ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

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ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 1815 & 1914

H. R. HODGES, B.Sc. (Econ.)

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LONDON : GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD. RUSKIN HOUSE 40 MUSEUM STREET W.C.

First publisJied in 1917

{All rights reserved)

PREFACE

This essay was originally written under the title of " The Economic Condition of the People of England in 1815 in Comparison with the Present Day," and won the Paul Philip Reitlinger Prize in the University of London in 1915. The subject was set in the autumn of 1914, and the essay was written before the effects of the war (apart from the confusion at its outbreak) on the national welfare had begun to be felt, or their significance realized. In 1815 the country, with the rest of Europe, awoke from a nightmare of war. In 1914 Europe entered into a second and more terrible nightmare, in which Eng- land is more involved than in the previous case.

At the present time when half the able-bodied male population is cheerfully submitting to a complete regimen of work, religion, diet, sleep, clothing, clean- liness, and rate and manner of movement; when the remainder of the population is grumblingly acquiesc- ing in the restrictions of lighting facilities, the regula- tion of food and drink supply and other annoyances; when economic England has become England at war, war being the negation of economics ; and when, to quote a true statement by the German Chancellor,

6 PREFACE

" the spiritual and material progress which were the pride of Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century are threatened with ruin ; " this survey of the effect of a century's progress on the economic condi- tions of the people of England, is pubHshed in the hope that, as the history of the past century has dis- played the abihty of the "people" to occupy fitly a position of ever-growing importance in the economy of the nation and to deal successfully with internal problems, so the development of that ability will, in the present century, extend with salutary results to the wider and more intricate field of international problems.

H. R. HODGES. December 1916.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

FAOB

LSTBODUCTION ...... 9

CHAPTER n POPULATION ..... 22

CHAPTER in FIXAKCE ...... 35

CHAPTER IV OCCUPATIONS ..... 47

CHAPTER V BEMX7MEBATI0N . . . . .70

CHAPTER VI COKCLUSIOK ..... 89

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

1815 AND 1914

CHAPTEE I

INTRODUCTION

The importance of the date " 1815 " for the purpose of comparison with the present day is due to cir- cumstances which may well be described by the following quotations : "The history of the nineteenth century begins about 1780 when the cotton inventions of Arkwright and others were taking effect and when the Bridgewater canals and improved roads were making transport comparatively cheap and easy," ^ but "During the course of the [Napoleonic] War, England suspended almost all internal improvement." ^ " The year 1815, indeed, marks an epoch. . . . Twenty-five years before as it seemed Europe had fallen into a dream ; the dream had rapidly grown into a nightmare, and now the world, having by dint of desperate effort thrown off the incubus and

• Lord Welby, Journal of tlie Statistical Society, January 1915. = C. A. Fyffe, " History of Modern Europe," popular edition, p. 367.

9

10 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

waked, looked forward to a life of sober reality, a period not of dreams but of facts." ^

The fact that the year 1815 so excellently marks the date of the " awakening " to a life of sober reahty renders it peculiarly difficult to estimate the condition of the people of the time. The economic stirrings prior to the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars were overshadowed by and subordinated to a state of affairs in which the economic machinery was deranged. On the other hand, the immensity of the development in all branches of human activity in the hundred years following 1815 invests the inquiry with great interest.

" Few perhaps realize that the whole framework of modern life is economic . . . fewer still know how new a thing that framework really is — that it began with machinery and steam and has been built up within a century." =

Although, in view of these statements, the warning of Maitland, that economic history is not catastrophic, may not be applicable to the nineteenth century, nevertheless, Mr. L. L. Price's remark that people are too prone to think that changes are not only catastrophic but simultaneous and uniform is only too true. In some places we find survivals, in others anticipations, for in economic matters inertia is great, and in the nineteenth century the forces to overcome that inertia have been partial in appli-

' Alison Phillips, " Modern Europe," p. 1.

" William Smart, "Economic Annals of the Nineteenth Century," vol. 1801-20.

INTRODUCTION 11

cation. The history of the first decades of the century is largely the history of the growth of that highly praised freedom to do those things which appeared to the practical men of the time to be beneficial — a freedom which took its origin in the revolutionary effects of the introduction of machinery and steam.

One particular aspect of this laissez-faire move- ment needs special attention. Bagehot, in dealing with the "postulates" of political economy, treated transferability of labour and capital as the two most important assumptions underlying economic argument; and in comparing the economic condition of the people of England in 1815 with that of the people of 1914, the reduction of the "friction" which prevented mobility of labour in 1815 requires special notice.

Mobility of labour may be analysed into two kinds — place-mobility and trade-mobility. AbiHty to move from place to place depends on legal restriction, and expense of moving; ability to move from trade to trade depends on Trade Union restriction, and the nature of the trades and the extent to which division of labour has been carried. The will to move from place to place or from trade to trade depends upon the spread of information which enables a com- parison of conditions to be made, and a state of general education which will enable people to take advantage of information available and give them confidence to trust themselves in new parts or other occupations.

12 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

Locomotion.

Private railways were first brought into use at the beginning of the seventeenth century in the New- castle collieries, but the first Act of Parliament for the construction of a public railway was passed in 1801, and by 1815 only sixteen such Acts had been passed. The longest railway then contemplated was 26 miles (including branch lines). As late as 1838, G. K. Porter spoke with pride of the existence of fifty-four four-horse and forty-nine pair-horse mail- coaches with an average speed of less than nine miles an hour. This rate of travelling was described by him as being " whirled along," the personal safety of the passengers not being so endangered as might have been expected on account of the improved construction of the coaches and roads and of the superior character of the drivers. This mode of conveyance was " costly." The country in 1815 was, in fact, almost without passenger traffic.

At the present time there are over 16,000 miles of double and single railway hne open in England and Wales, carrying passengers at the rate of Id. a mile to all parts of the country. There are in addition over 2,000 miles of tramways and light railways. Almost every large city has its own tramway system, which plays an important part in conveying workers to and from their work. No less than 2,500,000,000 passengers are now carried yearly on these 2,200 miles of tramway and light railway.

INTRODUCTION 13

Legal Restriction.

" One instance will show the spirit of the Govern- ment in 1815. It was penal for a skilled artisan to seek a better market for his labour by going abroad. He might even be arrested if suspected of meaning to do so."^ The motives which prompted this restriction of the workman's freedom and the con- ditions which made its enforcement possible have long since disappeared.

There was also the law of settlement, the founda- tion of which was a statute of 1662, the provisions of which were based on the fact that " by reason of some defects in the law, poor people are not restrained from going from one parish to another, and therefore do endeavour to settle themselves in those parishes where there is best stock" — a state of affairs which is in accordance with modern economics. Abundant evidence as to the extent to which this law was operative was furnished to a Committee appointed in 1815 to inquire into the state of men- dicity and vagrancy in the Metropolis and its neighbourhood. In the years 1812-15, when the average expenditure on the relief of the poor was just over six million pounds yearly, a further sum of £330,000 was spent yearly in " law, removals, etc."

There is, unfortunately, no definite quantitative evidence of the immobility of the population in 1815 compared with 1914. The following figures, relating to a quarter of a century later, emphasize the dif-

• Lord Welby, Journal of tJie Statisiical Society, January 1915.

14 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

ference. The census returns for 1841 show that per 100 persons enumerated in that year

159 in England, and 13-9 in Wales,

were residing out of the counties of their birth. The corresponding figures for England and Wales in 1911, per 100 males and females respectively, were

32-9 males and 35-1 females.

Trade Unions.

While in 1815 lack of education and information, legal restrictions and the expense of travelling hindered place-mobility, there was little restriction on trade-mobility, except indirectly owing to the localization of industries in some cases preventing change of trade without change of place.

Prior to 1825 combinations of workmen were for- bidden. To-day the great industries of the country (excluding agriculture) are organized, and " there is . . . pretty general agreement that at present Trade Union ideas and regulations are very inimical, if not hostile, to trade-mobility — the many bitter and prolonged disputes being cited in proof. So long, for instance, as a bricklayer is prevented by his union from doing stone-mason work, or a pattern- maker from being a joiner, it is hopeless to speak of mobility. . . . Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, M.P., gives the reason quite frankly. ' The organization

INTRODUCTION 15

of labour is absolutely essential in view of the organization of capital, and it is practically im- possible to organize labour if there is much fluidity of labour between trade and trade.' " ^

Information and Education.

Prior to 1833 not a penny of public money was spent on education. There existed in 1815 two societies for promoting education. They were the National Schools founded in 1811 by Dr. Andrew Bell, and the British Schools founded in 1814, con- tinuing the monitorial method of teaching favoured by Lancaster. Both classes of school were supported by voluntary efifort. Their work was partial and verj' ineflicient. The attitude of the governing class to- wards the question of popular education is described in a "recollection" of Brougham (who had been chair- man of a committee in 1816 appointed to consider the question of pubHc instruction) that he had been accused of aiming at "dictatorship" by "under- mining the foundations of all property." This fear of creating popular discontent was so great and persistent that even in 1847 G. R. Porter could say that the feeling "that an agricultural labourer was little above a brute, and that to educate him would merely have the effect of rendering him dissatisfied with his situation of life — is fast giving way to more enlightened and benevolent views."

The state of education, in as far as ability to sign one's own name is a test, in 1815 is shown by an

' Majority Report, Poor Law Commusion, 1905, Cd. 4499, p. 348.

16 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS : 1815 & 19U

examination of marriage registers for the years 1839-44. Approximately one-third of the men and one-half of the women married in those years were unable to sign their own names. ^ The advance since that time has been enormous. Elementary education was made universally obtainable in 1870, compulsory by Acts of 1876 and 1880, and free in 1891. Not only is elementary education universal, free, and compulsory everywhere until the age of 12 years and in most places until the age of 14 years, but secondary and university education is becoming increasingly popular. Education, moreover, is re- garded not merely as beneficial but "as a matter of national importance," "a national investment."^

The benefit to the people themselves is referred to by Sir Kobert Giffen in the following terms : The expenditure on the old School Boards " may be regarded as an expenditure for the improvement of the whole people, by which their earning capacity is to be largely improved. "3

The increased ability of the people of the country to take cognizance of matters other than the events occurring within the narrow circle of everyday life has called forth the large scale production of literature — newspapers and periodicals. It was not until 2nd November 1816 that the price of Cobbetfs Political

• See G. R. Porter, " Progress of the Nation." Fifty per cent, of the people married were between 20 and 25 years of age, and 25 per cent, between 25 and 30 years of age in 1839-44.

