WHAT OF THE HARVEST? 247 



By September the cost of living had risen 65 per cent, 

 over pre-war costs, and Mr. George Edwards showed by 

 publishing a labourer's budget at this time l that in Norfolk 

 the men were worse off than they had been in 1914. In- 

 cluding harvest the total earnings were only i 35. id. 



Trouble arose in Norfolk during harvest time over the 

 harvest rates which were agreed upon at a conference at 

 King's Lynn, in 1915. Mr. G. H. Roberts, M.P., was called 

 in as Government mediator, with the result that he awarded 

 a 255. advance on the harvest rates of 1915. 



Life pressed very heavily upon the agricultural labourer, 

 especially upon his wife, in the spring of 1917. The cost 

 of living on January i showed an increase of 87 per cent., 

 and wages had risen only 42 per cent., and many other 

 factors led to a smouldering spirit of discontent in rural 

 districts. At the end of 1916 farmers made as much as 

 755. lod. a quarter on their wheat, 675. 5d. on their barley, 

 and 473. 4d. on their oats ; z and they made, too, enormous 

 sums on their bullocks. 3 Furthermore, whilst labourers 

 were asked to economise in every way, in fuel, in bread, 

 and in meat, up to December pheasants were still being fed 

 by hand on the best grain. That is to say, whilst they were 

 restricted in their bread, and even cheese, which forms so 

 large a part of a labourer's diet, they saw wheat being 

 wantonly used in order to provide sport for the rich man. 

 This iniquity was, fortunately, stopped in January, 1917. 



But though this was stopped, the labourer felt the injus- 

 tice of being restricted in his meat rations whilst the farmer 

 or landowner could sally forth gun in hand over his fields 

 and shoot innumerable pheasants, rabbits, partridges, 

 hares, wood-pigeons and wild ducks. 



Farm labourers, too, were now told that the pig in the 

 stye which they had bought and industriously fed, was to 

 count as part of their rations, at a time when they saw 

 round about them the filling of big bags of game which went 

 to the rich man's table. The feeling that there was one law 



1 The Labourer, October, 1916. 



8 Journal of the Board of Agriculture, January, 1917. 

 3 Wages in some counties were still under 1 a week in 1916 (vide Cmd 

 76). 



