Agricultural Life.

But few cases connected with the social condition of farm labourers have of late years attracted so much attention as that of John Cross , AVIIO worked in Dorsetshire , and Avho , for stealing a hurdle , Avas sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment by the Wimborne Magistracyand on this

, case Ave IIOAV propose making a few analytical remarks , taking the information supplied from various sources , so as , if possible , to do justice to all persons concerned , Avithout prejudice to any of them .

If Avrong is done to any one , ancl it becomes knoAvn to the public , it is immediately magnified , and articles based upon the facts , but adorned with " gushing" rhetoric , help to heighten the . general enthusiasm felt on behalf of the injured person ; but it certainlbehoves usand the more

y , especially as the representative of the Craft , to consider the matter impartially , to uphold the laAv , but still to bear in mind that it is good to temper justice Avith mercy . Let us first turn our attention to the relative

positions of John Cross , and his employer , Mr . Eartlett . Cross's average Aveekly earnings appear from Mr . Bartlett ' s statement subsequent to the man ' s trial , to have been about 12 s . —little enough as far as we can judge , but from all accounts fair in comparison with the rate of wages

in the district . The employer must not be judged from the result of a series of accidents , in many of which he Avas in no Avay concerned . A point has been made of the length of time during whicli Cross had been in Mr . Bartlett ' s employment— - twenty-five years—and that was assumed as a reason why he should receive higher Avages . B oAVever , cool consideration will SIIOAV that increase of

wages cannot be expected to accrue from len gth of service only : it requires , in order to be remunerative , that the recipient shall have improved and gained experience , so as to be able to do a higher class of work than at first , and that there shall be for him a A'acancy in some position Avhere that

higher class of Avork is required , or else that , by long practice he shall be able to get through more work in a given time . In payment for manual labour the nature and quantity of Avork done can alone be taken into consideration . As to the rapidity of working , John Cross would in some cases

have the benefit ofhis improvement in that respect , as he occupied part of his time on " piece-work . " Before passing from Mr . Bartlett , it is only right to mention that , according to his statement , he had frequently considered Cross ' s embarrassed condition , and had afforded him relief , AAdiich Ave . consider Avas as much as he could be expected to do under the circumstances .

We now come to the question of the cause of Cross's committing the theft of Avhich he is convicted , and here be it understood Ave wish to deal Avith in the most merciful manner , and to make every alknvance for an act which certainly appears to us to have been most severely and unduly

punished . Undoubtedly he was driven to take the hurdle by the state of abject poverty in which his unfortunate family then Avas , ancl that in itself is a very passable excuse for so trifling an offence , an offence whicli certainly might have been passed over with a caution not to repeat it .

Cross appears to have acted Avith great imprudence in some of his matrimonial arrangements , his first marriage Ave have nothing to say about beyond observin g that it blessed him Avith six children , but the care of these does not appear to have been sufficient to occupy all his parental

heart , for about ten years since , ( Avhen he would have been about fifteen years with Mr . Bartlett , ancl ought therefore to have been able to judge of his position and prospects ) he married a widoAV who hez-self had five children , thus suddenly very nearly doubling his family ; since that time , six more children have beenborn , Avhich facts Ave agree

Avith Mr . Bartlett in thinking , " -will explain the man ' s statement that he Avas badly off . " The conclusion IIOAV arrived at , is that Cross ' s imprudence caused his poverty , and his poverty caused the offence for Avhich he has so dearly paid , and Avhich Avas probably committed Avithout any

thought of Avrong ; a man AVIIO for ten years had honestly battled Avith ovei-Avhelming difficulties Ai'onlcl not be very likely to be at heart viciously disposed , but unfortunately he Avas legally wrong , ancl that cannot be escaped from , though it may sometimes excite peculiar ideas as to law and

justice . We believe anyone may Avith impunity pull a turnip ancl eat it in the field , where it grew , though if he carries it out he is liable to be punished for stealing it , the spirit of this statute is clear enough , but it would be rather aAvakward at times , if country magistrates made a point of actingupon the letter of it .

It appears that Mr . Martin , the oivner of the hurdle purloined , kneAV nothing of the affair until Cross Avas in the custody of the policeman AA'ho detected the theft , so he is not so much to be taxed Avith severity as the constable on being over zealous . Why did he not take the offender

to Mr . Martin , ancl learn his pleasure in the matter ? It is to be presumed , from his anxiety to make knoAvn that he was not acquainted . vith the arrest of Cross , that he would not have pushed the matter to the extremity to Avhich it Avas carried by those AVIIO seem so carefully to have Avatched

over his interests . The Wimborne magistracy seem much to blame for their rigour . Surely a tAventy-five years' good character , preserved through bitter trials ancl temptations , ought to have some weight ; let us hope at all events that the Rev . Mr . Glyn Avas not in

accord AA'ith his felloAV magistrates , for he , as the representative of that Church Avhich points the road to salvation " not by our own Avorks but through the mercy and love of Christ , " should be the first to advocate leniency in dealing Avith one who did Avrong in dire distress , Avhen it could ( as