Smyrna times., 1867-06-12
The English Gang System.

s,,1tSlI - IecelIt debate In Parliment on the "eano
SspJ p'1i u disclosed some frightfu facts with re-
in ~ VI 'nG lowest class of agricultural laborers
this 'fmIi fn H. Inc gang. system, in brief, is
Iii In the Fen districts, covering nearly =
mill ION acres of the richest land in En~aSSd EvJsS =
%n 1%u yi9g In Lincolnshire, HuntingdonsLire
SS"aEi9mridgeShlre, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk
no' %unoiA' ana IN parts Of the counties of North,
I ptoh' Bedford and Rutland. about seven
thousand children, from five wears of aon and
GGb3"aruS' besides persons of both sexesofrom
ii'och 10 eighteen years Of age-are emplovcd
sdn9S' numbering from fifteen to twenty
ooI:s. Ill each gang under u master, and in
# is uIIIeflhg from slavery only because
10 INFINITELY worse. The gang-master Is
almost an invariably dissolute man. who cannot
oo o SCeaay employment as laborer with anv
~ ooooIlU larnier In most Instances he actualIv
purchase purchases the labor Of the children from moor
p"lehtS he sells this labor to farmers. pavs tbn
Sans @hat he pleaSes, and puts the profit in
,l ii" PoIAeC' ~ For seven or eight months in the
S9dr 'nese gangs are driven, often seven or
1r6nI 9JO nilleS In a day, to farms where they |
I WIZ aC painting wedding, picking. stone
gatherIng and like labor, from half-past five in
ono morning to seven or eight o'clock in the
evening. The gang-master is paid by the dav
OF OF W the acre, and he pays the little children
In IN iTui pence to slxpence per day, while the
en etter IadS and girls receive from nine to
LLateGnpencG. The master, for driving his
ia nailGS ~ 10 the held, and for keeping them up
70 tnelr work, which he does with stick
hiakeS an estimated profit of a nound starIno
or thereabOuts a week. ~
A. mere Is testimony to show that hundreds of
the younger children are carried home in tho
arms OF the older lads every pight From
MoIIhhlhS breast high in wet grain MANY of tbn
M clil!Greh are crippled for life by rheumatism
"nle otlers contract the seeds of ague, pleurisy
anu consumption. Cases are given where little
SlrlS' Tour years old, have been driven throurh
.neie iohS terrible days Of work. The most
l'athGtlc siavedrIvlng fOrty-years ago. make Z
the British West Indies seem almost an
arcadia = In comparison to the Fen districts in
England to-day. '''' ~
IhlS exhibition, shocking as it is. is bv no
means the most frightfnl phase of the @,n,
SYSTEM The gangs are under no moral re-.
'Uraiht whatever. Ottcntimes at nights both
sexes are huddled together in barns. Clergy .
heh anu other respectable witnesses testified ,
~ 'ne commission OF inquiry that the gang
auorerS are beneath morals" They have !
40 CONSCIOUSNESS OF chastity, and do not know
NE meaning OF the word Their language and i
conduct are SO depraved that dozens of norish /
'lergymen, surgeons and respectable laboripg
'eoPle declared to the commission that the
of any gang labor in any VILLAGE
morality" F." II
we refrain from commenting upon the social t
el,tn oamIims ana condition OF the grownup people
iI::IHiillhS' Dy Dyahd-by, from SO many Of these
Ihldren, lads and girls, as survive the sick. sick $
he driving, the hard labor, the food which $
ourpence day will buy, and the diseases con. il
Tacted III the damp fields But, after reading b
ne report, We can appreciate the proprcty' W
hd almost courtesy, of the phrase which calls h
he great mass of the English laborers the ii
he lower classes, since there is still sub t.
tratum that reveals the lowest class conceiya- W
le IN IN Christian country-a class always cl
yelling far below the social surface. in dcrn II
ark pits, beyond the light Of even the com, Il
honest civilization.