The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-05-25 00:00:00

THE AGRICITLIURAL LABOURERS.

A meeting of the agricultural labourers of Hereford-
shire was held, on Thursday evening in last week, in a
field at Shiriheath, near the village of KingslancL
The Rev. Mr. Blakeway, rector of Stretford, ad-
dressed the assembled men ana women, informing them
that their object in meeting that night was to carry out
the intentions expressed at a preliminary meeting,
of forming themselves into an Union, through which
they would be able to improve their canolition. They
ought to he able to earn at least 15.. a week without
cider, although, of course, those who were not able to
do a day's work must be content with less. They were
also to ask for extra pay in the harvest time, and for
over pay after 6 p.m. and before 6 a.m. Cottages
should also be rented from the landlord wherever they
could, and they were to ask to finish work at 4 o'clock
on Saturday!. One of their own order would receive
their subscriptions to the Union, which they should
make as liberal as they could, and he suggested 6el. a
month, or id. or 2d, a week, which they should wil-
lingly pay in the hope of obtaining as a result a rise of
at least is. per week in their wages.
A labourer, named Mills said the meeting had been
called to consider the question of a rise in the position
in life of the agelcultodallabourer—the hardest worked
and worst paid class Rothe country. The artisans had
joined Trades' Unions for years, and they were getting
their 205., 300., and 400. a week. If they stood in need
of union, surely the agricultural labourer, who did in
comparison horse's work, quite as much required it.
Ile denied that there was any strife between them and
the farmers, though they had been spoken of as ignor-
ant and unprincipled agitators. If they were ignorant,
the farmeos should give them better wages and they
would educate themselves; as to being unprincipled,
if they stated their case fairly, and the farmers
stated their case also fairly, they might leave it safely
to the public to judge between them. These impu-
tations were very unmanly and unfair. If it was fair
for the farmer to get the best price he could for his
wheat, and to pay the lowest price for labour that he
could get it at, was it not also fair for the labourer to
pay the lowest price for flour, and to get the highest
wages he could for his labour. The speaker after-
wards referred to the shutting up of the commons and
heaths where the poor man used to feed a sheep or two
or scow. The landlords now load all that land. He
suggested that the Government should reclaim it and
let it at low rents to the labourers, which woubi pay.
He urged his fellow-labourers to join the UnionYThey
were told they were 700,000 strong, and all should
unite, for unity was strength. Their plan was to
secure the weekly wage. If that was not done, if the
supply was greater than the demand, then they
must buy up the surplus labour and either send it
to other parts of the country, where there was a de-
mand for it, or send it to the Colonies. That would
keep labour up to the propel standard. The cham-
ber of Agriculture had made it their stand point that,
in consequence of the vicissitudes of weather and the
peculiar nature of their lousiness, farmers could not
fix a standard of weekly wages, and that there could be
no rule for fixing such a standard. But that difficulty
might be solved. It had been solved years ago by the
Government. Government workmen were paid by the
hour. If they fixed on a standard of 31., 4d., or 24,
an hour, according to the capabilities of the workmen,
that would be a solution of the difficulty. (A voice.—
"3d.") Yes, 31. for able-bodied men, 2d. for men in
the decline of life, and 4d. an hour for skilled work-
men. Ten hours a day at 3a. would be 159. a week.
He understood that since this matter had been taken
up some of the farmers had raised the wages. He
then, amid some laughter from the women, stated the
case of a labourer who had had 17 children. Of
these he had live at home, and with himself and wife
three meals a day made 21 meals a day to provide
for out of 10s. a week, besides shoes, clothes, rent, and
other things. How were they likely to get their three-
quarters of a pound of meat a day, like the soldier,
out of that. Then they were charged with being
wasteful and extravagant. Let the lady housekeeper
who made this charge come and exercise her ingenuity
in carving half a pound of rusty bacon among the
whole family instead of three-quarters of a pound of
meat apiece, and he thought sloe would find there was
not much room for extravagance. He concluded by
appealing to his fellow-workmen, who, he said, suffered
like himself from the bitterness of poverty, to combine
together to raise themselves in the social scale. They
wanted only to state their case fairly to the country,
and let the country judge them.
The rest of the proceedings had reference to the
payment of subscriptions, enrolment of members, and
appointment of officers.