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THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
FARM SERVANTS 
 
 tH 
 
 AND THEIK 
 
 EMPLOYERS: 
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 MEMBER OF THE " TARLAND MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT 
 ASSOCIATION.* 
 
 1876. 
 
 ABERDEEN: 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM LINDSAY, 
 
 30 MARKET STREET. 
 PRiriP "ri-lDc:c:DCMOir 
 
AGRICULTURAL PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 At the close of the winter session of 1875-6 of " The 
 Tarland Mutual Improvement Association," Harry 
 Ross, Esq., Banker, offered a prize of £2 2s. to the 
 Members for the best Essay on " Servants and 
 Employers." The Rev. Mr. Ritchie, Established 
 Church, Coull, having kindly agreed to act as adjudi- 
 cator, reported that the different points specified as the 
 subject for consideration are treated in their various 
 relations exceedingly well in this Essay ; and that he 
 considered the Essay of such merit as to deserve the 
 whole amount of the Prize offered. 
 
H-DI5 54- 
 ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 FARM SERVANTS L THEIR EMPLOYERS 
 
 The relation and conflict existing between Capital and 
 Labour present, the subject being well considered, so wide a 
 field, and so many different phases, that it would be idle, in 
 this Short Essay, to attempt to enter upon the treatment of 
 it in a general form. I shall, therefore, confine my attention 
 to what more especially affects Farm Servants and their 
 Employers, and treat upon their past, present, and future 
 condition, morally and socially. For purposes of comparison, 
 it may, at times, be necessary to refer to other branches of 
 Industry, but, where such is the case, it shall be done as 
 briefly as possible. To make the Essay clear and systematic, 
 I shall divide the subject into five heads, and, as far as 
 possible, exhaust each before passing on to the subsequent 
 one. In natural order we have — 
 
 First. — The present relationshij} subsisting between the 
 Servant and the Employer^ and the present condition 
 of the Servant. 
 
 About a century ago, the distiuction between Farmers and 
 their Servants was less marked than at present. The farms were 
 theu much smaller, the tenants poorer, and their position in the 
 social scale, almost the same as that of their Servants. In the 
 evening they gathered aromid the same fireside, supped at the 
 same table, and slept under the same roof. Entering freely into 
 convei'sation, and brought into close contact, the one with the 
 other, their difficulties, wants, and prospects were well under- 
 stood by both, and an interest was thus created which had a 
 beneficial influence on all concerned. The Servants were careful 
 of the interests of their Masters, and the latter, by their friend- 
 ship and continuous superintendence, elevated the morals of the 
 former, who cared for, and were solicitous of, their good opinion . 
 and approval. |^367502 
 
But recent years have witnessed a great change in the nature 
 of the system on which land is let for agricultural purposes, and 
 this change has produced a corresponding one in the condition of, 
 and relationship between, farmers and their servants. The 
 Landlords, instead of giving leases of small portions of ground, 
 for crofts, as of yore, have now adopted the system of letting 
 their land in large sections to those capitalists who are possessed 
 of means enabling them to stock and labour large farms. 
 Thatched Cottages and Steadings of stone and clay have given 
 place to slated, commodious Dwelling-houses, and substantial 
 stone and lime edifices. The Farmers now have their rooms divided 
 as far as possible from the Servants and are seldom seen in the 
 kitchen except when they go there to give directions about the 
 work. The class of which Farmers are now composed has 
 become of more importance and their condition has been con- 
 siderably improved. They have now large farms, good houses, a 
 command of money and form an influential body. While the 
 Masters have thus been advancing rapidly, the Servants have in 
 all things, but the matter of wages, been standing still, if not 
 retrogressing. The result of this has been to create a broad dis- 
 tinction between the social position of the master and servant, to 
 put an end to the habitual exchange of opinions, and freedom of 
 speech which before existed, and to render their intercourse more 
 reserved and less friendly. In erecting the large farm steadings 
 no provision appears to have been considered necessary for the 
 comfortable accommodation of the servar.ts. The place-room it 
 cannot be called, allotted to them, for the purpose of sleeping and 
 study ing is usually in the end of a hay loft above the stable. 
 Entr ance to it is obtained by a ladder from the stable below, or 
 by a stone staircase built to the gable wall. The furniture of 
 this miserable den, wholly consists of a few beds, ranged along 
 the, wall, and the servants kits. Chairs and tables there are 
 none. If the occupants wish to sit, they must do so on the beds; 
 if they desire to write, it must be done kneeling on the floor 
 with the paper laid on the top of the clothes chest, and if any 
 one has a mind to try reading, this feat must be accomplished by 
 the aid of a tallow candle stuck in the mouth of an empty quart 
 bottle, or by the faint flicker of an oil lamp, glimmering through 
 the dingy glass of p. stable lantern. In the winter time, it is 
 impossible to sit talking, to read, to write, or to do anything else 
 on account of the cold. There is no fireplace, and little to shelter 
 the inmates from the inclemency of the weather. It is no un- 
 usual thing on rising, to find the snow lying in drifted ridges 
 along the floor, or to put the feet into a pool of rain water. And 
 sometimes it is even necessary to take boots and shoes to the 
 kitchen fire to be thawed before the feet can be forced into them. 
 Nor can the task of self-improvement be much more successfully 
 pursued in the kitchen. There is too much noise, and the sur- 
 
rounding company distract the attention of the Student, thus 
 rendering concentration of thought impossible. No wonder, 
 therefore, since in the kitchen and in the sleeping apartment it is im- 
 possible to study, that there is so much ignorance and immorality 
 among farm servants in general. After their horses are fed and 
 groomed, they set out to pass the evening with the females, in 
 the kitchen of some neighbouring farms. This intercourse 
 between the sexes, unrestrained by the presence of either the 
 farmer or his wife, and ungoverned by the dictates of a culti- 
 vated mind, leads to results, the nature, number, and frequency 
 of which, have become notorious. When not in the company of 
 females, the talk generally turns upon licentious subjects, and 
 jokes and stories of an immoral tendency keep the listeners 
 laughing and while the evening hour away. If the servants 
 were better looked after, and more brought into contact with the 
 masters, the case would be much altered for the better, while if 
 proper opportunities for study and reading of books were given, 
 the improvement effected in a short time would be almost incal- 
 culable. Farm Servants are not much addicted to the habitual 
 use of intoxicating liquors, but when they meet at the Village they 
 do sometimes imbibe a little too freely. The cheery fire and other 
 comforts provided by the host, contrasted with their cold and 
 dreary homes, have no doubt a strong tendency to entice them to 
 linger at the alehouse. 
 
