98 



PARLIAMENTARY P UBLIC ATIONS. 



[8ept. 1894. 



reported to be unpopular in Wales ; potato grounds, however, 

 are to be found everywhere, and gardens are very conunonly 

 attached to cottages. In Scotland allotments are said to be 

 unknown and undesired so far as agricultural labourers are 

 concerned ; potato grounds are provided in some districts, and the 

 cottages are universally provided with gardens, though these are 

 apparently not generally well cultivated nor much desired. 

 Allotments, as understood in England, scarcely exist in Ireland, 

 but potato grounds are very generally provided. 



In 34 districts out of the 38 reported upon in England a large 

 proportion of the labourers, especially the younger men, belong 

 to some benefit society. In three districts of Wales a number of 

 labourers are enrolled as members of friendly societies, but in 

 other districts this does not seem to be the case. Scotch 

 labourers are said to be very generally indifferent to benefit 

 societies, although membership of such societies is common in a 

 few localities. Benefit societies are apparently almost unknown 

 in Ireland. 



Trades unions of agricultural labourers were found to exist 

 in only six of the 38 districts of inquiry in England, and there 

 is, it appears, a total absence of any organisation of this nature in 

 Wales. In Scotland the Scottish Ploughman's Federal Union is 

 said to have a considerable number of members, and a few local 

 organisations are mentioned. Some organisations of agricultural 

 labourers exist in different parts of Ireland, but they do not 

 seem to be very generally supported or at all active. 



In 13 districts in England the relations between the farmers 

 and the labourers are said to be good or satisfactory, in 17 they 

 are described in some such terms as " fair," " amicable," " not 

 unfriendly," but in eight districts the report is less favourable. 

 In some districts of Wales it is reported that a certain sourness 

 of feeling and an absence of good- will exist, while in another a 

 much better feeling prevails. As regards Scotland it is stated 

 that, while the relations between the two classes are on the 

 whole fairly good, there is evidence of a want of good feeling 

 and sympathy in some parts of the country. The relations are, 

 it appears, most strained v/here the land is inferior and the 

 farmers are small men, and wherever bad bothies, bad cottages, 

 and proximity to mining villages and manufacturing towns 

 occurred, the relations were anything but cordial. The tenor of 

 most of the reports on Ireland is to the effect that the relations 

 of masters and their labourers are satisfactory and even friendly ; 

 there are, however, some exceptions. The chief causes of com- 

 plaint on the part of the labourers appear to be the want of 

 continuous employment and low wages, while the employers 

 generally complain that the labourers are less industrious and 

 willing than formerly. 



With respect to the general condition of the English agri- 

 cultural labourer, there is, it seems, an almost unanimous opinion 

 that a great improvement has taken place during the last 20 



