第59章

Duringthelast5years，thediminutionoftheagriculturalpercentageofthepopulationhasbeenyetmoremarked。Asearlyas1846，PierreDupontinhis"Ouvriers"sang:Malvêtus，logosdansdestrous，Souslescombles，danslesdécombres，NousvivonsavocleshibouxEtleslaffons，amisdesombres。[109]"SixthandlastReportoftheChildren’sEmploymentCommission，"publishedattheendofMarch，1867。Itdealssolelywiththeagriculturalgang—system。

[110]"Child。Emp。Comm。，VI。Report。"Evidence173，p。37。

[111]Somegang—masters，however，haveworkedthemselvesuptothepositionoffarmersof500acres，orproprietorsofwholerowsofhouses。

[112]"HalfthegirlsofLudfordhavebeenruinedbygoingout"（ingangs）。l。

c。，p。6，§32。

[113]"They（gangs）havegreatlyincreasedoflateyears。Insomeplacestheyaresaidtohavebeenintroducedatcomparativelylatedates;inotherswheregangs……havebeenknownformanyyears……moreandyoungerchildrenareemployedinthem。"（l。c。，p。79，§174）。

[114]"Smallfarmersneveremploygangs。""Itisnotonpoorland，butonlandwhichaffordsrentoffrom40to50shillings，thatwomenandchildrenareemployedinthegreatestnumbers。"（l。c。，pp。17，14。）

[115]TooneofthesegentlementhetasteofhisrentwassogratefulthatheindignantlydeclaredtotheCommissionofInquirythatthewholehubbubwasonlyduetothenameofthesystem。Ifinsteadof"gang"itwerecalled"theAgriculturalJuvenileIndustrialSelf—supportingAssociation，"everythingwouldbeallright。

[116]"Gangworkischeaperthanotherwork;thatiswhytheyareemployed，"

saysaformergang—master（l。c。，p。17，§14）。"Thegang—systemisdecidedlythecheapestforthefarmer，anddecidedlytheworstforthechildren，"saysafarmer（l。c。，p。16，§3。）

[117]"Undoubtedlymuchoftheworknowdonebychildreningangsusedtobedonebymenandwomen。Moremenareoutofworknowwherechildrenandwomenareemployedthanformerly。"（l。c。，p。43，n。202。）Ontheotherhand，"thelabourquestioninsomeagriculturaldistricts，particularlythearable，isbecomingsoseriousinconsequenceofemigration，andthefacilityaffordedbyrailwaysforgettingtolargetownsthatI（the"I"

isthestewardofagreatlord）thinktheservicesofchildrenaremostindispensable，"（l。c。，p。80，n。180。）Forthe"labourquestion"inEnglishagriculturaldistricts，differentlyfromtherestofthecivilisedworld，meansthelandlords’andfarmers’question，viz。，howisitpossible，despiteanalwaysincreasingexodusoftheagriculturalfolk，tokeepupasufficientrelativesurplus—populationinthecountry，andbymeansofitkeepthewagesoftheagriculturallabourerataminimum？

[118]The"PublicHealthReport，"whereindealingwiththesubjectofchildren’smortality，thegang—systemistreatedinpassing，remainsunknowntothepress，and，therefore，totheEnglishpublic。Ontheotherhand，thelastreportofthe"Child。Empl。Comm。"affordedthepresssensationalcopyalwayswelcome。WhilsttheLiberalpressaskedhowthefinegentlemenandladies，andthewell—paidclergyoftheStateChurch，withwhomLincolnshireswarms，couldallowsuchasystemtoariseontheirestates，undertheirveryeyes，theywhosendoutexpresslymissionstotheAntipodes，"fortheimprovementofthemoralsofSouthSeaIslanders"？themorerefinedpressconfineditselftoreflectionsonthecoarsedegradationoftheagriculturalpopulationwhoarecapableofsellingtheirchildrenintosuchslavery！

Undertheaccursedconditionstowhichthese"delicate"peoplecondemntheagriculturallabourer，itwouldnotbesurprisingifheatehisownchildren。Whatisreallywonderfulisthehealthyintegrityofcharacter，hehas，ingreatpart，retained。Theofficialreportsprovethattheparents，eveninthegangdistricts，loathethegang—system。"Thereismuchintheevidencethatshowsthattheparentsofthechildrenwould，inmanyinstances，begladtobeaidedbytherequirementsofalegalobligation，toresistthepressureandthetemptationstowhichtheyareoftensubject。Theyareliabletobeurged，attimesbytheparishofficers，attimesbyemployers，underthreatsofbeingthemselvatdischarged，tobetakentoworkatanagewhen……schoolattendance……wouldbemanifestlytotheirgreateradvantage……Allthattimeandstrengthwasted;allthesufferingfromextraandunprofitablefatigueproducedtothelabourerandtohischildren;

everyinstanceinwhichtheparentmayhavetracedthemoralruinofhischildtofheunderminingofdelicacybytheover—crowdingofcottages，ortothecontaminatinginfluencesofthepublicgang，musthavebeensomanyincentivestofeelingsinthemindsofthelabouringpoorwhichcanbewellunderstood，andwhichitwouldbeneedlesstoparticularise。Theymustbeconsciousthatmuchbodilyandmentalpainhasthusbeeninflicteduponthemfromcausesforwhichtheywereinnowayanswerable;towhich，haditbeenintheirpower，theywouldhaveinnowayconsented;andagainstwhichtheywerepowerlesstostruggle。"（l。c。，p。xx。，§82，andxxiii。，n。96。）

[119]PopulationofIreland，1801，5，319，867persons;1811，6，084，996;1821，6，869，544;1831，7，828，347;1841，8，222，664。

