318 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



her of prosecutions reported in the Wages Board Gazette in 

 which the statutory fine, " not exceeding 20 and to a fine 

 not exceeding i for each day on which the offence is con- 

 tinued after conviction therefor," were not imposed in 

 spite of many a flagrant defiance of the law. 



This, unfortunately, is not the end of the story. The 

 victimisation pay-sheets of the two Unions reveal a state 

 of things which is discreditable to a civilised community. 

 In the winter of 1919, a number of men were discharged 

 and it was invariably the active trade unionist who received 

 his " marching orders," in spite of the fact that in many 

 instances he had fought for his country, while his employer 

 had remained at home. These dismissals are all the more 

 significant when we learn from the January Report of the 

 Ministry of Labour that there was a shortage of skilled labour. 



When inspectors called upon the farmers to enquire 

 about the non-payment of the minimum wage, farmers have 

 been known again and again to give an instant notice to the 

 man who had made the complaint. Consequently there are, 

 at the present moment a number of farm labourers working 

 for less than the minimum wage because of the fear of dis- 

 missal or eviction. I have followed up a number of these 

 cases myself and ventured to appeal to the sense of justice 

 in all farmers in an open letter which was printed in a number 

 of newspapers. 1 I may say that the National Farmers' 

 Union deny any official knowledge of victimisation, and 



i CLEAN FIGHTING. 

 AN APPEAL TO FARMERS. 



I know some of you in Surrey, Hants, and Sussex, as straightforward, 

 clean-fighting, honest English gentlemen, but what, oh ! what am I to 

 call those farmers who to-day are putting men out on the roadside men 

 who went across the seas to fight for you whilst you were permitted to stay 

 at home to make money. You know that the bones of many thousands 

 of farm labourers have been bleaching on the plains of Flanders while most of 

 you have been able to remain at home in your comfortable homesteads. 



It has come to my knowledge that some farmers are victimising dis- 

 charged soldiers and other labourers who have taken an active part in 

 their Trade Unions. They have not been given notice in a straightforward 

 manner, but have been sacked under some pretext or other. I ask you, 

 is this playing the game ? Is it clean fighting ? Is it English ? Is it not 

 hitting below the belt ? 



Don't you admire these men who stand up pluckily for their rights, 

 and the rights of their mates ? Do you want to rear a race of broken 



