AGRICULTURAL LABOR IN ENGLAND, 



283 



WAGES AND CONDITION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN, 



EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR, IN ENGLAND. 



EFFECT OF THAT CONDITION AND DESCRIPTION OF LABOR ON THEIR HEALTH AND MORALS. 



If auy man desires to have a view of mate- 

 rials that will enable him to form a judgment on 

 the matters v^'liich ^'e have grouped as a head- 

 ing for this paper, let him get and read the " Re- 

 ports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commis- 

 sioners on the Employment of Women and 

 Children in Agriculture, presented to both 

 Houses of Parliament, bj' command of Her 

 Majesty," and printed in London in 1843. 



In presenting the extracts, made pretty much 

 at random, we do not see tliat they call for any 

 particular comment from us. Every reader will 

 make his own reflections, and on certain points 

 all must arrive at the same conclusion — to wit : 

 that Agricultural labor in the field, is in general 

 more favorable to the morals, and mo^js condu- 

 cive to the health of women and children than 

 labor in-door.s — either domestic or manufactur- 

 ing ; and that the condition of women, white 

 women and children, generally, in England, on 

 the score of number of hours daily, and severity 

 of labor is not better ; and in respect of clothing, 

 personal cleanliness, diet and shelter, and mor- 

 als, is infinitely worse than that of the slaves of 

 this country. On this point the book before us 

 is so minute, particular, authentic and oflicial; 

 prepared with care, and based on the testimony 

 of enlightened and disinterested witnesses, and 

 presenting these points in every aspect in which 

 it is possible to view them, that no shadow of 

 ground is left for doubt or caviling. The testimo- 

 ny was taken under oath, and under instruction.?, 

 which informed the Conimissionei-s that the sub- 

 ject of their inquiry was the Einploymeiit of 

 Women and Children, in Af^rimUure. They 

 w^ere requested to examine into the sorts of la- 

 bor at which they are respectively employed, 

 the wages which they receive, the hours of 

 work, and any other similar facts whjch " may 

 tend to throw light on their physical and moral 

 condition." The Commissioners desired the A.s- 

 sistant Comnii.ssioner.s, who consisted of four 

 barrister.<-at law, to direct their main atten- 

 tion to the employment of children, and that 

 they would particularly inquire into the age at 

 which they begin to work, and to the eflfccts 

 which their occupation in labor may produce 

 upon their bodily health as well as upon their 

 opportunities for obtaining school instruction 

 and moral and religious education. 



As we have before stated, the few exti-acts 



for which we can find room, will be taken 

 much at random, but in a way to throve' light on 

 the several points of inquiry. The whole volume 

 of nearly four hundred pages goes to show that 

 the condition of the English laborer and his 

 family is most deplorable. No man of humani- 

 ty but must be shocked at the view of it ; and 

 the perusal of this testimony, not from the labor- 

 ing men and women only, but from physician.s 

 and clergymen confirms us in the impression 

 we have long entertained, that the agreeable 

 emotions which must attend the traveler on a 

 view of a country presenting such a magnificent 

 landscape of palaces and perfect culture, and 

 the admiration which must be begotten by the 

 grandeur of their lordly domains, mu.st be pain- 

 fully counteracted by the evidence of extreme 

 suffering and degradation which every where 

 •shocks his sensibilities. A gentleman lately re- 

 turned from England, who had enjoyed the easy 

 and elegant hospitality of English Noblemen of 

 the highest character, observed, that while no 

 country life on the Globe could compare with it in 

 respect of the perfection of all the domestic ap- 

 pointments for social enjoyment among men of 

 rank and opulence ; it was yet absolutely painful 

 to him, in going over their estates to witness 

 the .signs of abject cap-in-hand servility which 

 characterized their laborers, and even of the 

 employes and agents of some authority over 

 them. 



Heaven bear us witness, we have no pleasure 

 in malting such exposures of the wretchedness 

 of our fellow creatures, but knowing as we do, 

 from long personal observation, the unaffected 

 kindness of those in the South, who are bom in- 

 heritors of slaves, we deem it fair to afford them 

 the encouragement and consolation to know 

 that when tho.sc whom Providence has placed 

 in their possession, are not treated with cruelty 

 which deservedly disgraces the perpetrator, 

 their situation is a paradise compared with the 

 half starved populace of foreign countries called 

 free. We say where they are not treated with 

 cruelty, for thai we would denounce, and have 

 punished by the laws, when power is so abu.sed 

 even towards dumb beasts. 



The extracts which follow make part of the 

 Report of one sf the Commissioners, Mr. Aus- 

 tin, on the Counties of Wilts, Dorset, Devon 

 and Somerset, oi\ the point of inquiry relating to 



