The rising industries of Birmingham and other Midland towns found employment, no doubt, for many of the exiles from the villages. On the whole, the ruling opinion seems to have found all this very satisfactory. The gross produce of food by these Midland parishes might be diminished on enclosure, but the net produce, as was shown by the increase of rent, certainly increased, and an abundant supply of labour was furnished for those metal working industries which were of the greatest importance in times of war.[50] When we think of the horrible sanitary conditions of English towns during the eighteenth century, of Fielding’s description of the London lodging-houses, of Colquhoun’s attempts at a statistical account of London thieves, of Hogarth’s pictures, which interpret for us the meaning of the terrible fact that right through the eighteenth century the deaths “within the bills of mortality” regularly far exceeded the births, we feel that there was another side to the shield, though possibly the sanitary and social condition of Midland towns was less terrible than that of London. [50] 1756–1763, 1775–1784, 1792–1815 were times of war. The connection between enclosure of common fields and rising poor rates in the eighteenth century is illustrated repeatedly in Eden’s “Condition of the Poor.” In Buckinghamshire we find the two neighbouring parishes of Maids Morton and Winslow. The former contained 30 acres of old enclosure, 60 to 70 acres of commons, and the rest of the parish, about 800 acres, was common field. The poor-rates in the years 1792 to 1795 were 3_s._ 6_d._, 3_s._, 3_s._, 3_s._ 6_d._ There were “several roundsmen.” Wages were nominally 1_s._ to 1_s._ 2_d._ per day, but piecework was general, and 1_s._ 3_d._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ was generally earned. The rent of farms varied from £17 to £90 per farm, and from 18_s._ to 20_s._ per acre. Winslow contained 1400 acres, and was entirely enclosed in 1744 and 1766. Only 200 acres remained arable. The farms varied from £60 to £400 per annum each, the wages were 6_s._ to 7_s._ per week, “most of the labourers are on rounds,” and the poor rates from 1792 to 1795 were 5_s._ 8_d._, 4_s._, 5_s._, and 6_s._ “The rise of the Rates is chiefly ascribed to the Enclosure of common fields; which it is said has lessened the number of farms, and from the conversion of arable into pasture, has much reduced the demand for labourers. An old man of the parish says, before the enclosures took place, land did not let for 10_s._ per acre.” (Vol. II., pp. 27–33.)