第19章

Eden，vol。ii，p。288。’Inconsideringtheaccountsofthestateof

thecommons，itmustberememberthattheopenparishesthuspaidthepenalty

ofenclosureelsewhere。Colluviesvicorum。Buttheseopenfieldsandcommons

werebecomingrapidlymorescarce。

Ibid。，p。654，reLitchfield。’Intwoorthreesmallparishesinthis

neighbourhood，whichconsistoflargefarms，thereareveryfewpoor：the

farmers，inordertopreventtheintroductionofpoorfromotherparishes，

hiretheirservantsforfifty-oneweeksonly。Iconceive，however，thatthis

practicewouldbeconsidered，byacourtofjustice，asfraudulent，anda

mereevasioninthemaster；andthataservantthushired，ifheremained

thefifty-secondweekwithhismaster，onafreshcontract，wouldacquire

asettlementintheparish。’

Thecollapseoftheeconomicpositionofthelabourerwastheresultof

manycauses，andinexaminingthevariousremediesthatwereproposedwe

shallseethattheytouchinturnontheseveraldeficienciesthatproduced

thisfailure。Thegoverningfactofthesituationwasthatthelabourer’s

wagesnolongersufficedtoprovideevenabareandcomfortlessexistence。

Itwasnecessarythenthathiswagesshouldberaised，orthattheeffects

oftheriseinpricesshouldbecounteractedbychangesofdietandmanner

oflife，orthattheeconomicresourceswhichformerlysupplementedhisearnings

shouldinsomewayberestored，unlesshewastobethrownheadlongonto

thePoorLaw。Weshallseewhatadvicewasgivenandwhatadvicewastaken

inthesemomentousyears。

Adisparitybetweenincomeandexpendituremaybecorrectedbyincreasing

incomeorbyreducingexpenditure。Manyoftheupperclassesthoughtthat

thesecondmethodmightbetriedinthisemergency，andthatajudicious

changeofdietwouldenablethelabourertofacethefallofwageswithequanimity。

Thesolutionseemedtolieinthesimplelife。Enthusiastssoonbeganto

feelaboutthisproposalthesortofexcitementthatRobinsonCrusoeenjoyed

whendiscoveringnewresourcesonhisisland：aninfinitevistaofkitchen

reformbeckonedtotheiringeniousimaginations：andmanyofthembeganto

persuadethemselvesthatthemiseriesofthepooraroselessfromthescantiness

oftheirincomesthanfromtheirownimprovidenceandunthriftiness。(1*)

Therichsetanexampleintheworstdaysbycuttingoffpastryandrestricting

theirservantstoaquarternloafaweekeach。(2*)Itwassurelynottoo

muchinthesecircumstancestoaskthepoortoadapttheirappetitestothe

changedconditionsoftheirlives，andtoshakeoffwhatPittcalled’groundless

prejudices’tomixedbreadofbarley，rye，andwheat。(3*)Againoatmealwas

acommonfoodinthenorth，whyshoulditnotbetakeninthesouth？Ifno

horsesexceptposthorsesandperhapscavalryhorseswereallowedoats，there

wouldbeplentyforthepoor。(4*)ACumberlandlabourerwithawifeandfamily

offivewasshownbyEden(5*)tohavespent£；7，9s。2d。ayearonoatmeal

andbarley，whereasaBerkshirelabourerwithawifeandfourchildrenat

homespent£；36，8s。ayearonwheatenbreadalone。(6*)Clearlythestarving

southwastobesavedbytheintroductionofcheapcereals。

Otherproposalsofthistimeweretobreakagainsttheoppositionofthe

rich。Thisbrokeagainsttheoppositionofthepoor。Allattemptstopopularise

substitutesfailed，andthepoorerthelabourergrewthemorestubbornly

didheinsistonwheatenbread。’Evenhouseholdbreadisscarcelyeverused：

theybuythefinestwheatenbread，anddeclare(whatImuchdoubt)，that

brownbreaddisorderstheirbowels。Bakersdonotnowmake，astheyformerly

did，breadofunsiftedflour：atsomefarmers’houses，however，itisstill

madeofflour，asitcomesfromthemill；butthispracticeisgoingmuch

intodisuse。20yearsagoscarcelyanyotherthanbrownbreadwasused。’(7*)

