Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1848-11-24

ih Nhlua arc i've uuilafa moutus avn HlaH
Informed, on good authority, and find II stated
in well written article in The Chinese RePOsi-
tory now before me, that the wages paid To ser
wants by foreigners here, are about the same
with those which they receive liom their own
cOuulrymen. lIappears, from the same author
n.y. thai the wages sf a laborer in the field or the
workshop, are generally one mace day. Por-
Iers, menials, and other mere laboreTs, get u
bout the same. One mace a day may, there
Tore, be assumed as The average rate Of the re-
ward Of mere daily labor in China. A MACE is
the tenth pau Of tRsi, aud about the seventh
part Of Spanish dollar, or from fourteen 10 &C.
teen cents.
Persons Of the description here mentioned can
be boarded al from dollar to a dollar and a
half per month. Mine are boarded at 81 80
Their food, as thus provided, is not, as Father
Premars describes that Of the poor Chinese in
general, "a liule spoonful Of rice" nor their
drink the "insiped water in which il was boiled"
They have for their 81 so the month, as much
rice as they can eat three times a day. This is
the great staple Of food with all clqsses, from
the Emperor downward. In addition to this,
they have fish, fowls and pork, in abundance;
beet and mutton are scarce and dear. They
have also an ample supply of vegetables and
iruIs-such as oranges and bananas. For drink,
they have tea at discretion at all hours. This
is the universal beverage throughout the en-
pire. Mr.. Brown, a missionary clergyman,
who keeps school for Chinese boys at Hong
hong. in which there are from twenty to thirty
pupils, boards them at the raie Of dollar Q
month, in the manner described above.
The average cost of the rice is about one and
a half taels the Picul, (334 lbs.) or a cent a
pound; and a pound of rice is as much as a man
can eat in day. The daily laborer receives,
in his mace, an amount of money E.
quivalent in value to the daily substance ol four
teen or fifteen men. l( he be the head Of q
family, composed Of four or five persons, he
has at his disposal, after providing for his ard
their subsistence, the means of subsistence for
nine or ten persons, TO be employed in providing
himself and family with clothes, lodgings, books,
and other necesSaries and comforts. These ave
llI to be had at the most moderate Ials. "A
common laborer," says the authority just quo.
ed, "can live for S2.25 month, including
clothes and rent; but SO is nearer the average.
Cotton clothing costs from 81 to S5 year"
The people, as have already remarked, are
'ery much in the habit of living together in
arge establishments, composed Of several bran.
;hes of the same family. In consequence of
his truly admirable system, which combines oil
he supposed advantages of the visionary scheme
Of communities" without any of its absurGi-
lies. the expenses Of individuals are greatly re.
1uced. Eight, twelve. fifteen, forty and even
sixty PERSONS" says the authority have area-
1y quoted, "sometmes live in ono house. This,
Of course. reduces the individual expenses; and
This practice is so common, that So so may be
taken at the average rate Of board" 1t is much
TO be wished that this economical, social and
truly Christian custom might extend itself to
other countries. 1t is constantly recommended
TO the Chinese by the highest authorities in the
Empire, and forms the subject of one of the
chapters of the famous Sacred Edict, written
by the Emperor Young. Ching, about century
ago-a sort of summary Of political and social
duty, which is read publicly every month by the
provincial magistrates to assemblies of people
whole empire. In this, as we'll
as in some other matters, to which | need not
here allude, our philosophers, phanlhropists,
and even missionaries, might with advantage
take few lessons in political, moral and rel.
gious doctrines from the people whom they are
so anxious TO enlghlen, and whom they con-
slider so far beneath themselves in the scale Of
civilization
Such, however, are the facts in reference TO
the condition Of the working classes Of China.
The account Of a laborer of tho lowest class
with the world will stand on an average, near.
! y as follows;
Annual income at So the month 500
Board, clothes and rent at W ,95 The month 81
Surplus to be employed in supporting fam.
lily, books, luxuries and savings $33
The correctness of the statement given is for
the most part, within my knowledge; and where
they res; on evidence, the authority is unqueS-
tlonablc. You will Judge for yourself how Tar
they are consistent with the theory Of "abrct
wretchednesS." From view of these state.
ments as well as that see around me, in the
actual condition of the people, should say, on
the contrary, thotlho working population of Chi
ma are better fed better clothed, better lodged,
on the whole happier, and even higher in the
scale of intellectual and moral culture than per.
haps any other on the globe. doubt whether
even in New England, where The money price
Of labor is so much higher, either the luborer or
the small cultivalor enjoys so many of the com.
forts of life as the Chinese. Certainly the half
starved and over-worked wretches that crowd
the factories, mines and work.houses Of En-
gland, and pass from one to the other Of these
establishments with every oscillation in the ever
varying scale of prices, cannot pretend 10 an e.
quality with him.
From The Louisville Journal.
Editorial COMMUNICATIONS In Congress.