New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-08-06
THE RURALLIFE OF ENGLAND
By CAPTAIN MAYNE REID.
XIX.
TUE SPORTS OF THE PEOPLE.

axrin
.nds aristocracy devote this letter TO those more
-.ou,;aT 70 her common people-if sports they can
- ia to have Certes, the list is not long one !;
nd "a regards the lowest or laborng classes, well
I'll non-existent With them ii IS literally all
xoYk and no play the time they are occupied az
the former leaving them little or none for induig
ing in the latter. man who has been toilng iroin
G a. m. till D. m. with possibly couple OF mics
walk to and from his work. is neither in the humor
nor condition to enjoy sport-especlaliy IL II oe VI
the outdoor kind, and calling for physical eXeruoh'
And as his toll extends to at least 3Oo Gays III
the year-more the pity for HIM IL III 90 ho'-'
may be inferred that his opportunities OF iecrea.oh
are tew 1t would be his misfortune were they
numerous for if idle beyond the hity-two sundays
.nd some five or six holidays allowed him, be
would have the wolf drawing up to his door. WIN
him a suspension of work means stoppage of paw
and unemployment for only one day in the week
would reduce his hebdomadal wage of twelve shlll-
,nes to ten with consequent and per contra increase
of bis difficulty in making ends meet.
In one of my earlier letters, relating TO the farm
laborer stated his weekly wage to be scant tWeiVe
shillings, when employed permanently OF by INC
year As my statement has been called IN uues'lo"
by several English newspapers devoted 10 'no
farming nterest,-The Mark Lane hIpreSS AZ 'ne'i
head may here be permitted to interpoiate PROOF
of Its correctness. They who questioned IL Meio
mostly farmers who. by strange misconceptions
supposed my statistics to reflect adversely upou
tbemselves. though said that they had nothing to
no with the lowness of labor PRONUNCIATION ioi
the most part writing anonymously anu leo ny
tbe aMap of Mark Lane,' their line of argument
consisted solely of allegations tending TO show that
tbee are exceptional cases of skilled laborers, VINO
nv hook and by crook contrlve to earn something
mora than twelve shillings week. TO this same
time sang they all, in exalted chorus merely
affirming what myself admitted, as everyone VINO
has read my letter must know. some Oh them
have set forth tables of labor statistics, ludlcrousy
incorrect to which l have given reJonuer anu
rebuttal Luckily for these farmers, their laborers
cannot scribbe letters to the newspapers; II they
could the public would be told very different taie
The correspondence this subject is 100 long lor
nnbhcatlon in THE TRIBUNE; but by good fortune
can substantlate my statements without tnat
Az il chances. an eminent Queens Counsel and
C,onntv Court Judge-B. T. Williams, esq-has just
written letter to The London Times; which, though
Relating to "a different question, incidentally more
than confirms me- His special purpose was to point
ont the ininuity of imprisonment for debt; which
the outside world believes to have been long ago
abolished in England. Theoretically II is co. out
practically the punishment still exists-very prac-
t,cally. as will be seen by the extracts from Mr..
Wiiliamss letter which lay before your readers
He says:
One-half of the world has no notion how the
other half fares In the midst OF our national
prosperity there is suffering that hnds no express
sion in Parliament the Press. return called
Mir Norwood's return, has Just been issued, Whlch
tells story of domestic disaster III many huioio
home 1t appears from this return that III the year
1881 there we're sent to jail, by the county court
Judges of England and Wales 5,444 persons for
bon-payment OF debts. Those VINO have any
fnoW LEDGE of the working populations of this
rountry-OI their precarious employment and NODE
of lie, and of their large famlllesImay appreciate
To some extent the suffering which the lnprlson-
iment Of SO many bread-wlnners must nave caused
In their ranks. " He threatened, sir" said good
woman in my presence recently, TO send my nus
hand tn Jail but | thought that too dreadful Tor
anyone to do, for what would then have become OF
me and my seven young children, al aependeie
Somewhat tainted with crime still fingers III the
minds of many. Ii may be taken that nearly all
persons summoned have no visible iioper'y Una, tnae
no means of support except their wages Whlch are
often precarious and uncertain even IN tne most
busy districts We often hear of high wages III
mining and manu- featuring. districts, ana they are
sometimes undoubtedly high. But advances III
wages are often sudden ana SNORT, anu arg " oe so'
of against long seasons of depression ana poverty
An Obseryant workingman, who had long llveu III
4 thriving colliery district, recently told me thst
his estimate was that, with bad times SICKNESS ac
c;Jents and strikes no working collier made,
through his term OF capacity lot work, more tnan
Ten shillings week for the support OIL himself and
TO the lives of their poor nelghDOrs IL Is no
inauguration 10 say that III some districts the
chains OF an actual siavery are debt nnder The
pretence of conunacy TO the court sun e1sls iOr
the working classes, and substantially only lot
them Ii is said that the working classes nave
the benefit of credit given them, because their cred
Sfors have the power of taking proceedings 10 seno
them to jail. But II is credit Tor which enormous
interest is paid III time and money, and credit
that brings al last hopeless trouble ana slavery 10
ali who receive it, 1t is also to be remembered mat
fha hVa.1 rvfp nQrC N a m
5ies and that their imprisonment not only results
6u their becoming themselves burdens on the
public but also in throwing their wives anu chluIen
fnon the rates and public charity. Their clothes
and goods are sold for immediate necessares. they
are obliged to incur new debts, and when the
workers come out OF jail, before they can again
male anv efforts to retrieve the misfortnnes OF
the mast they are haraSsed with new orders ana
commitments. The evil is increasing, and some
day a remedy must be found for 1t.
Tn thus largely extracting from this remarkable
tetter I need not remind the American reader that
in England county court judge is a man whose
words are of weight, and not likely to he spoken
either loosely or thoughtlessly Nor need point
mt that the wages of the workngmen MIR.
Williams refers to-those Of the mining and manu-
featuring districts-are always higher than what
farm laborers receive; their work being harder 10
say nothing If the risk of life IT, then the former
get only ten shillings week. surely my statement
of the latter receiving only twelve shilngs is con-
firmed, fOrtori.
Returning to the sports Of England's people, !
repeat that the list is not long one; and still
shorter if by the people is meant the masses of her
workingmen- the trne proletariat. But taking it to
inelnde the lower iddle classes, the number OF
their recreative games and pastures is still exceed
ingly limited as also the number of those who take
part in them.
Cricket stands at their head, and is regarded as O
national game almost every parish or village hav-
ing it's cricket club. Still. Notwithstanding the
noise made about it, it is not played by any consd-