 The Masters have no great interest in the welfare and 
 character of their servants. They care not a whit where they 
 go or what they do at nights, provided they are able to perform 
 their work in a satisfactory manner. If a master gets "the 
 worth of his money^' out of his servant, his interest extends no 
 farther. On the other hand the servants are careless and slovenly 
 in the performance of their duties. They try how little they 
 can do, and still escape censure, and how easily they can earn 
 their food, lodging, and wages. This relationship is a very unsatis- 
 factory one. The Masters have it in their power to benefit their 
 servants by associating with them and setting them a good 
 example — the latter loose by their not doing so. The Servants, 
 through leaving damagable material in an unprotected state, 
 when stopping work for the day, and by carelessness in managing 
 holies, often cause great loss to their employers. If a better 
 understanding existed between them, both parties would gain 
 greatly. This could be brought about by the engagement of 
 Farm Servants on the same principle as Town^s Tradesmen, with 
 monthly payments. Since this would put it in the power of 
 either party to break the engagement when displeased with the 
 other, there would be little ill-feeling — each one whenever he 
 thought himself aggrieved giving intimation that the arrange- 
 ment was to terminate. Each would then, if contented with the 
 bargain, and sensible that they were being justly dealt with, 
 
endeavour by every' means in their power to procure the con- 
 tinuation of their relationship. The Master by kindness to the 
 Servant, interest in his pursuits and anxiety and provision for 
 his comforts, would endeavour to secure the services and attach- 
 ment of an efficient and respectable workman. The Servant, by 
 attention and good behaviour, seeking to render himself indis- 
 pensible to, and esteemed by, his employer, so that the latter 
 might be prevailed on to provide a comfortable abode as an 
 inducement for him to remain. Both parties would reap great 
 benefits from this, both in a pecuniary sense and morally. The 
 moral condition of the servants has great need of improvement. 
 The males, in their ordinary conversa.tion, employ expressions 
 and talk familiarly on subjects the mere mention of which would 
 be an insult to ears polite. The Domestics have a natural liking 
 to be in the company of the males, and give the latter (who are 
 never slow to avail themselves of the opportunity) every en- 
 couragement to visit them privately in the kitchen at night, and 
 when occasion offers, they do not hesitate to go with the men to 
 their sleeping apartments. The conversation between the sexes 
 is of a very loose and immoral nature, and the more they associate 
 the more disgraceful and abandoned become their speech and 
 actions. And those women who are outworkers and continually 
 in the company of men, hearing and learning evil, soon become 
 quite destitute of all shame and sentiments of modesty. A 
 great deal of this is attributable to the insufficient provision 
 made for, and interest taken in, their social and moral well- 
 being. Were the accommodation better, there would be more 
 opportunities afforded the males for self -improvement, they would 
 have greater pleasure in staying at home, and their more culti- 
 vated minds would guide them to a truer, a nobler, and a higher 
 sense of duty. If the Master and Mistress were constantly 
 among them, in the habit of holding family worship and enforc- 
 ing their attendance regularly thereat, or when employing 
 overseers, took care to engage none but servants of respectability 
 and good moral character — such would exercise a healthy and 
 beneficent authority, the spread and prevalence of evi] communi- 
 cations would be checked. The length of the servants working 
 day is a drag on the improvement. They have to start grooming 
 and feeding their horses at five in the morning, and the work of 
 the stable is never completed till between eight and nine at night. 
 They have thus only a very short time which could be employed 
 in study during the season when they might sit and read in 
 the open air. There are very few innocent winter evening 
 recreations in which they can engage, and even although there 
 were, they would require to be of a more humorous nature than 
 those already tried, in order to make them popular and to be 
 appreciated by the average run of servants, who, with their 
 present Education and tastes, do not relish anything unless very 
 
laughable. It is no marvel that their position in the moral scale 
 is low. Until they are more on terms of equality with, better 
 cared for, and more thought of, by the masters, better housed, 
 and more opportunities afforded for reading and spending the 
 evenings in harmless amusements, it cannot be expected that 
 their condition will be much ameliorated. Their condition, at 
 present in everything, except the matter of wages, is far worse 
 than that of tradesmen, who have time and can spend it in 
 studying during the long evenings, or in visiting some harmless 
 place of amusement. 
 
 They earn considerable wages, yet this avails them little. 
 They are ignorant of tlie way to spend them to the best advant- 
 age, and having, as a rule, no aim or fixed object in view in life, 
 they spend them in a very senseless manner. There are, of 
 course, plenty of opportunities and inducements held out to 
 persuade them to do so, among the most prominent of which are 
 the feeing markets. This brings me on to 
 
 Second. — The effects of the present system of ludf-yewrly 
 Feeing Markets, with all their accompaniments, on 
 Servants, and suggestions for amelioration. 
 
 Feeing Markets are unquestionably a very ready and busi- 
 ness way of finding servants and situations. One of the great 
 points in their favour is, that in them the parties have the oppor- 
 tunity of choosing from a large number the person required. 
 They also see on what terms others are engaging and being en- 
 gaged, thus enabling them to make as good bargains as their 
 neighbours. The Farmer in search of a servant can ascertain 
 verbally from the former master the capabilities and character of 
 the person who wishes to be engaged, and whom he may intend 
 to employ. The information thus gained is far more satisfactory 
 than any written certificate, for these only state so much, 
 while oral examination elicits any and every poict which it is 
 necessary for the questioner to know, or on which he may wish 
 to satisfy himself more fully. The Servants look forward to 
 them as a sort of holiday ; and, indeed, it is the only one they 
 get from one haK-year's end to the other. Yet, these Markets 
 have their drawbacks, and I am safe to say these more than 
 counterbalance their merits. In going to a Feeing Market to be 
 hired, I consider the Servants place themselves nearly on a level 
 with the slaves of the United States before they were liberated, 
 with this difference only — that the slaves were sold by their 
 masters, while the Servants sell themselves. The Farmers, in 
 engaging servants at Feeing Markets, try to select — not an intel- 
 ligent man — for they cannot judge the intellectual capabilities of 
 those around them — but the man among the multitude who 
 seems to possess the requisite bone and muscle, he who is posses- 
 
8 
 
 sed of the most brute strength. I conceive that the mere fact of 
 Farm Servants standing up in a public market place to sell their 
 labour, relying on their physical contour for an engagement, has 
 in itself a most degrading effect. The Markets present great 
 temptations for drinking ; and " when drouthy neighbours 
 neighbours meet " in the course of the day, the tents being so 
 handy, and the parties not seeing each other very often perhaps, 
 it is considered a fit time to celebrate the meeting by partaking 
 of the social glass ; and the result is, that, by the close of the 
 fair, sobriety is the exception — not the rule — among the Farmers 
 and their Servants, more especially amongst the latter. A great 
 deal of money is spent upon intoxicating liquors, the quality of 
 which is very bad. The whisky supplied by the innkeepers — who 
 sell it in temporary booths erected on the gi^ound — is of the very 
 worst description, specially, and more than usually adulterated 
 for the occasion. This not only arouses the fiercer passions of 
 the partakers, but does great injury to their health, entails on 
 them a headache next day, and a lassitude and inability to per- 
 form their duties aright for days to come. The money spent 
 recklessly and foolishly at these markets is something fabulous. 
 The practice, which the usage of centuries has confirmed, 
 and from which there is no escape, of giving all the females 
 of their acquaintance a " market fairin'," as it is termed, alone 
 absorbs many shillings of the earnings of the men. The 
 small shows, "Cheap Johns'" auctions, and all the minor at- 
 tractions accompanying them, combine in enticing the people 
 to spend money ; and pounds are spent without the smallest 
 visible return for the same, beyond temporary gratification, 
 and that of an inferior kind. All the itinerant vendors of 
 useless articles, peony showmen, shooting gallery and dancing 
 booth proprietors, resort to them, well aware that they will reap 
 a rich harvest from the "gullibility" and half-drunken foolish- 
 ness and recklessness of the assembled crowd. The presence of 
 these characters in such numbers is in itself sufficient proof that 
 much money is needlessly and heedlessly thrown away. There 
 is much rowdyism at them ; fights are frequent, and the police 
 have often great difficulty in preserving order. This is apparent 
 from the large number of assault cases usually brought before 
 the courts on the days following the Markets. The parties con- 
 cerned in these cases thus not only lose more money, but also 
 their good name ; and this evil is all attributable to the Feeing 
 Markets. Altogether, the influence they exercise on the great 
 bulk of the Servants, is of the most debauching and demoralising 
 kind. As no way seems to present itself in which they could be 
 improved, it would be necessary, in order to put an end to their 
 evil effects, to abolish the cause entirely. Then the question is — 
 What method is to be adopted in their stead, in order to afford 
 opportunities for the Masters to find Servants, and the latter 
 
