第57章

oftheschoolmastercouldapply，totheconditionsofproductionandpopulationofthenineteenthcentury，thestandardofthe14th，thisnaïveté，intothebargain，overlookedthefactthatwhilst，aftertheplagueandthedecimationthataccompaniedit，followedonthissideoftheChannel，inEngland，enfranchisementandenrichmentoftheagriculturalpopulation，onthatside，inFrance，followedgreaterservitudeandmoremisery。[124]

TheIrishfamineof1846killedmorethan1，000，000people，butitkilledpoordevilsonly。Tothewealthofthecountryitdidnottheslightestdamage。Theexodusofthenext20years，anexodusstillconstantlyincreasing，didnot，as，e。g。，theThirtyYears’War，decimate，alongwiththehumanbeings，theirmeansofproduction。Irishgeniusdiscoveredanaltogethernewwayofspiritingapoorpeoplethousandsofmilesawayfromthesceneofitsmisery。TheexilestransplantedtotheUnitedStates，sendhomesumsofmoneyeveryyearastravellingexpensesforthoseleftbehind。

Everytroopthatemigratesoneyear，drawsanotherafteritthenext。Thus，insteadofcostingIrelandanything，emigrationformsoneofthemostlucrativebranchesofitsexporttrade。Finally，itisasystematicprocess，whichdoesnotsimplymakeapassinggapinthepopulation，butsucksoutofiteveryyearmorepeoplethanarereplacedbythebirths，sothattheabsolutelevelofthepopulationfallsyearbyyear。[125]

WhatweretheconsequencesfortheIrishlabourersleftbehindandfreedfromthesurplus—population？Thattherelativesurplus—populationisto—dayasgreatasbefore1846;thatwagesarejustaslow，thattheoppressionofthelabourershasincreased，thatmiseryisforcingthecountrytowardsanewcrisis。Thefactsaresimple。Therevolutioninagriculturehaskeptpacewithemigration。Theproductionofrelativesurplus—populationhasmorethankeptpacewiththeabsolutedepopulation。

AglanceattableC。showsthatthechangeofarabletopasturelandmustworkyetmoreacutelyinIrelandthaninEngland。InEnglandthecultivationofgreencropsincreaseswiththebreedingofcattle;inIreland，itdecreases。

Whilstalargenumberofacres，thatwereformerlytilled，lieidleorareturnedpermanentlyintograss—land，agreatpartofthewastelandandpeatbogsthatwereunusedformerly，becomeofservicefortheextensionofcattle—breeding。Thesmallerandmediumfarmers？Ireckonamongtheseallwhodonotcultivatemorethan100acres？stillmakeupabout8/10thsofthewholenumbep;[126]Theyareoneaftertheother，andwithadegreeofforceunknownbefore，crushedbythecompetitionofanagriculturemanagedbycapital，andthereforetheycontinuallyfurnishnewrecruitstotheclassofwage—labourers。TheonegreatindustryofIreland，linen—manufacture，requiresrelativelyfewadultmenandonlyemploysaltogether，inspiteofitsexpansionsincethepriceofcottonrosein1861—1866，acomparativelyinsignificantpartofthepopulation。Likeallothergreatmodemindustries，itconstantlyproduces，byincessantfluctuations，arelativesurplus—populationwithinitsownsphere，evenwithanabsoluteincreaseinthemassofhumanbeingsabsorbedbyit。Themiseryoftheagriculturalpopulationformsthepedestalforgiganticshirt—factories，whosearmiesoflabourersare，forthemostpart，scatteredoverthecountry。Here，weencounteragainthesystemdescribedaboveofdomesticindustry，whichinunderpaymentandover—work，possessesitsownsystematicmeansforcreatingsupernumerarylabourers。Finally，althoughthedepopulationhasnotsuchdestructiveconsequencesaswouldresultinacountrywithfullydevelopedcapitalisticproduction，itdoesnotgoonwithoutconstantreactionuponthehome—market。

