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national heat of temper against " the Saxon /* but the Western world seems in each account to grow more and more agitated by the presence of " the Swedish Nightingale . " More ado is made about her admission to the Union than that of California . She may be considered as one of tl * e United States . Unquestionably , if the Federal Republip could im ? personate itself in a representative—which , being a Republic and a bit-by-bit Federation , it cannot do—it would bestow its hand and throne on Miss Lind .
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SHEFFIELD INDUSTRIAL FARM . "We paid a visit to Sheffield , on Monday last , for the purpose of viewing the Industrial Farm , established by the Poor-law Quardians of Sheffield Union , for the employment of able-bodied labourers . It had been stated to some gentlemen at Sheffield , who took a practical interest in the farm , that two gentlemen from the Leader Office were about to seek information on the spot , an invitation which met with a very free response . From the town we were kindly conducted by several friends , and at the farm we met many gentlemen connected with the Poorlaw Guardians , or the Town Council , or otherwise interested in the experiment . The Hollow Meadows Farm lies about six miles
land adjacent to this stubble piece ; the boggy , undrained and mossy surface of which , interspersed with fragments of stone and patches of heather , formed a sombre and striking contrast to that on which we stood ; and which ) so recently as last autumn , itself presented as wild , and apparently as hopeless an aspect as the neighbouring tract . From hence we bent our steps to the portion under process of reclaiming , passing , on the way , a spring of crystal water * a glass otwhich we found especially refreshing ; and from which , we may observe , a pipe conducts the supply required at the farm below . Here we found all activity , bustle , and exertion . The tasks assigned to the paupers seemed carefully proportioned
to their several ages and abilities . Some were carefully removing the sods from the surface , and placing them , inverted , on the portion of land already dug over and freed from , stones , in order to form by their decay the source of future fertility . Others were breaking up with pickaxe and fork the land despoiled of it 3 greensward , and extracting the stones which abound in that description of soil . These were wheeled by others to the deep drains constructed ^ by the more athletic across and down the hill-side . These will afford escape to the water which would otherwise prove destructive to vegetation , and are essential to success in farming a district like the moorland .
from Sheffield , on a road which runs between two ridges of hilL As you advance from the town the country gradually becomes wilder , until at last you are in the midst of the Moorland belonging to the Duke of Norfolk . Just at this point you have on your left , topping the ridge of dark wild land , the Druid Stone . On your right , slanting upwards from the road , the Union Farm—the relic of the ancient and useless—the newest device of useful labour-law applied to the condition of the poor .
The previous occupations of the labourers had been as various as we found their ages and capabilities for toil . But one and all professed themselves thankful for the treatment they received , and avowed their preference of the description of work provided for them on the farm to that which formerly engaged them in the workhouse . Surely , we thought , as we gazed on the active and healthy toilers , even should some pecuniary loss accrue to the ratepayers of Sheffield through this experiment ( and that loss is rendered improbable by the calculations of Mr . Watkinson ) , it is Well repaid by the removal of these our fellow-men from the dense atmosphere of the smoky town to the bright and breezy hill-side , where the
receive their reward . If the scheme was ultimately successful * it would be important as a proof of the truth of the great principle which it embodied . ( Hear , hear . ') Many discouragements would , doubtless , arise ; but if all acted in concert with those gentlemen to whom the scheme owed its origin , he trusted that they would find their reward in its success , and the gratitude of the poor in removing them from the irksome scenes of unproductive labour to a scene where the work of their hands was so bounteously multiplied . ( Loud applause . )
