24 THE LAND AND ITS PROBLEMS 



In 1770 wages were about 7s. per week in cash, plus 

 certain payments in kind ; but we must remember that 

 up to this date, and the complete enclosure of the common 

 land, labourers were able to supplement their wages 

 considerably from the land they had access to. 



By 1850 the average was los. a week in cash, plus 

 allowances ; and in 19 14 the average for England had 

 risen to about i6s. in cash and allowances — bacon, milk, 

 potatoes — valued at about 4s. 



The cash payment varied considerably in the different 

 parts of England ; in Lincolnshire it was i8s., in York- 

 shire and the northern counties 20s. and 21s. It was 

 lowest in the southern counties, only 12s. to 14s. in some 

 places. 



Several years before the war this low rate of pay had 

 begun to weigh upon the national conscience, and many 

 farmers themselves realized that wages should be higher ; 

 there was a general consensus of opinion that 20s. a week 

 in cash should be the minimum wage. 



Then came the war, and in 19 16 the Agricultural Wage 

 Boards were established ; the cost of living had already 

 increased so much that there could be no question of a 

 20s. a week minimum — it required double that to meet 

 more or less the increased cost of living. 



RATE OF WAGE PER ACRE 



It is, however, curious to note that although the rate of 

 wage per week remained so constantly low, yet in relation 

 to rental, and ratio to the gross output of the farm, it rose 

 rapidly. 



The output was increasing, so that shrinkage of output 

 was not the cause, nor was it owing to variation in rent, 

 nor, as we have seen, to an increased wage. It is 



