166 THE AGRICULTURAL CLUB. 



industry. Unwise attempts were made to impose such a 

 qualification on the workers' members of the Wages Board 

 and the District Wages Committees. The right of any 

 body of men to choose their own representatives is one 

 which in all other relations of life is never challenged. If 

 they consider it to their advantage to obtain the services of 

 others e.g., lawyers to negotiate on their behalf, or if they 

 have, as an organisation, officials to whom they entrust the 

 conduct of their affairs, is a matter entirely for their decision. 

 In the case of Agriculture, farmers who attempted to prevent 

 the men from exercising a free choice of representatives 

 could not escape the suspicion however unjust it might be 

 of wishing to secure an unfair advantage. Agricultural 

 labourers are an inarticulate class, whose circumstances of 

 life debar them, as a rule, from that constant intercourse 

 with their fellow-men which tends to promote readiness of 

 speech and quick-wittedness in discussion. Added to this 

 was the obvious difficulty of securing the regular attendance 

 at meetings of men engaged in daily work who unlike the 

 farmers had to obtain permission to leave their work. 



It need hardly be said that this attitude received no 

 support or encouragement from the leaders of the farmers 

 or from those who were members of the Club. Whatever 

 their private opinions may have been, they fully recognised 

 the right of the chosen representatives of the workers to 

 represent them. The discussions at the Club helped very 

 much to dispel any impression if such had existed that 

 those who spoke on behalf of the workers had no knowledge 

 of Agriculture. Those who were members of the Wages 

 Board were well aware that on the subjects there considered 

 the workers' representatives were thoroughly well equipped 

 for arguing their case, but the discussions at the Club proved 

 that they had also a wide acquaintance not only with the 

 economic, but also in a large degree with the practical side 

 of the business of farming. 