that the charitable feelings which that religion begets had often been at the root of similar undertakings . To the monastic orders we were indebted for much of that industrial enterprize by which barren wastes had been reclaimed , and to the Knights of Malta we owed the conversion of that once sterile rock to its present fertile state . ( Hear , hear ) . Even in . these latter days a large number of Christians had gone as pioneers to the shores of Australia . All this was encouraging , but still more the evidence of care for the suffering poor . He trusted that the ratepayers would
Mr . Thornton Hunt assured them that , although he had been brought so prominently before the assembly , he had not the slightest idea of appearing before them as a lecturer . He did not expect to teach them so much as he expected to learn from them . His object in this visit was entirely a practical one . For many years he had been watching the operation of the poor-laws ; but he had seen no enquiries respecting such a scheme as this , nor any results arrived at by the commissioners . He , however , did not mean to
blame them . It would be remembered that , under the administration of the old poor-law , the great abuses were the corrupted administration of the funds , and the very wasteful administration of others , and the kind of premium which was given to the less well-conducted of the working classes to encrease their families at the expence of the public . The commission of enquiry of 1833 was directed towards the investigation of these abuses , and , although we found many instances of beneficial employment of pauper labour , both morally and pecuniarily , this fact did not seem to have struck the minds of the
On reaching the farmhouse , which is a plain and substantial stone edifice , divided from the road by a small garden and potato plot , and commanding an extensive view of the splendid moorlands by which the estate is surrounded , we were conducted round the building by our courteous cicerone , with a view to our inspection of the in-door arrangements . On the ground floor we found a spacious dining-room , where preparations were made for the meal of which we afterwards partook ; near to which was a lavatory with pure water constantly laid on , and every
consong of the birds , and the scent of the heather , and the gleam of the sunshine on the everlasting hills , give health at once and exhilaration to their bodies and their minds . The speculation , in a commercial point of view , may or may not be a losing one : we think with Mr . Watkinson that it will not be so ; but the money and pains are well laid out that not only support in honourable and productive labour , instead of the degrading and wasteful tasks of corn-grinding , oakumpicking , and stone-breaking , the present 26 inmates and those dependent upon them , but have , since the commencement of the undertaking , found similar provision for upwards of 500 heads of families , 250 of their wives , and about 2000 children .
commissioners with sufficient force . In the returns , which were filed now and then , came out some new evidence ; but still it received no attention : consequently , the reform which was made in the new poor-law was made without this consideration . It was a modification of the old process . This scheme was a supplementary enquiry to that of 1833 , which they were justified in making . Besides observing the operation of the poor-law , he had also seen some instances of cooperation . He remembered visiting Glasgow prison , and there he saw a remarkable sight—what might be called a community picked
venience for ablutions , and encouragement to their performance among the inmates . Store-room , kitchen , and a comfortable sitting-room for the superintendent completed the accommodations on this story ; while on the first floor we found ' a capacious dormitory containing sixteen beds , the frames of which were of iron , and bed clothes and coverlets , like everything else connected with the establishment , perfectly neat and clean . Near this dormitory were the sleeping apartments of the officials , and , connected with it by a door of communication , those of the superintendent ,
Rather than that such an undertaking should be abandoned , we longed for the removal into the pure air of the open country of those wives and children , and not only of them but of the aged , infirm , and helpless ; we pictured the hillside covered with happy groups , each occupied as befitted his capacity ; the aged gazing in calm complacencyas is his right—on . the labour of those for whom he worked in his days of vigour ; the women busied in offices of love to them and to the children , or in the needful household employments ; and the children enjoying all the natural advantages of air , and exercise , and scenery , and being fitted for their future career in the Industrial School .