9 
 
 situations. Some may advoca,te the substitution of re^rister offices 
 as a good means of effecting this ; — but the register offices 
 have been tried already, and do not seem to lind favour or meet 
 the requirements of the parties interested. The keeper of the 
 register requires a fee for putting parties into communication 
 with each other. A correspondence then ensues ; but, during 
 the time this is going on, either of the coiTespondents may get a 
 chance of suiting himself otherwise with less trouble, and, rather 
 than incur delay, when the issue at most is but doubtful, may — 
 acting on the old adage, that " a bird in the hand is worth two 
 in the bush " — close with the intermediate offer, and so put an 
 end to the transaction. The other party, then, not only loses the 
 fee paid by him to the keeper of the register, but also the time 
 already spent in what proves to be a vain correspondence. In 
 the course of correspondence, also, points in the character of the 
 servant may be brought to view in anything but a true light. 
 This would invariably be the case if he had left his master 
 through any ill-feeling arising between ihem ; and so the negotia- 
 tion ceases, the register fee is lost, and the result is an aggrava- 
 ting disappointment. In the place of Feeing Markets, however, 
 I would recommend the system of engaging on the same prin- 
 ciple as that employed in the cases of tradesmen, shopmen, and 
 labourers. In opposition to this it may be urged that, since, in 
 the country, the parties are resident so far apart, and so little 
 communication exists between places any distance apart, no one 
 would know where to apply in case he or she wanted to employ 
 or be employed. But, to answer by illustration : Suppose, in the 
 countiy, a church has to be built, a wood planted, or a road 
 made. The undertaking is let to a contractor. He does not 
 require to go to a Feeing Market to get men to do the work ; 
 nor does he apply to the keeper of a register office. "Where the 
 work is, there will the workers also be ; and it is a matter of as- 
 tonishment how soon the fact of a man being in want of work, 
 or a master in want of a servant, spreads. The workmen soon 
 present themselves ; and, without the interference or aid of any 
 middleman, or other medium, the wants of both parties are satis- 
 factorily provided for. In a case which lately came under my 
 own observation, a farm servant happened to be disengaged and 
 in quest of employment about the middle of the half-year. Had 
 the Feeing Market been the only medium through which he 
 could obtain a situation, he would have been compelled to 
 remain unemployed for about two months. Two days, however, 
 after he was in a position to accept of employment, he heard that 
 a farmer, resident a good few miles from his district, was in 
 want of a man ; and, on applying to him, he was engaged at a 
 good rate of wages. Nor is this all ; during the next week he 
 was sought after by two or three farmei^, who wished to employ 
 him, and who had heard of his being open for engagement. 
 
10 
 
 How they had obtained their information I cannot tell, yet such 
 was the case. This shows how engagements may be effected 
 without any aid from Feeing Markets or Register Offices. Very 
 few domestics are now engaged at Feeing Markets, unless 
 those belonging to the worst class. They are nearly all en- 
 gaged in the manner I have already indicated ; and, since Feeing 
 Markets can be and are dispensed with in the case of the one class, 
 why not also in that of the other ? Were the Feeing Markets 
 entirely done away with, the condition and class of Farm Ser- 
 vants would be immensely improved. Doubtless, masters would 
 endeavour — by providing better accommodation and offering 
 higher wages — to secure servants possessed of good capabilities 
 and character', and endowed with superior qualifications, and pos- 
 sessed of an unblemished reputation, who would serve them 
 faithfully and well ; while it is no less certain that servants — by 
 strict attention to their work and otherwise — would seek to merit 
 their employers' approbation, and conduct themselves in such a 
 manner as induce masters to make them these liberal offers. 
 The Farm Servants would, however, by the abolition of Feeing 
 Markets, be deprived of a holiday. But T have no doubt that 
 an arrangement could be made by which they would receive a 
 half-yearly holiday instead. Upon such a holiday they could 
 take a trip to any place of interest, attend any event of impor- 
 tance, visit their relations, or otherwise enjoy themselves. A 
 day thus spent would prove cheaper, healthier, more instructive 
 and amusing, and could be looked back to with feelings of greater 
 pleasure than any half-yearly Feeing Market. When the Ser- 
 vants are better educated they will themselves see these evils, 
 and lend their aid to the discontinuance of these Markets. 
 
 In addition to the abolition of Feeing Markets, and the en- 
 gagement of Servants in the manner employed with regard* to 
 town's tradesmen, I would also suggest the introduction of the 
 system of monthly payments, also, on the same system as that 
 employed in some cases in towns — I may mention clerks as an 
 example. I can with certainty aver that in towns a far better 
 feeling exists between employer and employed than is the case 
 in the country ; and this, I consider, is owing to the fact that 
 the engagements are made for shorter periods. At the Feeing 
 Markets the bargains are made in far too loose a manner to 
 prove satisfactory to either party. Farmers have it in their 
 power, since food and lodgings form a part of the Servants' 
 salary, to infringe the bargain in a very great degree ; and this is 
 very frequently done. The Farmer, at the commencement of a 
 half-year, often seems very attentive and careful lest he should in 
 any way offend the Servant, who could, in inclement weather, cause 
 great loss by leaving perishable material in an unprotected state, 
 that he might be revenged. Thus, during the former ])art of 
 the half-year, the food is perfectly good and wholesome ; but, 
 
11 
 
 during the latter part, when the crops are safely garnered, and if 
 the engagement is not renewed, or if anything transpire to make 
 the farmer think the servant will leave at the first term, a change 
 is almost certain to take place, and the quality of the victuals 
 supplied becomes of an inferior nature. As the food and lodging 
 afforded the Servant amounts in value to about one-third pai-t 
 of the whole salary, this, as might be expected, displeases the 
 most simple, and is the cause of many a dispute arising between 
 Farmer and Farm Servant, which ultimately appears in the 
 Sheriff Courts. 
 
