Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1879-01-01
ENGLAND.
Severity of the Distress Amcng the
Working People. How the Agriculture
al LabOrers Manage to Exc Ont a
Miserable Existence.
Correspondence of Chicago Tribune.

Miserable Existence.
Correspondence of Chicago Tribune.
/ As winter advances, the British labo,
market becomes more troubled, and
the distress among the working people
| assumes Il severity unknown III wears
The staple topics of conversation are re.
duction in wages, strikes, lock-outs and
suspensions.--not in one district, but
Throughout the country. The distress at
sands are, ii 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 parla.
ment.
| Among the contests now going on is
! that between the agricultural akorers
of Kent and Sussex and their employ
ers. Your correspondent visited num-
Der of the villages in these counties the
past week, and, from personal observa-
ton and inquiry, will endeavor to give
/ you an insight into the merits of the
struggle. Some 5000 men, women, and
children are affected by the lockout,
and III many cases extreme destitution
exists.
! The proposition of the tenant-farmer
and landlord is to reduce the laborers'
wages from IS Cd per day I62 cents to
IS. This IS per day does not mean lbs
per week, but IS per day when they
cau work. | will put one wet day a
week as a moderate estimate, and the
weekly wages are reduced to los. In
some cases, however, this sum is sup
| plemented by extras during certain por-
tons of the year, making up fair av-
erage throughout the twelve months of
rs. 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 go 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 10 or II years of age. In former
times it was entirely different. The
agrlculturists wages were always small;
but, as soon as 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
have an lncessant struggle. He and his
progeny do not ve,-they merely exist
Poets have sung and moralists senti-
mentally descanted upon the British
peasant; but strip him of MS romance,
and look at him truthfuly and soberly,
and he presents Il melancholy spec
tace. He is merely beast Of burden.
His condition is little better than that
of serf, If indeed it is as good. He
grovels IN poverty and wretchedness -
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 life of drudgery;
and, from his cradle to his grave, it
would be difficult to see where his exis-
lence 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 inteliec-
tual and social, which the custom OF
ages has imposed upon his class.
At a 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 lbs. Let us say that this is a fan
statement. Take family composed Of
the laborer himself, his wife, and -four
children.-six people. The cheapest
cottage he can get costs him g Sd PEI
week. Allow Cd for fuel Cd for cloth.
ing; school-fees for three children, p
each, which they are compelled to pay
Sd for boots; and the family are left
with IS per week to buy food, which
gives five cents day to each. British
paupars are allowed 10 cents a day &c
each. Butcher-meat is far dearer thar
in the states. Mutton is % cents pei
| pound, and beef is about 2S
cents Butter, tea, sugar, coffee
are quite as high as IL
America. Fruit is more expensive; so
is flour; and the common qualities OIL
clothing are not 10 be bought for less
money than at home. Attached to the
cottages are little plots of ground-that
connected with the dwelling rented for
about IS Sd. being about fifteen feet
square-upon which small supply OF
garden stuff can be cultivated Exter-
nally there Is 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 al alR one would
n t11rn llv q Il ( amt n a question to a