DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22140#0329
MOVEMENTS OF LABOUR.
313
times inconveniently observant and imitative. To many of them
a temporary residence in England is an exceedingly practical
apprenticeship which they can put to good use either here or
abroad. To such people England osfers many attractions. If
they prosper, they have a far wider field than they would have at
home, and the opportunities of a far pleasanter life. The social
system of England is far more generous and far less inquisitive as
to the sources of wealth than that of Germany is. We have no
noble class, and many'of those who belong to our limited nobility
are not unwilling to associate with wealth, however obtained and
accumulated. Now if a rich man is snubbed in the country of his
birth, but welcomed and even respected in that of his adoption,
the latter has irresistible attractions for him.
There yet remains in connection with the immigrant movements
of population a question of great gravity. I mean the growth of
towns and the character of the elements from which they grow.
A century ago England was eminently a country of rural life ; at
present it is as emphatically one of town life. The rural popula-
tion is decreasing, to the satisfaction of some people, to the alarm
of others. There are facts in connection with this very marked
change which justisy to a considerable extent the alarm.
I am by no means convinced that the art of agriculture has
made less progress than manufacture has, but I am sure that
manufacturing ability is more diffused than agricultural skill or
ability is. Where an Englishman or a Scotchman is a really
competent agriculturist, he has no rival in any country whatever.
But to be successful he must not only understand his craft, but
must measure his expenditure by his profits, keep accurate
accounts, and know how best to dispose of his produce. I do not
villify a calling, in which for many reasons I have the warmest
interests, when I say that such conditions are rarely co-existent.
The absence of them is the primary, I might almost say, the
sufficient, explanation of what is called agricultural distress.
AVhen Arthur Young wrote his Tours, agricultural produce was
not more than half its present price, taking all things together,
the cost of labour, more esficient then than now, was, excepting
for two months of the hay and corn harvest, not more than a
shilling a day, and the price of such tools and implements as the
313
times inconveniently observant and imitative. To many of them
a temporary residence in England is an exceedingly practical
apprenticeship which they can put to good use either here or
abroad. To such people England osfers many attractions. If
they prosper, they have a far wider field than they would have at
home, and the opportunities of a far pleasanter life. The social
system of England is far more generous and far less inquisitive as
to the sources of wealth than that of Germany is. We have no
noble class, and many'of those who belong to our limited nobility
are not unwilling to associate with wealth, however obtained and
accumulated. Now if a rich man is snubbed in the country of his
birth, but welcomed and even respected in that of his adoption,
the latter has irresistible attractions for him.
There yet remains in connection with the immigrant movements
of population a question of great gravity. I mean the growth of
towns and the character of the elements from which they grow.
A century ago England was eminently a country of rural life ; at
present it is as emphatically one of town life. The rural popula-
tion is decreasing, to the satisfaction of some people, to the alarm
of others. There are facts in connection with this very marked
change which justisy to a considerable extent the alarm.
I am by no means convinced that the art of agriculture has
made less progress than manufacture has, but I am sure that
manufacturing ability is more diffused than agricultural skill or
ability is. Where an Englishman or a Scotchman is a really
competent agriculturist, he has no rival in any country whatever.
But to be successful he must not only understand his craft, but
must measure his expenditure by his profits, keep accurate
accounts, and know how best to dispose of his produce. I do not
villify a calling, in which for many reasons I have the warmest
interests, when I say that such conditions are rarely co-existent.
The absence of them is the primary, I might almost say, the
sufficient, explanation of what is called agricultural distress.
AVhen Arthur Young wrote his Tours, agricultural produce was
not more than half its present price, taking all things together,
the cost of labour, more esficient then than now, was, excepting
for two months of the hay and corn harvest, not more than a
shilling a day, and the price of such tools and implements as the