 The monthly payment of wages might affect the moneyed 
 interests of the Farmers a little, but is only what the Servants 
 are entitled to. Since the former, for the most part, receive 
 cash payments, I do not understand why they should be so long 
 in paying their servants. Such a course would be but fair, and 
 would put both parties on an equal footing in this respect. This 
 system would prevent much litigation, and immensely benefit the 
 Servants. It would enable them to pay for their purchases in 
 ready cash, and secure the discount given in such cases ; and 
 also enable them to avoid the payment of the extra charges made 
 by merchants on goods purchased on credit. Altogether, I think 
 that monthly engagements and monthly payments would produce 
 a better relationship between Farmers and their Servants, and 
 would, in many ways, be much to the advantage of the latter. 
 
 We shall now pass on to, and take into consideration, the 
 part of this Essay which is embraced in Section 
 
 Third. — The effects of the present Poor Law Act on Ser- 
 vomtSj and suggestions as to the best remedy of the 
 same, where adverse. 
 
 It would be interesting to trace the gradual development 
 of our present system of Legal Eelief for the Poor through the 
 centuries that have elapsed since the subject first attracted the • 
 notice of Parliament. Space, will not permit me, however, to 
 enter minutely and exhaustively into the subject, nor to bring 
 before you the different efforts made by the Legislature to reduce 
 Pauperism ; the different means adopted to effect this, wherein 
 these answered or failed to answer, the expectations of their pro- 
 jectors, nor even to give a sketch of the changes made on the 
 Act, and principles of the Act, under which relief is now given. 
 Could I do so, it would explain the matter more clearly than I 
 can hope to do without such an introduction. It is absolutely 
 necessary to go back a little, but I must be brief. The earliest 
 efforts of the Parliament, in dealing with Pauperism, beginning 
 with an Act of the year 1424, were exclusively confined to the 
 suppressing of vagrancy and the regulation of begging. A dis- 
 tinction was made between those destitute persons who were 
 
12 
 
 sick and impotent, and those who were able, but not willing, to 
 exercise an honest employment. Eigorous measures were taken 
 for the suppression of the latter, while the former were, under 
 certain conditions, permitted to beg. This statutory per- 
 mission to beg was, for nearly a century and a-half after 1424, 
 the only provision made by Parliament in favour of the Poor. 
 At length in the reign of EHzabeth, the Act of 1579, Cap. 74, 
 laid the foundation.of our Poor Laws, by introducing compulsory 
 assessment for the relief of Paupers.^ Under this, and subse- 
 quent Acts, the burden of maintaining its own Poor was laid on 
 every Parish. The assessment was laid one-half on the Land- 
 owners, and the other half on the Tenants, according to their 
 substance, as ascertained from the Valuation Roll. The relief 
 to the Poor is dispensed by a Parochial Board consisting of the 
 Heritors, Four or Six nominates of the Kirk Session and a 
 certain number of Representatives elected by the Ratepayers 
 in the Parish, these Parish Boards being all controlled by a cent- 
 ral Board of Supervision. The main features of the Act are : — 
 (1). That no one need be entirely destitute ; their wants being 
 relieved on application to the Inspector of Poor of the Parish in 
 which they may be : and (2). The means for their relief shall be 
 obtained by Local Taxation — which relief may be of two kinds. 
 Out-door and In-door, out-door relief meaning, relief to those 
 who are not — in-door relief, relief to those who are, inmates of 
 the Poor's House. The Local Taxation clause has affected the 
 supply of Farm Servants. The mode of giving relief, their con- 
 dition. When it was enacted that the Poor should be relieved 
 by Local Taxation, the Proprietois of Laud, on whom a large 
 proportion of the Poor Rate would naturally fall, thought, that 
 they would partially relieve themselves of a serious burden by 
 diminishing the number of small Crofts and Cottars' houses on 
 their Estates, the occupants of which, struggling with adversity 
 and having no resources to fall back on, were likely, in the end 
 to be vanquished, and in their old age dependent for the sup- 
 port of themselves and families, on the provisions of the Act. 
 Acting upon this idea they set themselves to the task of reducing 
 the number of small Farms. They swept away the Cottars' 
 houses on their lands, throwing their possessions into large 
 sections and letting to one Tenant the portions which, before had 
 been occupied by many and so diminished the class from whence 
 " the sturdy peasant came " and the supply of Farm Servants 
 was derived. This policy was a short-sighted one, and the effects 
 have been productive of much harm to the nation at large. For 
 so it comes to pass that many of the small Farmers and their 
 families— expelled from the homes occupied for generations by 
 their ancesters, have swelled the mass of those who, in the towns, 
 
 *Guthrie Smith on the Poor Law. Introduct. Chap. 
 
13 
 
 dwell in privation and seek to wrest a living from amongst the 
 thousands who, so despairingly, strive to do likewise. They 
 struggle awhile with poverty but inevitably sink into pauperism; 
 the demand for unskilled labour being insufficient to afford em- 
 ployment to them, and those like them. While, even if they 
 succeed in obtaining work, the remuneration is incapable of fur- 
 nishing them with the necessaries of life. Had they been allowed 
 to remain in the country they would, in all likelihood, have eked 
 out a subsistence ; scanty, no doubt, but still sufficient to keep 
 them from becoming a burden on the Parish. Others have emi- 
 grated and their country has for ever been deprived of the bene- 
 fits accruing to it through their labour or power of population. 
 Since the class from which Farm Servants were formerly drawn 
 has been thus exterminated, as might have been expected, there 
 followed a scarcity in the supply, and a rise in the wages of those 
 who could be obtained. The cost of tilling the soil having, con- 
 sequently, increased, a corresponding rise has taken place in the 
 price of all agricultural products, which has weighed heavily on 
 our land, and, no doubt been the cause of much paaperism — a 
 pauperism occasioned by a desire to reduce the number of pro- 
 s})ective paupers. In order to increase the suppy of Farm 
 Servants it would be necessary to break down many of the large 
 farms, to build more houses and divide the land into small 
 Crofts. Some of the more enlightened Landlords have already 
 begun to do so. No doubt this would be the cause of some im- 
 mediate expense and perhaps diminish the rental of the Landlords 
 for a few years, but ultimately the price of products would be 
 reduced and higher rents got for the Farms, since the labour of 
 tilling them would be less costly. Nor would the good effected end 
 here. The advantages would be national ones. The products 
 would be cheapened to the mass of the nation and the working 
 classes would reap the benefit. In the country, persons can live 
 more cheaply than in the town, and better also, because they 
 can rear many of the necessaries of life at little cost. The land 
 would then be thickly populated by an industrious peasantry, not 
 wealthy, but above absolute want and an approach would be 
 made to that Utopian ideal of a perfectly balanced agricultural 
 community when "every rood of land maintains its man." Who 
 will say that such an arrangement would not be for the advan- 
 tage of the nation ? Now to condense, and in a sentence or two 
 show plainly the point treated on. The effect of the Poor Law 
 Act has been to make Landlords believe that in eradicating the 
 small Farmers, Crofters, and Cottars, the class from whence Farm 
 Servants are derived, they would escape a high assessment. And 
 what has the result of this been ? Harm to the nation at large, 
 by raising the price of agricultural products, burdening towns 
 with paupers and exterminating the peasantry, its pride and 
 power. Harm to the Landlords themselves, since they cannot 
 
14 
 
 take the money in rent from the Farmers which they pay in in- 
 creased wages to their servants ; and a reduction in the supply 
 of servants. The remedy for this is— more Cottars' houses and 
 small Farms. 
 
