The advantage which the working man, possessed of a little patch of land
at a moderate rent, has over him who is without any, or holds it at a
rate greatly above its value (a common case with the Irish labourer), can
only be fully understood by those who have narrowly observed in England
the respective conditions of the field labourer, with his allotment of
a rood or half a rood of garden, and the workman in a town factory.
It is very obvious that the garden gives healthful recreation to the
family, young and old, who have always some little matter to perform
in it, and if they really like the light work of cultivating kitchen
vegetables, fruits and flowers, they combine pleasure with profit. Here
is something on which they can always fall back as a resource if a day’s
work for hire is interrupted--they can make up at home for so much lost
time--the children have something rational and useful to do, instead of
_blackguarding_ about roads and streets--they help to raise the potatoes
and cabbages, &c., which with prudent management materially assist their
housekeeping.
The benefits which have arisen to the labourer and all the rural poor
in England who have obtained from ten to forty perches of garden
from land-proprietors or farmers, or those who have the privilege of
encroaching upon commons for the purpose, is truly surprising. Much of
this is attributable to the exertions of the London Labourers’ Friend
Society, who, in an age when party violence divides man from his fellows,
and excites from some quarter or other opposition to every system
designed for the common good, have quietly but steadily pursued their own
way.
I have had occasion more than once to press upon the attention of those
who have the disposal of land in Ireland, the great benefits which would
result to our poor if they would act upon the principle which actuates
this benevolent society; and strange though it be, the fact is, that some
landlords possessing estates both in England and Ireland are at pains to
secure to the English labourer advantages which they take no trouble to
provide for the labourer on the soil of Ireland.
I have referred to the _principle_ which guides the society. It is, that
the labouring classes should have such allotment of land as will not
interfere with their general course of fixed labour, nor render them at
all independent of it, but merely give them employment during those hours
which they have at command in the intervals of their more profitable
occupations. I have myself seen innumerable instances of the happy
effects of giving to the labourer or _little_ mechanic even half a rood
of land, which he generally has in the highest state of productiveness,
and from it his table is frequently supplied; while gooseberry and
currant trees, in luxuriant bearing, and flowers _close to the road_, and
without a higher fence than a paling or hedge three feet high, attest
the high degree of honesty and decorum which the habit of having such
productions in this unprotected way undoubtedly generates.
The local poor-rates have in all instances been greatly lessened by this
mode of enabling labourers to help themselves; and if in this country
the compulsory system of providing food or employment for the sick or
hungry poor had prevailed long ago as in England, the landlords would
have found means to guard against those dreadful realities of destitution
with which we have been familiarized. Not that it is desirable to give a
very open invitation to the parish manger, for this destroys the feeling
of self-dependence and weakens the motives to economy and industry. But
there should have long since been more _practical_ exertion to place the
labourer within reach of reasonable comforts.
What are the circumstances of tens of thousands of working people in the
great manufacturing towns of Great Britain, in which no land can be given
to them? Families so circumstanced wear out their health and existence
in unvarying labour--not requiring much immediate exertion of strength,
it is true; but wearisome from its continued sameness, which gives no
exercise whatever to the mind.
The many pictures presented to us of the mental and physical condition
of a great portion of our fellow-creatures kept at the slave-like
labour of the factory, are appalling, and I fear they are true: _this_
is unquestionably so, that children from nine to twelve years of age
(and many _have_ been worked from the age of _five_) are locked up for
six days in the week, for twelve hours every day, in a warm artificial
temperature, instead of breathing the free air of heaven; they are
looked upon as parts of the machinery, and must move accordingly; with
this difference, that while human genius is always at work to devise
improvements in inanimate complications, and to keep them in the highest
state of order, the condition of the living soul and body is in too many
instances neglected altogether. There is a wear and tear of human life,
and an accumulation of moral corruption, which it is frightful to think
of.
When work is in good demand, the joint labours of the parent and their
children earn considerable weekly wages. There is then plenty of bread
and butter and some bacon for the children, and beer and gin besides for
their parents; but nothing is saved for less prosperous times, and the
family is not eventually the better for the short run of high earnings.
The want of a bit of land is more serious than many will believe, not
only in its effect upon health, but upon moral conduct also.
Among some facts published by the London Labourers’ Friend Society, are
the details of the complete reformation of twelve men, who had been
severally committed to gaol for different offences of a very serious
nature, in consequence of their obtaining portions of land, varying from
two acres and a half to one rood; and I may add, that out of eighty
occupants of land-allotments in the same neighbourhood, there has been
only one case of robbery within seven years.
Some of the foregoing remarks tend to show that the Irish poor would not
gain in happiness by the establishment of the modern British factory
system among them, unless the advantage of a _little_ land could be
afforded them at the same time. A proof of this exists in the altered
circumstances of the people who were once employed in the domestic
manufacture of linen in Ulster. These had a patch of land, to which they
could at pleasure turn from the loom and the reel; and as the labour of
their children was not prematurely demanded, they could enjoy the green
fields or the garden, and be employed in school, with a certainty of
substantial food (instead of bad coffee and adulterated tea), until they
attained the age of thirteen or fourteen, when they could take an active
part in the labour of the loom.
