74 AN AGRICULTURAL FAGGOT. 



and that every county court should be made a land- 

 registry office ; and further that the post-office officials 

 in every village should be made agents, at "a liberal 

 commission," for the sale of these parcels of Government 

 land. 



The establishment of parish or village councils is another 

 remedy which has been widely advertised — if I may be 

 allowed the expression. It is an essential part of this 

 scheme that the proposed council should meet in the 

 evening. Some agricultural labourers, with a taste for 

 administration, now gratify it at a self-elected Parish 

 Council which meets de die in diem — or rather night after 

 night— at the " Blue Boar " or the " Spotted Dog," and 

 there settles — to its own satisfaction — the affairs of the 

 Empire, as well as of the district. Parish councils, 

 formally established by Act of Parliament, would, no 

 doubt, gratify some of the politicians whose oratory is 

 now wasted on the tap-room air, though it is to be feared 

 that they would not entirely sweep away their earlier 

 and more informal rivals. It is not yet quite clear in 

 what way parish councils are to be made so much more 

 attractive than vestry meetings, which do not, as a rule, 

 thrill with excitement. It is true that a parish council 

 would probably enjoy the delight of electing its own 

 chairman, but even that exhilarating function seems 

 scarcely sufficient to provide interest for any great length 

 of time. Whatever the merits of parish councils may be, 

 it is difficult to believe that they would add such a charm 

 to country life as to form any substantial inducement 

 to a farm labourer to remain in the parish, if he wished 

 from any cause to remove to a town. 



The proposal to establish a universal State-subsidised 

 system of pensions for old age is one which specially 

 affects agricultural labourers as the class who would per- 

 haps most obviously benefit by it. Perhaps it is scarcely 

 ripe for definite discussion, but there are signs that it 

 will be pressed to the front, and may very shortly come 



