The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-12-28

his female slaves. l'.
Horrible Us this statement Is, ! find /
fully corroborated by the Rev. Mr.. Fry
who declared, at meeting Of the Western
Association OF Baptists, in 1876. that III
found in moral England heathenism OF thu
worst description. He described q village
near Taunton, where on q miserable bee
lay O poor old sick woman, with a bat
hung over her head to keep the dropping
OF the roof from falling upon her. In the
same place was her daughter, with severa
Legitimate children by her own brother
an tour OF mine among agricultural 10
n borers, ! found frequent similar cases
The landowners" he went on, "had re-
duced the people to this state by their ra'
pacity and greed; and the State Church
clergy have .complacently watched the
progress OF incest and squalidity without
demonstrating with the men who are caus.
ing it, A reference to the Blue Books
prepared some time ago upon the employ
ment OF women and children shows con-
clusively that the Church-of-England cler.
gy possess full knowledge OF this moral
rottenness, because her Majesty's Com
missioners chiefly relied upon the infor.
nation OF the clergy, who even went
around with these gentlemen, and showed
thorough acquaintance with the awful
state OF their parishes. 1
The Russian peasant has generally been
looked upon as only one grade above the
Chinese; but am inclined TO think his
lot Is 4 more enviable one than that OF his
English brother. The London Globe late
ly reprinted some interesting statistics,
published at st. Petersburgh, showing the
price OF labor in Russiasthis summer. AT
Sembirsk, the pay OF u peasant has been
from I'd to Is 0 day by himself, or iFom Is
I'D to 2s Cd with his horse. The services
OF his wife and daughter have been esti-
mated at from SD to I'd. In yiatka, where
the famine has ragged, II has been impossi,
BILE TO obtain man and his beast at Is 3D.
day, and himself for ID, while 2ld has
been the average wages for his wife. In
South Russia labor has been dearer. The
peasants Of Ekaterinoslav have demanded
Is Sd TO Is BdR day without tho use OF
their horse, and at Odessa q. This seems
wretched remuneration for physical H.
Dor, but living in Russia is exceedingly
cheap, which is not the case in England;
and, in most instances, thpre arc sundry
concessions, in the shape Of cheap pastur-
age and the right to gather fuel in the for.
ests, which make up In measure the de-
ficiency.
No such concessions are granted the
British peasant. Then the Russian mou.
jik is not, like the English laborer, de.
pendant on the farmer for bread. Every
moujik in the Empire owns from FIVE to
fifty acres OF ground; he Is invariably the
possessor OF several COWS and horses;
and altogether, says the Globe truth
fully, his position compares favorably with
that Of many needy farmers in England.
Except in certain out-oi.the.way provinces,
like Viatka, he has always sufficient rye
in his barns to keep the wolf from the
door, and this, with buckwheat and
,nillet, forms the staple OF food. sIIuxuries
in tho shape OF chickens may be had in
the villages in Central Russia-Tamboff,
Toula, etc.-at I'd each; here they cost Is
Cd. There eggs can I've bought for Cd
q hundred; here the lsborer will
pay Is o dozen. There the moujik will
consider watermelons dear II they cost
him more than iarthing, and sheep can
be often had for u shilling; here the labor
er scarcely knows what watermelon is,
and, II he ever thought Of buying Q sheep,
1t would cost him fa or e. II the Rus
slams COWS die, he can replace them at lbs
apiece, and he can purchase the best horse
| in the market for 81. II the widest dreams
OF the English laborer ever went SO fur as
the possession OF q COW. or q horse, he
would require TO have In his pocket at
least eco for the former and as much for
the latter. The Russian laborer's living Is
not luxurious, but he has plenty OF food,
coarse though il be; while the English
moujik in many cases crawls through eS.
istence In solnI.starved condition.
But the farm laborers are not the only
sufferers in the present case. The tenant
FARMERS have much to complain oil. The
present difficulty has struck at quarters
never before affected, and the farmer says
rents must be lowered or wages must fall.
He says he cannot pay the present rentals
arranged whom meat was dds quarter
now that II has fallen to 3Ss. The baker
says he cannot sell bread cheap because
be gave such high prices during the late
war, and he must now make 1t up. Their
the laborer comes 10 tho ground between
tho two utoolsi and the poor farmer II moi
better Of, because he Is called upon L
pay his old rent. Everything else rise'
price OF land never does. Land in Kent
on an average, is worth clQ0 per acre, tax
ing tho fertile and the barren. To ar
American there Is no reason for tholfanoy
prices; but 30 curiously has been mixed VI
tho possession OF land with the possession
OF political power and social prestige tina
It has obtained q fabulous value through
"genteel" people who cannotafford to buy
but who hope to get into country society
by becoming gentlemen farmers; and thu
the real farmer has 10 pay an artificial rat,
OF rental, which he can only do by screw
: ing down his laborersswa purlngth
last year or two, hlG chief difficulties hay
p been the enormous quantity Of cheap eorl
! and the large quantities Of beef coming In
, to the country. Qfcourse, on the othe
, hand, he has had the benefit OF the I'm
ports OF cheap feeding SUITS and feHilizin
agencies.
Another drawback to the farmer Is tn
fact that he Is tied down by ancient cove
nant rs to the way In which he shall cnl
; tivate his land, lie Is not allowed to max
the most OF everything. he must SOW, 10
example, wheat this year, barley the next
| rye the year after, and-so-forth. Although
: his fields may be overrun with rabbits
! and his crops are being destroyed ppde
his nose, hs dare not, with few exceptions
lit gun. He cannot sell his straw, o
i. hay, or roots, but must feed It all hiusel
r and return II TO the soil. These arc
"A YEw OF THE PAaNEns' GRIEVANCES.
Some OF the tenants Of the Duke Q
T Newcastle, ] see, have refused 70 reneN
Q their holdings, and tho Duke will thus b
9 lower rents than no has hitherto done
S The Duke-who, by the way, was nc
" long ago q bankrupt, and was sold of 10