The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17

onered al the rate OF wages which obtained befor,
the Black Death Refusal was punishable by
, imprisonment laborcrs demanding OF accept
ing higher wages. or lords offering them. wer,
10 be fined: workmen leaving their employ men
were TO be imprisoned. as were those who CAV,
aims TO able bodied bcggars. The statute applied
| not only 10 rcapers, threshers poug hmen. and
/ those engaged In agricultural operations strictly
sochlled, but also 10 carpenters Tiers, masons
plasterers, and other craftsmen whose labor was
, only distantly connected with agriculture. The
! law, however went further, and tried to restrain
the rise in prices, well as in wages, supula ting
that meat, beer, bread and fish were not 70 be sold
for excessive gain. The statute could not be
enforced, and in 1887 the fines were given 10 the
lords. TO encourage them 10 be active in imposing
them, while, in 1880 tho penalties were made far
! moro stringent Imprisonment was substituted
for fines, aud those who left their employ men,
were declared outlaws, and, II caught were 10 be
branded with i Tor their fasity." while towns
that sheltered them were fined ten pounds. II
Is this last statute that has Justly called forth
denunciations Of the brutality and selnshness
OF Parliament Of landowners But however
fcrocious the law became IL was not sufficiently
effective the temptation 10 break Il was TOD strong.
The rise In prices continued In spite Of all that
legislation could do. and, where prices rosc. the
laborer, Of course could not work at the old wage
diton by statute having resulted in nothing but
mutual evaporation, the landowners had to
think what should be tho noxt step Since la
borers were scarce. expensive and intractable
the best thing for the lords OF mnnors was to try
TO do without them, or at any ratio to employ as
few as possible Two plans offered q prospect
OF success. TO wit Sheep farming and letting
tho land on o new system known as tho stock
and-land lease" The latter cxpedient Is FIR ST
described by Mr. Warner. Letting land on lease
meant that the landowner shifted tho burden
OF dealing with labor 10 Intermediary. his
tenant The tenants position was a new one;
some tenants had paid rent before but gcner-
ally speaking these were quitronts, that 10 TO
say rents in lieu OF some service, which had been
committed or signifying some sort of dependence.
To the new tenants their rent represented pay
ment for the advantages they were to gain from
the use OF tho land; 1t was based on the land not
on services or dependence and thus the tenants
who took tho new leases were tho forcrunners
OF tho modern Intermediary between landlord
and laborer. namely. tho farmer But although
tho general character Of the tenant who took
stock andland Lease and the modern farmer is
the same, there is one important difference. Now
adays in England a farmer has to stock his farm
himself. all he gets from the landlord being the
land and buildings. II is the farmers business
tenant OF 1880 found only the last To supply
the labor was his solo business, and the landlord
was only too glad to be quit Of the trouble Of pro
curing IT, But as the new tenants were Ecner-
ally poor. and unable 10 stock farm themselves
the landlords provided everything needful TO set
the tenant up: in return the tenant paid a year
ly rent on his stock" as well as his rent
for the land, and, at the end Of his tenure
was bound to restore 10 tho lord an equivalent
OF what he had received, seed grain horses sheep
cattle and implements, either in actual stock or
In money. These stock. and land leases had not
been entirely unknown before tho Black Death,
but the agricultural crisis which ensued from the
pestilencc gave great impulse TO the adoption
OF them, for they held out real advantages to
both sides. Lords were enabled 10 let some OF
the land which they had been unable lately to
farm for want Of labor and the tenants preferred
terms which made them Independent of the lords
bal!fs, and allowed them to share the advan-
tage accruing from the rise in prices The diff
Guilty Of getting labor which had proved insup-
cradle to the lords did not affect the tenants SO
acutely: most Of the labor required could be pro-
vided by himself and his family, and, II he hired
he would hire at the new rate, without grumbling
and looking back regrcttully 10 tho old days of
lower wages. for he had never paid them. The
amount OF hired labor, however. employed by these
work which was needed themselves The compro-
mise was thus happy one, for It enabled men
TO work for themselves with all the incentives
70 diligence which that brings
Unfortunately, this plan. to which England
owed the class OF yeoman farmers who were TO
be 30 long the backbone OF the country, was not
adopted sufficiently widely or speedily to be a
COmDleta fhe ~ a..
II was palliative and no more. While some
landowners had enough foresight TO adopt it,
others. and apparently the larger part, were
determined TO fight the battle with the laborers
TO the bitter end Having failed in their FIRST
policy OF keeping down wages they took another
step backwards and tried TO abolish wages alto
gether. There had been a time in Norman Eng
land. when no hired labor at all had been used
in agriculture because all laborers had been seris
and estates had been cultivated by their com
pulsory services To re-exact these services
would not indeed, rc-pcople the depleted manors
but 1t would put stop to the ruinous process
OF receiving money dues now worth perhaps but
one-half OF the labor they had represented orig
inally So IL came to pass after the Black Death,
that not only did the extension of Communication
cease, but, wherever there was a doubt whether
mo tenant owed dues or service. actual service
was e1acted. How far tenants were disturbed
who held land on which the services had been
formally committed Is not cledr II was always
OF course far more easy, however for the lords
to prove servile tenure than for tenants TO show
that they were quit OF one OF its incidents Docu-
ments were all in the keeping OF the lords or their
stewards. and tho old services were registered
in them. Where accounts showed commute
ton, 1t was easy 70 argue that these were cases
OF occasional remissions at the lords will and
that he could resume his old rghts II he pleased
Again. stewards wero set busily TO work To fnd
omissions or informalities which would be ad-
duced to show that tho vilein had broken tho
agreement under which no claimed to be quit
from actual service. The tenants were, in fact
at disadvantage all around. They were un-
educated, and had to oppose legal technlcaliues
their cases. too, were tried in manorial courts
for the royal courts would not interfere between
Villein and lord. Behind me royal courts with
their prejudice against all villeins owing to the
influence OF Roman law, lay Parliament and
Parliament was but another name for tho COL
lective land owners All this made II hopeless
for the vllleins to make good in law their claims