CHAPTER VII 



HOMES AND WAGES 



THE general conclusion drawn from a survey 

 of the preceding pages or indeed almost any 

 volume concerned with the subject must be 

 that, on the whole, rural life in England is 

 beset with many difficulties and disadvantages. 

 The picture of the English village which has 

 been drawn is on the whole a somewhat grey 

 and depressing one, as indeed all pictures must 

 be which portray the life of the great mass of 

 the people instead of the pleasures enjoyed by 

 a minute portion of them. Not only has 

 chronic discontent come to be regarded as the 

 peculiar attribute of English landlords, farmers 

 and labourers, but every political party in the 

 State acknowledges the existence of this rural 

 characteristic and employs it as a basis upon 

 which to build up schemes of reform. The 

 Nationalization schemes of the Labour Party, 

 the Protectionist policy of the Conservatives, 

 the Small Holdings legislation of the Liberals 

 all alike take for granted the existence of 

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