Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1862-10-23
Distress in the English Manufac-
turing Districts.

English papers of late dates give de-
plorablo accounts Of the distress in the
manufacturing districts. A visitor to
Wigan writes to the London Times an
account of the sights he saw, from which
we take the following extract:
II spent some time in visiting the
houses of the operatives, and though I
found many cases in which the average
of two shillings per head was not reach
ed, yet my own inquiries confirmed the
first impression given by the statistics
as to the comparative superiority of the
condition Of the unemployed popula-
ton. / saw, for instance, one family Of
eight husband, wife and six children
living on fourteen shillings week !;
widon and seven children, living on
eleven shillings, with what they could
make out of very small shop, which
for weeks past had been next to moth
ing. An overlooker and his wife with
five childred had to subsist on 14s, a
week, los half wages, and Is. from the
relief committee, and they too had a
small shop, but for six months they had
gotnothing out oft except $40 of doubt
full debts He had to do something to-
wards the support Of his mother, a very
respectable old woman, who lived close
by, and with daughter-in-law and
child, had nothing else to depend upon
but IS. a we k from the Relief Com
mittee, This was one of tho oae0s in
which the parish officers offered no re-
lief but the workhouse-as she had q
decent house and furniture, some of 1t
old and curions enough to fetch a price
in Wardour street-of course, she had
refused it. In another street, man
with wife and eight children had six
days work from the parish, equal to Is.
Cd, and six tickets from the Relief
Committee, equal to 6s. lbs. Cd. for
ten. A little further on, man with
wife and four children, and an old uncle
of eighty-two years Of age, had Us.
Sd. week for the seven. In another
part of the town I found an overlooker
and his wife and two children, his daugh-
ter and her family living in the same
house-eight persons in all-with only
ten shillings among them. This was
one Of the cases where there had been
a long struggle before applying for re-
Lief They had sold and paved nearly
all their clothing, and had run deeply
into debt besides. The case had only just
come under the notice Of the committee,
and no doubt will be more adequately
met at the next visitation. In this part
of the town, where the cottages are
newer and better built, and inhabited
generally by a higher class of opera
tivcs, I saw many cases which had not
come before the Relief Committee at
all, where people were pinching and
screwing in every way, suffering the
seyerest privations to exc out few shil-
lings earned by oae Of the members of
the family, rather than sacrifice their
pride Of independence"
While industrious labor is starving
in England, in this country, we are
suffering more from the want OF that
labor, than from the war. But owing
to the foul and misrepresentation Of
this country by the London Times and
kindred sheets, those poor men will re-
main there and starve with their tami-
lies, rather than come to this land OF
plenty and prosperity.