THE WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE 'SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The letter of Mr. T. J. Ward in the Spectator of November 21st has somewhat interested me. I am the vicar of a large country parish in Essex. It is entirely agricultural. I have not a single family whose head is paid 18s. 6d. for his weekly work, nor anything approaching it. I was also sur- prised to find in the editor's note appended that he was aware the normal wage of an agricultural labourer is never so low as 12s. a week. The ordinary wage here of a labourer is that sum. He has generally out of it to pay 24 to 25 a year rent, and most of the cottages have not even a garden. During the harvest they are paid according to the acreage, so that the average wage practically in case of a long harvest remains the same. In an adjoining parish, of which also I am the vicar, the wages for a labourer are Ms. in the summer, and during the winter is. is taken off. Here, fortunately, the rents are much lower owing to a beneficent landlord. A good cottage and garden can be hired from 22 10s. to 24. I believe that there are many parts of England besides Essex where things are as bad. The logical development of the present fiscal controversy is, we all feel, a tax on food, but the effect on these people with so small an income will make some of us
pause before we give our votes for any scheme which will ultimately grind the faces of many poor.—I am, Sir, &c.,
A. ST. COLOMBE.
[Our correspondent should read the paper on "How Agricul- ture was Ruined by Protection" in our issue of to-day in regard to the effect of a Corn-law on rural communities. —ED. Spectator.]
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