292 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



" Words are but under-agents in their souls ; 

 When they are grasping with their greatest strength 

 They do not breathe among them." 



Scrutinise the faces of the men selected to negotiate and 

 you will find them anything but immobile. Every facial 

 muscle moves, as they sit listening with watchful intentness. 

 Nervous tension is betrayed by the eye, which is as keen as 

 a hawk's ; and when their silence is broken it is by the 

 language of a long pent-up pain. 



I shall never forget the outburst of a sunburnt plough- 

 man who sat by my side on a Wages Committee and who 

 had through several sittings never uttered a word. The 

 farmers were complaining that boys of eighteen could 

 not plough ; that they were all but useless, when he, with 

 every nerve twitching, broke out with : " Lookee 'ere, 

 guvnors. You say that our boys are no good. They 

 think this country is no good for them, and yet I have four 

 sons fighting for it. In 1912 one of these boys, then aged 

 sixteen, who was ploughing for a few shillings a week, said to 

 me, ' Dad, I'm going to chuck this old country ; it ain't good 

 enough for the likes of us.' Well, he emigrated to Australia. 

 In 1914 he came home with 200 in his pocket to fight for 

 the country that had refused to give him a living wage." 1 



This speech rendered us all dumb for a few minutes. 

 And this man had known what it was for nine in the family 

 to sit down to a table with himself as the only breadwinner. 



The farmers have behaved with exemplary fairness to 

 their men who sat on District Wages Committees. I heard 

 of only one unpleasant incident, and over this the National 

 Farmers' Union very properly used its influence. 



Let us take a lightning glance at an imaginary sitting of 

 a District Wages Committee. Eight farmers sit on one side 

 of the table ; eight workers' representatives on the other ; 

 and five appointed members divide the two opposing fac- 

 tions. Like an auctioneer, the Chairman cautiously feels 

 his way for a bid. How much will the farmers offer ? What 

 price do the workers put upon the value of their labour ? 



1 Vide The Awakening of England, 1918 edition. 



* It is easy to s:c the farmers have the weight on their side. 