= Marshall, " Principles," 5th edition, p. 21G.

3 " Statistics," edited by Henry Higgs, C.B. (1913).

INTRODUCTION 17

Begister was reduced from Is. O^d. to 2d. a copy, and it was then addressed, for the first time, "To the Journeymen and Labourers of England, Scotland, and Ireland." The power of Cobbett's writings helped to give the expression of discontent among the labouring classes a new direction, turning their energies from rioting and machine-breaking to pohtical agitation and other less violent methods of drawing attention to their condition. In addition to the function of popular instructor, the newspapers, by reason of their increased use and cheapness, became important means of directing all kinds of employers and workers to all sorts of workers and work respectively.

In 1909 an immense advance on this method of "exchanging labour" was made by an Act establishing State Labour Exchanges, under the direction of the Board of Trade. The work of this new departure is shown by the tables on pages 18 and 19.

It is seen that in 1914 over 2 million individuals effected 3^ million registrations for work ; that IJ million vacancies were notified to the Labour Ex- changes, of which over 1 million were filled, 800,000 persons being provided with work at least once during the year.

In each year since the Exchanges opened, the totals have shown an increase, but in all the tables the totals are formed roughly three-fifths of men, one-fifth of women, the remaining one-fifth being boys and girls, boys rather exceeding girls in number.

From Tables II and III it is seen that about one-third of the registrations result in work being

2

18 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

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INTHODUCTION

19

found ; and that three-quarters of the vacancies notified are filled by the Exchanges.

Table II.

PERCENTAGES OF NU^IBERS REGISTERED FOR WHOM WORK WAS FOUND.

Year.	Hen.	Women.	Boys.	Girls.	ToUJ.
1911	27-5	31-7	46-7	42-9	310
1912	32-8	32-9	48-2	43-4	34-9
1913	30-8	37-9	54-1	471	34-9
1914	36-7	33-6	54-2	41-3	37-6

Table III.

PROPORTION PER CENT. OF VACANCIES FILLED TO VACANCIES NOTIFIED.

Year.	Men and Women.	Boys and Girls.	AU.
1912	800	69-7	77-9
1913	77-8	66-6	75-4
1914	76-9	690	75-5

This work has not superseded that of the newspapers which continue to hnk up workers and employers.

Casual labour is not included in the above tables. It is clearly a case for organization and regulation, and it receives special attention. In docks, for

20 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

example, the amount of work is fluctuating, and, on account of harbour dues, demurrage, etc., it must be done quickly. The aim is to reduce to as small a number as possible the body of men doing odd jobs for which no skill is required and employment is intermittent. The work of the Labour Exchanges in this respect is shown in the following tables : —

HOP AND FRUIT PICKING.

Tear.

1913 1914

Vacancies filled by Labour Exchanges.

... 4,933

... 8,031

GENERAL POST OFFICE— CASUAL HELP.'

Year.	Applications.	Vacancies filled.
1911	—	33,264
1912	—	39,700
1913	46,894	42,343
1914	44,626	35,553

CASUAL REGISTER.

Year.	No. of Men (Individuals) given Casual Employ- ment.	No. of Jobs Given.	Dock.	Cloth (Man- chester).	Cotton (Liver- pool).
1912 1918 1914	5,510 5,730	224,036 204,629 154,967	158,881 133,658 114,401	62,047 69,013 38,914	3,108 1,958 1,652

' Included in tables previously given.

INTRODUCTION

21

Other help is given to workers, in the form of the payment of fares for travelling to places where employment has been found through the Exchanges.

Years.	No. of Fares Paid.	AmoTint Advanced (Bepayable).
1913 1914 Total 1910-1914	9.200 20,300 54,800	£2,900 £7,600 £18,000

CHAPTER II

POPULATION

In this chapter will be investigated some of the e£fects of the changes described in the last chapter by means of which the working population became able to understand its position and fitly to occupy a definite place in the economy- of the nation. Although the inquiry relates to the " people of England " the Welsh counties have been included within the definition of "England"; first, and chiefly, because so much statistical information relates to England and Wales as a whole, and because, in dealing with such data, the influence of Wales, on account of the smallness of its population, is not great ; secondly, because the counties are linked up industrially with the adjoining English counties.

In spite of the modern practice of regarding the "people" of England as consisting of some large percentage of the population of England measured from the lower end of the social scale, it is in- expedient to attempt to draw a line at any par- ticular class of occupation or income.

The " economic condition " of the people of England may be otherwise described as the state of

POPULATION 23

their material welfare, the investigation of which, for the purposes of comparison with 1815, covers much more than a statement of wages and prices which for a shorter period is frequently deemed sufficient.

For the purpose of the inquiry the country has been divided into eight areas, in the composition of which attention has been paid to geographical proximity and industrial similarity. The latter con- sideration has not presented much difficulty in most cases, for the Industrial Revolution was in full progress at the time of the French wars, so that for the most part counties which had made headway in manufactures or mining or were still preponder- antly agricultural by 1815, are the leaders of their respective industries to-day. The differences of intensity (of agriculture or manufactures) have, however, become more marked.

The growth of the population of England and Wales in the nineteenth century contrasts strikingly with that of the preceding century, when it is estimated (from parish registers and hearth and poll- tax returns) that the numbers increased only from 5i millions to nearly 9 millions, two-thirds of the increment taking place after 1760 : —

Tear.

1700 1710 1720 1730

Population (thousand!).	Increase per cent, in Preceding Decade
5,475	—
5,240	- 5
5,565	... -f 6
5,796 ...	... + 4

24 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

Tear.

1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1801

Population	Increase per cent.
(thouBands).	in Preceding Decade
6,064	... + 5
6,467	+ 7
6,736	... + 4
7,428	... + 10
7,953	... + 7
8,675	... + 9
8,892	4- 3

Between 1811 and 1911 the population increased from 10,160,000 to 36,080,000, a 3|-fold increase. In the decade 1811-21 the rate of increase was 18 per cent. This high percentage is described in Marshall's " Principles " as one of the results of " indiscriminate poor law allowances " and the removal of " the pressure of the great war and the high price of corn."

In the succeeding nine decades the rate of increase has varied between 11 per cent, and 16 per cent.

Decade.	Per cent. Increase of Population.'
1811-21	181
1821-31	15-8
1831-41	145
1841-61	12-7
1851-61	11-9
1861-71	13-2
1871-81	14-4
1881-91	11-7
1891-1901	11-7
1901-11	10-9

The changes in each of the eight areas into which the country has been divided are set out in the following table : —

' Cd. 6399, p. 393,

POPULATION

25

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			w

26 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

The statement above (page 23, lines 13-16) with reference to the workings of the Industrial Kevolution is confirmed by this table. Whether one considers columns (2) or (4), the order of districts is not much different from that in which they are placed by reference to column (5). Examination of the census returns shows that the same order holds good if the rates of increase in any decade of the century be substituted for either of the columns (2), (4), or (5). While, however, the order remains unchanged, it has been ascertained that the range of the increments per cent, has increased in almost every successive decade.

If the individual county rates of increase of popula- tion be considered, the increase in the range is, of course, more marked than in the case of the groups. The change is illustrated in the following diagrams and table : —

	Counties showing the—
Decade.	Smallest Increase in Population.	Greatest Increase in Population.
1801-11 1811-21 1821-31 1891-1901 1901-11	Per cent. Rutlandshire 0 Radnorshire 5 Yorkshire (N. Riding) and Merionethshire 3 Westmorland ... - 3 Merionethshire ... - 7	Per cent. Merionethshire ... 34 Lancashire 27 Monmouthshire ... 3G Middlesex 46 Middlesex 42

The fact brought to light by the above figures, that those parts of the country (counties, one might say) which were developing manufactures, and in which the growth of population was very rapid in 1815, are

POPULATION

27

DCCADL I8II-I8Z-I.

3<Hmi MILC5. SOOTH- i/KTE»M

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DECADL 1901- 191

niD-sovm eastekh

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FERCE!rrAO£ cha:?gzs rs population of qbocps of cocntces

OF ESGLAND Ajn) WAXES.

28 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

the leaders to-day, has found its greatest exempHfi- cation in the case of towns. The manufacturing interests in the towns encouraged migration, so far preventing the rigid enforcement of the Settlement Law. According to Mr. Briggs : " Much of the move- ment was voluntary, and more, increased mobility must have come even if there had been no revolutions. The old Settlement Laws and the Statute of Apprentices, which regulated entry into trade, were still nominally in force, but were mere survivals and bound to become a dead letter should events turn against them." ^ As we have seen in Chapter I, events did turn against them, but the small headway made by the towns by the first decade of the century appears to afford proof of the efficiency of the physical and legal and intel- lectual hindrances to movement.

" In 1801 the condition of things was that whilst a commencement had been made in the development of our manufactures and mines, things had not proceeded very far, and there was no town outside London which contained so many as 100,000 inhabitants. The num- ber of those which had at the least 4,000 inhabitants I make to have been 112 ; and there were smaller towns, ranging from a population of 1,000 upwards, to the number of 457. . . . Even of the smaller towns with 1,000 inhabitants and upwards, as many as 63 were so mixed up with rural populations that I have found it better to merge them in the mass." ^

Mr. Welton's evidence is authentic.

» " Economic History," p. 21G.

* T. A. Welton, Journal of the Statistical Society, December 1900, p. 527 seq.

POPULATION

^

The table on pages 30 and 31 sets out the popu- lations of the largest of the towns (together with their 10-yearly rates of increase) at the first four censuses. The figures are abstracted from "Accounts and Papers " of the 1831 enumeration (vol. 5). It purports to give all the towns in Great Britain having a population of 50,000 or more. Dundee with 45,000 and Hull with 48,000 are, however, included.

Excluding the Scottish towns, there were then, in 1811, seven towns with a population of at least 50,000. By 1821 the number had increased to eight. These eight towns contained, in 1821, 16 per cent, of the whole population of England and Wales.

To compare with this we have, in 1911, no less than ninety-eight towns with a population of at least 50,000. They contained 48 per cent, of the whole population of England and Wales. The distribution of these towns at the respective dates was as follows : —

Districts (aa in Table on page 23).	Number of Towns with Population of at leaat 50,000.
1821.	1911.
South Wales Northern South-Eastern Midland Mid-South Eastern South-Western Rest of Wales	2 1 1 2 1 1	4 •4	17 8
Total	8 1 98 !

30 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

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POPULATION

31

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32 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

This again emphasizes the differences noted in dealing with county populations.

Another aspect of the same question is given by the following figures : —

Density of Population (England and Wales).

