AND ON THE CONTINENT.
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agents, who amongst them sell every day a hundred and fiftyhalfpenny evening papers, of which latter, however, working peoplebuy but few. I may note as an interesting fact that of the fourevening papers vended by the agents in question three run stories;and the proprietor of one of them assured me that without fictionhis paper would find few readers. Equally in demand with fictionare accounts of football matches, the Lancashire pastime parexcellence. I learnt from a policeman who had been stationed atCoppul (a mining district near Chorley) that it has all but put anend to ‘ up-and-down fighting'—a method of adjusting quarrels agood deal more deadly than French duelling. Instead of punchingeach other’s heads and kicking each other’s shins, the young bloodsof the neighbourhood find a vent for their energies in kicking thefootballs and fighting for goals.”
I try in the following to show clearly the standard of living ofthe operatives of Lancashire statistically: •—
According to the principles of Boehmert, explained in the journalof the Saxon Statistical Office 1 , an examination was undertaken byme, in the summer of 1891, on the standard of living of theartisans of the North of England. The Board of Trade had someyears previously made a similar attempt. They had, however,only attained few satisfactory results; first, on account of thepartly unsuitable queries asked, then on account of the aversionof the operatives to lay bare the details of their private life toofficial questionings (1). I was, however, in consequence of aninterview with R. Giffen, the celebrated statistician to the Board ofTrade, enabled to make use of the experiences of that first examina-tion, while I had, as a private person, more likelihood of gettingat the particulars wanted, and of removing difficulties, by apersonal exchange of thoughts.
Tims equipped, I repaired to the North of England. But thereit immediately became clear to me that only through the organisa-tions of the operatives were the details for my purpose to beattained. This was no disadvantage for the examination, since co-operative societies and trade unions comprise by far the greaterportion of the skilled workers in that district. Old acquaintance-ships made my way smooth. Most of the workers’ budgets givenbv me were confirmed by the co-operative societies’ organs, whichwere so much the more suitable for doing this, since the operative