AtEaling，whenthecharitablerichraisedasubscriptiontoprovidethe

distressedpoorwithbrownbreadatareducedprice，manyofthelabourers

thoughtitsocoarseandunpalatablethattheyreturnedtheticketsthough

wheatenbreadwasat1s。3d。thequarternloaf。(8*)Correspondentaftercorrespondent

totheAnnalsofAgriculturenotesandgenerallydeploresthefactthatthe

poor，asoneofthemphrasesit，aretoofine-mouthedtoeatanybutthe

finestbread。(9*)LordSheffield，judgingfromhisaddresstoQuarterSessions

attheendof1795，wouldhavehadlittlemercyonsuchgrumblers。After

explainingthatinhisparishreliefwasnowgivenpartlyinpotatoes，partly

inwheatenflour，andpartlyinoatenorbarleyflour，hedeclared：’Ifany

wretchesshouldbefoundsolosttoalldecency，andsoblindastorevolt

againstthedispensationsofprovidence，andtorefusethefoodproposed

fortheirrelief，theparishofficerswillbejustifiedinrefusingother

succour，andmaybeassuredofsupportfromthemagistracyofthecounty。’(10*)

Totherich，thereluctanceofthelabourertochangehisfoodcameas

apainfulsurprise。Theyhadthoughtofhimasaroughlybuiltandhardy

animal，comparativelyinsensibletohissurroundings，likethefigureLucretius

drewoftheprimevallabourer：

EtmajoribusetsolidismagisossibusintusFundatum，etvalidisaptumpervisceranervis；

Necfacileexaestu，necfrigorequodcaperetur，Necnovitatecibi，neclabicorporisulla。

Theydidnotknowthataromanticandadventurousappetiteisoneofthe

blessingsofaneasylife，andthatthemoremiserableaman’scondition，

andthefewerhiscomforts，themoredoesheshrinkfromexperimentsofdiet。

Theywerethereforesurprisedanddispleasedtofindthatlabourersrejected

soup，evensoupservedatarichman’stable，exclaiming，’Thisiswashy

stuff，thataffordsnonourishment：wewillnotbefedonmeal，andchopped

potatoeslikehogs。’(11*)Thedislikeofchangeoffoodwasremarkedbythe

PoorLawCommissionersin1834，whoobservedthatthelabourerhadacquired

orretained’withthemoralhelplessnesssomeoftheotherpeculiarities

ofachild。Heisoftendisgustedtoadegreewhichotherclassesscarcely

conceivepossible，byslightdifferencesindiet；andisannoyedbyanything

thatseekstohimstrangeandnew。’(12*)

Apartfromtheconstitutionalconservatismofthepoorthereweregood

reasonsfortheobstinacyofthelabourers。Daviesputoneaspectofthe

caseverywell。’Iftheworkingpeopleofothercountriesarecontentwith

breadmadeofrye，barley，oroats，havetheynotmilk，cheese，butter，fruits，

orfish，toeatwiththatcoarserbread？Andwasnotthisthecaseofour

ownpeopleformerly，whenthesegrainswerethecommonproductionsofour

land，andwhenscarcelywheatenoughwasgrownfortheuseofthenobility

andprincipalgentry？Flesh-meat，butter，andcheese，werethenatsuchmoderate

prices，comparedwiththepresentprices，thatpoorpeoplecouldaffordto

usethemincommon。Andwithacompetentquantityofthesearticles，acoarser

kindofbreadmightverywellsatisfythecommonpeopleofanycountry。’(13*)