 I shall now sketch the effect the Poor Law Act has on the 
 Servants themselves. Pauperism removes a very large proportion 
 of the motives which act through wholesome fear — dread of con- 
 sequences, from the mind of the labourer. It not only discour- 
 ages forethought, thrift, and self-denial, but sharply marks them 
 out as folly. According to it, he that provideth not for his own, 
 may indeed be *' worse than an infidel '' but is not very unwise in 
 his own generation. It causes the annihilation of the family 
 affections and the sense of family obligations. The clause in the 
 Act which tends most to produce these effects is that sanctioning 
 Out-door relief. Mr. Briscoe, Superintendent under the Scotch 
 Poor Law Act, says: "Out-door relief in the Highlands has deterio- 
 rated truth, industry, morality, self-respect, self-reliance, the 
 natural affections, independence of character ; it appears as if 
 the whole of the humbler classes had completely changed their 
 character. There is no shame whatever in demanding relief. 
 The state of things in the Highlands is perfectly deplorable, and 
 every person admits it." And in the report of the Friendly 
 Societies' Commission of 1875 their appears : "There is a grow- 
 ing class in Scotland who feel that they need not insure in any 
 Friendly Society as the Poor Law provides them with a certainty 
 of Sick pay." To check this the practical conclusion, I have ar- 
 rived at is, — That all Poor Eelief should be confined by Law to 
 Workhouses ; the Workhouse Eelief to be given to all its in- 
 mates on the same general principles. By a clause in the Act, 
 Parochial Boards have the power to unite in order to build such 
 Workhouses so that the erection, which would fall heavily on 
 one, would not be so much felt when several are combined. 
 Each parish could pay in proportion to the number of inmates 
 sent by it. In a well-ordered Workhouse alone are you sure of 
 giving exclusive relief, and exclusive relief is the only relief which 
 you can be sure is neither inadequate nor excessive. There you 
 can tell exactly what each inmate should have, and you can be 
 sure that he gets it and that he gets no more than it. The Out- 
 door Relief you order to A, in itself is almost certain to be un- 
 equal as between B, C, I), &c., you cannot tell how far it is 
 supplemented by alms or secret hoarding, it is nearly sure to be 
 too much or too little ; and lastly, we well know there is too much 
 reason to fear that the Belief eiven is not always enjoyed, but is 
 abstracted from the supposed recipient by others, generally mem- 
 bers of his own family. I conceive it to be plain that the Work- 
 house alone enables us to comply with the requirements of the 
 Law which are, to provide the physical necessaries of life, food, 
 lodging, clothing, while attaining the object that pauperism shall 
 
15 
 
 be distasteful to the pauper. In the receipt of these necessaries, 
 the Pauper is even better — certainly not worse off than the 
 average of independent labourers outside. To render it unat- 
 tractive — to deter the approach to it — is the only way to escape 
 importunate claims for admission. It follows, then, that the ad- 
 juncts of these mere necessaries must be that in which the repel- 
 lent element shall be found. It is unattractive, and we know 
 how it is so. The mere fact of compulsory confinement, the 
 common rules of discipline and good order, the prescribed regu- 
 larity, aye, the compulsory cleanliness are distasteful to the 
 population from which Paupers are drawn. The fact I have 
 stated is a well authenticated one that the provisions of the Act, 
 authorizing Out-door Relief tend to make Servants thriftless, 
 idle, and heedless of their future, while it encourages profligacy, 
 destroys family ties, and produces moral debasement. The sug- 
 gestion I make for the the remedy of this I consider the only 
 practical and effectual method. All those who really require 
 and apply for relief are, I hold, entitled to be supplied with 
 the necessaries of life. Yet it is necessary to render the ac- 
 companiment to these unattractive in order to deter the idle 
 and those who are not absolutely in want fiom putting in claims. 
 Out-door Belief is, and In-door Kelief is not, attractive. The 
 abolition of the practice of giving Out-door Relief would at once 
 make the Servants more careful of their earnings, and incite them 
 to habits of thrift and industry in order to save money, that they 
 might keep out of the Workhouse. It would also, by reducing 
 the number of Paupers, reduce the Poor Rate. It would tend 
 to restore the healthy moral tone and independent spirit which 
 was before a characteristic of the Scottish peasantry, but which 
 has been fast dying out from among them. To remedy the ad- 
 verse effects of the Poor Law Act on the supply and condition of 
 Farm Servants, I recommend the increase of Houses for the ac- 
 commodation of the Labouring Classes, and the entire abolition of 
 the practice of giving Out-door Relief to Paupers. Let us now 
 take up Section 
 
 Fourth. — The 2^'^obable effect of the py-esent Education Act 
 on the Labouring Classes and on the future supply of 
 Servants, 
 
 The prominent principle of the Act is Compulsory Education. 
 Every child must attend school for a certain number of years, 
 and must also pass a fixed standard. Should their parents 
 neglect or refuse to allow them to go to school the law has power 
 to punish them. An assessment is levied for the education of 
 those children whose parents are unable to pay the school-fees. 
 Before the Education Act was passed parents were not bound to 
 send their children to any school unless they pleased. Many 
 
16 
 
 children were never sent at all, others were sent only for a very 
 short time, and taken away ag lin on becoming of the most use to 
 their parents. Those who were not sent at all grew up entirely 
 ignorant. Those who were sent for a short time only, were very 
 little better, since they were not sufficiently advanced to enable 
 them to comprehend, and derive pleasure from, the simplest book 
 of narrative, however interesting. The children when not at 
 school were allowed to associate with the lowest and most depraved 
 companions, and having nothing particular to do, since they did 
 not attend school and were not yet able to render much assistance, 
 they passed away their time doing evil and becoming proficient 
 in sin. Having no power of enjoying high-class amusements, 
 the youths either wandered about in the company of blackguards 
 or resorted to the ^' free and easies" and low concert rooms to 
 spend their evenings. To spend them at home was out of the 
 question, for few attractions were to be found there. They were 
 unable to read, and generally the family relations were on any- 
 thing but an amicable footing. They had no keen sense of right 
 or wrong, no strict sentiments of honour or morality, and in their 
 behaviour and conversation they were most repellent and disgust- 
 ing. The want of good training and watchful care, to counteract 
 the ever recurrent influences of evil and vicious companionship, 
 left them free to become immoral and depraved without any check, 
 externally or from within. Now, the Education Act compels 
 the attendance of a child so many hours a day at school. During 
 that time it is beyond the reach of evil communication. The at- 
 tendance must be regular and punctual and steady habits are thus 
 engendered. Cleanliness is made habitual by the rule that every 
 child must be washed and have his hair combed. By the example 
 of the teacher the children learn to be polite and well-bred ; a 
 taste for neatness and beauty is also inculcated. All these influences, 
 as well as many others I could name, when brought to bear upon 
 pliant infancy, cannot fail to produce a golden harvest ; and chil- 
 dren thus brought up can never sink so low as to take pleasure in 
 the vicious practices of the ignorant. The powers also acquired of 
 reading and writing provide an evening's amusement more 
 absorbing and more calculated to induce a person to remain at 
 home than anything else, and this power while giving pleasure 
 is also beneficial in extending the reader's knowledge. The party 
 thus educated becomes capable of enjoying harmless and elevating 
 amusements, and of spending the evening at lectures given to 
 diflnse knowledge ; also, when a young man is given the education 
 rendered compulsory by the Act, he is master of the potentiality 
 of possessing any amount of knowledge he pleases. The efiect of 
 the Act will be a large increase in the average knowledge, and an 
 elevation of the morals of the people. Upon the farm servants 
 the Education Act will exert a powerful influence. At present 
 they sliift about from place to place growing up like a vegetable, 
 
