96 



PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. 



[Sept. 1894. 



per week with a maximum of 20s. 9d. per week in Glendale, 

 Northumberland, and a minimum of 12s. 6d per week in Lang- 

 port, Somerset. The earnings of shepherds are estimated to 

 range from 23s. 6d. in Glendale to 14s. in Langport, and those 

 of carters, cattlemen, and others in charge of stock from 20s. 9d 

 to 14s. in the same districts, These estimated earnings of 

 ordinary labourers include various allowances in addition to the 

 monev wages actually received, and they are those of average 

 men who work regularly and diligently throughout the year. 

 In districts where piece-work is common a first-class labourer 

 can earn considerably more than the estimated sums. Woods 

 and underwoods are said to furnish supplementary employment 

 to agricultural labourers in some districts when farm work is 

 slack. The average money wages of the English labourer based 

 on the 38 estimates of the mean rates for all the districts 

 included in the inquiry are estimated to be 13s. 5d. per week. 

 The average rates of wages as ascertained by the Richmond 

 Commission in 1879-81 was 13s. Id per week, while the 

 average rate of weekly wages in 1867-70 is estimated to have 

 been 12s. Sd. a week. 



The total earnings of labourers in Wales are reported to range 

 from 14s. to 18s. 6d. per week, including allowance"^. Indoor 

 servants' wages in the Principality are said to range from 18^. 

 to 36/. per year in addition to board and lodging, while dairy- 

 maids receive wages ranging usually from 11^. to 16/., though in 

 some cases salaries of 28l or even 30/. a year were paid to dairy- 

 maids. In Wales the average money wage of the ordinary 

 labourer, finding his own food, is estimated to be 14s. lOd. per 

 week. This sum is apparently about 20 per cent, more than the 

 wages prevailing in 1870, but it is below those of 1879. 



In the case of Scotland, Mr. Little states that it is not possible 

 to make the wages and earnings of an ordinary labourer the 

 basis of comparison, because in many districts that class is not 

 numerous enough to furnish an estimate. Selecting the earnings 

 of the ordinary married ploughman to gauge those of other 

 classes, except shepherds, he estimates the average weekly 

 earnings of the Scotch labourer to be approximately 18s. 9d., 

 the range being from 13s. 10c/. in Orkney and Caithness to 

 nearly 23s. in Lanark. The lowest rate of earnings prevails 

 where the payments are for most part in kind. The payment 

 of shepherds exhibits considerable variety, ranging in districts 

 from 16s. 6d. to 29s. 3d weekly, but in many districts these 

 earnings are made up partly by the keeping of one or two cows 

 and their followers, and partly by other perquisites, the cash 

 payment being only a small part of the whole. The earnings of 

 the Scotch labourer of the present day are said to be considerably 

 higher than those of 20 years ago. 



The annual earnings of ordinary labourers in Ireland are 

 reported to range from 17/. 10s. to 40/. a year, the average of 

 the mean rates of the estimated annual earnings being a fraction 



