‘ 
360 REPORT— 1883. 
Price of mowing an Price of hoeing an Price of reaping an 
acre of grass acre of turnips acre of corn 
1862 . . 38. to 4s. ¢ DSH COs OMe ae - 9s. to 10s. 
1880 . . 4s. to 7s. 6d. . AEE apie) IES . 133. to 15s. 
In the wages of builders there have been great oscillations. Nomi- 
nally, the wages of masons, carpenters, &c., have been for some time in 
London 9d. per hour; but this rate is by no means uniform, and in the 
country 6}d. to 7d. per hour is commonly the rate. Although the rise 
which took place in 1882 in building wages has not been uniformly sus- 
tained, the position of the building classes has greatly improved, especial] y 
where they work by the piece. The wages in the cotton manufacture, 
as given by Mr. Chadwick in the Journal of the Statistical Society, and 
by Dr. Watt in the last edition of the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’ have 
progressed as follows :— 
1850 1860 1865 1876 
Per week Per week Per week Per week 
s&s. s. | Ss. s. s. 
Spinners (men) . 2 ; 20 27 30 35 to 40 
Carders b ; ‘ 4 20 28 Bd 32 to 40 
Grinders. 3 : ; 14 Li. 26 25 to 28 
\ 
In areturn produced by Mr. George Lord, President of the Manchester 
Chamber of Commerce, of the increase of the wages earned in the various 
trades in Lancashire between the years 1850 and 1883, the total 
average advance in cotton spinning and weaving, cotton spinning, fine 
cotton spinning and weaving, bleaching and calico printing, is given at 42 
per cent. 
And we all know how much the wages of domestic servants have 
increased. A woman-servant who was content with 10/. per annum in 
1851, now gets at least 14/.; and all other descriptions of servants in the 
same proportion. Not only, however, are the direct wages of working 
men and women greatly increased of late, but with the extension of piece- 
work in most industries, their earnings have in many cases become much 
greater. And, what is more, the- income of women and children has 
greatly increased. Altogether the rise of wages and earnings in all 
branches of labour has been considerable within the last thirty years, and 
the income of the workman’s family, including every earner in the same, 
and including the interest on accumulated incomes in the savings bank 
and other forms, is considerably greater now than in former years. If, 
therefore, the income of a working man’s family in 1851 could fairly be 
estimated, on the whole number, at 20s. a-week, or 52/. a-year, the total 
income of a working man’s family in 1881, including the value of per- 
quisites, food, house rent, and clothing, whenever given, may fairly be 
taken at 32s. per week, or 83/. per annum. 
§ 9. Population and Incomes in 1851 and 1881. 
With these facts before us, let us endeavour to take a general view 
of the income of the people in 1851 and 1881, bearing in mind that the 
population of the United Kingdom was 27,700,000 in 185], and 35,200,000 
in 1881. The return of the number of persons charged to income tax 
refers only to those deriving income from trade and professions. How 
