SPORT: ITS RELATION TO THE STATE 353 



tween 15^. and 16s.; and four counties between 

 14^. and i$s. In 1899 wages rose by 4^. a head 

 in the districts reported upon, and in June, 1900, 

 by 8ld. a head over June, 1899, or is. old within 

 two years. Certainly on these figures agriculture 

 offers more encouragement to the labourer now than 

 it did in 1898. 



In England particulars were received for the re- 

 port relating only to 18,059 labourers, though 9,000 

 returns were sent out to employers asking for in- 

 formation. Now the total acreage under crops and 

 grass in England is 24,735,961 acres; thus each of 

 our 18,059 labourers would be responsible for the 

 tillage of 1,369 acres, exclusive of mountain and 

 heath land, where the cattle have to be tended. 

 Of course, it is absurd to suppose that such an 

 enormous acreage could be cultivated by 18,059 

 labourers. I can only presume that Mr. Wilson 

 Fox has based his report upon the price of the 

 cheapest and therefore the most unskilled labour 

 in the market, and that his critics compare this 

 price with the wages earned by a skilled labourer 

 in a manufacturing town, who has learnt a trade. 

 Again, we have had before us for years the problem 

 of housing the poor in London and other large 

 towns in districts whence they can easily reach 

 their work. We have only to compare a village 

 cottage with a tenement in a London slum to learn 

 that the housing of the poor in the country is in- 

 finitely better than it is in large towns. Food is 

 2 A 



