Sept. 1894] 



PARLIAMENTAKY PUBLICATIONS. 



99 



years. Mr. Little says that the most effective agent in bringing 

 about the improved condition has undoubtedly been the cheapness 

 of all the prime necessaries of life, and he estimates that 166*. 

 will to-day buy as much of the principal commodities which 

 a labourer consumes, in the proportions in which he requires 

 them, as could have been bought for 20s. in 1871-2. In the 

 opinion of several observers the labourer has also advanced 

 morally ; he is said to be more sober, more provident, and less 

 dependent upon charity or poor relief. But, notwithstanding 

 the improvement which has taken place in every part of the 

 country, there are, it is feared, too many of the class who, partly 

 by their own fault and partly by misfortune, are in a chronic 

 state of poverty and distress ; but in this respect it is considered 

 that the agricultural labourer will probably compare favourably 

 with those of any other class ; and the lot of the least fortunate 

 is in many respects better than that of many dwellers in towns. 

 As regards the future, Mr. Little states that it is hopeless to 

 expect a rise in wages while the prices of produce remain as 

 they are at present. Everything, he says, seems to point to less 

 employment of labour, and unless there be a further reduction 

 in the numbers of the rural population it is difficult to see how 

 they can be employed upon the land. In respect of the con- 

 dition of the Welsh labourer, it is maintained that, with all the 

 qualifications which can be suggested, there is no doubt that a 

 great advance has been made in the past 20 years. As in the 

 case of England, the housing of the labourer is apparently the 

 most pressing subject for reform. It is pointed out that, if the 

 sanitary authorities are in many cases supine, they are often 

 powerless to compel an improvement without resorting to 

 the extreme measure of closing and demolishing unsanitary 

 dwellings ; and the result of such energetic action would in many 

 places make a large number of families homeless. Mr. Little 

 is of opinion that the evidence from Wales strongly supports 

 the suggestion made by the Assistant Commissioners for 

 England, that the medical officer of health should be placed in 

 a position of greater independence, that he should devote his 

 whole time to the work of his office, and that in order to carry 

 out this object, without pressing too heavily upon the ratepayers 

 of the smaller sanitary districts, the area of his duties should be 

 enlar^ged. 



In Scotland the material and moral condition of the labourers 

 is reported to have immensely improved of late years. It is, 

 however, believed that the present race of labourers is less 

 thrifty and less inclined to save than its predecessors. It would 

 appear that, as is the case in England, the cottage accommoda- 

 tion is the principal matter in which something may be done to 

 improve the condition of the Scotch labourer ; and Mr. Little 

 agrees with the suggestion that State loans should be made to 

 landlords with the object of promoting the supply of better 

 cottages. He considers it also desirable that the law of master 



