Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-05-28
TUESDAY. MAY rs. Is.2.



When serfdom was abolished in England, the
freed serfs were not allowed right TO any por-
non Of the land on which they lived and worked.
They were left to provide for themselves without
being furnished with means for doing So This
complete poverty combined with the condition
of ignorance and barbarism in which they had
been held from time immemoral, necessarily
determined their destiny. They remained serls
in fact if not in name, obliged to accept what
ever their employers saw fit TO give them, aud
doomed to sharper fight against starvation
than they had ever known before. In this way
it has come to pass, that very large portion Of
the people, in all the English counties, are igno-
rant and semi-barbArous, and live constantyion
the borders Of starvation, practically the serfs OF
the English farmers who pay them very little
for their labor. The English farms are eener
ally very large, and have on them the huts anC
novels of the ''farm laborers," just as southern
plantations had on them huts aud novels for The
slaves
We have statement of the condition OF farm
laborers in Hertfordshire, in which such cases as
this are by no means the worst, bar, rather among
the best: laborer with wife and seven chill
dren, the oldest child nine years of age, is paid
thirteen shillings week, when employed. Out
of this, he must pay rent for the howell he lives
in, support himself, and provide for his family
1t does not require uncommon mental bright
ness to understand the condition of such fam
lilies. 10 some Of the districts, there are more
laborers than the work requires, which enables
employers to reduce wages to the lowest point
,
1t is stated that in one county where there were
too many labOrers for the work, thoughtful
elerg lyman Of the established church devised
plan for removing some of them TO another
place where they would have better opporlnni-
ties for employment. He confidently expected
that the gentlemen and well to do farmers would
aid him; but they denounced his scheme, ac-
cused him of improper interference between rich
and poor, and his aim was defeated. The few
who own the land or get handsome incomes
from the profit Of farms, oppose any change in
the condition of laborers, and maintain especial
ly that education would spoil them.
The recent strike OF farm labJrers, in War
wickshire, is an occurrence Of much more i'm
portance than many people suppose, who have
heard Of it only in telegra2hic dispatches. If
this class of the English working people are ris-
ing to demand better pay, the very foundations
of social oppression in England will be shaken
The farm laborers are more ignorant than any
other class, and less capable of effective organi-
cation than any other. When they combine to
demand just pay for their work, the system of
injustice which has So long regulated the social
organization Of England, must give away. The
movement in Warwckshire has already called
attention to the wretched condition of agrcul-
tural laborers, and it will now be discussed By
men capable of discussing it with effect The
gentry who own the lands must lower their
rents, and those who pay the rents and aim to be
gentry themselves, must be content with smaller
incomes, in order that the men who work for
wages may be justly paid and rise to a better
condition. This English serfdom must be
abolished in fact as well as in name, and, either
willingly or otherwise, the dominant classes
in England must submit to the social recon-
structon which this implies.
In Russia, the abolition of serfdom has been
done more wisely than it was done in England.
The emperor deereed that the freed serfs should
have land. He deter mined that they should
not be dlspOsscssed and made utterly destitute
His decree, not only gave them freedom, but,
also, made them land owners. They can work
for wages or cultivate their own land or do both
Ia this case, the abolition of serflom was real;
consequently, it can not establish and perpetu
ate in Russia, miserable, dependent, starved
class, like that found everywhere in England
The emancipated serfs have been furnished witi
means for providing for themselves and making
their way il the world. The English would now
be much less aristOcratic, but, at the same
time, much greater people, if the same thing
had been done in that country. England is an
enlightened MARION, but there are MANY of her
people who have never felt any gracious nfu.
enee Of this enlightenment, and who never
would feel it, il tiose who profit and flourish by
treating them as serfs, could regulate thought
and control the future. But the world moves,
and the social revolution so much needed in
England, will be realized.