Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-01-03

around him, and vet not be able 10 lay
his hands upon is' | yentured.
Eyes, said my informant, I'll is hard.
the starving process has gone or SO
long tina already it is producing re-
markable results. For instance. We can
no longer get soldiers from the agricul-
mral counties in England, because the
physique of the people has So deterior-
ated that it is not even equal III muscle
e that Of lads in towns, from whom we
take our recruits"
Il have heard 4 good deal about the
intellectual and moral degradation of
the English laborer,' went on. What
can you say upon the suhject2'
The low intelligence OF the pros ant
generation is not to be wondered ut, but
the next generation, owing to lie Conn
pulsory Education bill. will he far differ
ent; and | think, as soon is education
among agrieulturists becomes the rule,
We shall have II succession of aglta-
tions which will completely upset old
land laws. As TO morality, it is low
enough III some districts. 1t is not an
uncommon vice in villages, where
sleeping accommodation is SO deficient,
that whole families, Of NIL ages and both
sexes, huddle together III one room.
Some two or three years ago, il case was
reported respecting Il young woman
who had three children. the paternity
Of whom was uncertain, as she had nj
ways lain with Ter father and brother.
Not long ago, an inquest was held at
Stagursey, Bridgewater, upon nm old
farm-iaborer whose daughter had borne
him four children. They had lain upon
fearn and seaweed covered with mat
ting,-the children running about naked
IN summer, and covered with an old
sack i'll winter. This, of course, is not
general, but it is not uncommon; and
you can scarcely expect Il much higher
morality IN some places, where farmer
and farmers sons treat the daughters of
the ftrm-laborers pretty much rs many
a dissolute slave-owner used to treat his
female slaves.
Horrible rs TINS statement is, find it
fully corroborated by the Rev Mr.. Fry,
who declared, alta meeting Of the West
ern Association Of Baptists, in 1876,
that he found in moral England hea-
thenism of the worst description. He
described Il village near Taunton where
on il miserable bed lay a poor old sick
woman, with bag hung over her head
to keep the droppings of the roof from
falling upon her. In the same place
was her daughter, with several illegti-
mate children by her own brother. On i
tour of mine among agricultural laborers
| found frequent similar cases. The
he went on, chad re-
duced the people to this state BY their
rapacity and greed; and the state
church clergy have complacently watch
ed the progress of incest and squalidty
without demonstrating with the men
who are causing it, "A reference to
the Blue Books prepared some time
ago upon the employment of women
and children shows conclusively that
the church-of- England clergy possess Il
full knowledge of this mortal rotten
ness, because her Majesty's commits
sioners chiefly relied upon the informa-
ton of the clergy, who even went
around with these gentlemen and
showed a thorough acquaintance with
the awful state of their parishes.
The Russian peasant has generally
been looked upon as only one grade
above the Chinese but | am inclined
to think his lot is n more enviable one
than that of his English brother. The
London Globe lately reprinted some i'll
teresting statistics, published ut St.
Petersburg, showing the price Of labor
in Russia this summer. AT Sembirsk,
the pay of a peasant has been from "a
to l. a day by himself, or from Is Al
to p gu with his horse The ser.
vices Of his wife and daughter have
been estimated at from 34d to "a. In
Niatka. where the famine has ragged,
il has been possible to obtain man and
his beast ut l. Sd 4 day, and himself for
I'd, while 21d has been the average
wages for his wife. In South Russia.
labor has been dearer. The peasants
Of Ekaterinoslay, have demanded j. 81
to Is Cd a day without the use Of their
horse, and ut Odessa IS. This seems Il
wretched remuneration for physical
labor, but living IN Russia il exceeding
~ cheap, which is not the case IN Eng
land; and, i'll most instances, there are
sundry concessions, in the shape of
cheap pasturage and the right to gather
fuel in the forests, which make up in a
measure the deficiency. No such con
cessions are granted the British peas
ant. Then the Russian moujik is
not, like the English laborer, dependent
On the farmer for bread. Every mou-
ik in the Empire owns from five to
fifty acres of ground; he is invariably
The possessor of several cows and horses;
md altogether, says the GloJe truthfully,
his position compares favorably with
hat Of many needy farmers III England
Except in certain aut-ot.the-way prov
noes, like Niatka, he has always sufli-
cent rye in his barns to keep the wolf
rom the door," and this, with buck
wheat and millet, forms the staple of bis
food. Luxuries in the shape of chick
Ems may be had in the villages in Central
Russia-Tambof, Toula, etc at 81
each; here they cost Is 81, There eggs
can be bought for Ga hundred here the
aborer will pay 3 dozen There the
moujik will consider Watermelons dear
# they cost him more than farthing
and sheep can be often had for shil-