The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-06-24
WORK AND WAGES.

1t is only by observing the results of
steady industry, both on the man who
works and on the surface he cultivates,
that we can realize the blessing of labor.
To plod through long grassy row and
back again to follow the weary step
ping horses when a bunch of froth
stands under the breast-strap, and the
plow grows heavy every round; to roll
a heavy swathe, tipping the blade to
clear it, from daylight till the dinner
horn blows; to turn the bit, swing the
adze, or lift the sheathing boards; to
stand by the lathe, to drive and fasten
riyets while the tail-drops run down
faces and arms grimy with coal dust
all this is not amusement. He who does
it cannc< forget the divine declaration
that bread shall be earned by the sweat
of the brow. But requited laboris in no
sense q curse, but a blessing. Farm
workers, and especially country youth,
are apt to chafe in the harness and build
air-castles, to dream of grand successes
on Wall street, of the splendor of the
merchant prince, the charms of Broad
way, the fame and power of the strong
writer or the able speaker. A hundred
times and in hundred ways we have
urged these FESTIVE lads to remain in the
broad, wholesome, abundant country,
and to give their ambition wholly ru-
raj turn. To-day, while the horses are
champing their nOon-tide meal, we ask
their attention to a few statements
CLEANED from English papers relative to
the condition and pay Of farm laborers
in other lands, officially obtained by the
consular agents of Great Britain, and
first published by the English govern
ment.
In Austria, in 1867, the average wages
of the farm laborer was S25 year. The
Dutch labOrer rarely tastes meat, and
seldom gets as much as % cents a day.
The Paris workman never has grand
children yet there is q constant influx
of boys from the country willing to ex-
change slow death in the city for slow
life in the fields. In Prussia, the wages
of the farm laborer by the year are SO
to $15, with board. His food consists of
peas, porridge, potatoes, sour milk and
vegetables. Meat he gets on holidays,
and occasionally of Sunday. In SAKE
Coburg, the male day laborer, who lives
in the house and is fed, receives from
$50 to $40 year; woman farm work
er, from SIS to $50. A few have a hut
and ground enough to grow potatoes
for pig. In Denmark, the laborer re-
ceives from S1.75 to 1925 week, works
thirteen hours day, and supports him
self. If the employer feeds him the
wages may run from 40 cents to 81 a
week. In Belgium the day laborer
earns about 20 cents q day, and pays a
days work for the weekly rental of his
cottage. If fed by the employer, he ex-
poets nothing but sour milk, boiled po-
tatoes, and rye bread. In Portugal a
woman works all day for eight cents,
living on greens, onions, rice, and chest
nuts. In Westphalia wages arc high
and living sumptuous. The laborers get
meat once day, two cups of lager beer,
and coffee at breakfast. Beside his $50
| a year, the man a pair of boots and three
shirts. A woman's wages are S20a year,
pair of shoes, and cloth for three
| chemises. In other German States the
laborer is paid in kind or in money ;
that is, he can have So or a quarter of
an OK ; he may take half lean pig in
| lieu of So, and choose between 81 or his
| herrings, his salt and his pot money for
| year. In Prussia there are two mill
lion of men who work and live i'll this
way. In the whole of Europe there are
thirty or forty millions in just this con-
dition.
Contrast with pictures so gloomy and
hopeless the following official English
opinion as to the prosperity of Ameri-
can workingmen, from the Mark Lane
Express:
Gin the United States there appears to
be great want of agricultural hands,
and men having wives and families are
preferred by the proprietors. In the
Southern States there are many hum
dreds of acres of cotton plantations un-
cultivated from this cause. Since the
termination of the war the cost of all
provisions has increased in a greater
ratio than the value of labor. The Ia
boring classes usually are well lodged,
more particularly in the rural districts,
where they, as rule, inhabit small
wooden houses, which are admirably
adapted to the climate, consisting of
four or five bedrooms, and small plot
of land attached. Most of the severer
descriptions of toilare executed by for
eigners, the railways and canals having
been nearly wholly the work of the
Irish. The original American race have
in consequence of this constant influx
from abroad come to disregard all but
the higher occupations of the mind.
The working classes are more highly
esteemed in the United States than any
where, so much that few return for per-
manent residence in their own conn
| tries"