When field or garden labour can be combined with factory work, the
miseries of the manufacturing system are much removed, and manufactures
in such a case become serviceable under judicious and moral management:
the present state of the town of Lancaster affords some illustration
of this. It verges on a purely agricultural district, and now contains
both manufacturing and farm labourers. Upon the introduction of cotton
manufactures (and half the few mills now existing there were established
only seven years ago), the wages of each individual workman were rendered
less than they had been before, _but_ the earnings of his _whole family_
increased considerably. Children before that period were burdensome to
their parents, who when making application for parish aid pleaded the
number of their family. Now children are sources of increased comfort
to such parents; and even step-children, grand-children, nephews, and
nieces, who were formerly pressed into the list of mouths to be fed from
the parish rates, are now studiously kept out of sight, because they
earn wages, and contribute to the support of those who would otherwise
shift them off their hands. On the _whole_, those with families are
better off than if without them; and the children themselves, except
in times of very hurried work, and allowing for occasional abuses by
employers and parents over-working them, are better off than formerly.
The comparatively good state of the Lancaster operatives arises front
the circumstance, that in times of difficulty in the factories many of
the work people have farm work to turn to, and numbers of them have
allotments of their own.
In proportion as the labouring poor of any community are deprived of
the advantage of gardens, is a decrease in their health, happiness, and
moral state. Of this, as regards another nation, I have a proof before me
in the letter of Mr T. Bastard, who in a communication from Germany (I
shall only give a portion of it) to the editor of the Labourers’ Friend
Magazine, says, “In regard to the allotment system in particular, as a
mode of giving the labourer ‘a stake in the hedge,’ I have learnt nothing
here which induces me to change my opinion of its value: on the contrary,
I feel rather confirmed in the belief, that where population and capital
exist in a high degree, no other practicable mode has yet been proposed,
so calculated to prevent the labouring classes from falling into the
degraded position, with all its train of ill consequences, of being mere
machines in the hands of the capitalists; or if they have already so
fallen, so adapted to restore them to a higher moral state.
I believe that a much greater proportion of the labouring classes of
Saxony possess some ‘stake in the hedge’ than those of England. … I
am sorry, however, to add, that Saxony appears to me, by the increase
that is taking place in her population, and by her efforts to push her
manufactures, to be approaching the evil which we have long suffered
under in England, that of having the sole interest of a great portion of
her people dependent entirely on the amount of weekly wages that they can
obtain.
During three months of last year I resided in a village at some distance
from Dresden, and in every sense a rural one, the occupations of the
inhabitants, of which there were between seven and eight hundred living
in about one hundred houses, being confined to agriculture, with
the exception of some handicraftsmen, such as shoemakers, tailors,
blacksmiths, &c. and a few who worked in some stone quarries. Besides
two considerable estates belonging to two persons who stood in the
position of esquires, and shared the manorial privileges, the land was
much divided, two or three persons having as much as 140 acres, but
the greater part only from one to five acres, which were held under
a sort of feudal tenure; and all the cottages had at least gardens.
The appearance of general comfort and happiness certainly exceeded
that which I have ever seen in an English village of the same kind and
size. The inhabitants were healthy-looking: their houses were all good
substantial ones, provided (at least several that I entered) with decent
furniture, and they were invariably well clothed. The two latter points
are remarkable in Saxony. I have never seen a row of cottages, or rather
_huts_ here, and very rarely a raggedly-dressed person. I will here
add, also, that the Saxons who visit _rich_ England are particularly
struck with the numbers of persons they see in rags and tatters. I
found, however, that there were several persons, and even families, who
had merely lodgings in the cottages without any land, and these were
invariably in bad circumstances. In fact, they were dependent solely on
wages; and here was the commencement of that evil to which I have before
adverted, and for which I can think of no other effectual remedy than the
allotment system.”
* * * * *
IRISH BRAVERY AND HONOUR.--On the surprise of Cremona by Prince Eugene in
1702, when Villeroy, the French general, most of the officers, military
chests, &c. were taken, and the German horse and foot in possession of
the town, excepting one place only, the Po Gate, which was guarded by
two Irish regiments commanded by O’Mahony and Bourk, before the Prince
commenced the attack there, he sent to expostulate with them, and show
them the rashness of sacrificing their lives where they could have no
probability of relief, and to assure them if they would enter into the
imperial service, they should be directly and honourably promoted. The
first part of this proposal they heard with impatience, the second with
disdain. “Tell the Prince,” said they, “that we have hitherto preserved
the honour of our country, and that we hope this day to convince him
that we are worthy of his esteem. While one of us exists, the German
eagle shall not be displayed upon these walls. This is our deliberate
resolution, and we will not admit of further capitulation.” The attack
was commenced by a large body of foot, supported by five thousand
cuirassiers, and after a bloody conflict of two hours the Germans
retreated: the Irish pursued their advantage, and attacked them in the
streets. Before evening the enemy were expelled the town, and the general
and the military chests recovered.
* * * * *
Printed and Published every Saturday by GUNN and CAMERON, at
the Office of the General Advertiser, No. 6, Church Lane,
College Green, Dublin.--Agents:--R. GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley,
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