THE PAST AND PRESENT OF LABOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 3751, 18 November 1873, Page 3

THE PAST AND PRESENT OF LABOUR.

Thb " Labour Question" is one which is occupying'more or less of the attention of the entire civilized world — manufacturers, agriculturists, and statesmen, and alike interested in it. It may not be difficult to trace the causes which have revolutionized the position of the working classes; it is far more difficult to arrive atjuet conclusions as to what will be the ultimate result of the great changes which are transpiring with over-increasing rapidity. Amongst the most prominent causes are, the rapid development of luxuriouaness in the higher and middle classes of society ; the presence of the schoolmaster, and consequent increase of intelligence amongst the lower orders ; and the fact that the lino of demarcation between the various classes of society is ever widening and increasing. Let us observe the progression of eventß in one department of industry only, viz., that of agriculture. In England, scarcely three generations ago, the farmer and most of his labourers dwelt beneath one roof and shared one common board, and together talked of passing events. His sons handled tho plough, hiß daughters milked the cows, attended to the dairy, and often to the cattle and pigs, as well as to the poultry yard. The farmer of thoße days was not better educated then the labourer of to-day. The Press had but begun its work. Knowledge was the possession of the very few. The farmer's political views—if he had any—were those of his landlord. The labourer was little more than a I hum'iu machine that did tho bidding of its moafcer. The farmer, if need were, would , fight for his landlord ; the labourer would do as tsuch for his master. Tho English farmer of the present time belongs to another order of beings. He occupies something more than the position of " tho 'Squire" of a hundred years ago. His forefathers wore homespun garments, of homely make; his sons wear tweeds and broadcloths, fashioned by first-rate tailors. His forefathers were educated by the village dominie, whose stock of information waß often poor indeed ; his sons are sent to good academies, and often finish their education atßton or Harrow, and Bometimeß at Cambridge or * Oxford. The former was content to walk, and to plod on in the performance of the manual labour of the farm ; the latter rides, and drives, and shoots, and hunts. Tho former was wont to say to his labourers, "Come and do tho work" ; the latter says " Go and and do it." Thus casto has been strengthened, and the old bond of union between the classes has been undermined and weakened, and has finally been broken. The 'Squire assumes to belong to the aristocracy; the farmer to the dignity of tho squire, and the labourer to be as good a man as the farmer of former times. Nor are we prepared to say that there is not a shew of justice in each assumption. It would be a mistake to think of the English farm labourer as we know him even twenty years ago; he is another man. True, the cost of living has considerably increased, but then his wages have been doubled, he is better fed, he is better clothed, he has began to sip at the outer margin of the springß of knowledge ; the will of his master is no longer his will, he has laid aside his old fealty, he is jußt beginning to learn to turn his increased intelligence to account, he is beginning to think and to act for himself, his conduct is already illustrating the old axiom " knowledge is power." He has learned " that labour is as necessary to capital as capital is to labour," and is therefore uniting with his fellows in a trial of strength against his employer. He is following the example of his manufacturing, mining, and mechanical brethren. He is establishing uniona, and is demanding yet higher wages, and the rights of suffrage. Old conservatism in England stands aghast at the change, shakes its head, utters its fears, and predicts serious times to come. We confesß we call see nothing to fear. We see the natural result of the onward march of freedom and intelligence. The ball has been set rolling, and nothing can stop its progress. Obstacles may, perhaps, judiciously be placed in its way to prevents its moving "too fast./' but it must and will go on ; it has been rolling now for many years, and—what is the result ? An increase *of intelligence and an increase of wealth and prosperity unequalled in the world's history. Looking at the subject from the point of view wliere it most especially affects us, we can see that the demand often raised in this colony " for cheap labour" can never ho met—for the same causes which are in operation in England are also at work in all the great countries of Europe. The days of cheap labour are past. But, on the other hand, we can see that the time is rapidly approaching when " the approximation of labour rates throughout the old world to our own" will afford us scopo and opportunity to enter upon many industrial pursuits in the manipulation of our own raw materials, the manufacturing of which has, of late years, aided in the enrichment of England, and added to that high commercial importance which is to-day her pride and glory, and our own.