JJie Cotnitvy Gentleman'' s Magazine 



417 



AGRICULTURAL PIECE-WORK AND CATTLE DISEASE 



LEGISLA TION. 



AT the distribution of prizes to deserving 

 labourers, at the meeting of the Blo- 

 tield, Walsham, and Flegg Agricultural As- 

 sociation, Mr C. S. Read, M.P., made some 

 remarks in reference to piece work in agri- 

 culture. At the dinner of the same Society 

 he dwelt upon the working of the Contagious 

 Diseases (Animals) Act. Both speeches 

 will be read with interest by farmers. 



It is impossible, in these days, he said, 

 to talk about wages to the men, without 

 referring to the strikes that have taken place, 

 and the unions that have been formed through- 

 out the country. My advice to you is to 

 keep yourselves independent, not to barter 

 away your independerxe to unions. Keep 

 yourselves thoroughly independent, and make 

 your own bargains. You all know that when 

 you join a union, you must abide by the laws 

 and rules of that union, and you are no longer 

 independent men. Why, those of us who 

 have embarked in the matrimonial union 

 know that, in a measure, our independence 

 is gone — (laughter) — and I assure you, that 

 if you join this Labourers' Union, you will 

 find that you are bound hand and foot, so 

 that you cannot stir. The unions must be 

 wrong, because they begin on wrong prin- 

 ciples. They begin by saying that all men 

 are equal, and entitled to the same pay. Now 

 you know that is wrong, because here you 

 are, skilled labourers, all of you with good 

 characters, and proving by your skill, your 

 industry, and by your sobriety, that you are 

 better than some of those who are left behind. 

 I don't mean to say that there are not as 

 good left at home, but you have proved your- 

 selves superior to some. Then how are you 

 to improve your condition ? I admit that you 

 have something to complain of — we all have 

 something to complain of, whatever our station 

 in life may be — but I believe you may im- 

 prove your condition, each of you, by your 



VOL. IX. 



own exertions. I will tell you one way — 

 by having more piece-work and less day- 

 work. Try this. If you ask your masters 

 for piece-work, I will engage to say that in 

 nine cases out of ten it will be granted, and 

 then you will find out who is the best man 

 amongst you, for the best man will earn most 

 wages. By the general adoption of day- 

 work we have come to this — we have, in a 

 great measure, brought the best labourers 

 down to the level of the worst. Let me illus- 

 trate wliat I mea'.i. Suppose one of you men 

 who have received a prize for ploughing to- 

 day — of course you are good hands, and you 

 are superior in a great measure to the rest of 

 those with whom you work — go to-morrow 

 and work with three others, two of whom we 

 call middling hands, and one a lazy, good- 

 for-nothing fellow — what do you do ? You 

 will in all probability think that this fellow is 

 a nuisance to you and to the farmer, but you 

 will say, " It's no business of mine ; I shall 

 get my day's pay if I do my work, and so 

 will he even if he doesn't do a fair day's 

 work." And the result is, that although you 

 may be the best-intentioned man in the 

 world, if you are associated with those lazy 

 fellows, and those good-for nothing ones, you 

 gradually come to this — instead of your 

 bringing those men up to your level, and im- 

 proving them, and making them good 

 labourers, you are by degrees imperceptibly 

 drawn down to their level. For instance, if 

 you are associated with one of these men, in- 

 stead of ploughing, as you might very Avell 

 do, an acre of land in a day, you will plough 

 just as much as he will. And then you 

 wonder that the master don't increase the 

 rate of day pay. " But," you will say, " there 

 are a great- many things on a farm that can't 

 be put out by piece," and perliaps you will 

 say that ploughing is one. Now, I know a 

 great many instances in which men are paid 



