Agricultural Wages 109 



were prohibited from working in gangs, 

 and since then mixed gangs of men and 

 women have been prohibited from work- 

 ing in gangs, and the gang - master for 

 men - gangs and the women overseers for 

 women - gangs had to obtain licences. 



During the last fifty years, i.e.^ since 1850, 

 the position of the agricultural labourers 

 has improved in every way. According to 

 the general summary in Mr. Wilson Fox's 

 able paper, earnings are greater — the rate of 

 pay being higher, and also the employment 

 more regular. The hours of labour are 

 less, and the work is less arduous owing 

 to the use of machinery. The chief things 

 on which the wages are spent have fallen 

 in price ; even house rents in the country 

 are not generally higher, whilst the cottage 

 accommodation, though still in need of 

 improvement in some parts, is, on the 

 average, far better than in the fifties. The 



