The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-01-06


RURAL FEIIcrrY n MERRY EScrASD.-fn
another part of this paper we have reprinted
from Liverpool journal an article which con-
tains some singular Developments as to the
condition of the lower classes in the agricultural
districts of England, and we desire to call the
especial attention of our abolition cotempora-
ries to the facts contained in the official report
upon this important subject. According to this
account many of the agricultural population
of England herd together like wild beasts, and
an American farmer would not use an English
cottage as a pen for his swine. In many in
stances men women and children, without dis
tinction Of age, are huddled together in one
The cottages become that the grand juries have
presented them as nuisances. This indiscrimi-
nate mixing of the sexes accounts for
the terribly low state Of morality which
prevails among the British peasantry, who are
degraded to a degree which would not be
credited by people who have not had personal
observation of the facts. Many Of these people
are sent to the United States, and bring their
habits along with them. In one tenement
house in this city six hundred persons are
lodged, and our subterranean population is
counted by thousands. These facts are preg-
nant with meaning just now, when the English
journals are full Of lamentations. over the
awful effects Of negro slavery, and when the
British view Of the matter is accepted by peo-
pie on this side Of the Atlantic, both parties
being altogether ignorant as to the relative con-
dtions Of the slave and the free laborer. Com
pared with the English laborcr, the slave lives
like prince. lie has his cabin, generally
neat and clean, and always weather proof. He
has likewise his own garden patch, over which
he is lord paramount He is well fed. well
lodged, well clothed and rarely overworked.
His holidays are numerous and enjoyed with
infinite gusto. Sleek, happy and contented,
the slave lives - 4 great age. The white
laborer, on the contrary. struggles through .
brief existence, and considers himself fortunate
if by incessant toll he can procure the mere
necessaries of life. This general view applies
TO the mass Of lsborers under both systems.
There are exceptions, of course, but they are
rare. Both in Great Britain and the large cities
Of the Northern United States the supply Of
labor exceeds the demand, and the practice in
to get the greatest possible amount of work for
the smallest possible sum Of money. When the
laborer is worn out he is free to lie down in the
ditch and die. The slave owner, on the con-
trary, finds it 10 his interest to treat his negroes
literally, and takes every means to
make them happy. healthy and contented.
And that is the simple difference between the
two systems, as any appropriated persons who
have examined them both will agree. But the
English will persist in crying out about the sin
Of slavery, and large landed proprietors groan
over The unhappy fate Of the African bondman,
while their own tenants for whose moral and
physical condition they are as responsible as
a Southern planter for that Of his slaves-are
literally starving. In the one case the respon-
sibility j. sbrkcd, and in the other Il is attended
that's all.
A az Nrur,s-