THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



121 



hiring in combination witli liiiing niai-kets, some farmers 

 using tlie hiring markets only as a hist resort. 3. By ad- 

 vertisement, a mode which was sometimes used with good 

 effect. 4. By private hiring along with monthly or short 

 engagements. .5. By registers, which seemed to exist in 

 a good many places, but were mostly of recent origin, and 

 were not very extensively used. 6. By hiring markets, 

 which is the method at present most extensively used. It 

 seemed to he the general opinion from the returns, that 

 hiring mai'kets are not inVvery satisfactory state, but there 

 was very considerable difterence of opinion us to what was 

 to done in reference to them. Among the suggested im- 

 provement he of hiring markets were — the drinking-hooths 

 should be abolislied, and refreshments provided on a large 

 scale on temperance principles ; that only men should be 

 engaged at the markets, and the women privately; that 

 the market should close early in the afternoon ; that they 

 should be retained along with registers ; and that farmers 

 should employ married men as much as possible, as in 

 Berwickshire and Eoxburghshiro. The committee, after 

 having carefully considered the whole subject, had come to 

 the following conclusions: — " 1, That while hiring markets, 

 as at present conducted, seem to he very generally con- 

 demned, any practical measures to be adopted by the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society on the subject of re- 

 engagement of farm labourers must be gradual work, de- 

 pending to a large extent on the progress of public opin- 

 ion. 2. That the practical measures which our committee 

 have to recommend are accordingly suggested with the 

 view, not of coming at present to any definite or final 

 conclusion on the subject, bat of keeping it before the 

 public attention for some time, so that the public may 

 have an opportunity of considering it fully and in all its 

 bearings, and of arriving at mature and sound conclusions. 

 3. That your committee have accordingly to recommend 

 to the Directors and to the Society that the prizes he 

 offered by the Society with reference to the subjects speci- 

 fied. 4. That while your committee propose in this way 

 to keep the matter under public attention, they would 

 strongly recommend Local Agricultural Societies, Farmers' 

 Clubs, and individual farmers to proceed at once to make 

 experiments of the different modes of hiring suggested in 

 the returns, with the view of ascertaining for themselves, 

 and of giving the Society the advantage of a larger and 

 more extensive experience than they now j)ossess. 5. 

 That while your committee believe the above conclusions 

 are all that the present information justified them in 

 arriving at, they think they are also justified in saying that 

 as the returns show a very ■wide-spread dissatisfaction with 

 hiring markets, it is incumbent on employers in their 

 several spheres to foster and encourage the growth of 

 mutual respect and regard between them and their ser. 

 vants, and to take a kindly interest in the welfare,- pros- 

 jierity, and happiness of those in their employment, your 

 committee being assured that on such farms and in those 

 districts where such feelings largely prevail, the tone of 

 society is higher, changes are less frequent, and hiring 

 markets are less frequented." As regards the " statute 

 fairs" and " mops" in England, the same opinion 

 pretty generally prevails, as I have already expressed 

 in connection with hiring markets in Scotland. 

 Much of what can be said on both sides of this sub- 

 ject is nearly comprised in the following extracts 

 from one or two letters I have received on the subject. 

 " There has been," says one, " a great desire to put an end 

 to those hiring fairs, on the part of the clergy and others, j 



They are no doubt the scenes of great immorality and 

 vice, are attended with much evil, and tend to make ser- 

 vants unsettled in their situations. Several fairs have 

 been discontinued, and registering-offices have been 

 opened in the small villages ; but the alteration has been 

 so lately made, that the eflfect can scarcely be stated at 

 present." As regards the comparative utility of these 

 statutes and registers, a correspondent, who while de- 

 nouncing statutes as " most serious evils," states that 

 " the hirers generally want more servants than one, and 

 might not succeed at the registry-office, so prefer attending 

 the statutes. Another thing is, they see the servants and 

 their late master at the same time." The doing away with 

 the statutes, he further says, " is mainly in the hands of 

 the masters — for if they refrain to go to hire, the servants 

 would cease to attend them." Another coiTespondent 

 energetically states his opinions thus on the subject : " A 

 great deal of bosh has been uttered by a lot of * * • 

 meddUng muddle-headed clergj-men in reference to statute 

 huing. They had far better let us farmers alone * * *. 

 No reasonable objection can be urged against the system. 

 Its use is undeniable, its abuse to be regretted, and very 

 easily reformed. The grumblers * * * say young men 

 and women congregating for such a purpose must neces- 

 sarily lead to immorality ; any gathering of such a kind 

 for any other purpose wotild, I presume, have the same 

 eflect. Here, if there were no statutes, they would still 

 congregate and have their holiday ; and why should they 

 not ? Many farmers in this county keep from 10 to 30 or 

 even 40 yearly farm-servants ; if there were no statute 

 gatherings, how are they to be obtained? A rcgister-ofiice 

 is a farce. We already know that such a system is the 

 cui-se of the present scheme of getting household servants, 

 and with ploughmen it would be incalculably worse." 



The nextpoiut we have to discuss is that of Wages. There 

 can be no doubt of the influence which the amount of a 

 man's wages exercises upon his position in society. It is vei7 

 gratifjing to think that in this respect the labourer's posi- 

 tion is wonderfully improved ; that he has at last the pro- 

 spect of getting — if he has not in many districts already 

 got — a fair day's wage for a fair" day's work, not the poorest 

 of pay for the hardest of work, which was his lot not so 

 many years ago. But increased wages should bring on the 

 part of the labourer increased care of his resources — not in- 

 duce, as is too often the case, reckless expenditure and 

 waste. He " must strive to arrive at " — and here I may 

 be permitted to quote from an article I furnished to the 

 Mark Lane Express — " an appreciation of the dignity of 

 economy, and become convinced that there is more mean- 

 ness in the waste that brings want, than in the saving 

 which brings security against it. It is not mean to he 

 economical, or stingy to be saving, as is too often 'said by 

 the poor while stigmatizing the habits in those directions 

 of the middle classes and the rich. We must get before 

 we can give ; to be charitable to others we must be careful 

 ourselves. The poverty which comes from want of pru- 

 dence deserves no pity, and the sorrow which arises from 

 self-indulgence no sympathy. " Much food," says the 

 proverb, " is in the tillage of the poor, but there is that is 

 destroyed for lack of judgment." It is not, after all, by 

 the amount of a man's earnings, but in that of his savings 

 that his wealth is to he estimated. A working man saving 

 half a-crown a-week is in reality richer than he who with 

 an income of a thousand a year saves none. This is a 

 truism, but it belongs to the class of truisms which I 

 should like to see working-men pay heed to. \Vhil« on the 



