The times., 1897-04-18

| work fort y-three weeks to procure what bis
| ancestor in 1895 earned in ten weeks, not
| taking into account the difference in hours,
| which were eleven in 1910 and eight in
| 1895. The agricultural lab0rer, after
being employed the whole year of 1910,
would fail in earning, by 24s. I'D, what
his ancestor earnedin 1495 in fifteen weeks.
| In 1884 the wages of an artisan work.
| ing the whole year were Els 13s, and
| of the agricultural laborer e1O Ss. sd.
| The cost of the supplies Which their an
cestors got in 1895 for ten and fifteen
! weeks labor, respectively, was e lis
| Cd.
In 1T25 the cost of the same supplies
referred to above was 916 2s 80. The
artisan working every day that year could
earn at most Els 13s. the best agrieUl-
| tural lahorer could earn ELS, and the
| others R13.
In 1867 Arthur Young stated that wages
| OF laborers in husbandry were 92O is al.
| for one year, and he remarked that this
sum fought nearly to exclude parish as
stance"
jefferson informs US that when he was
in Europe in 1853 the workman in Eng
land was employed sixteen hours a day.
| This must have been inclusive Of meals
| which took out two or two and one-half
| hours
In 495 family Of seven could earn
G24 los. in money at that time. family
| or seven in 1870 could earn Dut little more
| than twice that amount, when it ought
| to have earned seven and a half times as
| much: or, instead of receiving E51 ss, it
| should have received RIS3 15s. to have
! been as well off as the family OF 495
| In 1901 Arthur Young says that 1 Suf-
| folk laboIer could at some pre- eYiOus tine
/ not stated, but presumably some sixty
| years beforel have bought for IS. what
| would at that time have cost him 26s Sd,
and therefore as his wages and paris al
| lowaDce would at best have only given
| given him SIS, he was virtually pnt On d
| little more than half the scale Of earnings
| in the earlier period
| During the seventeenth century there was
a great rise1npriceS caused by the Increased
| production of gold and silver in the new
! world While this caused rise in the
! money value OF wages, there was no t-ctuaI
| rise, but d falling off in their purchasing
power, and the wOrkman's only source in
] making up what he lost in the decrease OF
| the purchasing power OF his wages was
| from the parish. The rise Of expenditure
under the poor law marks the degradation
| of the labOreI in the close OF the eighteenth
| and the beginning OF the nineteenth CEN
| tury. In 1875 the poor rate was 2 ,OO4, ,23S
pounds; in 1902 it was 4 1867 ,965 pounds,
and in 1913 it was S,640, ,s42 pounds.
Manufacturing had greatly increased
| toward the close of the eighteenth cen
| tury, buIit broughtIittIe reward to la
| borer. The introduction of new machinery
| gradually destroyed the EaDd- workers
| business, but il did not increase the wages
! OF those who atte nded the machines. The
| labor Of women and children began TO be
| utilized 10 an extent greater than ever be-
! fore known, but their wages were small,
| their hours unbearable, while there were
| large numbers Of men out of work or WORK.
| ing for unsatisfactory wages Trade unions
! began TO be formed for the protection OF
| their members. but these orga nizatiUas and
( the demands of the IaboTing class were re-
sisted by the employers to the extent OF
| their power, which was never greater
| than at tnat time They beat down wages
| below the scale fixed by the justices,
| Notwithstanding the efforts Of the work
men to have the legal scale enforced.
| They who had the law passed making i5
| incumbent upon the justices 10 fix the
| scale of wages, now refused to obey il,
| and when the wOrkmen combined in unions
| to compel the enforcement Of the lawful
| scale, and struck TO enforce their de-
/ ma nds, they were met by the passage CT
| the combinau0nlaws Of1799-1S00, making
| it a offense puui a ble with imprisonment
| TO combine FOR any purpose, no matter how
| laudable The employers were now appeal
/ ing to the doctrine or the freedom of indi-
viduaI contract after having for centuries
| denied such liberty.
The effect Of this long struggle is best
| told in the words of Prof. Rogers, in six
Centuries Of Work and Wages" page 4SS:
1T (EngIish labof1 was first inpOver-
| ished by the issue OF base money. NextIt
was robbed of its giid capital by the land
thieves OF Edwards regency 1t was
| next brought into contact with a new and
more needy set Of efnpIOyers-the sheep
masters, who succeeded the monks twas
| then with pTetence, and, perhaps with the
intention Of kindness. subjected To the
quarter sessions assessment, the agr-
| cultural labOler being still further impOv-
erishcd by being made the residuum Of all
labor. The agricultural labofer was still
| further mulcted by enclosures ana the
| extinction of those immemOTial rights
| OF pasture ana fuel he enjoyed 50 long.
/ The poor law prOfessed TO lind MIN work,
but was so administered that the reduction
of his wages to a hare subsistence became
an easy process and an economical expe-
| dent. When the monarchy was restored
| lis nplovers, who fixed lis wages by their
| own authority. relieved their own estates
| from their ancient dues at the expense
| of his poor Iuxuries 10y the excise. tied
/ MIN To the soil by the law Df settlement
i and starved him 10y prohibltive corn Jaw.
| The freedom of the few was bought Oy the
| servitude of the many. Throughout
the eighteenth century the most gnHgnt-
] ened men gave the poor their pity. Oc-
| casionany their patronage some times
would assist him at the expense Of other
/ workers; but beyond a bare subsistence
never imagined that they had any rights
| or remembered that they had suffered
wrongs The weight of taxation fell on
them in every direction and with searching
severity To crown the whole, the
| penalties Of felony and conspiracy We're
| denounced against all IabOrers who as
/ sociated together to better their lot by
| endeavoring to sell their labor in concert
while the desperation which poverty and
| misery induce, and the crime they suggest
| met by a code mole sangmnary than any
| which a civilized nation had ever eTeto-
| fore devised or a high-spIrited one SUBJ
| mitted to-
And in another place he said: 80 contend
that frocI 563 TO 1924 a conspiracy. con-
coetedb law and carriedout by parties in
L ss- ;.,N.4