Healsostatesthatwherelandhadnotbeensohighlyimprovedastoproduce

muchwheat，barley，oatmeal，ormaslinbreadwerestillincommonuse。Arthur

Younghimselfrealisedthatthelabourer’sattachmenttowheatenbreadwas

notameresuperstitionofthepalate。’IntheEastofEnglandIhavebeen

verygenerallyassured，bythelabourerswhoworkthehardest，thatthey

preferthefinestbread，notbecausemostpleasant，butmostcontraryto

alaxhabitofbody，whichatoncepreventsallstronglabour。Thequality

ofthebreadthatiseatenbythosewhohavemeat，andperhapsporterand

port，isofverylittleconsequenceindeed；buttothehardworkingman，who

nearlylivesonit，thecaseisabundantlydifferent。’(14*)Foxputthis

pointinaspeechintheHouseofCommonsinthedebateonthehighprice

ofcorninNovember1795。Heurgedgentlemen，whoweretalkingofmixedbread

forthepeople，’nottojudgefromanyexperimentmadewithrespecttothemselves。

Ihavemyselftastedbreadofdifferentsorts，Ihavefoundithighlypleasant，

andIhavenodoubtitisexceedinglywholesome。Butitoughttoberecollected

howverysmallapartthearticleofbreadformsoftheprovisionsconsumed

bythemoreopulentclassesofthecommunity。Tothepooritconstitutes，

thechief，ifnotthesolearticleofsubsistence。’(15*)Thetruthisthat

thelabourerlivingonbreadandteahadtoodelicateadigestiontoassimilate

thecoarsercereals，andthattherewas，apartfromclimateandtradition，

averyimportantdifferencebetweenthelabourerinthenorthandthelabourer

inthesouth，whichtherichentirelyoverlooked。Thatdifferencecomesout

inananalysisofthebudgetsoftheCumberlandlabourerandtheBerkshire

labourer。TheCumberlandlabourerwhospentonly£；7，9s。onhiscereals，

spent£；2，13s。7d。ayearonmilk。TheBerkshirelabourerwhospent

£；36，8s。onwheatenbreadspent8s。8d。ayearonmilk。TheCumberland

familyconsumedabout1300quartsintheyear，theBerkshirefamilyabout

twoquartsaweek。Thesamecontrastappearsinallbudgetcomparisonsbetween

northandsouth。AweaveratKendal(eightinthefamily)spends£；12，

9s。onoatmealandwheat，and£；5，4s。onmilk。(16*)Anagricultural

laboureratWetherallinCumberland(fiveinfamily)spends£；7，6s。

9d。oncerealsand£；2，13s。4d。onmilk。(17*)Ontheothersidewehave

alabourerinShropshire(fourinfamily)spending£；10，8s。onbread

(ofwheatrye)，andonly8s。8d。onmilk，(18*)andacooperatFrome，Somerset

(seveninfamily)spending£；45，10s。onbread，andabout17s。onmilk。(19*)

Thesefiguresaretypical。(20*)

Nowoatmealeatenwithmilkisaverydifferentfoodfromoatmealtaken

alone，anditisclearfromastudyofthebudgetsthatifoatmealwasto

beacclimatisedinthesouth，itwasessentialtoincreasetheconsumption

ofmilk。Butthegreatdifferenceinconsumptionrepresentednotadifference

ofdemand，butadifferenceofsupply。Thesouthernlabourerwentwithout

milknotfromchoicebutfromnecessity。Inthedayswhenhekeptcowshe

drankmilk，fortherewasplentyofmilkinthevillage。Afterenclosure，

milkwasnottobehad。Itmaybethatmorecowswerekeptunderthenew

systemoffarming，thoughthisisunlikely，seeingthatatthistimeevery

patchofarablewasagold-mine，butitiscertainlytruethatmilkbecame

scarceinthevillages。Thenewtypeoffarmerdidnottroubletosellmilk

athome。’Farmersareaversetosellingmilk；whilepoorpersonswhohave

onlyonecowgenerallydisposeofalltheycanspare。’(21*)Thenewfarmer

producedforalargermarket：hisproducewascarriedaway，asCobbettsaid，

tobedevouredby’theidlers，thethieves，theprostituteswhoarealltaxeaters

inthewensofBathandLondon。’Daviesargued，whenpleadingforthecreation

ofsmallfarms，’Theoccupiersofthesesmallfarms，aswellastheoccupiers

ofMr。Kent’slargercottages，wouldnotthinkmuchofretailingtotheir

poorerneighboursalittlecornoralittlemilk，astheymightwant，which

thepoorcannowseldomhaveatall，andneverbutasagreatfavourfrom

therichfarmers。’(22*)SirThomasBernardmentionedamongtheadvantages

oftheWinchilseasystemthe’noinconsiderableconveniencetotheinhabitants

ofthatneighbourhood，thatthesecottagersareenabledtosupplythem，at

averymoderateprice，withmilk，cream，butter，poultry，pig-meat，andveal：

articleswhich，ingeneral，arenotworththefarmer’sattention，andwhich，

therefore，aresuppliedbyspeculators，whogreatlyenhancethepriceon

thepublic。’(23*)Eden(24*)recordsthatinOxfordshirethelabourersbitterly

complainthatthefarmers，insteadofsellingtheirmilktothepoor，give

ittotheirpigs，andawriterintheReportsoftheSocietyforBettering

theConditionofthePoorsaysthatthiswasapracticenotunusualinmany

partsofEngland。(25*)

Thescarcityofmilkmustbeconsideredacontributorycauseofthegrowth

oftea-drinking，ahabitthatthephilanthropistsandCobbettagreedincondemning。