Whole population (per 100 acres)

Of population of districts whose characteristics were rural in 1911 (per 100 acres)

The foregoing evidence of the urbanization of the population is emphasized by the table opposite.

From the last column it is seen that after a certain point of size is attained, the rate of increase of population is checked — there is no more room in the town — a point of saturation is reached — the surplus population goes to spread the urban area outside the town boundary. If we deal with the rate of increase of all urban districts as compared with that of the whole country and of rural districts, we see evidence of the same thing.

RATES OF INCREASE OF POPULATION.'

Population of England and Wales

(a) Population of 1,137 urban districts

,, 98 largest towns

,, G57 rural districts ...

,, London

,, 105 entirely rural registra tion districts

1891-1901.

Per cent.

11-7

15-2

15-3

2-9

7-3

1-8

1901-11.

Per cent.

10-9

111

8-7

10-2

-0-3

9-8

' (6) and (d) are included in (a), (a) contained 78 per cent, of the population of England and Wales.

POPtfLATiON

3^

mt&AK DISTRICTS CLASSIFIED BY POPULATION.

Populations (ttaoumndB).	Number of Diatricte.	Aggregate Population ml9U (thooa&nds).	Aggregate Population (same Areas) in 1901 (thouaands).	Mean per cent. Increase or Decrease.
Over 1,000	1-	4,523	4,536	-03
500-1,000	3	1,987	1,872	+61
250-500	8	2,640	2,451	7-7
150-350	10	1,915	1,677	14-2
100-150	23	2,632	2,304	14-2
76-100	17	1,435	1.236	161
50-75	37	2,172	1,846	17-7
40-60	25	1.101	976	12-9
30-40	50	1,717	1,393	23-3
20-30	72	1,755	1,529	14-8
15-20	84	1,434	1,230	16-6
10-15	147	1,822	1,658	170
5-10	266	1,833	1,628	12-6
4-5	107	479	434	10-2
3-4	97	337	313	7-6
3-3	100	360	236	6-2
Under 2	102	137	132	3-5
Total ...	1,137	28,169	25,351	111

Loudon (Administrative County) reckoned as one district.

34 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

While the rate of increase of the total population in the two decades was practically the same, London, the largest urban area, has ceased to grow in numbers. In the 98 largest towns (containing one-half of the population of England and Wales) the rate of increase dropped from 15 per cent, to 9 per cent. In 1,137 urban districts the change was from 15 per cent, to 11 per cent., while in the 657 rural districts there was an increase from 3 per cent, to 10 per cent., and in 105 entirely rural registration districts from IJ per cent, to 10 per cent.

To conclude, we may say: —

(1) That while in 1801-11 the urban population was growing no faster than the rural population, in 1811-21, and again in 1821-31, the town population began to gain on the rural population in point of numbers.

(2) That during the century the process of urban- ization has proceeded at a great rate.

(3) That, at the present day, " the proportion of persons in England and Wales living under urban conditions was 78 per cent, and under rural conditions 22 per cent."^

(4) That the process of urbanization has in places (the most urban areas) reached "saturation point" — the point at which in the present state of sanitation, building, locomotion, etc., the people have ceased to find it in their interest to increase the density of population.

■ Prelimiuary Report of the IJll Ceusus.

CHAPTER 111

FINANCE

Before proceeding to deal with the economic con- dition of the people of England, in the narrowest sense, we must briefly refer to the important effect of the immobility of population at the beginning of the nineteenth century on the political position of the people, and thus indirectly on their economic condition, and how the changes described in Chapters I and II have aided the amelioration of that condition.

The rural parts of the country in 1815 were in the hands of the justices, bodies of whom, kept select by a high property qualification, and chosen by the county gentry, had enormous powers. The local authority was the parish. It was not until 1834 that the authority of the parish began to be reduced. The control of the highways, paupers, sanitation, police, and the power of levying rates were all parochial. The greatest of these powers was the relief of the poor, a duty which was most inefficiently performed.

In the way of public health administration, all that existed at the beginning of the centurj' was a law as to pubhc nuisances, damage for or restraint of nuisance.

86

36 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: I8l5 & 1914

Prior to 1829 there was no professional police. Even then they were introduced into London only. The persons appointed, often unwilhngly, by the justices to perform police duties in most cases carried on another occupation.

The care of roads, which had, since 1711, been given to commissions or trusts (of which there existed 11,000 in 1820), in which the manufacturers' need for good communications found expression, was compara- tively efficiently performed.

There was, in fact, what has been termed a parochial blight.

In the case of the towns, while external freedom had been attained, internal government had become oligarchical. The proportion of freemen to the town populations is estimated to have decreased from one- third about the year 1680 to one-tenth in 1835. In other words, the governing bodies became " close."

The Commission appointed to inquire into the state of affairs reported, in 1834, that " the corporations look upon themselves and are considered by the inhabitants as separate and exclusive bodies ... in most places all identity of interest between the corporation and the inhabitants had disappeared." The Commissioners also reported that there was in corporate towns ** a discontent under the burdens of local taxation, while revenues that ought to be applied for the public advantage are directed from their legitimate use." Among the uses to which the money was put were enumerated "wasteful benefit of

FINANCE 37

individuals," " feasting," and ** salaries of unimportant officers."

In the words of Seignobos, "English society [circa 1814] was based on the distinctions between rich and poor. . . . The whole nation, in the contemplation of the law, was swayed by two rival aristocracies : that of landed proprietors allied with the clergy, supreme in the country parts ; and that of capitalists and great manufacturers, supreme in the cities. These were the economic masters of the country." ^

It was this state of affairs which made Disraeli (referring to 1837-38) refer to the two Enghsh nations — "the rich and the poor" — "between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy . . . ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws."

The state of finance alleged to have existed in the towns by the Commissioners has been noted.

The result of the above-described division of society was that in the parishes " for the most part taxes levied for local purposes in England are voted in parochial assemblies by those who are to pay them or by their delegates."^

By far the largest part of the taxes consisted of an assessment for the support of the indigent poor. From 1812 to 1830 the money so spent scarcely ever fell below four-fifths of the total amount raised by parochial assemblies.

• " Contemporary Europe,'' pp. 20 and 21. ' G. R. Porter, " Progress of tbe Nation."

38 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

PAROCHIAL FINANCE. (£ million.)

	1 Total Sum , Assessed and Levied. i	Expenditure.
Year.	Poor Relief.	Law, Re- movals, etc.	Other Matters.	Total.
Average of 1783-85	2-2	1-9	0-1	0-2	2-2
1803	5-3	4-1	0-2	1-0	5"3
1812-13	8-6	6-7	0-3	1-9	8-9
1813-14	8-4	6-3	0-3	1-9	8-5
1814-15	7-5	5-4	0-3	1-8	7-5
1815-16	6-9	5-7	—	1-2	G-9
1816-17	8'1	6-9	—	1-2	8-1
1817-18	9-3	7-9	—	1-4	9-8
1818-19	8-9	7-5		1-3	8-8
1819-20	i 8-7	7-3		1-3	8-7
1820-21	i 8-4	7-0	—	1-4	8'3

In effect, one may say that in the matter of local finance the welfare of the lower nation .was not con- sidered. There was, indeed, slight further provision made by various statutes for defraying certain miscellaneous local public expenses by means of a *' county rate " imposed by the justices in their several counties. The principal objects for which provision was made were the repair of bridges, repair and building of gaols, houses of correction, shire-halls, and courts of justice ; the construction and support of lunatic asylums ; the expense of criminal prosecu- tions and other judicial expenditure ; the expenses of militia and of county elections. The yield of the county rate was, however, very small, averaging £320,000 per annum in 1801-5, £380,000 for 1806-10, i'530,000 for 1811-15, and £625,000 for 1815-20.

FINANCE

39

It is indeed true to say that the only considerable aid or benefit conferred upon the lower nation was that of poor relief, and we shall see that to a great extent this fonn of relief was in reality an addition to wages paid.

The state of national finance must also be noticed. In the first twenty years of the nineteenth century, national expenditure was, on the average, nine or ten times as great as local expenditure.

In examining the details of the national expenditure, the outstanding feature is the " exceedingly great proportion appropriated to the upkeep of the naval and military forces which the circumstances of the time made it necessary to maintain." ^

The actual position is given in the following tables. It will be noted that in the finance of the central government figures cannot be given separately for England and Wales.

	\	rt'AR EXPENDITURE
		(£	millions.)
1801 ...	.. 37	1808		45 '	1815 ...	... 55
1802 ...	.. 25	1809		48	1816 ...	... 27
1803 ...	.. 23	1810		48	1817 ...	... 17
1804 ...	.. 24	1811		62	1818 ...	... 16
1805 ...	.. 39	1812		57	1819 ...	... 17
1806 ...	.. 41	1813		71	1820 ...	... 16
1807 ...	.. 41	1814		72

' G. R. Porter, p. 514.^

40 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

CENTRAL	FINANCE (UNITED KINGDOM)	. — (£ millions.)
Year.	Bevenue into ■p Exchequer. -' Produce of Taxes.	Beceived on ^ a/c of Loans >' & Exchequer Bills.	1	13 43 e g d a	Is 1	Is 5- 5«	13 |h.9 Eh
1792	19	—	19	10	2	8	20
1801	34	27	61	20	—	41	61
1802	36	15	51	20	—	30	60
1803	39	9	47	21	—	28	49
1804	46	15	61	21	—	39	59
1805	51	17	68	22	—	45	67
1806	56	13	69	23	—	46	69
1807	59	10	70	23	—	44	6B
1808	63	12	75	23	—	50	73
1809	64	12	76	24	—	52	76
1810	67	8	75	24	—	53	77
1811	65	19	84	25	—	59	84
1812	66	25	90	26	—	63	89
1813	69	40	108	28	—	78	100
1814	71	35	106	30	—	77	107
1815	72	20	92	32	—	61	92
1816	62	1	63	33	— -	32	65
1817	52		52	31	2	22	55
1818	54		54	31	2	21	53
1819	53		63	31	3	21	55
1820	54	—	64	31	2	21	54

FINA^'CE 41

The position may best be summarized by an extract from Mr. S. Buxton's " Finance and Politics " : —

" Twenty-two years later [1815] they emerged from the war — numbering some twenty millions of persons ; burdened with a debt of nine hundred millions ; with a revenue of nearly eighty, and with an expenditure of a hundred millions, of which the debt now absorbed thirty-two, and the Army and Navy over fifty-six millions. . . . Everything taxed, all industries ' protected,' and wheat at famine prices." Above all — " The excitement and glory of war had vanished." " The rulers were totally out of sympathy with the ruled."

