3G4 Condition of the English Agricultural Labourer, 1871. 
are to some extent dependent upon him. Landlords are doing- 
tliis all over England, and we will only quote one passage from 
many as an example of how the work is going on : — 
" In speaking of the state of cottages, I am exhibiting a dark 
picture, as if it Avas the fault of a class, many of whom are 
powerless to change it, and few of whom are answerable for it. 
We are calling on the landowners of to-day to remedy the evil 
growth of many past generations, and nine-tenths of those who 
reside in the four counties which I have visited are already busy 
at the work, as far as their means will allow. I could point 
out to you two very large estates in these counties, upon the 
general improvement of which, cottages having a large share, 
the whole income has been spent for many years past." * 
The pictures drawn of the labourers' homes in these reports are 
often painful ; but we must remember that in towns these evils 
equally claim our notice, and that the value of free air and whole- 
some dwellings is only slowly appreciated by those whose social 
position in life is much higher than the labourer and the artisan. 
One good and promising feature of the present time is that the 
labourer himself is beginning to appreciate a good cottage, and is 
ready to pay for it ; and that he is not so willing to go into the 
old tumble-down dwellings he has been hitherto accustomed to 
inhabit. We must not forget also the favourable difference of 
rent paid for cottages and gardens in the country as contrasted 
with the town, when we are comparing the position of the artisaii 
and the agricultural labourer. It was but recently that, looking 
over Baroness Burdett Coutts's noble improvements in Bethnal 
Green, we found families, consisting of a father, mother, and even 
three children in two-roomed apartments, without any laider or 
pantry, about 12 feet by 9, in Columbia Buildings. For these 
rooms, including the use of the common laundry and wash- 
house, and other accommodation, the weekly tenant paid Ss. 
per week ; and we were assured that the rents of the small houses 
in the neighbourhood were even higher. 
English landlords will not shirk their work ; and they are 
generally recognising the improvement of cottages as a part of 
their duty, essential for the good cultivation of the land, as well 
as for good morals ; and every one who travels through the 
country sees not only commodious farm-buildings, enlarged 
fields, and higher cultivation, but also well-built and commodious 
cottage dwellings, rising amongst the squalid homes which even 
yet disgrace our land. These improvements will never be 
accomplished without the personal interest of the landlord, 
and the free and unfettered application of capital to the land. 
* Mr. Culley, Second Report, 1869, p. 95. 
