176 THE NEW COTTAGE 



A writer who has given much thought to this 

 subject of the workman and what he can live on, 

 has collected statistics which show that, not many 

 years ago, it was no infrequent thing in Oxford- 

 shire and Northamptonshire to find the agricultural 

 labourer's wages as low as 105., lis., and 12s. a 

 week. He sums up this state of things in one 

 brief sentence by saying, " A bold stroke of states- 

 manship can alone save our countryside from 

 being denuded of brain-stuff and manual labour." 



I sometimes ask myself how much longer we 

 shall have to wait for the statesman who will 

 contrive and carry out this work. 