Under taxes in column (1) opposite are included the yields of Customs and Excise, stamps, and the Post Office. Customs and Excise jielded £19 millions in 1801, and the yield rose steadily to £42 millions in 181.5. This source of revenue yielded over one- half of the income for each year. In the same period the yield of stamp duties rose from ^£3 millions to £6 millions ; Post Office net receipts from £1 million to £1^ millions.

The source of income which increased most rapidly was that of direct taxation, which mounted from je9 millions in 1801 to £22 millions in 1815.

The position of national and local finance at the present day is vastly different from that existing at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The follow- ing table gives a summary of modem local expenditure. The contrast of the latter with the table and the

42 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

particulars of county expenditure in 1815 on page 38 cannot be emphasized by comment.

LOCAL AUTHORITIES' (ENGLAND AND WALES) PAYMENTS,

(£ millions.)

Inchiding Loan Charges and out of Loans.

Service.

Education — Elementary

Higher

Poor Relief

Lunatics and Aylums HoBFiTALB (not Poot Law)

HlOHWAYS, BriDGEB, FeRRIES ...

Harbours, Docks, C.a.nals, Piers

Gasworks

Electricity Lighting (not public) Tramways and Light Railways Waterworks (excluding M.W.B.)

Police

Public Libraries

Public Lighting

Parks and Open Spaces

Sewerage, disposal of

Other

Total

1909-10. 25J	1910-11.
25J
5	6i
12f	12f
4	4
2	If
IG	16i
30'	9
H	n
4i	4|
9i	9i
7|	8
6|	7
%	f
n	H
If	If
6J	7
23	23
166	147

1911-1-2.

Including 22 accounted for by Port of London Authority.

FINANCE

43

AUTHORITIES SPENDING ABOVE SUMS IN 1909-10.

UsiONS AUD Pabishbs — In poor relief 15^

In other matters If

Councils and meetings ... J

Town akd McinciPAii — Police, Sanitary, etc 94J

Rural Distkict Cockcils 4J

County Acthoritiis 19J

Hap.bocb Axtthobities 30

Otheb 23

The late Sir Robert Giffen, referring to the growth of local expenditure by 1900 as compared with the first half of the nineteenth century, wTote : " Down to the middle of the century the expenditure of local authorities apsLrt from the expenditure upon relief of the poor did not exceed a few millions sterling. . . . I believe that all this development implies great progress in civilization."*

In 1815 the local authority (the parish) raised revenue by means of rates levied by those who were to pay them. The sources of modem local revenue may be summarized thus : —

igos-ia

{£ milliona.)

Public rates 63

Government aid 21

Tolls, dues, and duties 7

Municipal undertakings 32

RepajTnents by private persons IJ

Loans 40

Miscellaneous : fees, penalties, sale of property, licences

168^

" Stutistics," p. 255.

44 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

A comparison of the attached summary of modern central government expenditure with the table on page 40 likewise shows great changes.

IMPERIAL EXPENDITURE (UNITED KINGDOM). (£ millions.)

National Debt services

Payment to local taxation accounts

Development and Road Improve- ment Fund

Other consolidated fund services (civil list, pensions, salaries, courts of justices, etc.)

Army

Navy

Civil Services — Public works and buildings

Civil departments

Law and justice

Education, art, and science

Foreign and colonial services ...

Non-effective and charitable ...

Miscellaneous ...

Insurance and Labour Ex- changes (including Old Age Pensions)

Customs, Excise, Inland Revenue, and Post Office

Total

1909-10.	1910-11.	1911-12.	1912-13.
21|	24J	24J	24i
9i	9|	H	9i
—	H	If	IJ
If	IJ	If	If
27i	27i	m	28
35|	40^	42f	44J
3	3	H	H
3	^	4	H
4	H	H	H
18	181	19	19J
2	2	2	2i
1	a 4	f	1
h	1	f	i
8J	91	llf	16|
22	24	24^	27
158	172	179	189

1913-14.

FINANCE

45

The development of local expenditure which met with Sir Kobert Giffen's approval may be measmred by the ratio of local to Imperial expenditure in 1815-10 and at the present day.

The ratios^ are: —

1814-15

8

106

1908-9

140

152

1815-16

It

92

1909-10

166

158

1910-11

147

172

1911-12 —

151

179

The story of the causes of the immense alterations effected during the century as noted in this chapter needs no long telling. The people have gradually (notably since 1867) acquired a political weight which has been of incalculable economic importance to them. Their economic freedom has been rapidly achieved and is now well within their own hands. "The state seems to be God-given to enable society to organize on a grand scale for the accomplishment of practical ends far beyond the reach of the indi- vidual—ends upon which the welfare of the individual depends." 2

' Of English local expenditure to United Kingdom central ex> penditure. ' Carl Plehn, "Public Finance," 2nd edition (1906), pp. 17 and 18.

46 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & ISU

The comparisons made in this chapter show clearly how, a century ago, the possibilities implied in the existence of " a state " were abused — or perhaps, to be less harsh — not realized, and how great have been the advances made in the nineteenth century towards the accomplishment of those great practical ends upon which the welfare of the individuals composing the State depends.

CHAPTER IV

OCCUPATIONS

The preceding chapters have compared the numbers and distribution of the people of England in 1815 with the present day ; and the change in the nature and extent of State care for the welfare of its people has been illustrated by reference to national and local finance. In the present chapter the occupa- tions of the people will be dealt with. In this connection a statement as to the proportion borne by the occupiable members of the population to the total population at the two dates under consideration, must be made.

It will be recalled that in the first two decades of the nineteenth century there was a great increase in the rate of growth of the population as compared with the rate throughout the eighteenth century. There was accordingly, by 1821, a large proportion of young people.

Since 1876 (or thereabouts) the birth-rate has declined rapidly, and there has a<jcordingly been a decline in the proportion of young people. ^ The

■ The decline ia the infant death-rate is quite recent — since 1900. See Registrar-General's Annual Reports.

iT

48 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

death-rate did not improve much in the first three- quarters of the century, but since then the decline has been rapid in consequence of sanitary improve- ments and in spite of the rapid growth of urban areas. I

The results of these changes are shown in the diagram opposite. They may be tabulated : —

Age-group.	Percentage of Population in each Age-group.
	1821.	1841.	1911.
Under 15 years 15-50 years Over 50 years	39 46 15	36 49 15	30 54 16
All	100	100	100
Under 20 years Over 20 years	49 51	50 50	40 60
All	100	100	100

This comparison yields facts of great importance in describing the economic condition of the people. There is, unfortunately, no means of comparing the proportion of persons actually occupied in 1815 with that shown by the recent census returns; but the

' The basis of these statements is the Begistrar'General's Annual Report.

OCCUPATIONS

49

" •	4r	1 — '	1 \ ! 1	^ ^ ►—	— \
«l<	^--^i^^"^^--''''^'*-'''''^!-'-^^' ^"^'.f^ 1^'''^ I --'^	/f
	""^ — /^	1 ^ y^\ ^Z* y'	T y' ■ y 1	y^$ -J	(r
k]	a	X	X \x \^ ! X	!/i/ ;/	--L^
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		fi A A
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	/ ' A /
	• 30		i- — J /\ /\ /	;■ /: /;	/^ /^	M*
	t		/; / \ / \ /	' / ■ / ' /	i /
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	iJ\J\ [\ 1	^ /\ /j
		IT
	a		/k' 1 h ihi 1	j\ T^	cV /
			L i'J\*/	1 / /: / /; /	/T-yL	w
		^*>kY / / / / /	////!/	q//
	1 1\ 1 I. 1 h 1 j	/ /iT^l^
			1 1 '* 1 11 11 1	1 1 '■ 1 J ' 1	nj''	ir
		1 1	{1 1 I'- J 1	l i ' 1	/;//
	l~ lit. 1 f: 1 1	1 l\ "1 A^
	J		1 1 ' 1 \ / 1 '• / 1	/ /■' r- 1	>!~~7]	w
	1		1 ' 1 \ 1 1 ■ 1 1	1 '■ 1 1 ' /	l\ 1
	k.	1	L / 'J 'J i ]	1 1 1 1 7	7
	1
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./'	k	/	'■■ y J \	1 y '/	\
tsu	\»	X^ ij	\n mu t»n ■■(> il	\iji liu I8SI	(9oi \\	11

AGE DISTRIBUTION OP THE POPULATION OF ENGLAND AND WALES, 1321-1911.

50 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

great difference of the proportion of persons capable of occupation at the two dates should be borne in mind.

Information as to occupations of the people at the beginning of the century is very scanty. The table opposite is described by G. B. Porter as " the best abstract that has hitherto been attainable upon this important branch of political arithmetic."

There are no earlier figures comparable with these, for in the enumerations of 1811, 1821, and 1831, the information obtained relating to occupations was the number of families supported by —

(1) Agriculture ;

(2) Trade, manufacture, and handicraft ; or

(3) All other occupations, with the addition in

1831 of a return of the number of males over 20 years of age classified under nine heads.

In 1801 the occupation census entirely failed from a want of uniformity in enumerating female children and servants.

While a complete comparison of this table with the results of the 1911 Census cannot be made, and while, in view of the fact that the position in 1841 (twenty- five years after the date with which we are concerned) must have changed considerably since 1815, the table on pages 52 and 53 is useful.

The first point of comparison lies in the proportion of occupied to unoccupied (including " retired," pen- sioners, and persons of independent means). The

OCCUPATIONS

51

1841.

NUMBERS EMPLOYED UNDER VARIOUS HEADS.

ENGLAND AND WALES.

(Thousands.)

	Hales.	Females.
	90 Tears and over.	Under ao Tears.	20 Tears and over.	Under ao Tears.	Total.
Commerce, trade, and manu-
factures	1,750	318	391	159	2,619
Agriculture	1,042	162	48	9	1,261
Labour (not agricultural)	483	85	99	7	674
Army (including "on half-pay")
and in service of East India
Company —
At home	30	6	—		.36
Abroad	89	—	—		89
Navy and Merchant Service, in-
cluding Navy half-pay, Marines,
fishermen, etc., watermen —
At home	88	7	—		95
Afloat	80	17			97
Professions —
Clerical	ao	—	—		20
Legal	14	—	—		14
Medical	18	—	1		19
Other pursuits requiring education	81	11	30	2	124
Government Civil Service	13	—	i		14
Municipal and parochial	20	—	2	—	22
Domestic servants	150	84	476	289	999
Alms people, paupers, pensioners,
lunatics, and prisoners	66	28	60	23	176
Independent means	119	5	308	14	446 1
Total occupied	4,062	724	1,416	505	1 6,707
Remainder of population ...	239	; 2,936	3,059	3,157	[ 9,391
Total	4,301	3,660 1	4,475	3,661	16,098

52 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

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o4 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

proportion of occupied persons to unoccupied persons was in 1841 — gj^

and in 1911-

100 81 100

a 33 per cent, increase.^

On page 48 attention was drawn to the changes in the age constitution of the population. From the table on that page it will be seen that the proportions of the number of persons between the ages of 15 and 50 years to the number of persons below and above those ages respectively were in 1841 —

96

and in 1911 —

100 117

100

an increase of 22 per cent.