from the worst characters of society . Ihey were admitted to that prison by a qualification of crime . After entering prison , they invariably improved in health and demeanour , and there was also a more healthy moral feeling among them . They were employed at various trades , and the effect was , that , including the prison-debt , the cost of each prisoner was only £ 2 per annum . In 1842 , owing to the bad state of trade , they were obliged to give over employing the prisoners , because they were competing with the ratepayers ; but , if their labour was profitable , there could be no reason why the ratepayers of
reached by a separate staircase from below , and yet thus provided with access to the paupers should any occa-¦ ion for interference arise during the night . The arrangements for ventilation , consisting of an apparatus for the introduction of cold air through the floor , and for its escape by openings in the wall when heated and vitiated by the breathing of the sleepers , cannot be too highly commended , and we should rejoice to see them universally introduced into all public establishments and private residences . On the second floor we found- apartments similar to those on the first ,
Sheffield could not profitably employ a class of persons higher in the scale than the prisoners . Therefore , these things should induce them to carry on that scheme for a considerable time , in spite of the doubts which he saw arising amongst them—doubts which he was glad to see existed only amongst the minority . He would advise them to take care that they had the whole scheme entirely before them . ( Hear , hear . ) Have every item of cost fully shown—( hear , hear ); but they should also consider every advantage gained by the scheme , and these advantages would not be merely pecuniary . From Watkinson
the dormitory containing the same number of iron bedsteads , but , from the reduced number of inmates not requiring their occupation , unprovided with bedding . We may mention here that the sum expended on the house and farm buildings was about £ 800 , and that the rent paid for it and the two acres of land attached to it is £ 4 a-year , on a lease for ninety-nine years , granted to the board of guardians by the Duke of Norfolk . The fifty acres of which the farm consists are held at a rent of 4 s . per acre ,
At this point of our musings we were summoned to dinner in the farmhouse , to which we adjourned with the rest of the assemblage . At the conclusion of the repast , the Chairman having given " the Queen , " Mr . William Fisher , jun ., proposed " the health of Messrs . Hunt and Larken , " the gentlemen on whose account principally they had met together that day . In doing so he wished to explain his
on a lease of twenty-one years from the same proprietor . On leaving the farmhouse we passed through the yard where tho buildings are situate , and where we observed several pigs , whose sleek and comfortable condition bore testimony to the care and ample food bestowed upon them . There are no cows kept at present on the farm ; but they will be introduced when sufh'cient land is reclaimed to yield roots , green crops , and fodder for their maintenance . From hence we passed through the stackyard , where we found five stacks of wheat and oats , in excellent condition , if we might judge from the colour and brightness of tho Rtniw ; and , ns we learned , of more
reason for being there . It was not that he had heard of any further step in the progress of social reform ; neither was he a Socialist nor an Associationist in any way . From his previous knowledge of Mr . liarken he ( Mr . Fisher ) had a desire to gratify his wishes , and , being indebted to Leigh Hunt for many pleasant hours , ho was glad to meet the wishes of his son , and get his ( Mr . Fisher ' fellow-townsmen together to hear what he would say .
what had been told to him by Mr . , the clerk to the board of guardians in Sheffield , to whom he owes many thanks , it appeared probable that the present loss would soon bo regained . ( Hear , hear . ) Of the moral effect of the scheme he had heard sufficient that day to convince him that of these they were perfectly sensible . Then there was the value of the land after it had been reclaimed , and the value of the experiment . If it succeeded there was no doubt that it would be an example to other unions . All tkis must be taken into account as well as the mere pounds , shillings , and pence . Referring to the pressure on the
poor-The Reverend Edmund R . Lauken said that , before leaving his friend Mr . Hunt to respond more at length to the toast which had just been drunk , he begged to return his best thanks to them for the kindness and courtesy which had been shown to them that day , and especially on the occasion ot drinking their health . It" anything were wanting besides tho beautiful scenes and recollection of
law in 1833 , he remarked that it was singular that about the same time the public mind began to show itself in favour of free trade . Well , free trade was carried , and the poor-law wns modified . IJut the number of those who were not satisfied with free trade was increasing ; and at present there was a new kind of opinion ot a loose , doubtful , and scattered order gaining ground . Wo have now systematic Socialists , Christian Socialists , freehold building associations , and societies whose principle is that no institution can bo safe which is not based upon the land . There was also the Land Redemption Society at Leeds . This sort of opinions was
spreadthan average yield . Passing up the face ot the hill , whore some of the paupers were engaged in digging potatoes , we found the rest of our party assembled round Mr . Watkinson , the clerk to the Uoard of GunrdianH , to whoso enterprise and philanthropy this experiment is due . This gentlemen was pointing out to their notice tho condition of some oat stubble , which gave , in truth , evidence of a clean and abundant crop , the result of careful extraction of the atones , thorough digging and subsoiling , and the application of a plentiful supply of manure . Mr . Watklnjon then directed our attention to tho unreclaimed
what they had witnessed , it was made up to them by the kind manner in which the toast was responded to . It was , indeed , cheering to sec so much care and philanthropy manifested towards the suffering classes . It was to him a happy thing to see them employed as upon that farm , and not compelled to spend their time in a degrading task of unproductive labour . ( Applause . ) To him especially , as a minister of religion , was this a gratifying sight , recollecting
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626 &t ) t VLeaJtet . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 28, 1850, page 626, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1854/page/2/
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