The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-08-10 00:00:00

A BISHOP ON THE LABOUR
QUESTION.

The Bishop of Glocester and Ibistol, in responding
to the toast of " The Bishop and Clergy of the
Diocese," at the annual dinner of the Glocestershire
Agricultural Society, which closed its exhibition at
Glocester on Friday, referred at some length to the
labour question.
His Lordship said we now lived in very trying times
—times in which mischievous and evil efforts were
being made to set class against class, and especially
to set faithful English labourers against their
equally faithful English employers. Although
to his regret lie had. heard of certain meetings
icing held, and of some agitation going on in
certain quarters, he claimed that (a ,cesterghire had
had up to the present time enjoyed great immunity,
principally because the labourers knew that whatever
equitable demands were made by the labourers, if
made respectfully, the employers were thoroughly
ready to respond to the application. Several months
ago many of the Clocestenshire farmers nobly came
forward and raised the wages of the different persons
they employed on their estates. And why? Because
they were underpaid By no means, but because
they saw this anxious rise in prices everywhere,
and because they reasoned as good, plain, honest
Englishmen that if money would purchase less than
it did in former times of courye more money must
be given for the honest efforts of the muscles and
sinews of the labourer; and so. recorm.,„ ising that money
was generally sinking in value, they at once came
f .rward and sail, "If you have to pay more for your
meat" —and it was not often, he was afraid, the
labourers could get meat--" it is right I should pay
more for these brawny arms and hands that till my
fields." On behalf of the labourers he also wished to
any a few words. There had been a few improper agi-
tations among thorn. He could not condemn in too
strong terms, or denounce too severely, those *lto came
from afar -men who never owned an acre, men who

never did A day's work—mto their wolds and peaceful
villages, seeking out the dieaffected—for there were dis-
affected everywhere—making iniquitous combinations
and setting English employers against English
labourers. He denounced them as strongly as any man
could denounce any un English proceeding, and it was
not for him, a man of peace, to say anything stronger
than that he hoped all his friends would keep the
peace, and remember their bishop advised them that
If the village horse-pond stood invitingly near, not by
any means to put these men into it, He had given
this advice, and he hoped it would be followed ;
perhaps it would be hard, but they most resist
the temptation. It might be that the labourers
had received too little money, hilt they had had
their wages made up he other things, and there
were two sides even to that question. He heard
the other day a most distinguished employer of
labour say at • public meeting in London that he had

to pay each of his hands 25. 6cl. a day, and something
more at the end of the week; and heaald publicly that
the amount of drunkenness had increased frightfully,
and that the women came to complain that the men put
this money into their pockets and carried it every even-
ing to the alehouse. So there were two sides to the
question, and they must hesitate to denounce very
severely the truck system, where, in addition to wages,
were given the value of a cottage, or those other
friendly gifts which were and could be given, and
which went far to induce the family to keep the home
together. He had no sympathy with that tendency to set
class against class which persons in good position had
thought it necessary to pursue in other coueties by de-
porting labourers from their comity to other parts of
the country. Let them cultivate kindly relations
among the men, and he was sure the clergy would de
their best in the matter. The English labourer and
farmer trinet, if it was only for their own int•-rent,
ta main united, but they were hound with a better bond
than that--as counnon EOM of an ancient and honour-
able country ; and ill indeed woeld he the day when
the interests f the English labourer were supposed
not to be identical with those of the British farmer.
Mr. \V. P. Pike, MP., in responding to the toast ,
of the "Members for the Boroughs," also referred to
the labour question, saying that probably thore was
no man in that large assembly who was brought more
into contact with it than himself. Ile was afraid
there was wune little misunderstanding on the sub.
ject. The question of wages was not really a question
of so many "billings a week, for there could be no
possible doubt of this fact, that a sot resign was not
DOW worth what a sovereign was. He was perfectly
persuaded that the labourer must be remunerated on a
higher scale, measured by shillings, than heretofore,
and by so doing they would not be paying higher
wages to the labourer, nor be giving him a larger
power of control over the necessaries of life. Mr. Price
also argued in favour of better dwellings for the agri-
cultural labourers, and expiestied his belief that the
farmers would do wisely in giving them a bit of land in
addition. If all this was done he believed we should
' have as contented a population as ever we had before.