17 
 
 and as ignorant as an animal of the lower orders. In winter, 
 their leizure hours are generally spent dozing in their beds or by 
 the kitchen fire ; in summer, basking in the sun viewing nature, 
 animate and inanimate, with a ^aze as dull and stupid as that of 
 an ox. Knowing no way in which the understanding may be 
 improved ; having no desire for intellectual pursuits and no con- 
 ception of the pleasures to be derived from them, they remain 
 ignorant and careless of all higher and nobler modes of spending 
 time and benefiting themselves. Now, all human beings are born 
 with the same organs of sensation, so also must they all be born with 
 almost the same degree of intellectual powers. There is no dif- 
 ference between peer and peasant in this respect — all have the 
 same, or very nearly the same, aptitude for the exercise of the 
 intellect provided the path of life be smoothed for them and their 
 attention in early life directed towards intellectual pursuits. The 
 Education Act will do this. The average intelligence of the 
 agricultural labourers will, therefore, be most immensely improved. 
 They will no longer delight in vice in its coarser and more animal 
 phases ; for to the well-educated mind the conversation and be- 
 haviour now prevalent would be repulsive. The more a man is 
 educated the more refined does he become in his tastes, and it is 
 impossible for an educated man to take pleasure in the same rude 
 and boorish amusements that the uneducated are accustomed to 
 spend their spare time upon. We must allow that agricultural 
 labourers have feelings, tastes, and reasoning powers (if they were 
 cultivated) like other human beings, although this fact seems to 
 be lost sight of often, and, allowing this, we cannot think that 
 when they are educated they will still follow the example of their 
 ignorant predecessors. They will become more polished in manner, 
 and their conversation will be of a higher and purer nature. 
 Being able to understand what they read, they will have a more 
 extensive general knowledge. They will then be able to speak in 
 an interesting way upon many subjects, and matter for rational 
 discussion will usurp the place of the foolish talk with which they 
 at present entertain each other ; they will also be better qualified 
 for their work, whether mechanical, agricultural, or domestic. 
 Morally, they will be greatly elevated. The early Christian 
 teaching will have implanted in them a definite knowledge of 
 right and wrong, and in their youth they will have imbibed a 
 reverence for things good and a hesitation and fear to do things 
 evil which, if afterwards properly strengthened, will not be 
 readily overcome or rashl}'* broken through. The development of 
 their thinking powers will conduce to lead them in the path of 
 wisdom and rectitude, and will form an efi'ectual control over the in- 
 clinings and suggestions of the passions. The necessity of acquir- 
 ing and preserving a good name will appear more distinctly to 
 them, and, in the endeavour to do so, they will place themselves 
 on a higher moral and intellectual platform than that occupied by 
 
18 
 
 their forerunners. Servants, when thus educated, and their tastes 
 and power of appreciating refinement, in its many varied forms, 
 developed, will eschew the habits of staying from home during 
 the night and sitting playing cards. They will, of course, require 
 something to fill up the time thus, at present, employ ed. I be- 
 lieve that circulating libraries, debating and literary societies, 
 evening lectures, &c., will be among the substitutes. It would be 
 well if influential parties among servants themselves, and such, 
 though too rarely there are, would endeavour to start such pro- 
 visions for the benefit of servants, in order that they might be 
 ready — standing with open arms as it were — to greet the first at- 
 tempts at raising the nature of agricultural labourei's pursuits to 
 a higher and nobler standard, and to hail and assist those who 
 first seek to ennoble themselves. The Education Act, as it raises 
 servants in the intellectual and moral scale, will cause them to 
 ask for, and receive, better house accommodation. No educated, 
 respectable person would bear with the way in which they are 
 presently treated in this respect. When they incline to stay at 
 home and read and improve themselves, they must have a suitable 
 place in which to do so ; this they surely are entitled to, and, 
 when they see they are so, they will demand it. It is thought by 
 practical persons that such accommodation should be provided by 
 the proprietors where the farm extends to over one hundred 
 acres, and that where smaller, the farmers could and would do so. 
 I consider the most prominent efi'ect, in the relationship between 
 farmers and servants, produced by the act will be that the farmer 
 will be forced to provide, or get provided, good accommodation in 
 order to get good servants, and in cases where they are unwilling 
 to do so they will find a difficulty in obtaining servants at all. It 
 is not likely that the Education Act will cause much difference in 
 the supply of farm servants. The soil has long been cultivated 
 and will be so still. At present the supply is below the demand ; 
 this is owing to the want of house accommodation for married 
 servants. The great cry for sometime past has been the want of 
 farm servants. Now, who is to blame for this ? Farmers 
 blame proprietors for turning field to field and farm to farm, 
 while they have been as eager, if not more so, to get them thus. 
 For my own part, I consider that the Highland glens of Scotland 
 might have supplied in some measure the demand, which would 
 have been of far more use to the nation than the rearing of a head 
 of game or a herd of destructive red deer which serve only to 
 gratify the luxurious tastes of the proprietor. Some affirm that 
 the immediate effect of the Act will be to cause a rush into towns, 
 and that servants will there seek to push their fortunes, having 
 shorter and stated hours, and time and opportunities for self- 
 improvement. But, how would they succeed should they leave 
 the country for the town ? Their town rivals will be as well 
 educated as they, so they will have no advantage on that score. 
 