The proportions borne by the number of occupied persons to the numbers unoccupied, distinguishing males and females, were : —

Year.	Males.	Females.
1841 1911	135 100 186 100	23 100 34 100
Increase per cent.	88	48

I.e. 16,300,000 occupied.

12,200,000 unoccupied over 10 years of age. 7,900,000 under 10 years of age.

OCCUPATIONS

55

These figures emphasize the changes in the rela- tions of the numbers of earners to the numbers of dependents; but the following presentation of the same facts gives a more concise idea of the changes.

Number occupied per 100 of population ...

„ „ 100 males

,, ,, 100 females

Numbers aged 15-50 years per 100 of population

18U. 1	19U.
1 1 38	«
! ^'	65
19	26
49	5i

Per Cent Increase.

18 14 32

10

The conclusions are that the proportion of male persons occupied has increased not less than the proportion capable of being employed; and that the employment of women has increased at a much greater rate than the proportion of women between the ages of 15 and 50 years, in spite of the great decline in the numbers employed in agriculture.^

The number of women who, to-day, are engaged in duties other than the management of a household is, however, small. The family is still the economic centre to the support of which the earnings of the various occupied members, and the work of the "unoccupied," are directed; and some attention must be given to the changes in the means by which this support is obtained. A broad outline of the changes which have occurred is given by the diagram on the

' See Journal of Oie Statistical Society, June 1907. Paper by Lord Eversley.

56 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

next page, which is based (for the years 1841-81) on the results obtained by Mr, Booth from a study of the census returns ; ^ and (for the years 1891-1911) on the results obtained by Mr. J. W. Nixon, who has diligently pursued Mr. Booth's methods of classification. The portion of the diagram 1811 to 1841 is based upon the results of the censuses of those years : —

ENGLAND AND WALES.

	Total Number of Families.	Porcentage Supported by—
Year.	Agi-i- culture.	Trade and Manu- factures.	Other.	Total.
1811 1821 1831	2,142,147 2,493,423 2,911,874	36 34 29	45 47 42	19 19 29	100 100 100

In 1841 the classification by occupations referred to individuals and not to families. The continuance of the decline of agricultural families is, however, shown by the following table taken from the census: —

PERCENTAGE OF MALES OVER 20 YEARS OF AGE ENGAGED IN—

Year.	Agriculture. MSa^ctu^r'es.	other.	All.
1831 1841	32 2G	39 43	29 31	100 100

' See Journal of the Statistical Socicdj, Juno 1886.

OCCUPATIONS

57

rA^HLlE■5■!H»»»^/funaEHS^f^p^)rtD•^^^A>^DDePE■NDt^^•oN.

Itil i%xi i>*i t>W'»W '»n i«t< ir)i »«ii 'm ■»e« lyl. Pc^CtMTAqtS OF TMt Po'OtATION Or

4 Enclano amo V/alcs

5«fP0(»Tet> 8r Ce((.TAiN (i«Ov>0i OF OcCt^fATIONSi

tail — 1911.

58 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 19U

If we assume that the number of males over 20 years of age who were engaged in agriculture bore the same ratio to the number of agricultural famihes in 1841 as in 1831, it would appear that in 1841 the number of families supported by agri- culture^ was 23| per cent, of the total number of families, i.e. —

II X 29 = 23i.

This percentage is almost exactly the same as that arrived at by a different method (examination of the census returns) by Mr. Booth, as representing the percentage of the population supported by agri- culture in 1841, 24'3 per cent.

The shaded area at the foot of the diagram may therefore be regarded as providing a satisfactory measure of the decline of agriculture as a means of supporting the population.

The decline, moreover, was general. In all parts of the country there was, without exception, a dechne in the numbers engaged in and supported by agri- culture. The decline was also regular ; that is to say, the order in which the counties stood (relative to each other) when arranged in order of the pro- portion supported by agriculture was not much different in 1841 from that in 1811. ^

The percentages of the population of each of the groups of counties, on page 25 above, supported by agriculture in 1821 were : —

» In the sense used by the enumerators of 1831. • VitZe Porter, "Progress ..." [1847], pp. 58, 69.

OCCUPATIONS

59

	Per cent.		Per cent
South Wales ...	... (43)'	Mid- South	... 50
Northern	... 31	Eastern	... 59
South-Eastem	... 37	South-West ...	... 43
Midland	... 36	Salop and Hereford	... 63'

These percentages were not very different from those obtaining in 1811, and may therefore be regarded as applying to 1815, when as we have seen no less than one-third of the families in England drew their chief support from agriculture. The position of this industry in 1911 as a wage provider is vastly different. The proportion of the population engaged in and dependent upon it has fallen to j\. For the purpose of comparing the distribution of the industry over the country with the distribution in 1821 as given above, we may refer to the 1911 census returns, on which the following table is based : —

PROPORTION OF THE MALE POPULATION OF ADMINIS- TRATIVE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE.3

	Per cent.		Per cent
South Wales *...	... 10	Mid-South	... 21
Northern	... 15	Eastern	... 33
South-Eastem	... 11	South- Western	... 21
Midland	... 13	Salop and Hereford	... 31

' Monmouth only; there being no data for the other counties of this group.

" Salop and Hereford are the only two counties of the " Rest of Wales" group for which there are data.

3 Details given in Census, 1911, vol. x, " Occupations."

♦ Monmouth, 6 per cent. ; Glamorgan, 3 per cent. ; Brecknock, 20 per cent. ; Camartheu, 18 per cent. In the other districts, the homogeneity of the groups in this respect is much greater.

60 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

Particular note must be made of the fact that all the county boroughs are excluded from the above table. The county boroughs contain about 17 million persons out of the total population of 36 millions in England and Wales. In these boroughs the proportion of the males engaged in agriculture was, with three exceptions, less than 3 per cent.,^ so that the percentages given in the table relate to that half of the population which is living in the more rural parts of the country. Although this table is not numerically comparable with that given for the year 1821, it shows that the variations between the dif- ferent parts of the country with regard to agricultural employment are much greater to-day than in 1815. If the county boroughs were included with their containing or adjoining counties the variations would be more marked, for in those groups of counties and county boroughs in which the proportion of agri- cultural workers in the non-county borough popula- tion is smallest, the proportion of the total population living in the county boroughs is greatest.

In other words, the non-agricultural counties of to-day are more distinctly non- agricultural (in com- parison with the agricultural counties) than were those of 1815. There has also been localization and intensification of the manufacturing areas ; whole spaces of land have become entirely urban either for residential or manufacturing purposes ; and although these urban areas cover a small portion of the surface

' Eastbourne, 3^ per cent. ; Hastiugs, 3| per cent. ; Canterbury, 6 per cent.

OCCUPATIONS 61

of the country, their saturation is proceeding rapidly. Already 17 million people live in county boroughs, and 78 per cent, of the whole population lives under urban conditions.

If we turn to occupations other than agriculture, we find that although the classification of occupations in 1811-31 was : —

1. Agriculture,

2. Trade and manufactures,

3. Other,

we are warned, as might be expected in the light of experience of later enumerations, that owing to the uncertainty and inconsistency of the classification throughout the country, it is advisable to treat the two non-agricultural groups together. The persons collecting and tabulating the returns, however, could hardly fail to distinguish from all others those families who draw their support from agricultural occupation.

The growth of these groups from 1811 to the present day is shown in the diagram on page 57, while since 1841 we have the classification of Mr. Booth and Mr. Nixon. While Mr. Booth places reliance on the comparison as far back as 1851, and while he gives his results for 1841,^ the usefulness of the comparison for the purpose in hand should not be over-estimated.

» "Our picture of what has happened would be much more com- plete if we could go back to 1801, but we can only do this by drawing largely upon the imagination." — Mr. Booth in Journal of the Statistical Society, June 188G, p. 328.

62 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

In the case of agriculture, in which probably of all industries the least changes have occurred, the methods and nature of the work and the conditions under which the work is done do differ to such an extent from the methods and conditions of 1815 as to make a comparison of earnings subject to many qualifications. In other industries the differences are much greater, and the limitations are accordingly increased. These revolutions in industries have prac- tically amounted to the creation of new occupations, although old names are used. Instead of attempting what is likely to prove to be an immense and in- conclusive series of statements, it would appear to be sufficient, if not more fruitful, to consider the movement of wages as a whole, and to consider the effects of the forces which have been at work in all industries altering the nature of the work and the conditions under which it has been done.

We may therefore proceed to contrast the nature of the occupations pursued in 1815 with those of the present day as shown in the diagram on page 57. The striking feature of the diagram is the change in the importance of agriculture. In the literature of the nineteenth century, the adjective "poor" has commonly been applied to a country in which the proportion of people engaged in agriculture has been large. This use of the term " poor " is justified historically by the development in the " progressive " countries of the world from agriculture to manu- facture; and in England by the fact that at the

OCCUPATIONS 63

beginning of the century agricultural workers were almost entirely pauperized, while to-day their earnings are lower, on the whole, than those of the workers in any other body of workers sufficiently homogeneous to form a measurable group.

It is an economic fact of importance that there is a tendency for persons to enter those trades in which the rate of remuneration is relatively high, and to leave those in which it is relatively low.

The average wages of the occupied population of a country may therefore rise without any change in the rate of wages paid in each occupation, solely on account of a change in the distribution of the population among the various industries.

A few remarks on the changes in the nature of the occupations of the people and in the conditions of work will form a necessary prelude to the considera- tion of the change in remuneration. An outline based on the diagram on page 57 will suffice.

Building.

As far as one can judge, building has occupied much the same position as a branch of human activity in England throughout the century. The population has increased fairly regularly and houses have had to be built to accommodate it. The influence of machinery is probably felt least of all in the building trades. Bricks, putty, wood, the trowel, hod, saw, plane, hammer, and chisel, all worked or wielded by hand, are still used. Modern building with iron and concrete constructions have enabled larger buildings

64 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

to be erected, but greater speed in construction has tended to counterbalance the addition of labour to be performed on them.

