The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-20

above them, One-seventh OF her population |
was composed Of yeomanry. These were smajl |
landed prOprietors, and the number OF heads
OF families among them was about 100, 600. |
IL was OF these that the bulk Of the colonial |
immigrants was composed. On their small |
farms they produced immense quantities OF
fruit butter, cheese, eggs, honey, and vege
tables; and when they came to America they
engaged in the same outstanding. When they
left England wealthy men bought their lani,
and added it to their estates the orchards died
OF neglect and old age, their cheerful cottages
sank in ruins, which are now marked by
heaps of stones, ard the hedges of the small
fields gradually were cut down, leaving wide
prospects where before were neat streets with
frequent houses, or hamlets often arising to
the dignity of villages. Goldsmiths "De-
serted Village" was an English, not an
Irish picture. Naturally, the yeOmaury
could have no successors, and we need no
longer be surprised that immigrants from Eng
land have ceased to be of the superior class
who were capable of laying the foundation OF
liberty in America. The accumulation OF great
wealth commenced with the acquisition of
large landed estates and the disappearance Of
the yeomanry, and now the whole number OF
landed proprietors does not exceed l6O, 600.
AS consequence, the agricultural system has
changed. The farmer, having ceased to be
proprietor, pays rent, working many acres,
and employs day laborers. AS general
thing he does not himself labor, and he aspires
to the title of gentleman farmer" 1t is said
that with the new system farming has i'm
proved but this can have reference only to
grass and roots, and in particular to improved
herds of animals which improvement has,
without doubt, been at the expense OF the
laboTing people. That the varied style OF
farming no longer exists would be natural to
conclude, and it is evident from the fact that
in the year 1866 nearly SIC, ,0OO,O 900 worth of
eggs were imported from France into England.
These results are attracting the attention OF
all thinking men, as we gather from the re-
ports of the discussions in the various farmers
clubs. The establishment of large farms, and
the deprving the laborer of an interest in the
soil, will have a similar effect elsewhere but it
is more marked in England because capital is
greater, and because capital is more exacting
the greater it becomes. First, is want OF
cottages. The dwellings OF the yeomanry
having finally disappeared, the landowners
have no desire to see them restored, and so
pressing is the need for comfortable roofs that,
generally, family which has house OF three
rooms will take lodger. The Marquis Of
Lothian, in rebuilding cottages on his estates in
Norfolk, made it condition with his tenants
that they should take no dodgers. On one
occasion, Sir William Bagge proposed that no
cottage should be built with fewer than three
TOOulS, III OrueT JudJ utC6uOy IniBub 10 pre-
served, particularly between the sexes, thus
giving one room for a cooking and a sleeping
apartment for the man and his wife, one tor
his girls and one for his boys; but Lord
Leicester thought it would be necessary to
have policeman at the door to prevent the
family from taking dodgers. As consequence
of this distressed condition, laborers are
crowded into towns and wretched hamlets, or
into decayed and uncomfortable ruins of cot
md If hot haU n
seems to be an exception, for among the reme-
dies proposed garden grounds are recon-
mended.
Growing out of the large farm system of
breeding shOrt-hOrned cattle and mutton-s sheep
are gangs of agricultural laborers, composed
in part of women and children, and in which
the seXes are mixed, Gas if, - to use the words
of one, 'they were put in sack and shaken
together" So manifestly brutalizing has the
gang system become that Parliament has been
forced to legislate on the subject, and an act,
we think, was passed, to take effect next
season, which, among other provisions, limits
the ages at which children and girls shall en-
gage in farm-labor. In the reports of the
Club meetings we have full discussions
responsive to this legislative action. Among
other subjects education came up. We
learn that instruction has been going on
several years, and they hope it has done
some good. Still, it was the opinion
be educated, leaving the majority to be hewers
of wood and drawers of water, for they never
could be more. To force a public system Of
education was objected to, for fear of further
differences on religious subjects. AS to pre-
venting young children from being put to
work, and as to discOuraging women from
being fed-laborers, the remark was made that
the law makers should be very careful how
they interfered with the means by which the
poor man earned his bread. One sal that in
Marsbland the most prOvident fathers and
affectiOnate mothers sent out their children,
under proper regulations, and there, also, the
best women worked in the field; and the
speaker added that he s'wished his own wife
would go if she could help fill the purse" The
proposed laws were made by men who did not
understand the case. The Prince Consort had
said-"YOu must be very careful how you
touch the poor mans loaf"
Other speakers and farmers declared the
law disgraceful. If girl was not permitted
to 60 into the field before she was thirteen,
| she ought not to 60 at all. There were many
kinds of work in which children from eight
| to ten would swell the pittance of their
| fathers wages OF 12s and l3s ($3 to So 25) a
week. Did Parliament mean to teach that
with this average wages a man is to support
| from four to eight children, when such chill
| dren could pull out asmany weeds as their
mother could Parents ought to be permit
| ted to place their children as they please, but
the Legislature said No. One wanted to know
if the country would make up the deficit to
the parents, and another said that children at
this tender age, while earning monty, were
less likely to do i'll than those at fifteen and
sixteen. Then the supply of cottages seems
| dltnCult to solve. for thu houses built fOr all