THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



125 



worse. The two arc thrown closo tofiotlicr, isml cha- 

 racter i.s on both sides known, and therein lies the ex- 

 j)hination ; the two iirc never — as is unavoidably (he 

 ease when one man pays oOO — they are never IndifTe- 

 rent to one another ; they love, honour, and respect 

 one another, or they distrust and liate ; and while, in 

 the former case, there is a noble scope for exerting a 

 useful influence for their wcll-liuing- over those who are 

 employed — the latter, in the very closeness which is 

 the condition of agricultural service, has scope enough 

 for bringing forth its fruit. 



The combination of sufficient wages, with a greater 

 opportunity for personal good-will than any other trade 

 affords, is what may, and often does, honourably distin- 

 guish agricultural labourers and employers amongst the 

 multitude of English occupations. 



One further word and I have done. The whole value 

 of the expression to which this good-will leads arises 

 out of its origin in a persoaal feeling— it cannot be de- 

 puted without altogether losing its character. Anything 

 like the transference of ray personal duty and pleasure 

 in such a thing to a public society does, in my opinion, 

 spoil the whole affair. 



There are societies, as we all know, long established 

 in England for distinguishing the worthy among agri- 

 cultural labourers by public testimony to their worth. 

 If that worth had shown itself in public-spirited con- 

 duct, nothing could be more appropriate than a public 

 aclinowledgment of it. When it is, however, only per- 

 sonal and domestic worth (far more worthy, let us all 

 admit it, than the other), nothing can be more gro- 

 tesquely out of place. 



These societies have, however, been established and 

 are supported by a real, if unwise, philanthropy ; and I 

 would not say one word in discouragement of their ob- 

 ject, however unwise may be their plan. Benevolent 

 men have truly seen that the relationship of master and 

 servant is but a part of the truth affecting them ; and 

 carrying the superiority of the employer over his servant 

 into another field where no superiority exists, they have 

 read the commandment as if it were addressed to the 

 former only, and as if it said of the latter: ^'Thou 

 shalt be a father unto him." The system of rewards for 

 good conduct, for long servitude, and for morality, is 

 founded on a mistaken idea of this kind. It is a mis- 

 taken idea — let me repeat it. Along with the paternal 

 relationship, with its powers and rcsponsibdities, wher- 

 ever it really exists, there has been implanted the 

 natural love of the father as the safe-guard of the child, 

 and the docility and helplessness of the child as its 

 counterpart. Neither of these conditions apply to the 

 relationship of master and servant. The commandment 

 has been mis-read. It is really addressed to both alike, 

 and it prescribes a perfectly mutual and equal duty in 

 words addressed to each — " Thou shalt love thy neigh- 

 bour as thyself." 



This is the law which supplements the bare relation- 

 ship of master and servant, and makes the operation of 

 it perfect. But I will not pursue the subject further, 

 only adding as at once the natural corollary of this pro- 

 position, and as bringing us back more directly to the 

 subject of this paper, that the more we encour;ige 

 genuine individual manliness in our labourers, with its 

 efforts after real self-improvement, in intelligence and 

 skill, and its higher sense of individual responsibility, 

 the more likely are we to attach the young men to us, 

 and to obtain labour of the kind of which steam-power 

 is rapidly proving the necessity. This is not to be done, 

 either by taking all the difficulties of his position out of 

 his way, or by off'ering rewards to him proper only to 

 the qualities and condition of a child. 



As affecting the reception of these few words of criti- 

 cism, allow me to say one word of myself: They must 



not be received as if they came entirely from an out- 

 sider. I have for many years directed and paid the 

 labour, on certainly a small farm, costing, however, 

 about i;700 a year in wages paid to the agricultural 

 labourer. I claim to know the style and character of 

 the man by many years' experience ; for I have a larger 

 number of personal friendships in his class than in any 

 other class of her Majesty's subjects. I mention all 

 this merely as affecting the weight which might attach 

 to v.'hat I have said on this— the last of the forces used 

 in agriculture to which I have to allude. I have more 

 than exhausted the time permitted me, and it only re- 

 mains for me to indicate the probable resnlts, so far as 

 our subject is concerned, of that progress which we all 

 see in English agriculture. 



That the services of the labourer will more and more 

 I'cquirc the combination of nkill with mere force, and 

 that a large number of well-qualified men is being and 

 will bo needed, seems plain. Tiiat horse-power will be 

 displaced by steam at least two-fifths, I believe ; and, 

 as there are now at least 800,000 horses used upon our 

 farms, there is scope enough for many years to come 

 for all our agricultural mechanics. 



The grand result will, no doubt, be a continual in- 

 crease of produce and fertility, and that which the 

 Registrar-General puts as a fulfilled prophecy into the 

 mouth of the Englishman of a century ago may with 

 equal probability of truth be uttered now: — 



" Our fertile soil sustains 21,000,000 of people in its 

 whole length from tho Islo of Wight to the Shetland 

 I.slands. We cannot — fur the mighty power is not 

 given us — say, let there be on the European shores of 

 the Atlantic Ocean three Great Britains. But the 

 means exist for creating, in less than a hundred years, 

 two more nations, each in number equal to the exi.st- 

 ing population ; and of distributing them over its fields, 

 in cottages, farms, and towns, by the banks of its 

 rivers, and around its immemorial hills: and they will 

 thus be neither separated by longer roads nor wider 

 seas, but coutiime neighbours, fellow- workers, and 

 countrymen on the old territory ; wielding by machines 

 the forces of Nature, that shall serve them with the 

 strengih of thousands of horses, on roads and fields 

 and seas — in mines, and manufactories, and ships. 

 Subsistence shall bo as abundant as it is now, and 

 luxuries, which are now confined to the few, shall bo 

 enjoyed by multitudes, for the wealth of the country — 

 its stock and its jiroducc — shall increase in a faster 

 ratio than the people.'' 



The Chairman said it was now his duty to invite 

 the meeting to discuss the very able paper they had 

 heard read. It appeared to him that there was very 

 little question that stcam-pov/er theoretically was a 

 much more economical power than horse labour, and 

 horse labour, again, more economical than manual 

 hibour. But the great problem to be solved in agricul- 

 ture v.'as, what were the proper proportions in which 

 these three forces should be made use of? There could 

 be little doubt that it would be found eveiHually that 

 the proportions between those forces found to be most 

 economical, would differ in proportion to the size of 

 tb.e farms, and also the quality of the land. The 

 question whether steam-power would be found most 

 economical upon heavy lands and small farms, or upon 

 light lands and large farms, was one which opened a 

 largo topic for discussion, and upon which he was sure 

 many gentlemen present would be anxious to express 

 their opinions. 



Professor John Wilson would rather give a different 

 version to the case. He thought they must look upon 

 the man, upon the horse, and upon the steam-engine, 

 not as sources of power, but as the media through 