The stability of this group of occupations is shown by the fact that the men employed in them form from 7 per cent, to 10 per cent, of the occupied males in almost every county and county borough of England.

The exceptions are a few of the newer progressing county boroughs, e.g. —

Bournemouth, 12 per cent. ; Croydon, 13 per cent.; Eastbourne, 13 per cent. ; and Wales and East Anglia, where the population has increased very slowly through- out the century and is now stationary, the proportions being from 5 per cent, to 7 per cent. In the county boroughs of these districts the proportion is about 7 per cent.

Although the use of machinery has not affected the building industry, the building trades (unhke agri- culture) have developed considerable trade union organizations. The economic position of workers in the building trades has, for this reason (among others), improved more than that of agricultural workers. The trade unions have obtained standard rates of wages and the limitation of hours.

" In the building trades — over eight hundred local agreements are in operation regulating wages and hours and other conditions of labour." The areas covered by those agreements are distributed all over England. "In addition there are many districts in which though there are no signed agreements, the same rates are operative."'

' Cd. G054, 1912.

OCCUPATIONS 65

Mining.

The figures for mining (see diagram) include all kinds of mining, the chief of which, however, is coal-mining, the growth of which has evoked much comment throughout the century. At the present time the production of coal is over twenty times the estimated production in 1800.' The value of the coal produced in the last fifteen years is estimated to be over two-thirds of the total value of all minerals produced in England. The only other considerable mining industry is that of iron-mining, which, how- ever, is very far behind coal-mining as an employer of labour. The outputs of copper, lead, tin, and zinc are now quite small.

In 1815 the Xorth-Eastern coalfields were far and away more important than any other. The South Wales output was quite insignificant. The position to-day in the different groups of counties is as shown in the table at the foot of the next page.

The localization is, of course, enforced and it is verj' intense.

In this industry the workers are strongly organized and form at the present day a well-paid body of the

' Estimated total production of coal : —

Year.	Million Tons
1800	10
1850	56
1900	.. 225
1910	.. 264
1911	.. 271

See D. A. Thomas, Journal of tJullStatistical Society, September 1903.

5

66 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

community. Since about 1880 the sliding-scale method of adjusting remuneration has come into operation. The strong organizations have helped to build up the political power of " the miners," which is now very considerable, and has resulted in the passage of many measures by Parliament in their favour.' The importance of the improvement in the conditions in mines is increased by the fact that the proportion of the male population engaged in coal-mining is now much greater than in 1815.*

Transport.

The tremendous growth of the numbers employed in transport needs no further comment {vide Chapter I). The huge railway service has grown

PERCENTAGE OP OCCUPIED MALE POPULATION ENGAGED IN COAL- AND SHALE-MINING IN COUNTIES (c.) AND COUNTY BOROUGHS (c.b.) OF ENGLAND AND WALES.

	South Wales.			Northern .			Midland.
c.	Monmouth	42	c.	Northumberland 34	c.	Derby ... 29
c.	Glamorgan	44	c.	Durham	.39	c.	Notts ... 25
0.	Brecon	25	c.	Yorkshire, W.R.	21	c.	Staffs ... 15
c.	Carmarthen	18	c.	Denbigh	'Jl	c.	Leicester 14
			c.	Flint	14	c.	Warwick 10
!.B.	Merthyr ...	48	c.	Lancashire ...	11
			c.	Cumberland ...	16	C.B.	, Stoke ... • 15
			c.	Yorkshire, N.R.	8	C.B.	Dudley... 10
	Others.					C.B.	Walsall... 8
C.	Glou:-ester...	7	C.B.	S. Shields ...	16
C.	Somerset ...	5	C.B.	Gateshead	11		Elsewhere
			C.B.	Rotherham . . .	20		inconsiderable.

The first act regulating conditions of work in mines was passed in

1842.

* The proportion has doubled since 1841,

OCCUPATIOXS 67

up entirely within the century. Great railway centres have sprung up (Swindon, Crewe, Rugby, Doncaster), and in London are situated the head offices, employing large clerical staffs.

Motor transport has largely displaced horse transport.

Canals have almost entirely lost their importance.

Under the remaining heads — manufacture, dealing and industrial service — are accumulated the vast changing mass of activities in which are swallowed about half of the occupied male population. The outstanding trades are : textile, iron and steel manu- facture, and engineering — all highly organized trades, the developments of which have a considerable written history. The rest is a multitude of clerks, retail traders, and the vast mass of ungraded workers of all kinds.

In the case of those trades in which there has been any semblance of organization, legislation and in- dustrial disputes have raised the workers from the intolerable conditions of toil which existed at the beginning of the century. All have, however, bene- fited by the continual interjection of the law into industrial matters. From the reign of the manu- facturers supported by the laissez-faire economists to the modern State regulation is a far cry. Three great extensions of the franchise and the realization of the dogma expressed by Jevons, that "if on a calculation of the factors which enable man to forecast the results of a given policy on the general welfare,

68 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

the balance was against individual libert}', that liberty must make room for the intervention of the State," have brought about a revolution in the attitude of the leaders and the people towards the question of State regulation and control. Limitation of hours of labour, sanitation of factories, machine-fencing, and the innumerable miscellaneous requirements which it is the duty of the unique English " in- spectorate " (introduced in 1834) to see are fulfilled, are now customary and no longer odious.

In 1909, a new departure of great significance was made. In that year the Trade Boards Act was passed, having for its object the abolition of sweating by the establishment of Trade Boards with power to fix minimum rates of wages in those trades in which " the rate of wages prevailing in any branch of the trade is exceptionally low as compared with other employments." Minimum rates of wages have been or are in course of being fixed for all workers in the chain, lace finishing, paper box, tailoring, sugar con- fectionery and food preserving, hollow-ware, and tin box and canister trades, and for female workers in the shirt-making trade.

Without entering into detail, we may say that the minimum time rates for male workers are about 6d. an hour, and for females 3|d. or 3Jd. an hour. If piece rates are paid, each piece rate must be sufi&cient to yield to an ordinary worker, in the circumstances of the case, at least the equivalent of the minimum time rate. The number of workers to whose employment these minimum rates are

OCCUPATIONS 69

applicable is not far short of one million — and that million may roughly be taken to be the workers in the seven lowest-paid definitelj' distinguishable trades.

The condition of workers when not actually at work has also received the attention of the Legis- lature. The beneficent work of the National Insurance Act (Health and Employment), 1911, and the Workmen's Compensation Act have come further to shield the unfortunate from the cold blast of ruthless individualism which spelt in sickness the Poor Law Infirmary and in distress the Workhouse.

CHAPTER V

REMUNERATION

Finally, we come to the remuneration of the workers under the above-described conditions.

Agriculture.

The great changes of the latter half of the eighteenth century had not left agriculture un- touched. The revolutions in the methods of farming, the enclosing of the land, and the disappearance of the small-holders who worked on the land and whose families partly supported themselves by home indus- tries, were by 1815 nearly completed. This statement with regard to enclosing is borne out by the statistics (estimates) on the opposite page. The enclosures that had taken place prior to 1780 are deemed, however, by one eminent authority to have consisted "largely of old enclosures or the lord's demesne land lying side by side with the open fields."^ He adds : " The truth is that the life of the common field system was still the normal village life of England."

The effect of the great war, affording a great protection to English wheat-growers, was to expedite the enclosures.

■ Hammond, " Village Labourer," p. 42. 70

REMUNERATION

71

Precise statistics of the extent of enclosure are not to be had, but there have been various careful estimates.

L»vy :—" Large	and Small Holdings," p. 24	•
Years.	Number of Acts.	Area Affected.
1702-60 1760-1810	246 2,438 1 1	400,000 acres 6,000,000 „ (nearly)

JoHiTBON : — " Disappearance of Small Holdings," p. 90, based on Dr. Slater's detailed estimate (" English Peasantry and En- closure . . . ," Appendix B).

Common Field and some Waste.

Waste only.

Years.

	Acts. 152 1,479 1,075	Acreage.	Acts.	Acreage.
170O-6O 1761-1801 ' 1802-44 1	237,845 2,428,721 1,610,302	56 521 808	74,518 752,150 939,043
Total ...	2,706	4.276.868	1,385	1,765,711

Evidence of a Commons Committee (Select Committee, 1344) ;

Before 1800 1800-44 ...

1,700 private Acts. 2,000

Porteb;—" Progress of the Nation" (1847), p. 154. From Com- mittee of Commons. 1797. and brought to date, 1844, by Porter.

Years.	Acres Enclosed
1760-69	704,550
1770-79	- 1,207,800
1780-89	450,180
1790-99	858,270
1800-09	1,550.100
1810-19	1,560,990
1820-29	375,150
1830-39	248,880
1840-44	120,780

Total

7,076,610

?2 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

The result of the sudden transition loas catastrophic, and the events of the enclosure period were not con- fined to any one part of the country. They mark a national revolution making sweeping and profound changes in the form and character of agricultural society in England.^

By 1815 the labouring classes had been rendered literally landless. Their relations with the ruling caste have been partly dealt with in Chapter III.

It has been well said of the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century that the "history of agri- cultural distress is the history of agricultural abundance," and the history of the first fifteen years of this period forms no exception to this statement.

In the speech of the Prince Regent on the occasion of the opening of Parliament in 1816, it was stated that " the manufactures, commerce, and revenue of the United Kingdom" were in a "flourishing condition." The omission of agriculture was significant.

The prices of wheat before the harvest in the following years were : —

1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813

Per Quarter.

8. d.

74 6

100 0

120 0

104 0

136 0

136 0

Cf. Hammond, p. 42.

REMUNERATION 73

That was the period of great enclosures — "an affair of grasping ignorance — a scramble for excessive gain.' ^

In 1814, with fear of peace and abundance, the prices fell to an average of 7os. ; in 181G the cry of "distress" was at its height. In this manner agri- cultural "distress" has been associated with cheap com, while " good " years have been years of high prices. The complete absence of sympathy between the landlords and the landless — the complete divorce of the ruling class from the labourers at this period is emphasized by the very comparison of this asso- ciation with the condition of the workers at this time.

The parochial nature of life in 1815 was described in the chapters on the growth of population and finance, in which it was seen that the provision of poor relief was by far the most important local function.

The extent of this poor relief as a means of support has been commented on by many writers, two of whom may be quoted.

