LABOUR. 275 



the question of heartily joining in the light against absolu- 

 tism. Nowhere, however, has that emancipating effect 

 been more marked then among ourselves. Among our- 

 selves Labour has gained positions which we may be sure 

 that it will never surrender — rather, that will be made to 

 serve as steps for fresh conquests. That is, Labour collec- 

 tively. 



Agricultural Labour stands upon a distinct footing. It 

 has likewise gained, although — barring an improvement 

 in the rate of wages which might conceivably prove only 

 temporary — as yet really only to the extent of the admission 

 of an indisputable claim to further consideration. However, 

 that claim is weighty and commanding. In the war Agri- 

 cultural Labour has been put to a searching test as a national 

 interest, and it has stood the test most creditably. We 

 have appealed to the country for recruits. And from the 

 ranks of Agricultural Labour recruits have come forward 

 freely — sturdy, efficient recruits, even at a time when, 

 under a regrettable misconception as to the danger really 

 threatening the country, a portion of Industrial Labour 

 still hung back. 



That brave muster from the countryside has proved a 

 decisive factor in our warfare. Country physique, country 

 resource, and country endurance have helped materially 

 to win many a battle. But at home, while impressing a 

 very necessary but very much neglected lesson upon us, 

 concerning the high value and, indeed, indispensableness 

 of the agricultural labourer, the effect has been to 

 place the community in imminent danger of distressing 

 shortage of food, by a still further thinning of the already 

 attenuated ranks of available labour to till the ground and 

 harvest the crops. 



The lesson is not likely to be forgotten. We have con- 

 ceived an interest in Agriculture which, in Mr. Prothero's 

 words, " has come to stay." And that interest is likely 

 not to be least directed towards the point of the agricultural 

 labourer, on the twofold ground of his utility as an instni- 

 inenimn vocale and of his rights as a citizen. 



People interested in Agriculture talk glibly and with pecu- 



