CHAPTER V 



LABOURERS' WAGES 



The question of wages is important from 

 several points of view. What part have they 

 played in the process of rural depopulation ? 

 Have agricultural wage-earners suffered with 

 farmers and landowners from the decline of 

 the industry set out in the previous chapter ? 

 Can wages be raised and how ? What would 

 be the effect of raising them on agriculture ? 

 Would it facilitate housing ? These and other 

 questions arise in connection with wages ; but 

 they are very difficult to answer, and such 

 answers as can be given are quite as likely to 

 mislead as to inform. The economic condi- 

 tion of agricultural workers is an intricate 

 subject for investigation. In most industries 

 a statement of wages or earnings, with due 

 regard to the cost of living, covers the ground 

 sufficiently to permit of broad conclusions ; 

 and valid data are obtainable which can be 

 generally applied with no great qualification. 

 But in agricultural life it is not so. The 

 nature of the work varies so much, the 

 conditions are so different in different parts of 

 the country, and domestic economy is made 

 up of so many items that general statements 

 about wages may be merely misleading. For 

 instance, the practice of boarding unmarried 



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