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WAGES OF AGRIC LrLTURAL LABOURERS. [Dec. 1895. 



WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 



A Report,* recently issued by the Board of Trade, on the 

 Wages of the Manual Labour Classes in the United Kingdom, 

 contains some interesting information relating to the wages of 

 the agricultural labourer. 



In dealing with this subject, Sir Robert Giffen remarks that 

 the same difficulty in obtaining wages in a statistical form that 

 was found to exist in the case of domestic servants also applies 

 to agricultural wages, the employment being scattered, and the 

 employers numerous. The general effect, however, of the infor- 

 mation obtained is that the 'extreme rates are between an average 

 minimum of about 9s. 6d. in Ireland, and an average maximum 

 of 18s., or thereabouts in Scotland — the general average being 

 about 13s. This is for men only, and with great variations in 

 different parts of the country. 



In England, Dorset, Wilts and Berks stand lowest, with an 

 average of 10s., followed by a large group of agricultural 

 counties, including Sussex, Hants, Devon, Somerset, Essex, 

 Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertford, Cambridge, Bedford, Buckingham, 

 Oxford, Warwick, Worcester, and Hereford, at from lis. to 12s. 

 per week. The absence of any considerable industries in these 

 counties no doubt tends to keep wages on a low level, the 

 opposite effect being especially noticeable in the West and North 

 Ridings of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, Cumberland, and 

 Westmorland, where there is a demand for labour in the mines 

 and other large works carried on in or near these counties. The 

 influence of a large labour market is also shown in the group 

 of counties round London, though not in such a marked degree 

 as in those districts where unskilled labour is much in request. 

 Cornwall is an interesting example of the influence of one 

 industry on another. The rate for farm labourers in that county 

 is higher than in the neighbouring counties on account of the 

 mining industry which is carried on there, while at the same 

 time the wages of the miners are lower than in other districts 

 where the mining industry is relatively of a more dominating 

 character. The rates given in the following table for Scotland 

 and Ireland are 18s. and 9s. Gd. per week, respectively, a very 

 remarkable difference, which, however, corresponds with what 

 has been already ascertained for similar classes of labour in 

 these two countries. The difference, of course, is largely 

 accounted for by the fact of Ireland being mainly an agricultural 

 country, whereas Scotland in many parts is industrial. The 

 returns do not shoAV the occupations for which the rates are 

 given, and probably some part of the difference might be 

 explained by the class of work done as w^ell as by the relative 

 efficiency of the labour. But these points are not given in the 

 following table, and their consideration is postponed until 

 f ulh r information is obtained. 



* General Report on the Wages of the Manual Labour Classes in the United 

 Kingdom, &c. [C— 6889.] Price 4s. Zd. 



