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recently been made in the employment of pauper children in agricultural pursuits . " It ia gratifying to find that the mental training of these children does not suffer by their withdrawal from the school , to engage , during a portion of each day , in manual labour in the field . On this point Mr . Bowyer ( inspector of workhouse schools ) states : — ' The introduction of agricultural training has been everywhere attended by a marked improvement in the appearance and bodily vigour of the boys ; and their progress in their studies , so far from being retarded by it , has been generally promoted , notwithstanding the reduction in the number of hours devoted to school instruction . ' "
In respect to children , therefore , the Commissioners are directly sanctioning , encouraging , and extending" the principle of concert , with the hopeful effects which are described above—the children are trained "in the habits of industry , ' with " considerable profit to the guardians , " the bodily vigour of the boys is improved , and their progress in study is generally promoted . Thus much for children : we should have been glad to see the Commissioners not only reporting upon the adult experiments which have been familiarized to our
readers , but affording to them encouragement in lieu of discouragement , facility in lieu of obstruction . Our readers are aware that it is not ignorance which prevents the Commissioners from noticing these experiments in their general Report ; since the President has been invited to Sheffield , an assistant Commissioner has visited Cork , and various documents in the hands of the Commissioners might have dictated at least a single line , in the report " of their proceedings during the year 1850 , " to indicate the existence of the movement .
Proof , however , is not wanting of the degree to which the organization of labour may be applied for raising the condition of the working classes . We turn to the letter in the Morninq Chronicle of Saturday last , on Agriculture in Northamptonshire ; the writer is describing the model farm of Mr . Beasley , on the property of Mr . Lewis Loyd , at Overstone : — ' * On a farm of about 900 acres , upwards \ , i 200 of which were grass lands , there were employed , at the time of my visit , in the month of January , fifty-six men arid seven boys , between thirty and forty of whom were employed in draining operations . About 200 acres of land had ,
within a short period , come into the possession of Mr . Beasley , and some additional employment was consequently afforded by the alterations and improvements which were being carried on in connection with the newlyacquired ( arm . The wages paid to the labourers wereto one , 13 a . per week ; to four , 12 s . each ; to one , Us . ; the wages of the whole fifty- six , some of whom were paid by piece work , averaged 10 s . per week ; fuul those of the boys from 3-s . to 9 s . per week . Upon several farms in Moulton , the adjoining paiish , the number of labourers employed averaged two men and a boy to about 150 acres . One man was employed to look after the horse , one to thresh , and u boy to help occasionally . The poor-rates
in Ow'istont ! were 4 . ^( 1 ., in Moulton , Is . O . Jd . in the pound , but would have bei n considerably higher \ v < re it not for tlie circumstance that , nearly one-half of the persons employed by Mr . Beasley belonged to Moulton parish . ' Although , ' said an elderly men , there ' s a sight of shoeing ( shoemaking ) done in Moulton , there ' s a many of the poor people that does farm work ; and if it . wasn ' t for Squire Loyd and Mr . Beasley , there ' s a many of " cm would have been de . id afore this of starvation . There's no knowin' the good as ihey < lo in ernployiii' the poor people ; its far better than charityin' of them , because they feels independent when they work for what they gets . ' " With an average «« m of £ 29 paid in wages every week , it may perhaps be a matter of surprise to many persons , who consider it impossible for formers to cultivate their land with profit at present prices , to hear that , at the end of the last year , upon this farm of 700 acres , The total receipts were £ 3 , 4 / 55 10 6 Total expenses .. 2 , 7 'JG 2 G Leaving a gross profit of £ 059 13 11 From which deduct interest on capital of £ f > , 075 at /> per cent 283 1 / 5 0 Leaven a net profit of £ . ' 575 18 11 " But this is not all . 'Die value of ( i () 0 fleeces which were not sold during the your Inive been added to thin amount , which , at the rate of four to the todd , and at ' 2 Sa . per todd , the present price , would he equal to £ 210 . " Upon comparing' the quantity of live tstock at the end of the ye » r with that of the corresponding period of the previous year , it appears that there wim an increase in the number of cuttle of fA ) , of sheep 281 , and of pigs ' . i 7 . The salary of the manager of the farm , and an addition to Iuh Hillary of 10 per cent , upon the profits , wan also included in the expenditure of the year . " To the net profits for the year , therefore , exclusive of interest at 5 per cent , upon invented capital , must bo added the value of the 000 fleeces , the difference in vuluo of the liveotock , and the 10 per cent , allowance to the manager upon balance over expenditure . " Tho buHincHa , therefore " pays "; in other wohIh , it is worth undertaking , lint even that is not all : ( uconomiHtK often tell uh , with a prcsurnptuouM disregard to the , infant « tat « of agricultural ncieiice , that improved agriculture could do but little to
