AND ON THE CONTINENT.

181

6d., so that £6 10s. remained as savings. The living conditions ofthe family are eminently good; for a rent of Is. 6d. the family has1 rooms, two being used as bedrooms. The size of the front roomis 11 by 13 ft., of the back room 13 by 9J ft., the height being 8ft. In front of the house is a little garden. Wheaten bread andmeat are looked upon as the principal food, beef and mutton inequal quantities forming the meat. The man is a trade-unionist,and pays Id. per week to the weavers’ branch society, for which hereceives in case of want of work 9s. per week, and, in addition,death money amounting to £6. The same amount is paid to thefriendly society, which grants 10s. pea* week sick money, and £10in case of death.

As my last representative of the cotton industry I bring forwarda fustian-cutter of Hebden Bridge. The husband is 52, the wife19 years old; there are six children from 11 to 23 years of age—two sons and four daughters. The mother does the work in thehouse; the children are engaged in the fustian trade. The husbandearns 21s. weekly. He has not worked for six or seven weeks ofthe past year; he has had thereof 20 days’holidays, and lost 19 forother reasons. The children, who had similarly about 11 days’holidays, earned together in the year £172 Is. To this has to beadded £12 6s. as dividends from the co-operative society, and £5interest from other investments. The total income is £211 Is.,the total expenditure about £175, and the savings nearly £70.Of these savings, however, only a small proportion was invested,the larger proportion being applied for holiday trips and similarexceptional objects. The co-operative society’s dividend was notdrawn, but was allowed to remain invested.

The family lives in its own house of five rooms, one of whichserves exclusively for living. The dimensions of the rooms areas follows: Front room 15 ft. 3 in. by 12 ft, 3 in., back room 15ft. 3 in. by 9 ft. 3in., height 8 ft. The kitchen is attached to thehouse behind. The chief food is wheaten bread, and meat is par-taken of five times per week. Under the heading of expenditurethere is none for trade unions, because the husband and childrenare employed in a co-operative undertaking. On the other hand,he pays Id. per week for insurance against sickness, for which sum8s. per week in case of illness and £8 in case of death is paid.Very important are the sums applied for clothing—£40 per year.The remainder is shown by the budget given: —