avail
themselves of them. And still the movement
goes on, but not under conditions which we think
, need cause any alarm. The agricultural labourer
is not, as a rule, an exacting and agitating man.
As a class, they are not likely to agitate far more
and more wages, and this has been shown by the
contented spirit they have manifested on gaining
their demands, and by the good sill a Lich they
have exhibited in going heartily to work under
their improved prospects.
And have our landed gentry or our tenant
farmers any cause for alarm or dissatisfaction at
, the partial success of the labourers ? We think
, not. Labourers elsewhere will no doubt take
similar steps with a like result; but we do not
believe that there is the least probability of la-
bourers, as a class, demanding such wages as to
seriously disturb the relations of landowners with
farmers, or of farmers with the consuming pub-
lic. And we think that landowners and farmers
have no fear on thie head, while they evidently
are not disinclined to improve the labourer's po-
sition is more ways than one. Employers are
manifesting a laudable desire to abolish the no.
whole some truck system, and to adopt payment
by piecework instead of by the day. Just so far
as this is due will tne moral, mental, and physi.
cal character of the labourer be unmoved. He
will be gradually liited out of that Slough of
Basoion au 4,4 01 he has passed his days, and
be eievated into the ranks of skilled labour.
Education is advancing and Hodge must be
taught and made to work thoughttully• and skil•
laity. This is the grand lesson of the agricul-
tural movement, and just in proportion as the
lesson is learned will society on the whole be
benefited.