The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-05-22 00:00:00

THE "GRANGERS" IN CALIFORNIA.

A Correspondent of The Times, writing /rom San Fran-
sisco, April 3, referring to the organisation of "Grangers,"
says :

"The great association formed by the farmers under
the name of the National Grange will before long take
a prominent part in shaping the future of the nation,
for although the organisation professes to be non-poli-
tical and declares as a condition of its existence that it
will abstain from taking any part in the conflicts
between Republicans and Democrats, yet, whenever
legislative measures and questions affecting the inte-
rests of the large portion of the population engaged in
agriculture have to be dealt with, the Grangers will
beyond doubt exert a powerful influence upon politi-
cians. There is one important difference between the
Grangers and other benevolent and trade societies
which will be regarded with satisfaction by certain
social reformers in England, and which may upset
for a time the nice calculations of legislators,
financiers, and merchants who in dealing with
class organisations hitherto have only had to
take into account the passions, the motives,
and the weaknesses which sway men. In this
association women equally with men are eligible for
membership, the corresponding ranks of the two
sexes in the first four degrees of the subordinate
Granges being labourer and maid, cultivator and
shepherdess, harvester, and gleaner, and husband-
man and matron. The masters of these district
Granges- and the wives of the masters compose the
State Granges; the masters of these and their
wives form the National Grange. One of the objects
to which the Grangers of California have directed
their efforts is the encouragement of immigration.
The farmers want help on their farms, and as a rule
prefer white men to the Chinese as farm labourers.
Their first step has been to publish a "Grangers'
Guide to California," which is to be circulated in
England, I believe, under the name of "The Great
Republic," California edition. In this handbook to
the State there is a great deal of carefully collated
and, as far as I can judge, accurate information
about the country. An employment office has
already been established with a view to saving the
time of immigrants and bringing them into direct
communication with farmers in want of labourers.
The management of the immigration department of
the State Grange has been intrusted to Mr. Josiah
Earl, of this city, and as soon as circuTstances permit
he will endeavour to make arrangements to assist suit-
able persons to emigrate from England and Scandinavia.
The principal obstacle to a great influx of immigrants
to this State is the expense of the journey from Europe.
A few figures, which I think may be relied on, will
show what wages are paid in various employments. Of
course, the demand for skilled artisans is limited, but
population and capital will probably continue to increase
fast enough to provide work for all the mechanics who
are likely to come. The wages of blacksmiths, copper-
smiths, and other workers in metals, and of handicrafts-
men engaged in the building and fitting out and repair-
ing of ships, range from 12s. 6d. to 16s. Bd., and, where
special skill is required, to 20s. 10d. a day. There is a
great demand for men belonging to the various
trades employed in housebuilding. Most of the
houses here and throughout the State are built en-
tirely of wood, but withiu a certain distance of the
centre of this city, all Lew buildings are to be con-
structed of brick, stone, or iron. House carpenters
command 14s. 6d. a day; bricklayers and masons,
16s. Bd. to 20s. 10d. a day; house painters, paper
hangers, and glaziers, 14s. 6d. ; plasterers and
plumbers, 16e. Bd. ; upholsterers, 16s. Bd. to 255. a day.
In other trades, carriage-makers earn in different de-
partments from 10s. sd. to 16s. Bd.; bookbinders from
10s. sd. to double that amount; bakers, from £6 to
£8 a month; with board and lodging; butchers, £8 to
£l5 a month; shoemakers, working by the piece, can
earn from Bs. 4d. to 16s. 10d. a day; tailors, also paid
by the piece, get from 12s. 6d. to 20s. 10d. for making
trousers, Bs. 4d. to 16s. Bd. for vests, 255. to £2 for
sack coats, and £2 to £3 12s. for frockcoats and over-
coats; barbers, £3 to £4 a week, without board; gar-
deners £9 to £l2 a month, with board, or from 10s. sd.
to 12s. 6d. a day for short jobs. These figures
show the average earnings of skilled workmen.
In other employments requiring no special skill
the wages are lower; carters get Bs. 4d. a day
when the employer furnishes horse and cart; teamsters
earn from £7 to £l2 a month when the employer pro-
vides the team; watchmen about £l2 a month; night
watchmen, 20 per cent. more; waiters in hotels, £8 to
£9 a month, with board. A girl has no difficulty in
getting a situation in the State at from £3 to £4 a
month, with board and lodging; general servants get
from £3 to £5 a month, while women of a mature age
who can manage a household and cook may
readily obtain from £8 to £l2 a month, with board
and lodging. Another consideration to which a
young woman may not be indifferent is that she would
find her sex a minority, so that, if she wishes to get
married, she will only have to choose wisely from a
pretty large circle of well-to-do suitors, young, middle-
aged, and old.
"The Grangers are making a bid for farm hands, and
it is to this work that those who come here to settle
will do well to direct their attention. The wages are
from £6 to £7 a month, with board; and during har-
vest time as much as £B, £lO, and even £l2 a month is
paid. By working on a farm for two or three years a
man may learn the methods of farming here, and may
lay by enough to purchase a farm for himself. He
may get Government lands still at ss. an acre, or along
the line of railways at 10s. an acre; and at about the
same or slightly higher rates, according to location, he
may purchase land from the Central Pacific Railway
Company, which advertises 10,000,00 acres of land in
the State for sale, in quantities and on terms to suit the
buyer. A system of co-operative colonhgatiou hats becn
tried with success in several places. Some of the large
tracts of fertile, well-watered land in the Southern
parts of the State, held under old Mexican grants,
have been bought by associations, a portion has been
set aside for a town, with church and school lots, and
farms and town lots have been sold by auction to the
highest bidders. For two or three days of the sale the
shareholders alone can bid; after that outsiders come
in and the shareholders get a share on the profits of all
the sales."