Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-01-03
ENGLAND.
Severity Of the Distress Among the
Working People.-How the Agricultur.
nj LabOreiS Manage to Eke Out Il
Miserable Existence.
Correspondence Of chicago Tribune.

market becomes more troubled, ana
The distress among the working people
assumes 4 severity unknown III years.
The staple topics of conversation are re-
ductlon i'll wages, strikes, lock-outs and
SuspenSionS,-not in one district, but
througout the country. The distress ut
Sheffield is almost unparalleled. Thou.
sands are, il is said, living in houses
stripped of furniture, without fire, and
are dependen. of the generosity Of their
neighbors. So it is in Birmingham.
Leeds, Manchester, and other manu-
featuring centres, and the suffering is so
unusually bad that it is expected extra
ordinary measures looking to relief
will be Immediately taken by parlia.
ment
Among the contests now going on is
that between the agricultural lakorers
Of Kent and Sussex and their employ
ers. Your correspondent visited il num-
Der Of the villages in these counties the
past week, and, from personal observa-
non and inquiry, will endeayor TO give
YOU an insight into the merits Of the
struggle. Some 5000 men. women, and
children are affected by the lockout,
and in many cases extreme restitution
exists.
The proposition Of the tenant-farmer
and landlord is to reduce the laborers'
wages from Is Cd per day (G2 centsl to
IS. This 8 per day does not mean 12s
per week, but . per day when they
eau work. | Will put one wet day Il
week rs II moderate estimate, and the
weekly wages are reduced to los. In
some cases, however, this sum is sup
0lemented by extras during certain por-
tons of the year, making up fair av-
erage throughout the twelve months of
lbs. Generally speaking, the English
agricultural laborer has large family;
but | will say that four children are the
outcome OF every marriage, six or
eight would be nearer the mark. OF
course, when these children grow up,
they can so into the fields certain por-
ton Of the day, and add to the family
revenue; but owing to the compulsory
educational bill, they cannot render
much substantial assistance until they
are Ii or II years of age. In former
times it was entirely different The
agriculturists wages were always small;
out, as soon rs his children could walk
around, they began to earn their living.
Therefore you will see that the head Of
the family, from beginning to end, must
nave an lncessant struggle. He and his
progeny do not ive,-they merely exist.
Poets have sung and moraists senti-
mentally descanted upon the British
peasant; but strip him of mis- romance,
- of FIJI Il,
and he presents u melancholy spec
tacle. He is merely beast Of burden.
His condition is little better than that
of a serf if indeed it is as good. He
grovels in poverty and Indebtedness,
often with an iusufliciency of food. And
scarcely is he able to dream Of any
more elevated state Of existence, for the
social forces by which he is beset almost
entirely preclude him from breaking
through the bonds which hold him. He
IS drudge; his life is Il life Of drudgery;
and, from his cradle to his grave, it
would be difficult to see where his exis-
tence could be illuminated by ray OF
prosperity or hope. At the lowest rung
of the ladder of labor, he is forced to re-
main in his thralldom, both intelec-
tual and social, which the custom of
ages has imposed upon his class.
At meeting Of farmers, the other
week, one Of them, said that in The
counties of Suffolk, Sussex, Kent, and
Norfolk, the wages the year round aver
aged l3s. Let lis say that this is a fair
statement. Take family composed Of
The laborer himself, his wife, and four
children.-six people. The cheapest
cottage he can get costs him 3 Sd per
week. Allow 81 for fuel; Cd for cloth
ing; school-feeS for three children, 81
each, which they are compelled to pay;
Sd for boots and the family are left
with y per week to buy food, which
gives five cents day to each. British
paupars are allowed 10 cents day to
each. Butcher-meat is far dearer than
in the states. Mutton is % cents per
pound, and beef is about 2S
cents. Butter, tea, sugar, coffee,
are quite as high MS in
America. Fruit is more expensive; so
is flour; and the common qualities Of
clothing are not to be bought for less
money than mt home. Attached to the
cottages are little plots of ground-that
connected with the dwelling rented for
about . Sd. being about fifteen feet
square-upon which small supply Of
garden stuff can be cultivated. Exter-
nally there generally the appearance
Of cleanliness, which is apt to lead one
to the belief that comfort and plenty
dwells within; but you have merely to
enter to be undeceived.
How do they live at all? one would
naturally ask. | put the question 70 4
resident Of Kent the other day, and he
gave me q few points, which upon in
vestigation We're fully corroborated.
Well, sir said he, "they have
aard struggle to make ends meet
But what do they live on?' asked.
Not tea or coffee, poached eggs or
broiled steaks. can tell you. Upon
the tables Of the reasonably prosperous
you VIII see butcher-meat once week
-on Sunday-rarely twice week"
And even then ii must be in small
quantities?
" Yes; man will 20 to the village
butcher on Saturday, and buy perhap.
= L. r. l..