The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-10-04
Joseph Arch.
An Honest Blunt, and Brave English Laborer
sketch of His Iiic-Why he Visits

Joseph Arch an English laborer, a ma
t. honest, blunt and brave, is in America ii
is poor man His face bears the scars G
Y the smallpox scourgc. The man with III
dinncr.pail who passes your door early ever
morning dresses as well as Joseph Arch. IL
| morrow, tins poor Englishman, with ncithe
c wealth, beauty, nor high birth to Commcn
. him, will dine with Lord Duiterin, Goycno'
q General Of the Canadian Dominion.
I Joseph Arch, the poor and plain BroH
whose fortune could be trcDlcd in Il SO note
I excrts a political influence in England at thi
, hour that bids fair to rcyoutionizc the govern
mcnt of that country. The laboriug men o
T England have unbounded faith in him. The
t call him "Our man-Our Joe" Himself ,
hardfsted bread winner, whose home is tn,
low matched cottage in which he was born
/ HE comes to America, at the bidding Of hi
r fcllowlaborers, in search of the land Of prom
Use where labor is no longer sertdom. JOSEPH
Arch has just finished telling your reporter
the story of his life, and this is his hOmcly
sketch
JOSEPH ARCH, LABORER.
"My farther was workingman, and the
summer when | was nine saw me at service
soaring the crows from the grain fields
used TO mind the birds till the wheat gotup
and then, at harvest I'd help the wagner
home. | fancy | was not very clever as a
young 'un, but the years went by, and one
day it was Joey Arch the plow boy. Then
drove tidy team and began to think myself
bit o. aman worked from light till dark
Father was no scholar, and night times had
trile o. teachin' from my mother. In sum.
mer | harvested, and in winter helped the
shepherds, ran crrands, and growed up good,
for nothing like. When | was not quite one.
and.twenty found a good lass for wife
Mother was dead, and wife and made a good
home for father. My weekly wages was .
shillin's. A little girl was born, and then a
boy, but all | could earn was nine shillin'S.
Well, in time, with Goals, candles, medicine
and rent, the best could do was only little
better than starvation. Wife and | had Il
mighty hard time to keep together, and one
night she broke out: Joe, man, I'm tired o
this. We're starvin' the children and KILN
ourselves. don't blame you, man, but I'll
needs 90 back to service to earn the little |
can for you and the children | couldn't
stand this, and packed my tools and went to
look for higher wages. tried hedge drain
ing, and for many a month stood in water up
to my knees. Sickness came presently, and
wife children, and myself were down with
the smallpox. Aye, those were sad times
and finally, with face, as you see, that car
ries the scars, commenced the struggle once
more to keep the home together. That stTlg-
gle has never ended. To-day | haven't five
shillen' bit can call my own. am at work
tor the laborin' men of England, on the pay
of laborer and the shillins | receive 90 to
my family at home as so much weekly
wage.
"A simple agricultural aborer in England,
came to America to state some facts and
get at some truths. | am not speaker, but
have a true story that must be told to the
people of this country before | return.
should be glad to tell it in New York.
know little grammar; | shall make verbal
slips; but when the American people fully
understand the object of my mission, | be-
lieve they will hear me winh kindly patience.
In America you have no conception OF what
farm laborers have to endure. The Agricul.
tural Laborers' Union, of which am mem
Der, has succeeded in increasing the wages
some, but there are many districts where the
man of family tolls ten and twelve hours day
for 9 shillhgs per week. Through this Union
the labOrers are being brought into closcl
sympathy. The Union lads number 100000
and, for the first time in the history Of Eng
land, the laboring men are beginning 10 know
and understand one another. They are
realizing shat vital rights have been denied
them, and are learning how to effectively
unite in the struggle for a common freedom.
am told that the impression prevails in
America that the English farm-abOrer is not
oppressed. If | Ito not correct this Crrone
Gus view, | shall fail in one Of the main OBJ
jcCts OF my visit assert that the longing
of the farm. hand for Il home in the new world
grows out of the injustice of the rulers, and
am here to prove that assertion true. | am
here, in the teeth of the aristoCraCy OF Eng
land, to show that aristOcratiC legislation for
the laborer is crminally unjust | have al
little patch OF land down in NarwiCkshirc,-i
only an eighth of an aCrc,--that Is leased me
to farm. Wife and children grow the cab.
bages, and caulinower, and Brussels sprouts.
can't get to that little garden-spot without
passing the preserves of the gentry, and when
the rabbits and the hares destroy my garden,
have no redress II | kill the tourlegged
poachers, l am fined or sent to Jail. The en-
ployer can discharge the laborer at mo-
ment's notice, and the poor lad has no redress.
But If the ,laborer leaves his employer, he
can be summoned before the court and
obliged TO pay Il fine or suffer imprisonment.
The rural police have power to stop poor
man and search his pockets and, if the
insulted labOrer seeks redress, the officer
screens himself by declaring that the prisoner
was seen coming from preserve | can't go
Ia my home in Barford Warwickshirc, with
out coming from preserve as the land
Just out of the town is all sacred TO the squrCs
and the nobility"
Reporter "Parliamcnt proposes to give
the English laborer the ballot at the next
election. What will be the effect of such
franchiscE'
Mr. Arch The power which the lads will
exert with the ballot is uncertain as yet. Ill
is only since the Agricultural LaborcrS'
Union was formed that the farm hands knew
that they had a RICH, To organize for mutual
Improvement Our laborer has been only a
machine, and it is but yesterday that he has
been lead to hope for elevation into the free
dom OF manhood"
Reporter. is the desire for emigration
general among the English agricultural
| laborers>'
Mr. Arch. yes. As president of the
National Laborsrs' Union, | have interested
the member, in an emigration fund, To which
the lads contribute a shillin' or siXpcnCc, a.
they can afford. If man with a family
wants to go 10 America We first get the Ccrtih.