Thegapwhichemigrationcauseshere，limitsnotonlythelocaldemandforlabour，butalsotheincomesofsmallshopkeepers，artisans，tradespeoplegenerally。Hencethediminutioninincomesbetween£60and£100

inTableE。

AclearstatementoftheconditionoftheagriculturallabourersinIrelandistobefoundintheReportsoftheIrishPoorLawInspectors（1870）。[127]Officialsofagovernmentwhichismaintainedonlybybayonetsandbyastateofsiege，nowopen，nowdisguised，theyhavetoobservealltheprecautionsoflanguagethattheircolleaguesinEnglanddisdain。Inspiteofthis，however，theydonotlettheirgovernmentcradleitselfinillusions。Accordingtothemtherateofwagesinthecountry，stillverylow，haswithinthelast20yearsrisen50—60percent。，andstandsnow，ontheaverage，at6s。to9s。perweek。Butbehindthisapparentrise，ishiddenanactualfallinwages，foritdoesnotcorrespondatalltotheriseinpriceofthenecessarymeansofsubsistencethathastakenplaceinthemeantime。

Forproof，thefollowingextractfromtheofficialaccountsofanIrishworkhouse。

AVERAGEWEEKLYCOSTPERHEAD

YearendedProvisionsandNecessaries。Clothing。TOTAL。

29thSept。，1849。1s。31/4d。3d。1s。61/4d。

29thSept。，1869。2s。71/4d。6d。3s。11/4d。Thepriceofthenecessarymeansofsubsistenceisthereforefullytwice，andthatofclothingexactlytwice，asmuchastheywere20yearsbefore。

Evenapartfromthisdisproportion，themerecomparisonoftherateofwagesexpressedingoldwouldgivearesultfarfromaccurate。Beforethefamine，thegreatmassofagriculturalwageswerepaidinkind，onlythesmallestpartinmoney;to—day，paymentinmoneyistherule。Fromthisitfollowsthat，whatevertheamountoftherealwage，itsmoneyratemustrise。"Previoustothefamine，thelabourerenjoyedhiscabin……

witharood，orhalf—acreoracreofland，andfacilitiesfor……acropofpotatoes。Hewasabletorearhispigandkeepfowl……Buttheynowhavetobuybread，andtheyhavenorefuseuponwhichtheycanfeedapigorfowl，andtheyhaveconsequentlynobenefitfromthesaleofapig，fowl，oreggs。"[128]Infact，formerly，theagriculturallabourerswerebutthesmallestofthesmallfarmers，andformedforthemostpartakindofrear—guardofthemediumandlargefarmsonwhichtheyfoundemployment。Onlysincethecatastropheof1846havetheybeguntoformafractionoftheclassofpurelywage—labourers，aspecialclass，connectedwithitswage—mastersonlybymonetaryrelations。

Weknowwhatweretheconditionsoftheirdwellingsin1846。Sincethentheyhavegrownyetworse。Apartoftheagriculturallabourers，which，however，growslessdaybyday，dwellsstillontheholdingsofthefarmersinover—crowdedhuts，whosehideousnessfarsurpassestheworstthattheEnglishagriculturallabourersofferedusinthisway。AndthisholdsgenerallywiththeexceptionofcertaintractsofUlster;inthesouth，inthecountiesofCork，Limerick，Kilkenny，&c。;intheeast，inWicklow，Wexford，&c。;inthecentreofIreland，inKing’sandQueen’sCounty，，Dublin，&c。;inthewest，inSligo，Roscommon，Mayo，Galway，&c。"Theagriculturallabourers’huts，"aninspectorcriesout，"areadisgracetotheChristianityandtothecivilisationofthiscountry。"[129]Inordertoincreasetheattractionsoftheseholesforthelabourers，thepiecesoflandbelongingtheretofromtimeimmemorial，aresystematicallyconfiscated。"Themeresensethattheyexistsubjecttothisspeciesofban，onthepartofthelandlordsandtheiragents，has……givenbirthinthemindsofthelabourerstocorrespondingsentimentsofantagonismanddissatisfactiontowardsthosebywhomtheyarethusledtoregardthemselvesasbeingtreatedas……aproscribedrace。"[130]

