No. 6. 



Wages of Labour. 



185 



and says that he believes tlie decision in 

 Craig vs. Dale, will not be adhered to. 



Now it so happens that the Supreme Court 

 had at that very time re-affirmed the doc- 

 trine of Craig vs. Dale. This was done 

 in Iddings vs. Nagle, 2 Watts and Ser- 

 geant's Reports, page 22. Craig vs. Dale, 

 is reported in 1 Walts and Sergeant, 509. 



Atler ttvo concurrent decisions of the 

 highest court of judicature upon the same 

 point, is it reasonable to regard the law on 

 that subject as unsettled? 



I have made this communication to you 

 very hastily, from the apprehension that a 

 reliance on the opinion of Judge Lewis — a 

 Judge of a Court of Common Pleas, whose 

 decisions are liable to review by the Su- 

 preme Court — might lead some worthy farm- 

 ers into litigation, which must end in defeat. 



In conclusion I transcribe the syllabus of 

 the respective decisions of the Supreme 

 Court above alluded to. 



" The way-going crop to which a tenant 

 is entitled upon his leaving demised premi- 

 ses, includes as well the straw as the grain, 

 which he may remove and dispose of as he 

 pleases, being subject only to the terms of 

 his contract, and not to any supposed custom 

 of the country on that subject." — Craig vs. 

 Dale. 



"A lease between a landlord and tenant 

 is to be construed by those rules which go- 

 vern the construction of contracts, and not 

 by the custom of the country. A tenant is 

 entitled to the straw which grew itpon the 

 land, or not, as his contract provides." 

 Iddings vs. Nagle. G. M. S. 



December 23rd, 1846. 



Wages of Labour. 



From an instructive article on the subject 

 of agricultural labour in different countries, 

 its wages, and the comparative condition of 

 the labourer, in the London Mark Lane Ex- 

 press, we condense the following facts: In 

 our estimates we have called the shilling 

 sterling 22 cents, though its value is a trifle 

 less; and the comparison, though instituted 

 with the English labourer, can be easily 

 made with those of this country. 



In England, the average rate of agricul- 

 tural wages for an able man, with a family, 

 is nine shillings, or $1 98, per week. From 

 this is to be deducted cottage rent, at 35 

 cents per week, leaving $1 63 per week, to 

 provide himself with the necessaries of life. 

 In France, a labourer in the same situation 

 receives ^1 04 per week ; in Prussia, 66 

 cents; in Germany, $1 02 per week; in 

 Holland and Belgium, $1 20; in Italy and 

 the Austrian States, $1 15. It will be re- 



membered that these averages are those of 

 the common labourer — shepherds, carmen, 

 and mechanics, receiving rather more. The 

 food which the wages named above will 

 purchase in the several countries, is stated 

 in the "Express" as follows : 



In England the labourer can obtain for 

 his 163 cents, or his week's wages, either 

 39 lbs. of bread, or 11^ lbs. of meat, 7^ lbs. 

 of butter, 12^ lbs. of cheese, or 174 lbs. of 

 potatoes. 



In France, with his 104 cents, he can buy 

 either 46 lbs. of bread, 13^ lbs. of meat, or 

 261 lbs. of potatoes. 



In Prussia, with his 66 cents per week, 

 the labourer can buy either 36 lbs. of bread, 

 16 lbs. of meat, or 8^ lbs. of butter. 



In Germany, with 102 cents he obtains 

 either 43| lbs. of bread, 18 lbs. of meat, 

 11^ lbs. of butter, 24 lbs. of cheese, or 54 

 quarts of beer. 



In Holland and Belgium, 120 cents will 

 buy either 58 lbs. of bread, 22 lbs. of beef, 

 or 460 lbs. of potatoes. 



In Italy and the Austrian States, the la- 

 bourer, with his 115 cents, can buy either 

 50 lbs. of bread, 22 lbs. of beef, 8 lbs. of 

 butter, 8 lbs. of cheese, or 168 lbs. of pota- 

 toes. 



This table is interesting, as showing not 

 only the prices of labour in the countries 

 named, but also the price of bread, meat, 

 butter, cheese, &c. It is true, the bread is 

 stated by the pound instead of grain by the 

 bushel ; but as the flour of a bushel of wheat, 

 say 40 lbs., will make from 63 to 65 lbs. of 

 bread, an estimate may easily be made of 

 the quantity of wheat or flour a man in any 

 of the countries named would receive for a 

 week's work. The labourer in this coun- 

 try, who receives his bushel of wheat a day, 

 or other articles in proportion, will readily 

 conceive the meagre fare, and slender chance 

 of "laying by anything," which must attend 

 the foreign agricultural labourer. In all 

 these cou'ntries it will be seen the value of 

 provisions is at least as great as here, and 

 in some instances much greater. It is only 

 by the comparisons which such authentic 

 statements enable them to make, that the 

 free labourers, the farmers or mechanics of 

 this country, can fully appreciate the advan- 

 tages of their position. — Cultivator. 



The principal distinction between animal 

 and vegetable products, is the presence in 

 the one case, and i\\e absence in the other, 

 of nitrogen. Many animal secretions, how- 

 ever, such as the fatty oils, are destitute of 

 nitrogen, and many vegetable products, such 

 as gluten and the organic alkalies, contain it. 