19 
 
 They are unaccustomed to the work of the town. The supply- 
 always exceeds the demand, and the payment for unskilled labour 
 would not nearly equal wages for farm work, which is better re- 
 munerated than even tradesmen's labour, and no apprentice time 
 to serve nor tools to afford. The work in the country is more 
 healthy than that in towns, living is cheaper, and less money is 
 required for clothes in order to be dressed like one's neighbours. 
 The opportunities afforded for self-improvement will, in some 
 measure, be in a few years as attainable in country as in town, 
 and although the hours can never be shortened, yet there are 
 many advantages sufficient to counterbalance this one disadvant- 
 age. As it is, farm servants are ahead of town's tradesmen in the 
 matter of wages, they can save more money, and once they had 
 better houses and more opportunities of maixying (which would 
 help to improve their morals) they will be as well in every re- 
 spect, if not even better. A great boon the Act will confer on 
 society is the education and enlightenment of the females. In the 
 country their state is deplorable — the ignorance of the domestics 
 being extreme. It is evident that the mother has always the 
 greatest share in the training and moulding of the nature of the 
 child. It is impossible to expect a moral, well-behaved, and in- 
 telligent class of farm servants when their mothers are quite the 
 reverse. Now, how many of the mothers of our young farm 
 servants can even assist their children in their primary school tasks. 
 In a great many cases neithei' father nor mother are competent to 
 show their children how to do a question in the " simple" rules of 
 arithmetic. The Education Act will alter this state of things, 
 and then it will be a pleasant and not uncommon sight to see 
 father and mother, when the day's toil is over, sitting by the lire- 
 side, conversing rationally with each other, and with mutual 
 interest and zeal striving to educate their children and instil into 
 their minds the germs of knowledge. Educated mothers who 
 have thus trained their children will always hold a higher place 
 in the affection of the latter, who will look up to them with re- 
 spect and consider them no burden, although they require their 
 assistance in old age, —I cannot say that such is the case at pre- 
 sent. Generations afterwards the good seed thus sown will have 
 ripened into a rich and plentiful harvest. When the females are 
 educated and able to train their children and teach them aright 
 in their infancy, then the lever which is to move the state of 
 agricultural servitude in all its aspects and elevate the social and 
 moral condition of the servants — male and female — from the 
 degradation of the present to the nobler future will have been set 
 in operation by our teachers and legislators, and the fulcrum of 
 this lever is the Education Act. We now arrive at the last 
 division of this Essay, being Section 
 
20 
 
 Fifth. — The Future Prospects of Servants, 
 
 I consider that the Future Prospects of Farm Servants are ex- 
 tremely brilliant. As any attempt to unveil the future and 
 speak positively upon what will be their condition — in time 
 to come — partakes so much of the nature of a speculative theory, 
 and must be attended with such a degree of uncertainty, since 
 so many events — which it is utterly impossible to foresee — may 
 happen to prevent the most apparent and probable results. I 
 shall not endeavour to sketch any imaginary future condition, but 
 will confine myself to showing what can be done to raise the class 
 of Agricultural Labourers. This I shall endeavour to do under 
 two heads. 
 
 In the first place : — What can be done for the Farm Servants 
 by Farmers, Proprietors, and others ? The Farmer could — by 
 taking an interest in them and caring for their wants — establish 
 a better relationship between employer and employed, by associat- 
 ing with them, setting them a good example, holding family 
 worship, and employing overseers who would discountenance 
 swearing and check the prevalence and spread of vice, elevate 
 their moral condition. By the Abolition of Feeing Markets, the 
 temptations there held out to spend money and degrade themselves 
 by foolish profligacy, and selling their labour in a public market 
 would be removed. By Monthly Engagements, an inducement 
 would be held out for Servants to acquire a reputation for steadi- 
 ness and respectability in order to secure continuous employment, 
 and a more friendly, because more independent, relationship 
 would be established. By Monthly Payments, Servants would be 
 benefited, since they could save the discount given on cash, and 
 the interest charged on credit purchases ; and they would also 
 have interest on their savings for a longer period. By the con- 
 finement of Parochial Eelief to the Workhouse, a more thrifty and 
 independent spirit would be engendered amongst them. By the 
 instituting of Circulating Libraries, Literary Societies, and such 
 like throughout the rural districts, knowledge — and the desire to 
 obtain knowledge — would be imparted ; this would elevate their 
 moral tone and make them more useful and more pleasant mem- 
 bers of society. But that which would, next to the Education 
 Act, have the greatest influence for good, would be the increase 
 and improvement of House Accommodation for the Servants — 
 married and single. Many of the thinking married men say, and 
 surely they are qualified to express a suitable opinion on the mat- 
 ter, that the best provision for them would be — that on every 
 farm of one hundred acres in extent a house should be furnished 
 by the proprietor with ground attached for the purpose of keeping 
 a cow. The rent of this house and ground to be paid, not to the 
 farmer, but to the proprietor himself. If the possession were 
 held of the farmer he would have it in his power to make many 
 
21 
 
 unjust exactions from the Servant by threatening him with ejec- 
 tion from his comfortable home. In that case, the Servant would 
 be even in a worse position than they are at present. I believe 
 that on the Estate of Warthill, belonging to William Leslie, Esq., 
 late M.P. for the County of Aberdeen, the above-mentioned pro- 
 vision has been successfully carried out, and I am also told that 
 the Marquis of Huntly is resolved to provide in like manner for 
 the married Servants labouring on his Aboyne Estates. Op- 
 portunity would thus be afforded for Servants marrying and 
 immorality would become less extensive. The supply of Servants 
 would soon equal the demand. The Servants would be better as a 
 class, and this would surely be to the advantage of their employers. 
 Mr. M'Combie of Tillyfour says : — " Were there fewer bad 
 Servants there would be fewer bad Masters, and were there fewer 
 bad Masters there would be fewer bad Servants." This means 
 that did each party do liis duty to the other he would himself be 
 advantaged by so doing. Surely it is to the advantage of both 
 Proprietor and Farmer to have a class of good Servants on their 
 possessions. If they did but clearly comprehend the benefits they 
 would reap were the good results which would flow from the 
 above-mentioned alterations brought about, I have no doubt 
 that they will assist in soon producing them. The attention of 
 all classes is being directed to the question between Farmer and 
 Farm Servant, and the time is not far distant when these facts 
 will be forced upon them, and when so brought under their 
 notice they cannot fail to be acted upon. 
 
 In the second place : — What the Servants can do for them- 
 selves. The condition of the Farm Servant is good as regards 
 wages. I have heard tradesmen say that the pecuniary position 
 of agricultural labourers is better than theirs. When quite a 
 boy, the Farm Servant receives food and lodging and as much 
 money in wages as provide clothes for himself. A good Servant 
 is now in receipt of wages varying from ^17 to £20 in the six 
 months with food and lodgings, which are equal to, at least, 8s. in 
 the week, or about ^10 10s. in the half-year. This shows a yearly 
 salary of, in some cases, ^61. Let us, however, take the most 
 general rate, and say at least £57 in the year. Of this sum, after 
 deducting the J21 calculated as representing the value of his 
 food and lodging, he receives the amount of £36 in ca^h. Out of 
 this he has to pay for his washing and mending about £1 5s., for 
 clothing and boots, say £7. In the country, Servants do not re- 
 quire to wear so fashionable clothes as in the town, and a rougher, 
 stronger material is used which wears longer. The sum I have 
 mentioned is more than sufficient to provide decent clothing. I 
 know many Servants, who, allow only £4 to meet this demand. 
 . Allow him now £1 15s. for luxuries, and we find that, with the 
 smallest degree of economy, he can save £26 every year. If he should 
 enter on the married state he would perhaps require £20 for house- 
 