[120]Theresultwouldbefoundyetmoreunfavourableifwewentfurtherback。

Thus:Sheepin1865，3，688，742，butin1856，3，694，294。Pigsin1865，1，299，893，butin1858，1，409，883。

[121]Thedataofthetextareputtogetherfromthematerialsofthe"AgriculturalStatistics，Ireland，GeneralAbstracts，Dublin，"fortheyears1860，elseq。，and"AgriculturalStatistics，Ireland。Tablesshowingtheestimatedaverageproduce，&c。，Dublin，1866。"Thesestatisticsareofficial，andlaidbeforeParliamentannually。

Noteto2ndedition。Theofficialstatisticsfortheyear1872

show，ascomparedwith1871，adecreaseinareaundercultivationof134，915

acres。Anincreaseoccurredinthecultivationofgreencrops，turnips，mangold—wurzel，andthelike;adecreaseintheareaundercultivationforwheatof16，000acres;oats，14，000;barleyandrye，4，000;potatoes，66，632;flax，34，667;grass，clover，vetches，rape—seed，30，000。Thesoilundercultivationforwheatshowsforthelast5yearsthefollowingstagesofdecrease:？1868，285，000acres;1869，280，000;1870，259，000;1871，244，000;1872，228，000。For1872wefind，inroundnumbers，anincreaseof2，600horses，80，000hornedcattle，68，609sheep，andadecreaseof236，000pigs。

[122]ThetotalyearlyincomeunderScheduleD。isdifferentinthistablefromthatwhichappearsintheprecedingones，becauseofcertaindeductionsallowedbylaw。

[123]Iftheproductalsodiminishesrelativelyperacre，itmustnotbeforgottenthatforacenturyandahalfEnglandhasindirectlyexportedthesoilofIreland，withoutasmuchasallowingitscultivatorsthemeansformakinguptheconstituentsofthesoilthathadbeenexhausted。

[124]AsIrelandisregardedasthepromisedlandofthe"principleofpopulation，"

Th。Sadler，beforethepublicationofhisworkonpopulation，issuedhisfamousbook，"Ireland，itsEvilsandtheirRemedies。"2ndedition，London，1829。Here，bycomparisonofthestatisticsoftheindividualprovinces，andoftheindividualcountiesineachprovince，heprovesthatthemiserythereisnot，asMalthuswouldhaveit，inproportiontothenumberofthepopulation，butininverseratiotothis。

[125]Between1851and1874，thetotalnumberofemigrantsamountedto2，325，922。

[126]AccordingtoatableinMurphy’s"IrelandIndustrial，PoliticalandSocial，"

1870，94。6percent。ortheholdingsdonotreach100acres，5。4exceed100acres。

[127]"ReportsfromthePoorLawInspectorsontheWagesofAgriculturalLabourersinDublin，"1870。Seealso"Agriculturallabourers（Ireland）。Return，etc。"

8March，1861，London，1862。

[128]l。c。，pp。29，1。

[129]l。c。，p。12。

[130]l。c。，p。12。

[131]l。c。，p。25。

[132]l。c。，p。27。

[133]l。c。，p。25。

[134]l。c。，p。1。

[135]l。c。，pp。31，32。

[136]l。c。，p……25。

[137]l。c。，p。30。

[138]l。c。，pp。21，13。

[139]"Rept。ofInsp。ofFact。，31stOct。，1866，"p。96。

[140]Thetotalareaincludesalsopeat，bogs，andwasteland。

[141]Howthefamineanditsconsequenceshavebeendeliberatelymadethemostof，bothbytheindividuallandlordsandbytheEnglishlegislature，toforciblycarryouttheagriculturalrevolutionandtothinthepopulationofIrelanddowntotheproportionsatisfactorytothelandlords，IshallshowmorefullyinVol。III。ofthiswork，inthesectiononlandedproperty。

TherealsoIreturntotheconditionofthesmallfarmersandtheagriculturallabourers。Atpresent，onlyonequotation。NassauW。Seniorsays，withotherthings，inhisposthumouswork，"Journals，ConversationsandEssaysrelatingtoIreland。"2vols。London，1868;Vol。II。，p。282。"Well，"saidDr。G。，"wehavegotourPoorLawanditisagreatinstrumentforgivingthevictorytothelandlords。Another，andastillmorepowerfulinstrumentisemigration……NofriendtoIrelandcanwishthewartobeprolonged[betweenthelandlordsandthesmallCelticfarmers]？stillless，thatitshouldendbythevictoryofthetenants。Thesooneritisover？thesoonerIrelandbecomesagrazingcountry，withthecomparativelythinpopulationwhichagrazingcountryrequires，thebetterforallclasses。"TheEnglishCornLawsof1815securedIrelandthemonopolyofthefreeimportationofcornintoGreatBritain。Theyfavouredartificially，therefore，thecultivationofcorn。WiththeabolitionoftheCornLawsin1846，thismonopolywassuddenlyremoved。Apartfromallothercircumstances，thiseventalonewassufficienttogiveagreatimpulsetotheturningofIrisharableintopastureland，totheconcentrationofarms，andtotheevictionofsmallcultivators。AfterthefruitfulnessoftheIrishsoilhadbeenpraisedfrom1815to1846，andproclaimedloudlyasbyNatureherselfdestinedforthecultivationofwheat，Englishagronomists，economists，politicians，discoversuddenlythatitisgoodfornothingbuttoproduceforage。M。

LéoncedeLavergnehashastenedtorepeatthisontheothersideoftheChannel。Ittakesa"serious"man，àlaLavergne，tobecaughtbysuchchildishness。

ChapterTwenty—SixKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOnePartVIII:

PrimativeAccumulationCHAPTERTWENTY—SIX:

THESECRETOFPRIMATIVEACCUMULATION

Wehaveseenhowmoneyischangedintocapital;howthro