FARM LABOURERS' WAGES UNDER PROTECTION.
rTO TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPEOTATOR."J
Sra,—When a boy, living on the borders of Shropshire and Montgomeryshire, I was well acquainted with a man who had for several years worked for the same farmer. He was a ploughman in the prime of life, steady and industrious, a good workman (he always took the first prize at the local ploughing matches), and yet during the whole time referred to he never received more than 7s. a week, with his food in harvest. Out of this he had to pay rent as well as buy food and clothes for himself, wife, and children. On thinking over the matter, I cannot help asking—Were the farmers doing well under Protection, and if so, how could they pay their men such miserable wages ? When I last knew the champion ploughman—old and rather infirm—he was getting 9s. per week for doing odd jobs on another farm. That was in the time of Free-trade and cheap food.—I am, Sir, &c., W. H. .
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