Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1829-07-30
POLITICAL.
From The prginia Literary Mmear..
THE POLICY OF ENCOURAGING MANI
FATJURE9 No .

| Az lbhtDs-~NO. =
We must now place The Manufacturer by tho sid. of
tho Agrieultarist.-JeBsrs0n,
In the last number We attempted 20 shen
that the fall Of prices which our sinple comtno.
dllIcs had generally ekperieneed. for The last
eight OF ten years. had so lowered the value of
agricultural labor, ~ grently TO lessen one of
lhe experiments To manufactures in ymeinia
| thai these low prices Of produce wefe 10 be as.
| erihrd. partly. 10 the policy of foreign cations
| aud partly, 90 the continual Increase of our
population, by which the means of domestic
production were made To exceed those of for.
eign consumption F.. aud that, as ono OF those
causns would not, and the other could not bs
| changed there seemed 10 be no remedy eo.ex-
tensve with the evil. except in diver,ing the
growing excess ofproduelvo labor from agri.
| culture 10 other employ menis.
Let as nav compare the price of ordinary
labor IA Virginia, which. We hsv- seen, 10 has
THAI bali lis former price, with Tint which IL
hemsin the countries which chiefly supply us
With manufactures. But In making this com
paiison II Is in vain 10 expect accuracy In
Grca ,Briials, and in Europe, generally, tho
money price Of ordinary lsbour greatly varies
from year 10 year, aud In different districts
during the same year according to the varying
prices of corn, which constitutes 80 large q
part, not merely the diet. bui of tho whole
expense oi the ahorer. This 10 so well nn-
dersiood. that tie manufaenrer regularly rni-
sss OF lowers the wages Of his wsrkmen, or.
cept when some contrary chaogein tho price
oil the fabric, may have, Tor n tiue, n counter
acting influence All, Then. that can be done
Is, 10 take the average Of different counties and
Of several adjoining years. According TO ,ueh
| m average, the price Of labour IN England, M
| gwen by Lowe, from 1895 10 1899, was nine
| shillings sterlings week, equal 10 two dollars
4 "A -
equal TO iwodolars and forty five cents week.
Tn, price oflnbor fell in that country after thu
peace Of 1910. with The fall Of com Labor
has, without doubt, somewhn, risen IN conse-
| guencr OF The bad harvest of the last year aud
| II would have risen much higher bu, ior tho
general stagnaiioo of trade and commercial dis
tress, which have recently prevailed.
Taking these several circumstances of en-.
hanccmen aud depression together, the aver
age price Of labor IN England, IN nanufNcto cries
for the last hy. years, Is probably not less than
the average, from 1900 10 1918, of eleven shiI-
lings IN week but supporting IL 10 he one sb,l.
| ling less, II IL tbon equivalent 10 two dollars
and twenty two crnis = week. or one hundred
and fifteen dollars and forty -four cents n year
| The price OF slave Labor in Virginia, for Tho
| last FIVE years, cannot be sci down at M mach
by nbonI eight per cent, according TO ihe most
| liberal estimate Thus
| Hire If u male slave Tor n year, Sbn
boarh Tor The same time DO
| Clothing liz
| Taxes o
| $iO7
| II 10 conceded, that in making this compar.
ison, we should allow for the pellknowp differ
ence betn zen the rate Of hire bv the y.ss
aud by the week the latter being always high
er. because the loss Of time from sickness and
other causes. falls upon the Iaborer, in the onn
case, and upon the employer, 10 the other
But on the other hand, the sum allowed for
the maintenance OF slave /. far beyond what
IT ordinarily costs on farm or plantation.
and, consequently, beyond VIVA, IL would cost
ina mhnuiactoty. Jhe provisions annually
consumed by aslave. allow, & him 100 pounds
OF pork. and three barrels or fifteen Lus hela
OF Indian corn, will commonly not cost axclu-
sivo OF Inc uncomfortable expense ol cooking
more than fifteen or twenty dollnrs and his
clothing. comprehending Two complete suit. "A
hat, shoes and blanket, not more ihan lively,
dollars. Besides lhboIei4 have often hired
within n few years, for thirty FIVE or forty dol.
lars year, instead OF fifty. Bv these change.
the whole expense OF n lhborinR slave for !,
year. would be reduced TO about seventy dol.
lars so that, after making n liberal addition
10 ihis sum for The Increased rate Of hire BY
the week, we must cone 10 the conc usion
that labonr IN Virginia disreRnrdlug lis dual.
lily. Is something cheaper than il IS IN EngIaDd
But the difference is YET greater between The
p'ice Of labour In his state and in the north
efn states, rs may be seen by IA comparison
which we have more certain data Tor making
by the ePIdencr, iakea Ia 1897 befor. III.
committee on manufactures 10 Congress Tho
weekly whees ola oommon laborer employed
IN manufactures, were ms loilows
| In the Ofiskany Factory New Per anau,,