The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-11 00:00:00

AGRICULTUftAL LABOURERS.

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In The Times, of yesterday, we noticed a letter,
addressed to Lord Ashley, by the Hon. and Rev. G. S.
Osborne, on the condition of the agricultural labourers.
We publish, to-day, in another column, a short, but most
emphatic, epistle from the same pen, addressed to his
Grace the Duke of Richmond, as president of the new
Society for the Protection ofAgriculture. The writer sim-
ply reminds his Grace of the fact that there is a race of
beings higher in the scale of creation than bullocks and
sheep—a race whose physical condition is equally suscep-
tible of improvement with that of oxen and herds—whose
existence—nay, whose comforts—are equally necessary
to agriculture with those of the beasts of the field—
and yet who, by some strange oversight, have never been
invited to take their share of protection at the hands of
the Agricultural Society. Accordingly, he draws the
charitable inference, that it is to the want of information
respecting the necessities of this race, that this neglect
must be attributed, and entertains no doubt that the
Puke of Richmond and his staff will " feel grateful" to
receive it. The information which he proposes to im-
part is as follows :
" We will send up to your Coißmittee from a few of
the agricultural counties—say Bliek s, Dorset, Wilts, and
Somersetshireauthenticated statements of the amount
of wages, by the day and by the piece, paid to
the various classes of labourers in those counties ;
in what form the said wages are paid ; the value and
nature of the different rivileges or advantages offered
to the labourers over and above such wages ; also,

of the nature of the dwellings afforded the labourers, I
the material of which they are built, the size and num-
ber of the rooms, the drainage (where any exists), the
rent paid for them, the state of repair in which they
are generally found, and the number and ages of the,
individuals of both sexes who may be compelled to
sleep in the same room ; the existence or non-exist-
ence of other matters generally considered conducive
to decency, also, of the poor-law, we will give the amount
of relief allowed to the old and infirm out of the house,'
the general treatment of all applicants who apply for
relief, with such particulars of the advice given, and
the relief afforded, as may indicate the measure of
charitable feeling evinced by the guardians in
each union :—we will add a few sketches from life in
union houses, to prove the advantages, or otherwise, of
herding poor people of all sorts of character together.
"To corroborate our evidence, we will give you
the names of certain parties, the viva voce exami-
nation of whom, we think, would be advisable—
such as medical-officers, relieving-officers, midwives,
and undertakers, taking care to furnish you
with a list of leading questions likely to assist
you in such examination. And now I will only add, that
if your Grace will kindly accept this assistance—if you and
your colleagues will only give to the labourer's condition
one half the attention you have given to the con-
dition of the landlord and tenant, and the im-
provement of the condition of your cattle—l have
no doubt but that you will arrive at the conclu-
sion at which I have arrived—that there is no one
creature belonging to the farm, there is not an
animal you rear to use or to sell, that has been subject
to so much neglect, in everything that tends to his im-
provement, as the labourer. Compare the way he is
housed, fed, clothed, and valued, with the way in which
the animals he tends for you are treated in these parti-
culars ; and then answer to the public and to yourself—
why in the present agitation he is overlooked.'
Most heartily do we concur in this salutary pro-
position, and most cordially do we rejoice to see that
a sincere though late appeal is being made by gen-
tlemen of station ,and influence in behalf of a class
of people whose very dependence and difficulties
have been made the grounds of their oppression and
contempt. But what, we ask, has produced this com-
plication of misery, the utter disregard of which the
Rev. Mr. Osborne, so justly and so feelingly con-
contrasts with the care and attention bestowed on the
brute creation ? What, but the ten years' trial of
that atrocious law which Whigs and Tories, and
nearly all the landowners of England, pronounced to
be just and wise ? Tulk of agricultural protection for
the sake of the labourers indeed ! we wonder it has not
been plainly demanded for the sake of the pigs and cat-
tle. Let the authors and abettors of that " dark
document," which recommended that at a certain
period all out-door relief should cease, that the
indoor relief—that is, the dirt provided for the in-
mates of the workhouse—should be gradually re-
duced in quantity and quality, and that the guardians
should be empowered to reduce even this miserable pit-
tance if they could safely do so, but on no account to in-
crease it,—let those persons answer for the horrible
consequences which the libt,ral enforcement of their sys-
tem has produced.—Times of Saturday.