320 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



This so preyed upon his mind that he committed suicide. 



The fear of eviction is greater than the fear of dismissal, 

 and until the labourer is as secure of his home as the farmer 

 is of his holding, beneficent Acts of Parliament will fail to 

 operate effectively. Arch's " cottage-right " is as much 

 needed now as it was in 1881. 



Terrible as was the shortage of cottages before the war, 

 that shortage has been infinitely increased during war-time. 

 Eviction from a cottage now almost inevitably leads to exile 

 from the parish, and the fear of eviction holds the man who 

 has taken root in his own parish from asking for his rights 

 more than the fear of dismissal. In IQI3 1 it was estimated 

 that from 300,000 to 350,000 farm workers lived in farm- 

 tied cottages, which means, according to current figures, more 

 than half of our agricultural labourers are doing so to-day. 



An amendment to the Rent Restriction Act was passed in 

 December, 1919, which appeared to make it difficult to evict 

 a tenant if there is no alternative accommodation ; but few 

 understand this Act, 2 and fear takes a long time to die. Un- 

 fortunately, the absence of "alternative accommodation" 

 does not afford sufficient protection to the farm labourer 

 from eviction, especially if he lives in a tied cottage. The 

 Court can go through the form of " considering " the alter- 

 native accommodation, and issue the ejectment order if it 

 pleases. The Act, even as amended, is still quite unsatis- 

 factory, and as loosely worded as any County Court lawyer 

 could wish. 



The cottage problem is indeed the most serious problem 

 of all in rural England to-day. It is difficult to see how we 

 are going to retain the services of our most virile young men 

 on the land until new cottages are built. Young men and 

 women have nowhere to go if they wish to get married, but 

 to drift to the towns and add to the congested areas of our 

 great cities. 



The Government delivered a cruel blow to agriculture 

 when it played into the hands of the large profiteering con- 

 tractors by ceasing to control building materials. Our 



1 The Land Enquiry. 



1 This Act which expired in June, 1919, is now being extended. 



