Sordid and
ill-favoured men may there be seen buying on Saturday, chickens, ducks,
and geese, which they eat for supper; and in some instances, bottled
porter and wine. Yet, so little have they beforehand in the world, that
if the works were to stop, they would begin within a fortnight to pawn
the little furniture of their cottages, and their clothes, for
subsistence and for drink.
Mr. Chambers, of Edinburgh, in his description of the working classes of
Sunderland makes these remarks: "With deep sorrow I mention that
everywhere one tale was told. Intemperance prevails to a large extent;
good wages are squandered on mean indulgences; there is little care for
the morrow, and the workhouse is the ultimate refuge. One man, a skilled
worker in an iron-foundry, was pointed out as having for years received
a wage of one guinea a day, or six guineas a week; he had spent all,
mostly in drink, and was now reduced to a lower department at a pound a
week."
Another illustration occurs. A clerk at Blackburn took a house for
twenty pounds a year, and sublet the cellars underneath to a factory
operative at a rental of five pounds a year. The clerk had a wife, four
children, and a servant; the operative had a wife and five children. The
clerk and his family were well dressed, their children went to school,
and all went to church on Sundays.
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