22 
 
 hold furniture, and £15 a year to maintain his wife. These items 
 would increase his annual expenditure to about £18 per annum. 
 Let us compare this with the case of the tradesman in a town. When 
 a young man determines to learn a trade he has to become bound 
 apprentice for a term of four or five years. During this time he 
 earns scarcely so much as pay for his food and lodging. Aiter 
 this, when he becomes a full-fledged journeyman, a good hand, 
 and work plentiful, he can earn perhaps 30s. in the week. Out 
 of this he has to pay for food and lodging over 10s. ; for clothes. 
 5s. ; for washing and mending, over Is. ; for keeping up a set of 
 tools, for sundry small expenses, payment of money to trades 
 unions, &c., at any rate 4s. He ma7/ thus save 10s. a- week, or 
 £24 in the year. But, at the outset, he has to provide himself 
 with a chest of tools. He has also to pay the cost of shifting from 
 place to place, and if trade is dull he has to remain out of employ- 
 ment for an indefinite period, perhaps, in the year. I do not be- 
 lieve a tradesman, though steady and fairly prosperous, can save 
 more than £20 in the year, if he can succeed in saving that. 
 Thus is shown the fact that a Farm Servant can save a good few 
 pounds more in the year than a first-class tradesman although the 
 latter may get steady employment, which he cannot always do, 
 and be in the receipt of what is reckoned " splendid wages.'' The 
 sum of £26, which can be saved by the Farm Servant, can be 
 placed in the bank, or, better still, may be invested in some 
 Company, such as the North of Scotland Canadian Mortgage 
 Company (Limited), or the Aberdeen Land Association (Limited). 
 If so invested, it will yield a return of about £1 6s. in the 
 year. This, in the space of 10 years — he saving £26 each year 
 — wiU show an accumulated capital of over £330. In the 
 20 years, that of over £800, or in the case of a married 
 man, £200 Thus, in 20 years, the diligent, thrifty Farm 
 Servant has laid up a sum yielding a yearly interest of 
 £40 which is sufficient to keep him comfortably all the rest 
 of his life. Or, if he desires to do so, he may lay aside 
 the occupation of farm servant, and betake himself to commerce. 
 If he is a cautious shrewd man, with this capital of £800, he is 
 sure to succeed in any undertaking to which he may determine 
 to devote his energies. No well-doing servant need therefore 
 become dependent upon the Poor Law Act for relief in old age, and 
 the Proprietors need not be afraid to encourage population in. 
 case they may become paupers. Servants might provide as much 
 as leave their wives an immediate support, in the case of their 
 early death, by insuring their lives. We know not what an 
 hour may bring forth, and since the lease of life is so uncertain, 
 it is but an act of prudence to do so, and thereby much 
 misery may be avoided. At the age of 18 an Insurance for 
 £100 at death may be effected for the payment of the yearly 
 premium of £1 12s. or even commencing at the age of 25 a 
 
23 
 
 premium of 3d. a day will ensure a payment of ^200 at 
 death. This would not be a heavy burden on the servants 
 wages, and would be the means of starting their widows in some 
 small undertaking or business which would support them and 
 their families in comfort, and enable them to dispense with 
 parochial relief. It would also provide a borrowing power on 
 the security of which the servants could obtain money in case of 
 any emergency. The money now spent at feeing markets, and in 
 foolish profligacy would be more than suflficient to pay the 
 premium necessary to secure the payment of ^100 to the heirs of 
 the insurer at his death. I would advise every man to insure 
 his life, and also to insure early, for the longer it is delayed, the 
 yearly premium becomes larger. The Servants could better 
 themselves much by staying at home at nights. Not only would 
 they have the time spent foolishly in degrading pursuits left for 
 purposes of self -improvement, but they would be more healthy, 
 better able to perform their wo^^k, and also much more respected 
 by their Employers. As it is impossible for the Landlords to 
 cultivate the soil for want of sufficient capital, without the inter- 
 mediate aid of the Farmers, so also is it impossible for the Far- 
 mers to dispense with the assistance of the Servants ; so that 
 the relationship existing between all three is of a fixed character. 
 It is to the advantage of each that the other two should be of 
 as good a class as possible : therefore, if Servants attend to their 
 work, and acquire and maintain good reputations, are thrifty, 
 industrious, and show a desire to improve themselves, the oppor- 
 tunity will be afforded them so to do, and they will soon be 
 looked upon as an important body, and will occupy a high posi- 
 tion in the social scale. The attention of influential parties, and 
 that of the Legislature, will be directed to their wants and con- 
 dition. They will be even better than the Farmers, for the sea- 
 sons will not affect their incomes ; their money will be sure, and, 
 except their labour, they risk no capital. The soil yields to the 
 farmer only a small rate of interest on the money sunk in stock- 
 ing and working the farm, and even this return is uncertain. 
 To the Farm Servant, the interest on the money he may put in 
 the bank, or invest in a Company, and also his wages, are certain 
 returns, and in the former case without any expenditure of 
 labour. It is only necessary to look around among the agi-icul- 
 tural community and elsewhere, to see in many of our own pros- 
 perous, respected acquaijitances — instances of those, who, by 
 their own thrift and industry, have in the past risen from the 
 rank of Farm Servants to be themselves large employers. And 
 if this was possible at a time when remuneration for farm la bom- 
 was very low, how much more so is it now, when such a«higli 
 rate of wages is ev^ery where given. Tlie Education Act will 
 have a most powerful effect on all parties. The unmarried Ser- 
 vants will be more moral, capable of understanding better what 
 
24 
 
 they read, hear, and see ; more intelligent in conversation and more 
 tolerant of the opinions of others. The females will in every way 
 be better qualified to undertake and sustain and satisfactorily per- 
 form the duties appertaining and devolving upon them as wives and 
 mothers. The house accommodation which will be demanded by, 
 and provided for, the educated servants will be of such a descrip- 
 tion as enable them to improve themselves. It will afford oppor- 
 tunities for entering the bonds of matrimony, and this will check 
 immorality. Servants will be better fitted to instruct their children 
 and train them up in the paths of virtue, so that in the course 
 of two or three generations, the whole moral tone of the labour- 
 ing classes will be greatly improved. Marriages will be more 
 productive of happiness and contentment, since both parties will 
 be able to converse and interchange opinions rationally. Agri- 
 cultural Employes will better understand the true relationship 
 which ought to exist between them and the Farmers. They will 
 know their own proper position, with all the rights and privileges 
 thereof ; the manner in which they ought to be treated ; and the 
 duties incumbent on them in the same. Knowing this, they will 
 also have the sense neither to infringe on the position of their 
 employers, nor allow their own to be infringed upon. They will 
 have a more just idea of the place they really occupy in society ; 
 and if they make a good use of the opportunities which will then 
 be given them, and those which they themselves can command, 
 of improving themselves (which their education will show them 
 it is to their interest to do), they will become conspicuous mem- 
 bers of the same. In short, when the time comes (a time which 
 will come, and is not far distant, w^hen, by education's power, 
 the Labouring classes are prepared to exercise the privilege 
 aright) when the Franchise will be extended, the Farm Servants 
 will be qualified to employ discernment, and choose representa- 
 tives who will take care of their interests, plead their cause, and 
 procure redress for their grievances, in the most important tribu- 
 nal of the kingdom — The House of Commons. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
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 UPR 9Q'fijl Q DM 
 
 
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