Page:The farm labourer in 1872.djvu/21

 Being a paper read at the Leamington Agricultural Congress, May, 1871.

Before attempting to explain how in certain places the condition of the labourer has been improved by allowing him some small share in the land on which he lives by way of allotments and cowland, it may be allowable to state two facts which, whether they be accepted or rejected, whether they be contradicted to-day and acquiesced in to-morrow, or otherwise, are nevertheless the result of distinct practical experience.

Firstly. That without any very considerable or sudden alteration in wages, any such rise for instance as would upset the economy of the farm or the cultivation of the land, the position of the labourer can be greatly improved, his income increased, his whole condition and value ameliorated by his own exertion on the land—which exertion at the same time acting upon the quality of his labour and enhancing his value as a workman might increase his contentment and attachment to the soil, and eventually exterminate his pauperism—so that the solution