FOOD, DRESS, AND " CREDIT." 293 



I replied. ' I certainly thought you had,' rejoined the lady, 

 ' because I saw your children all standing in order before the 

 school house with their Sunday clothes on.' I took some 

 time to make the lady understand that this was their ordin- 

 ary apparel. It may be taken for granted that when school 

 children are well dressed their parents are not frequenters 

 of the public-house. This is the case in my district, for 

 happily the inducement to drink is removed, since there is 

 not a beerhouse in the parish." 



To refer, in conclusion, to the third subject in this 

 chapter, the question of the labourers obtaining credit 

 for goods chiefly food that he has not the money to 

 buy, yet must have in some way or he would necessarily 

 starve, it is to be remarked that the small store-keeper 

 or the larger one for that matter and the little village 

 tradesman commonly styled a " huckster " are very 

 good to and trustful of the poor farm labourers. On 

 the whole it may be averred that the village tradesman, 

 as we may generically term him, gives a considerable 

 amount of " credit," exacting little or any security, 

 and depending largely for payment upon the reputation 

 for honesty of the poor customers. In by no means 

 a few cases " scores " are allowed to run up of from 

 five to ten pounds ; and instances have actually occurred, 

 though they are probably rather rare, where the " scores " 

 have reached fifteen, perhaps twenty, thirty, forty, and 

 even fifty pounds. No doubt such large amounts take 

 a long time to accumulate, and would not have been 

 allowed had the debtors not proved to be " good 

 customers," willing to pay to the utmost of their ability. 

 The plan in operation is to require besides cash for 

 current purchases regular repayments of the old 

 debt. In such cases, if the shop is a general store, 

 practically all the weekly wages go to the proprietor. 

 Something special is paid off in such cases at harvest 

 time, and a big slice by which is meant the bulk of the 

 labourer's pig goes as a further set-off against the debt. 

 It is, in fact, pretty clear that a tradesman giving so 

 much credit for the aggregation of even small sums 



