76 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



they snared in the field, began to taste mutton and beef sent 

 frozen to England from the ends of the world. 



It is an ironical reflection on civilisation that the English 

 labourer who fed the bullock in the yard which he over- 

 looked from his cottage ; and folded the sheep on the roots 

 under his eye, had to wait until frozen meat came to him 

 from the Antipodes or the ranches of America before 

 butcher's meat became part of his diet, even once a week. 

 This is no exaggeration, for men to-day have told me that 

 the frozen meat which arrived in this country in the late 'eigh- 

 ties was the first time they had tasted mutton in their lives. 



In spite of the reductions in wages, made in many areas, 

 especially in the southern counties, the labourer received 

 higher cash wages at this period than he did before the birth 

 of Arch's Union. Yet he suffered more than either of the 

 other two classes who experienced greater financial losses, for 

 the reduction of a shilling or two in wages, when these are 

 not at a figure sufficient to maintain physical efficiency, 

 means suffering in a very real sense. 



More and more it became the custom for farmers to reduce 

 the labourers' perquisites and to be more ruthless in turning 

 men off on wet days. The official figures then must be used 

 with some caution. 1 



s. d. s. d. 



1 Surrey 150 Worcester 136 



Kent 16 6 Warwick .' . . . . 14 o 



Sussex 13 6 Leicester (ordinarily) . . n 6 



Southampton .... 12 o ,, (near the iron 



Berks 12 o mines) ... 14 6 



Bucks 14 o Rutland 



Hertford 13 6 Lincoln 14 3 



Oxon 13 3 Middlesex 15 6 



Northampton .... Nottingham (ordinarily) . 14 o 



Huntingdon 12 o ,, (near the mines) 19 o 



Bedford 12 6 Derby 16 6 



Cambridge 12 6 Chester 



Essex 12 6 Lancashire 17 6 



Suffolk 12 6 Yorkshire, E 15 o 



Norfolk 12 6 W 16 6 



Wilts 12 o N 16 6 



Dorset no Durham 17 9 



Devon 13 o Northumberland . . . 16 6 



Cornwall 14 6 Cumberland 18 o 



Somerset 13 o Westmoreland . . . . 18 o 



Gloucester 13 6 Monmouth 12 o 



Hereford 13 o Wales 



Salop 13 o . 



Stafford 13 6 Average .... 14 1} 



From Dr. Hasbach's and the Assistant Commissioner's figures. 



