88 A NEW AGRICULTURAL POLICY 



round for the one skilled farm worker whom 

 I knew had been appointed. He was not 

 there ; he has not yet put in an appearance ! 

 The reason can be discovered without putting 

 a Sherlock Holmes upon the track. The 

 County Council, consisting mainly of rich men, 

 considered it gross extravagance to pay "sub- 

 sistence allowance." This was coolly cut out of 

 the scheme, which the Ministry of Agriculture, 

 without demur on this point, approved. When 

 I protested to the Ministry, the official answer 

 was that the clause was "permissive." On 

 another County Agricultural Committee the 

 one farm worker who was appointed, and who 

 managed to attend because his Union paid his 

 expenses, was immediately discharged by his 

 employer ! 



It would be interesting to probe the strength 

 of this contention that the use of the word 

 "may" limits the compulsion of the Act, for in 

 another connection the Solicitor-General told 

 the House of Commons during 1920 that the 

 Government regarded " may " in such measures 

 as being equivalent to " shall." The attitude of 

 that little-known but very powerful body, the 

 County Councils Association, is deserving of 

 note. It shows the attitude of mind adopted 

 towards this crucial matter by those who set the 

 pace for the County Councils. The Gloucester- 

 shire County Council passed a resolution in 

 the following terms : 



