THE FARM LABORERS IN AMERICA.

Southland Times, Issue 863, 11 December 1867, Page 2

THE FARM LABORERS IN AMERICA.

(from the Boiton Adwrtitet) "We have received from the Agricultural Department advance sheets of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the month of January. The first, and perhaps most important, topic is — " The rate of wages of farm laborers in the "United States," the information in regard to which, we are told, is based on full returns from every State and nearly every territory in the TJnion, and from nearly every county in many of the States. The investigation shows that a great change has taken place in regard to farm wages within a few years. In this country nearly three-fourths of the farm workers are the owners of the soil they till, and within five years the rate of wages to farm laborers has increased about fifty per cent ; and while the cost of living has perhaps increased in still greater proportion, it is argued that in no other country do farm laborers enjoy more of the comforts of life or attain a higher rank in the social scale. Naturally this fact has greatly increased immigration ; but it is shewn that this has not, as was feared, reduced the rate of wages, for the demands of labor have more than kept pace with the supply. More than thirty years ago Mr Henry C. Cary showed that for the forty years preceding, the average wages of farm laborers had been about nine dollars per mqnth with board. The report under consideration shows that the average wages for white labor is now nearly fifteen dollars and a half, with board, indicating an advance of about seventy per cent, within a generation. The following table shows the average rate of wages paid per month for farm laborers in the several States and Territories. The first column shows the rate per month by the year without board, and the second the rate with board : —

In the East the cost of living, and in | the "West the scarcity of labor, has a tendency to increase wages, yet in populous, central sections of the country, with easy communication by rail and water, the rates are nearly uniform, especially with board. The Territories, such as Nevada and Colorado, are of course exceptional, and show very high prices. And in the South the disturbed state of affairs, following the emancipation of the slaves, render the rate of wages comparatively low. As a rule, in those States where regular labor is most general among the inhabitants, and where it is prosecuted in the greatest variety, the laborers receive the highest wages. Massachusetts is given as an illustration. "With a poor soil, and not properly an agricultural State, and with only 68,636 laborers in agricultural pursuits to 271,241 employed in mechanic arts, as the State census of 1856 shews, she pays higher monthly wages for farm labor than any other State except California, namely, 38 dols. 94 cents., without board. This, it is argued, is the result of the great variety of labor in the State, bringing consumers and producers nearer together. Another cause of high rates of labor in fhia country is the superior intelligence and activity of the laboring classes. Some, causes why certain local rates are higher than those of the State together, are given, but they have little bearing on the general subject. The difference between wages without and with board varies quite regularly with the list of staple articles of food, being higher East than West, and higher in the Territories than in the States. In the South, the food of the laborer, consisting mostly of one or two articles, such as corn and bacon, the price of bread is quite low. Thus, in the Northern States, the difference between the average of wages with board and without is 12 dols. 51 cents, per month. In the Southern States, where the laborers are mostly freedmen, the difference is only 6 dols. 26 cents, per month. Tables are also given, showing the rate of wages per day and the average price paid in the different States for the specific items of labor, such as harvesting and stacking wheat, barley, corn, &c. The same general result is obtained as in the rate per month. The rate of labar in Europe ia much less than in thk country. In England, the average income of a working-man is 5 dollars 90 cents per week, but farmlaborers receive a little less than twothirds as much, or on an average of 3 dollars 50 cents per week. Allowing for holidays, &c, 168 dollars is estimated as a year's earnings. In this country, the farm-laborer gets, on an average, 28 dollars a month, or, for eleven- months, 308: dollars, which, even in currency, will, dollar for dollar, buy more foodthaq the English laborer's gold. <• ■ ■

Dols. Cts. Dols. Cfcs. Maine 27 00 17 44 N<sw Hampshire... 32 74 22 48 Vermont 32 84 21 00 Massachusetts ... 33 94 22 36 Bhode Island ... 34 40 20 50 Connecticut ... 34 25 21 54 New York ... 29 57 19 32 New Jersey ... 32 27 18 98 Pennsylvania ... 29 21 18 84 Delaware 24 93 13 25 Maryland ... 20 36 12 76 Virginia 14 82 9 86 North Carolina ... 13 46 8 15 South Carolina ... 12 00 . 7 66 Georgia 15 51 9 67 Florida 18 00 12 12 Alabama 13 40 9 80 Mississippi ... 16 72 11 58 Louisiana ... 20 50 12 42 Texas 19 00 12 72 Arkansas 24 21 15 80 Tennessee ... 19 00 12 58 West Virginia ... 25 35 16 47 Kentucky ... 20 23 13 65 Missouri ... 26 75 18 08 Illinois 28 34 18 72 Indiana 27 71 18 72 Ohio 28 46 18 96 Michigan 31 26 20 48 Minnesota ... 31 65 21 10 Wisconsin ... 30 84 19 87 lowa 28 34 18 87 Kansas 31 63 19 81 Nebraska Terrifcorj "38 37 24 .64 Utah Territory ... 44 71 26 32 Colorado Territory 67 50 42 12 New Mexico ... 25 00 16 50 California ... 45 71 30 35 Nevada Territory .75 00 60 00 . Washington Territorys2 25 36 25 Dakota 30 29 20 00 Oregon 35 75 22 53