meet the increase of population : now just see what Mr . Beasley can do , merely with effective organization and the "four-course shift" : — " The increase which has taken place in the productiveness of the land since it came into the hands of Mr . Beasley , has been prodigious . The average crop of wheat , while under its former occupier , was two quarters to the acre ; and Mr Beasley was informed that that was the greatest amount which it would be possible for him to raise—the land being of a very inferior quality . These predictions have been so far falsified under his able management that an offer has been made to , and refused by , Mr . Beasley to purchase seventy acres of his wheat at six quarters to the acre . His turnip crop averaged twenty tons to the acre upon land where , a few years since , such a thing as a turnip was unseen . "
If the conscientious reader , who cares to know the truth , that the rescue of the agricultural labourer from the lowest poverty is quite possiblequite possible now—will cast his eye over the facts stated in the foregoing extracts , he will find the following results distinctly established . 1 . This most patriotic and philanthropic method of farming—even upon bad land , be it remembered —is commercially profitable to the speculator . 2 . Ten persons are employed where three are employed in the neighbouring parish ; in other words , besides the three , seven more are permitted to get at the land for their own subsistence , with surplus for the capitalist and for society .
3 . The production of the soil is " prodigiously " increased ; tripled , at least . 4 . The condition of the labourers generally is immensely raised . 5 . The poor-rates are reduced per one-half . It is an interesting fact , that machinery is much used on the farm , with " an enormous saving of labour . ' But organization like this must at present depend upon the chance of sagacity and high motive among individual capitalists .
The Let-alone system gives us a farm , here and there , like Overstone , counties like Essex and Buckingham . Overstone shows us what can be done ; the Report of the Poor Law Commissioners shows us what can be let alone . Yet the Poor Law might be made the instrument for establishing the staple and example of reproductive employment , until even Suffolk and Buckingham should be raised , by a gentle compulsion , to the level of Overstone .
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EXPOSITION SUNDAY . To-morrow week will be the first Sunday after the opening of the Exposition , and two practical questions will then present themselves . It lias already been foreseen that the Sunday in London will be very " trinte" for the continental visitor . It shows an unpleasing contrast to his own Sunday in two respects . For the most part , especially in the South , attendance at divine worship is not a duty which it is found necessary to enforce , but is one to which the attendant is impelled by an instinctive desire . It is not true to
say that " he is attracted by the theatrical character of the ceremony " : his whole conduct shows that he ia imbued with a strong religious feeling . The religious duties performed , the day becomes a real holiday , and the remainder is given to recreation . It is the same , not only in Italy or Spain , or even in pleasure-loving France ; it is so in philosophic Germany , so in Lutheran Denmark , in Lutheran Norway and Sweden ; so even in Calvinistic Switzerland . In all those countries , the theatre is available on the evening of the weekly holiday . The ducasse of France , a sort of tea gardens dance , is a Sunday custom also in Switzerland .
When the Foreigner comes to London , he will find that tho Englishman punishes himself for coolness or reluctance in his religious observances , by depriving , not only himself of hia weekly holiday , but everybody else . " What will tho Foreigners do on Sunday ? " is a question which we hear asked with some importunity , especially by Foreigners who have already lived amongst uh . Those who are in charge of private hospitality will find their day made as agreeable as it can be ; but what will those do who live in lodgings , especially those with humble ineariH , who will he contented with proportionately narrow abodes , and who will reckon upon tho accustomed resource of life out of doors ?