Miss Martineau said : " The squire, the clergyman, and the farmer constituted themselves a tribunal for the suppressioxi of vice and the encouragement of virtue, and they succeeded in producing either desperation or hypocrisy amongst the entire labouHng popiilation. . . . Parish functionaries were led away into the belief that they were the great patrons of the whole labouring population. . . . They almost forced pauperism upon the entire working community." ' Hiss H. Martineau, "History of the Thirty Yearb" Peace."'

U ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

Seignobos wrote : "Now as nearly all the lands of England belonged to the gentry, the English peasants had ordinarily no means of self-support, so the greater number of them fell into the class of assisted poor." '

These statements, however, appear to be too sweeping.

The nature of the pauperization is far better expressed by Porter, ^ who, after an examination of the statistics of Poor Law expenditure, made the following statement : —

" One of the greatest evils which had grown up under the administration of the old Poor Law was the practice of paying the wages of labour partly out of rates levied for the relief of the indigent poor. . . . Under such a system the labourer in an agricultural district was inevitably rendered a pauper."

Porter draws a distinction between the agricultural labourer and the town worker, a distinction most properly drawn ; and to this extent he modifies the bold assertion of Miss Martineau, who, however, in view of the overwhelmingly rural nature of life in 1815 may be partly forgiven.

An effect of this state of affairs in agricultural districts in 1815 is to make it impossible to make use of such agricultural wage statistics as exist. The conclusion of Dr. Bowley 3 as to the condition of agricultural labourers from 1795 to 1821 is : "Some- times by adjustment of wages, sometimes by adapta-

' "Contemporary Europe, " p. 21. ; "Progress ..." [1817], p. 90. 3 " Wages iu the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century," p. 31.

REMtNERAtlON 75

tion of relief, the receipts of the labourer were made just sufficient to support him and his family what- ever the price of wheat."

This conclusion is supported by the fact that although the fluctuations of the prices of wheat from 1801 onwards were very great, the quantity of wheat purchasable at those prices by the sums expended on the rehef of the poor fluctuated very little.

The loss of the cottage industry contributed to this degradation, but in view of the facts as to the actual condition of the agricultural labourers, investigation is superfluous.

Such was the condition of at least one-third of the population of England in 1815.

Other Indastries.

" In a commercial country hke England, every half- century develops some new and vast source of public wealth, which brings into national notice a new and powerful class. A couple of centuries ago, a Turkey Merchant was the great creator of wealth ; the West Indian Planter followed him. In the middle of the last century appeared the Nabob. . . . The expendi- ture of the revolutionary war produced the Loan- monger, who succeeded the Nabob ; and the apphcation of science to industry developed the Manufacturer."'

" Manufactures and commerce," said the Prince Regent, " are in a flourishing condition." During the time that war was devastating the Continent,

■ Disraeli, "Sybil," published in 1845.

76 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

the woollen, cotton, coal, and iron industries had made great progress ; but in manufacturing industry, as in agriculture, the progress of the employers was not a guide to the condition of the workers. Their discontent found expression in rioting, machine- breaking, and incendiarism. Already, in 1812, the Commons had, in alarm at the outbreaks, passed an Act "for the more exemplary punishment of persons destroying or injuring any stocking or lace frames or other machines or engines used in the framework knitting manufactory or any articles or goods in such frames or machines." The workers' attitude towards machinery was a result, first of their actual dis- comfort, but chiefly of the fact that they had no other means of redress. The cessation of rioting is attributed by Miss Martineau not to the repressive effect of the criminal law of the time, but to the re- duction of the price of CobbeU's Register from Is. OJd. to 2d. a copy (in November 1816), which enabled it to be read " on nearly every cottage hearth in the manufacturing districts of South Lancashire, Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham." Cobbett directed his readers to the true cause of their suffering — misgovernment. In 1815, however, the happy event had not occurred.

In the midst of the turmoil of war and rioting, money wages in industry other than agriculture had been rising. The following figures ^ show that by the

' Mr. G. H. Wood, Ecommlc Journal, 1899, pp. 588-92. Mr. Wood states that most of the authorities mentioned by Miss Hopkinson and Dr. Bowley in a complete bibliography of wage statistics (Economic Review, October 1898) have boexi consulted.

REMUNERATION

years 1810-16, money wages generally were near the

culminating point of a great rise. This conclusion is based on figures for many different industries and districts.

mDEX NUMBERS OF WAGES BETWEEN 1790 AND 1860.

Year. 1790 1795 1800 1805 1310 1816 1820

Index Namber.

72

82

93 104 122 115 109

Year.	[□dex Number.
1824	112
1831	103
1840	100
1845	99
1850	102
1855	116
1860	116

I

[1840 = 100]

The details on which the above index numbers are based cover '2'ii districts and nearly 50 different occupations, and show a maximum in 1810 in all the districts except Leeds, where the highest point was in 1816, 129 as compared with 115 in 1810 ; and in Macclesfield, where the number for 1816 was 114, and for 1810, 107.

" The high figure for 1810 seems inflated at first sight, but it rests on better evidence than any other except those for 1840, 1850, and 1860. The figure for 1790 also rests on good evidence."'

For the purpose of comparison with the present day, Mr. Wood's excellent index number for the years 1810-40 may be supplemented by figures from Dr. Bowley's "Wages in the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century," and another index number by Mr. W^ood for the years 1860-1906. The evidence of the last two since 1880 is supported by a Board of Trade index number.

• Economic Journal, 1899, p. 592.

78 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 19U

The series are combined in the following table, the figures in parentheses being those previously published : —

	Wood.	Bowley.	Wood.
Year.		Weighted, allowing for	Board of Trade.'
				Un\reighted.	Change in Numbers
					employed.
1810 1816	(122) (115)	103 99	—		—	—
1620	(109)	94	—	—	—
1824	(112)	98	—	—	—
1831	(89)	89	—	—	—
1840	(100)	86	(89) 85	—	—
1846	(99)	84	—	—	—
1850	(102)	88	(90) 86	(65) 90	(56) 88	—
1855	(116)	100	—	(73) 101	(65) 102	—
1860	(116)	100	(105) 100	(72) 100	(64) 100	—
1866			(117) 112	(79) 110	(74) 116	—
1870	—		(119) 113	—	—	—
1871	—		—	(82) 114	(77) 120	—
1874	—		(142) 135	(92) 128	(87) 136	—
1877	—		(135) 119	(89) 124	(85) 133	—
1880	—		(129) 123	(86) 119	(82) 128	(81) 123
188S	—		(132) 126	(87) 121	(84) 131	(84) 128
1886	—		(130) 124	(85) 118	(83) 130	(81) 123
1890	—			—	—	(90) 137
1891	—		(144) 137	(92) 128	(91) 142	(91) 1.38
1896	—		—	(92) 128	(91) 142	—
1900	—		—	(100) 1.39	(100) 156	(100) 152
1906	—		—	(100) 139	(101) 158	(98) 149
1912			i			(100) 152

' For Building, Coal-mining, Engineering, and Textiles only.

These figures are given in the diagram opposite.

The footnotes to the diagram are taken from an article on " Wages " by Dr. Bowley in the " Dictionary of Political Economy," except for the years since 1904.

ON 1 o oo I 2r o o UJ V- :2 U <c > u z o

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so ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 Sc 1914

which are given by Mr. W. T. Layton in "Capital and Labour."

The conclusion with regard to money wages is that on the average the wages of the non-agricultural classes of the population were in 1913-14 between 50 per cent, and 60 per cent, above the level of 1815.

The general movement of agricultural wages since 1840 (when the evil effects of the " old " Poor Law had disappeared and agricultural wages were measur- able) has been similar to that of wages in general, and the index of the level of wages in general is only affected to the extent of 1 or 2 per cent, by the exclusion of agriculture.'

That the movement of wages is general, that the wages in all trades tend to move in the same direction and to the same extent, has been shown to be true of the years 1790-1860 by Mr. Wood's collection of data.

The same is shown to be true for the years 1840-91 by a diagram given by Dr. Bowley in " Wages in the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century," and since 1891 by Index numbers published by Mr. Wood and by the Board of Trade.

The fluctuations in individual trades are, of course, wider than in the average for all trades, but the general progress is the same.

So far, then, the comparison with 1815 is favourable,

• For confirmation see " Wages in the Nineteenth Century," p. 132, and Cd. 7131/13, p. 82.

REMUNERATION

81

but the "things that matter" are not the money receipts but the commodities obtainable with the money. Ever since the study of working-class con- ditions has existed, the difficulty of discovering exactly how the people fare has been encountered. In the present century the difficulty is almost resolved into the discovery of reliable statistics of retail prices. To attempt to deal with retail prices of a century ago is a hopeless task.

In the way of general price movements, it must suffice to say that according to the calculations of Jevons and Sauerbeck, the average of wholesale prices of general commodities in England for the years 1912-14 was between one-half and two-thirds of the average for 1810-20. The relations of retail prices of the commodities purchased by the people to the wholesale prices at the two dates are mysterious and indefinite.

We are, however, very fortunate in possessing reliable statistics of the changes in the prices of wheat and bread.

PRICE OP WHEAT PER QUARTER.

	(Gazette averages.)
	1. d.		1. d.
ISOS ...	74 6	1908	... 32 0
1809 ...	.. 100 0	1909 .	... 36 11
1810 ...	.. 120 0	1910 .	... 31 8
1811 ...	.. 104 0	1911 .	... 31 8
1812 ...	.. 136 0	1912	... 34 9
1813 ...	.. 136 0	191.3	... 31 8
1814 ...	.. 75 Q	1914 .	... 34 11

82 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

The price of the quartern loaf and the price of wheat in the two periods were : —

Years.	Average Price of Quartern Loaf.	Gazette Average of
Wheat per Quarter.
	d.	B.	d.
1800-9	12	85	0
1810-19	13	91	0
1900-4	6-3	28	0
1906-9	5-7	31	0
1910	5-9	31	8
1911	5-6	31	8
1912	5-8	34	9
1913	5-8	31	8
1914	5-8	34	11

Besides noting the change in the level of the prices of wheat and bread, it must be observed that in the earlier period the prices were subject to very great fluctuations, while in the modern period the changes have been, on the whole, very slow and very small.

The importance of bread as a food at the present day is very great, as will be seen from the table opposite.

