SOCIAL CAUSES OF UNREST 129 



hard. The modern crusade against occupational dis- 

 ease must deliver the farmer from rheumatism and 

 manv another affliction by recalling him from the fields 

 in rain and giving him more mastery over all the cir- 

 cumstances of his toil. The modern world can easily 

 afford such relief through a fairer distribution of the 

 profits of labor. 



The problem of the farm laborer is an unsolved one 

 in Canada as yet, nor will it be solved until greater 

 efficiency is demanded, higher wages paid, and a home 

 for the farm laborer and his household provided. A 

 somewhat common custom at present is to pay a certain 

 monthly wage the average for eastern Canada is 

 $32.66 per month for a season of some seven or eight 

 months together with board at the farmer's table and 

 a room in his house, and also stabling and keep for the 

 hired man's horse. I recently asked one of our leading 

 farmers regarding the effect upon the efficiency and 

 general character of the men of this custom of main- 

 taining a driving horse. " They are out driving until 

 midnight," was his reply ; " the effect upon both morals 

 and efficiency is bad. But," he added, " you can secure 

 them upon no other terms." The cottage for a home 

 would benefit employer and employee alike. What 

 modern industry has discovered modern agriculture 

 must learn, namely, that the best paid and cared for 

 labor is the most profitable. 



The boarding of the hired men is often a hardship 

 to the housewife. The custom may have national com- 

 pensations. When a man of foreign nationality is 

 hired, nothing else so effectively shapes him into a 

 Canadian citizen. But it has personal penalties. If 

 several men are employed the strain upon the home life 

 is severe. I have already instanced in another connec- 

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