In ( ino weather our public parks and gardens will be a refuge , especially Hyde-park , the Rcgent'spark , and Kensington-gardens ; also the , suburban heaths , such as IlampMtcnd or Wimbledon ; Richmond—a name as familiar to France , though for different ruuuoutj , as Versailles is to us — will be
swarming ; likewise Twickenham and Hampton . By-the-by , the Frenchman , or the Italian , « r the German , will ask , why the . National Gallery or British Museum should be closed , when the Gallery at Hampton Court is open to the swarms that take advantage" of that relaxation in" our Pharisaical rigour ? But country exertion will cause both fatigue and appetite ; refreshment will be needed ; and the first practical question that occurs to us is , whether the keepers of suburban inns and
teagardens have made any adequate preparation for presenting their entertainment in a manner possible or tolerable to the foreigner ? It should be remembered that people from wine countries are not heavy drinkers , do not relish tea ( which they buy at the druggists' ) , and do know the taste of real coffee . Among the desiderata are—a supply of the lighter drinks familiar to continental taste ; plain and intelligible tariffs put up in conspicuous places , if possible in French ; and if possible , a waiter who speaks French .
But once in the gardens , who shall restrain the harmless and not rude mirth , say of the Frenchman ? It may be an innovation , but devoid of all bad intent , it will not be a scandal ; while the attempt to restrain it would be both a scandal and a disgrace . Now , the second of the two practical questions is , whether the police have received , or will receive due instructions as to the non-interference with the foreign visitors on Sundays ?
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IS THE BOTATION "VISIBLE ? The scientific world has been engaged for some weeks in scrutinizing an experiment which pTofesses to render visible the diurnal rotation of the earth ; and the reader will see some account of the discussion amongst our news : but the further question has arisen , this week , whether the experiment does show the rotation of the earth at all ? One sceptic has suggested that it could only be shown in the manner described at the extremity of the earth ' s axis—at either of the polps ; at our latitude
the figure descibed by the quasi-stationary pendulum should be , we imagine , not a circle but an ellipse . Of one important truth , however , the experiment most certainly reminds us—how much we do and undergo of which we know nothing , how much of what we are is hidden from us . We travel 24 , 000 miles daily , yet here we are exulting in an extremely complicated , indirect , and , perhaps , doubtful method of rendering the fact visible to our oivn eyes ; and we undertake to dogmatize on the career of mankind , nay , of the universe itself from "the beginning " " the end !"
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392 fffjtf 3 L £ && £ ?? [ Saturday ,
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rnoposKn aggregate meetings . The Chartists appear to be the only agitating body who have got rid of their Convention before the Exposition opens . Other aggrieved sections , as the Irioh , call for an aggregate meeting ; and the followers of Mr . Owen propose to assemble . Lastly , the Catholics of all nations are to be summoned in a " monster" shape in May or June . The ( Catholic Vindicator , adverting to the probabilities of an explosion , and the chances both of internal disorder and French invasion , couples them with the discussion of the Ecclesiastical Titles JJill , and " earnestly entreats the Catholics of these dominions to call a monster meeting of the Catholics of all nations , in the month of May or early in June , when the Penal Bills are under discussion in Parliament , in order to explain to the world , in their various languages , the monstrous intolerancy of this ever-boasting land of freedom" !
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U 1 UKVANCKB OV THE CAVALltY OFFICKIt . Wkkk it possible to ( it the existing military system with justice , or with the Rpirit of nationality , instead of fantastical routine and interests inextricably complicated , the oflicer might be relieved from Herioua inconvenienccH . But the Clothing Colonel has become ho implicated with the Army Clothier , the Horne G ! uardn with both , and the War-office with all and sundry , thutnn escape from the present imbroglio must date , in the ( Jreck Kalends . Meanwhile , the aspirant must await , histum for purchase ; the working oflicer must , wait his turn for promotion till he be grey ; and even the favoured itinn , wealthy , commissioned and promoted , finds the purchase system a « mockery , a delusion , and a snare . A . H ., writing from the Army and Nnvy Club , bears no uncommon complaint , to the Times : — " I have a nenr relation who in a captain of cavalry in her Majesty's service . IIo has paid the full regulation price for Iun commissions—upwards of £ , ' { 000—not to npeuk of further huuih paid for the purpose « f making promotion . For thin niul his nerviccN to the . country he receives pay to tho amount of £ 266 " 2 h . 11 . yearly , and the use of a barrack room , containing one table , two wooden chairh , and u Met of lireinim . From thiH in deducted £ . ' {« l />« . 74 d ., to pay for the forage of tho ihreo hornet * which he is required to keep ( und to purchase ) , not . for 1-in own amusement , but . for the nm'H of tho nervice ; also an annual Htibucriptiou of £ 8 I / is , to k « ei )
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 26, 1851, page 392, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1880/page/12/
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