Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-01-01

Severity of the Distress Among the
Working People.-How the Agricultur-
Y al 'Laborers Manage to Exc Ont n
Miserable Existence. 30" m"1' "'"''
| Correspondence of Chicago Tribune.
As winter advances, the, British labor
market becomes more troubled, and
the distress among the working people
assumes q severity unknown in years.
| 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
lShetfieldcis. almost unparalleled. Thou
sands are, It is said, living in houses
stripped of furniture, without fire, and
are dependento of the generosity Of their
neighbours. SO it is in Birmingham.
Leeds, Manchester, and other manu-
featuring centres, and the suffering is so
unusually bad that siteis expected extra
ordinary 10 easllres looking to relief
will be Immediately taken by parlia,
nlent ...H" ~
Among the. contests, now going ON is
! that between the agricultural latorers
of Kent, and Sussex and their employ
ers. Your correspondent visited q 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 intoa 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-farme r
and landlord is to reduce the laborers'
wages from Is cd per day (62 cents to
g. This Is per day does not mean Us
per week, but Is per day when they
eau work. [ will put one wet day q
week as a moderate estimate, and the
week. y 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 a large family;
butt 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 90 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 Is or IL years of age. In former
times it was entirely different The
agrlculturist's wages were always small :;
but, as soon as his children could walk
around. they began to earnrtheir 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 live, they merely exist
Poets, have sung-~and niora!ists senti-
| mentaHy sdescanted upon the British
peasant; but strip him of MS romance,
land look: at him truthfully and soberly,
and he presents melancholy spec.
tacle. 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 iusufficiency 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
lsentirely preclude him from breaking
through the bonds which hold him. He
| is a drudge; his life is 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 intellec-
tual and social, which the custom oil
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 fail
statement. Take family composed O.
the laborer himself, his wife, and -four
children people. The heapes
cottage he can get costs him Is Sd pei
week. Allow sd for fuel; Cd, for cloth
ing; school-fees for three children, %
each, which they are compelled to pay
Sd for boots; and the family are left
with 9s per week to buy food, which
gives five cents day to each. BRITISH
paupars are allowed 10 cents day tC
each. Butcher-meat is far dearer thar
in the states. Mutton. is % cents pei
pound, and beef is about Is
cents. Butter, tea, sugar, coffee
are quite as high as III
America. Fruit is more expensive; sc
is flour; and the common qualities Of
clothing are not to 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. a., fsa'
How do they live at ali? one would
naturally ask. I put the question to a
resident Of Kent the other day, and he
gave me a few points, which upon in
vestigation were fully corroborated.
Well, sir" said he, "they have a
hard struggle to make ends meet" r.
:. !" But what do they live on?' asked