THE ENGLISH LABOURER. 
439 
ness," as Mr. "W". admits it to be, how can the 
arts of peace be prosecuted to a degree to give ! 
us any indication of what is really good or j 
bad in the undertaking ? It is scarcely fair, 
therefore, to form any opinion of the allot- 
ment system from the picture presented to us i 
by Ireland, where so much operates against 
the improvement of the land either on a small 
or large scale. It is well known that parcels 
of land are given there to those who are really 
indifferent about cultivating it ; and this is 
done in many cases by landlords, with the view 
of adding to their influence in political matters. 
It is, moreover, notorious that the great pro- 
portion of the labouring classes in that country 
prefer idle, reckless, and exciting scenes to 
the cultivation of their crops. Fairs, funerals, 
weddings, or whatever else diverts for the 
hour, have always had charms for them which 
the most urgent necessities of their families 
have failed to dispel. 
But it is to be remembered that, though 
under certain circumstances, I have no objec- 
tions to allotments as sole occupations, I by 
no means recommend them as a general em- 
ployment for our agricultural labourers. The 
allotment system, in its best shape, such as I 
have recommended in other parts of this paper, 
is not at all understood either in Ireland or 
Scotland ; and hence it is, that in both coun- 
tries, we meet with a race of pauper farmers 
keeping up a protracted and very unnecessary 
struggle with difficulties, caused entirely by 
placing themselves in a wrong position. It 
follows that the preceding objections and re- 
marks apply with greatest force to those cot- 
tagers and labourers who occupy land chiefly 
as their sole stay, and have little or no re- 
sources elsewhere to depend upon ; but as 
objections have been raised to the plan even 
under its best form, it is necessary that I 
should take a short review of them before 
proceeding further. 
1st. It is objected to by some, on account 
of the difficulty it throws in the way of iden- 
tifying or discovering stolen corn, &c, the 
owner of the allotment having always an op- 
portunity, it is said, of shielding himself by a 
reference to Ids own produce ; for if he had 
no land, say the objectors, he could have no 
corn, &c, upon Ins premises. This objection 
is the one most generally urged against allot- 
ments by the farmers in the eastern counties 
of England ; and although there may be some 
foundation for the hindcrance it causes in de- 
tecting cases of theft, it is, after all, a most 
frivolous idea. In the present state of affairs, 
nothing whatever it an unmixed good : allot- 
ments, like other things, have their inconve- 
niences ; and I am bound to say that the 
objection referred to applies more or less to 
everything else. It proceeds, in the first ['lace. 
on the ungracious assumption that the holders 
of allotments are guilty of the crime of steal- 
ing. Now, I have asked many large farmers 
in this neighbourhood of allotments, if they 
could recollect any case of a holder being 
charged or convicted of such a crime, and I 
have been answered in the negative. I have 
myself lived for the last seven years in the 
midst of those men, and not a single instance 
of this sort has reached my ears. Mr. Ham- 
mond of Cranworth, in his evidence before 
the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, says, 
" I do not recollect an instance of a' holder 
of an allotment having been brought to trial 
for any crime ; and I know strong cases of 
reformation arising from the possession of 
them." Mr. Moseley of Glenham, Suffolk, 
observes that " allotments induce honesty, civi- 
lity, and industry." Mr. Fisher of Hevingham 
informs me that he has watched the operation 
and effect of the numerous allotments in his 
parish, and he has no hesitation in stating that 
" they have completely changed the character 
of the labourer, for he is now honest and re- 
spectable." Such were the good effects of two 
or three allotments on as many poor men in 
the parish of Runton, that the proprietor, Sir 
Edward North Buxton, is now taking steps to 
spread this "lure to honesty and sobriety" 
amongst all the labouring population there. 
But even supposing that a few of the holders 
are dishonest, as they no doubt may be, and 
suppose further that all those dishonest men 
were dismissed from their small holdings, 
would they not accomplish the end so much 
dreaded, if they made a bond fide purchase 
of a small quantity of wheat, barley, or pota- 
toes, as a cloak for their dishonest purposes ? 
What can the difference be in appearance be- 
tween wheat that is purchased and that which 
is reared on their own land ? None whatever. 
But, in order to place the objection in its true 
light, let us apply it to other things. The 
grocer and tea dealer must be strangely at a 
loss to find up any of their stolen goods, for 
similar articles are to be found in most of the 
houses of Britain ; and the drapers must be 
in a like predicament, for their goods are 
worn by every inhabitant of this country. 
Millers, bakers, and all who deal in articles of 
domestic consumption, seem to be exposed to 
the same annoyance ; and I really cannot 
think of anything, or anyone, exempt from 
the common evil. 
Though not so often insisted upon, a more 
reasonable charge against the small holdings 
is, that the labourer is apt to spend too much 
of his strength upon them early in the morn- 
ing before he goes to his regular employment. 
His working for himself, too, at night, is some- 
times found fault with, his employer deeming 
a cessation from labour necessary to renovate 
