AGRICULTURAL LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 2485, 16 June 1893, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES.

Befering to agricultural labor, Mr Drage, in his report on labor questions in the United States, says that, though the prices of farm products have steadily declined, the same cannot be said ot the wages of agricultural labor. Within 50 years they have almost doubled, aud the rate of remuneration for farm labor in America cm scarcely bs approached by any other country except Australia. Tbe annual rate in the United State? is 8282, as against §150 io Great Britain, §125 in France, §100 iv Holland, §90 in Germany, §60 in Russia, §50 in Italy, and §30 in India. This high rate may be partly attributed to the comparative scarcity of labor, for a large majority of the States report the supply as inadequate. Agricultural wages vary greatly in diiferent parts of the States. They are highest on tbe Pacific Coast, where they average §36 15 c a month without board and §24 25c with board. The Mountain States come next; then follows New England, where labor is scarce and comparatively dear ; whilst the lowest wages, §14 and §10, are paid in the South. Here the cost of board is lowest and the difference between the two averages is less than in the other districts. The lowest wages also represent, roughly speaking, the wages paid to colored as distinct from white labor. A comparison between statistics for 1865 and those for 1892 shows that the coat of living, as represented by the allowance for board, has decreased everywhere except in the Mountain States, which are the most recently developed. The hours of work are long, often from sunrise to Bunset, and a large proportion of the laborers are immigrants from Canada and Ireland. In New Hampshire wages are from §20 to §25 a month, with board, for good hands, and the hours are shorter than in the rest of New England. White men on California farms are paid, on an average, §25 a month, with board, and have work for two-thirds of a year. A large amount of Chinese labor is employed upon the farms, and the Chinese receive about §20 a month, without board. In the Southern States the condition of the agricultural laborer presents many peculiar features. Where wages are paid they range from §10 to §12 a month, with board, houses, and gardens free. On tbe other hand, a very large amount of labor is employed on what is known as the share or partnership system. By this arrangement the owner furnishes the team and the tools and divides the crop equally witb the laborer. Sometimes the owner lets the land to the laborer, and receives his rent in the form of so many bales of cotton, and where the laborer is not sufficiently advanced to bold the land on such terms immediately the half-share system may be adopted. Here the owner obliges the laborer to plant a portion of the land which he cultivates in corn, hay, and potatoes, charging him a rent for this portion which he can pay out of his own half of the cotton crop raised according to the share system on the remainder of the lands By these means it is hopad that the character of the Southern laborer may be greatly improved. The wants of the peopie are so small that they bave but little incentive to steady and regular work, and seem scarcely yet to have attained any considerable degree of industry or self-reliance. Women are occasionally employed in the fields for very low wages, ranging from §5 fco §6 a month.