Thefirstactoftheagriculturalrevolutionwastosweepawaythehutssituatedonthefieldoflabour。Thiswasdoneonthelargestscale，andasifinobediencetoacommandfromonhigh。Thusmanylabourerswerecompelledtoseekshelterinvillagesandtowns。Theretheywerethrownlikerefuseintogarrets，holes，cellarsandcomers，intheworstbackslums。ThousandsofIrishfamilies，whoaccordingtothetestimonyoftheEnglish，eatenupasthesearewithnationalprejudice，arenotablefortheirrareattachmenttothedomestichearth，fortheirgaietyandthepurityoftheirhome—life，foundthemselvessuddenlytransplantedintohotbedsofvice。Themenarenowobligedtoseekworkoftheneighbouringfarmersandareonlyhiredbytheday，andthereforeunderthemostprecariousformofwage。Hence"theysometimeshavelongdistancestogotoandfromwork，oftengetwet，andsuffermuchhardship，notunfrequentlyendinginsickness，diseaseandwant。"[131]

"Thetownshavehadtoreceivefromyeartoyearwhatwasdeemedtobethesurplus—labouroftheruraldivision;"[132]andthenpeoplestillwonder"thereisstillasurplusoflabourinthetownsandvillages，andeitherascarcityorathreatenedscarcityinsomeofthecountrydivisions。"[133]Thetruthisthatthiswantonlybecomesperceptible"inharvest—time，orduringspring，oratsuchtimesasagriculturaloperationsarecarriedonwithactivity;atotherperiodsoftheyearmanyhandsareidle;"[134]that"fromthediggingoutofthemaincropofpotatoesinOctoberuntiltheearlyspringfollowing……thereisnoemploymentforthem;"[135]andfurther，thatduringtheactivetimesthey"aresubjecttobrokendaysandtoallkindsofinterruptions。"[136]

Theseresultsoftheagriculturalrevolution？i。e。，thechangeofarableintopastureland，theuseofmachinery，themostrigorouseconomyoflabour，&c。，arestillfurtheraggravatedbythemodellandlords，who，insteadofspendingtheirrentsinothercountries，condescendtoliveinIrelandontheirdemesnes。Inorderthatthelawofsupplyanddemandmaynotbebroken，thesegentlemendrawtheir"labour—supply……

chieflyfromtheirsmalltenants，whoareobligedtoattendwhenrequiredtodothelandlord’swork，atratesofwages，inmanyinstances，considerablyunderthecurrentratespaidtoordinarylabourers，andwithoutregardtotheinconvenienceorlosstothetenantofbeingobligedtoneglecthisownbusinessatcriticalperiodsofsowingorreaping。"[137]

Theuncertaintyandirregularityofemployment，theconstantreturnandlongdurationofglutsoflabour，allthesesymptomsofarelativesurplus—population，figurethereforeinthereportsofthePoorLawadministration，assomanyhardshipsoftheagriculturalproletariat。Itwillberememberedthatwemet，intheEnglishagriculturalproletariat，withasimilarspectacle。

ButthedifferenceisthatinEngland，anindustrialcountry，theindustrialreserverecruitsitselffromthecountrydistricts，whilstinIreland，anagriculturalcountry，theagriculturalreserverecruitsitselffromthetowns，thecitiesofrefugeoftheexpelledagricultural，labourers。

Intheformer，thesupernumerariesofagriculturearetransformedintofactoryoperatives;inthelatter，thoseforcedintothetowns，whilstatthesametimetheypressonthewagesintowns，rema