[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR." J SIR,—Let me state,
without any preface, my experiences in this matter. In 1853 I went to a curacy in a rural parish of Wiltshire; in 1892 I was presented to a small benefice in
the same county within a mile or so of the same 'parish. I found that the condition of the labourer was greatly changed for the better. His income was not much larger; the regular wage was raised, but, on the other hand, there was less piece- work. The real cause of the change was this ; he now had to spend but one-third, in the old days he had had to spend two-thirds, of his income in bread. In 1853 the ordinary labourer seldom tasted even bacon, and butcher's meat but once a year at the club dinner—what a spectacle that un- accustomed treat presented !—to the poorest even tea was a treat ; the substitute for it was water coloured with burnt bread. In 1892 the butcher's and the grocer's carts made a regular round through the village. I remember that one Saturday, when an accident had delayed the arrival of the butcher, I found that every house in the parish—there were but some thirteen labourers' cottages in all—was provided with its Sunday meal of flesh meat.—I am, Sir, &C., SEPTUAGENARLA.N.
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