The amount spent on bread and flour is seen to be exceeded only by that spent on meat. The fact that "urban population" may be considered to cover about three-quarters of the population at the present day must be remembered. Sir Robert Giffen drew attention in the Statistical Society's Journal to the accompaniment of urbanization or industrialization of the population by the change from a wheat to a

fl

REMUNERATION 83

WEEKLY BUDGET OF URBAN WORKMEN'S FAMILIES IN 1904 (Cd. 3864/08).

Averages of Budgets Collected.

Number of family budgets Range of incomes of families

Average income

Average number of children at home

289

25s. to SOs.

371.

3-3

416

SOs. to 35b.

32b.

3-2

Expenditure on j Bread and fioar	Food. Cost. 6. d. 3 4	Cost. 8. d. 3 3}
Meat (by weight)	3	5	4 3i
Other meat (including fish)	0	9	0 10
Bacon	0	9	0 10
Eggs	0	Si	0 11
Fresh milk	1	0	1 3
Cheese	0	5i	0 6
Butter	1	7	1 10
Potatoes	0	10	0 10
Vegetables and fruit	0	7	0 10
Currants and raisins	0	2	0 2
Bice, etc	0	5	0 6
Tea	0	11	1 1
Coffe*, cocoa	0	3	0 3^
Sugar	0	10	0 11
Jam, etc	0	5	0 6
Pickles	0	2	0 3
Other	1	4	1 6i
Total	17	10	20 9

84 iBCONOMlC CONDITIONS: i8i5 & 1914

meat diet; and he published evidence to show that prior to 1840 meat was hardly ever eaten by the working classes.^

The change in the price of bread has therefore permitted considerable improvement in the standard of living of the working classes. Even to-day, when wheat is very cheap, the price of bread is of great importance, and a consideration of the high prices of 1800-20, in the light of the evidence of the greater importance of bread as an article of diet in those years as compared with to-day, indicates one of the chief causes of working-class discontent in 1815 and the preceding years.

In view of the fact that prior to 1860 only small improvement in the condition of the people could have been made (see page 79, footnotes to diagram), ^ the diagram opposite, although it refers only to the years subsequent to 1860, is valuable evidence. It presents pictorially the results of Mr. G. H. Wood's manipulation of statistics of consumption, which resulted in his obtaining an "index number of consumption — a unique measure based on the per- centage changes in the consumption per head of the enumerated commodities." Mr. Wood's figures relate

' " Progress of the Working Classes." Attention has already been drawn to the predominantly rural nature of life in 1815.

• Mr. Sidney Webb is responsible for the assertion that " there seems to be reason to believe that in 1837 some large sections of the dim inarticulate multitude were struggling in the trough of a century's decline in all that makes life worth living for."

REMUNERATION

■ My, .%7».^ ,ft7f., ^-t. |,yf-» ,3^^ ,ty^ .^^ .^^ ^^

8d ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

to the years 1860-99, since which date I have con- tinued his method. Ignoring the immense increase in the consumption of cocoa (which appears in the diagram out of all proportion to its importance), it is seen that since 1860 the consumption per head of the commodities inchided in the calculation has increased by 42 per cent. This is the increase shown by arithmetically averaging the individual rates of increase ; but Mr. Wood, in his paper, showed con- clusively that the difference between the arithmetic average and the average obtained when each com- modity is assigned a " weight " proportional to its importance in consumption is inconsiderable.

To the great changes for the better which have been made in these fifty years must be added the improvement of 1850-60, when " real wages " were " rising considerably," and the improvement of 1815-50, when real wages were rising slowly.

The general result of an inquiry into "real wages and standard of comfort " by Mr. G. H. Wood in 1909 was that "the standard of comfort of the British wage-earner is now, on the average, not less than 50 per cent, and probably nearer 80 per cent, higher than that of his predecessor in 1850."

The conclusion is, roughly, that nine-tenths of the working population (and dependents) at the present day are individually nearly twice " as well off" as two-thirds of the population in 1815.

The remaining one-tenth in 1915 and one-third in 1815 consists of the agricultural workers and dependents. Their position in 1815 has been dealt with at length,

REMUNERATION 87

At the present day they form the lowest paid body of labourers pursuing a definite industry. Since 1840 we have seen that their earnings have increased relatively as much as those of the non-agricultural classes.

An attempt to compare the improvement since the beginning of the century was made by Thorold Rogers (quoted by Cunningham), who calculated the quantity of wheat which agricultural earnings would have purchased at the various dates given below.

The comparison has been brought up to date : —

	Quarters.		Quarters
1789	8	1874 ...	16
1807	11	1891 ...	22
1810	6S	1895 ...	32
1823-55	10	1908 ...	28
1859	15	1912 ...	24
1867	11

The features of the table are (1) the fluctuation in the war period (when wages were supplemented by poor relief) ; (2) a stationary period from the close of the war until 18-50. Since 1850 the position has improved at least two-fold.

Women.

The position of women in industry has an important bearing on the economic position of the family. With regard to the latter there are no data as to the compo- sition of working-class families prior to those published in " Livelihood and Poverty," ^ as the result of investigations made in four English towns.^ By

' By Dr. Bowleyand A. R. Bumett-Hurst (G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., 1916). ' Reading, Northampton, Warrington, and Stanley.

88 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

reverting to the figures in a previous chapter, however, we see that whereas in 1821 in every 100 of population there were 39 below the age of 15 years, in 1911 there were only 30 (the numbers below the age of 20 years being 49 and 40 respectively). In other words, for every 100 people over 15 years of age, in 1821 there were 64 under that age, and in 1911 43 under that age. If the age limit be placed at 10 years the proportions would be 100:37 in 1821 and 100:27 in 1911.

There was then, evidently, a considerably heavier burden on the family earnings in 1815 as compared with 1915. In spite of the absence of statistics, in view of the magnitude of this change, it is safe to say that all classes of workers must have been affected.

With regard to women's wages, the , available evidence (most of which is summarized by Mr. G. H. Wood in Appendix A to "A History of Factory Legislation," Hutchins and Harrison) shows that their wages have increased at almost the same rate as men's.

The lack of legislative regulation in 1815, which permitted women and children to work in mines and factories for very long hours, has been remedied. The employment of women in agriculture has practically ceased, while there have come into existence occupations which can be carried on by women, in which regulations as to hours, sanitation of work-place, and, in a number of cases, wages, are enforced by Government departments under Acts of Parliament,

CHAPTER YI

CONCLUSION

To turn from this review of the great improvements of the century in the economic condition of the people — one of the results of vast material progress achieved by overcoming natural physical hindrances and economic inertia — to a consideration of the actual achievements creates at first a hopeless feeling — so much progress and so little satisfaction.

The struggle for existence appears not to have abated ; all the works of science and art have not produced happiness.

The reasons appear to be that " Men do not desire to be rich, but to be richer than other men." ^ " We are dissatisfied because we compare our progress with that of our neighbours instead of with that of our forbears. "2

These reasons, however, give only part of the answer. The complete answer is — that men com- pare their condition not only with that of their forbears, not only with that of their neighbours, but with what might be.

' J. S. Mill, ' ' Posthumous Es<»ay on Social Freedom, ' ' ? liartle^ Withers, ■• Poverty and Waate," 89

90 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: 1815 & 1914

The meaning of "what might be " has been recently brought home to many by the publication of the results of an honest inquiry into the conditions of the working classes in four English towns, under the title of " Livelihood and Poverty."

Among the fair and reasonable statements contained in the book are : —

1. In Stanley "one-half of all the working-class houses in that town are overcrowded."

2. " Twenty-seven per cent, [of the children living in the four towns investigated] are living in families which fail to reach the low standard taken as necessary for healthy existence."

3. "Of households living in poverty, the cause is to be found in the fact that the chief wage-earner's income is insufficient for his family of three children or less in 26 per cent, of the cases, and his inability to support his family of four children or more in 45 per cent.," the other cases being caused by accidents (sickness, death, unemployment, or irregularity of work).

As Mr. B. S. Eowntree remarked in reviewing this work, no country is worthy of the name of " gi-eat " which permits such things to exist. The realization of these facts and the desire to alter the state of affairs has already found expression in many Acts of Parhament.

The past has been devoted to the accumula- tion of wealth, the future is to its more equal distribution.

CONCLUSION 91

Viewed in this way, the non-material progress of the people of England assumes great importance. The consideration of the rise from the state of servility which existed in 1815, to the present state in which the " people " is becoming identified with the "nation," indicates how the improving condition of the people gradually fitted them to play increasingly important and difficult r6les in the national delibera- tions and decisions whereby their material welfare has been improved, and shows also the strength of the people to improve still further their own con- ditions. For further progress in the latter no prayer for revolutionary changes will avail or is needed ; the true greatness of the English nation will be achieved in the "English" way.

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By NOEL BUXTON, M.P., and CHARLES RODEN BUXTON. 3RD Edition. Cr.Svo, Cloth, sj-.brf. net. Papern.net. Postage, 4^.

" Far and away the best statement that has yet appeared of the attitude of the Balkan States." — Sir Edwin Pears in the Daily Chronicle.

Uniform with the foregoing The European Anarchy

By G, LOWES DICKINSON', Author of "A Modern Symposium," etc., etc. Third Impression*. Cr. 8vo, Cloth, 2s. 6d. net. Postage ^d.

" This is one of the shrewdest books on the causes of the war that we have read." — The Economist.

The Deeper Causes of the War

By E.MILE HOVELAQUE. With an I.ntroduction by Sir WALTER RALEIGH.

Second Impression. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 2s. bd. net. Postage 4^. " This is one of the most thoughtful and suggestive books that the great war has inspired." — Aberdeen Journal.

War and Civilization By the rt. hox. j. m. Robertson,

M.P. ,^Crown 8vo, Cloth, 2s. bd. net. Postage 4rf.

"A spirited piece of international polemic. It is always acute, moderate and well informed." — Manchester Guardian.

Our Ultimate Aim in the War By george g.

ARMSTRONG. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 25. f>d. net. Postage 5^.

" Strikes a note to which the best of his countrymen will respond." — Times.

The Coming Scrap of Paper By edward w.

EDSALL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 2s. 6rf. net. Postage ^d.

" One of the most interesting and illuminative of recent financial essays, set forth with skill and lucidity." — Financial News.

Perpetual Peace By immanuel kant.

Cheap Edition. Crown 8vo, 25. net. Postage ^d.

" ' Perpetual Peace ' may some day be looked upon as the foundation of a new social system." — T. P.'s Weekly.

Via Pacis

A Suggestion offered by an American (HAROLD F. McCORMICK). How Terms of Peace can be automatically prepared while the War is still going on.

Crown 8vo. Paper Parchment, is. net. Postage 2d.

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