Labour 



them votes, and groans under an organized 

 system of bribery, Tammany Halls, and political 

 corruption. Our labourers are the backbone of 

 England. The cities are simply kept going by 

 rural recruits, and unless the backbone is sound 

 woe betide the remainder. 



Antagonism between farmers and labourers 

 must cease, or we cannot thrive. The farmer 

 is the more intelligent, and the first move must 

 be his; he must not oppose small holdings or 

 allotments or any means by which the labourer 

 can become independent. If there is scope for 

 ambition the young men will not flock to the 

 towns; they would remain, and our rural popu- 

 lation increase, not decrease. But conditions must 

 be made agreeable, if they are to remain, and 

 then the intelligent able ones will remain, not, 

 as at present, only the very young or the very 

 old or the unambitious plodders. A little under- 

 standing, a little broad-mindedness, a little 

 looking ahead, and a very decided and wholesale 

 abandonment of the old selfish attitude, and the 

 " Bad Old Times " will be forgotten in the 

 " Happy Present." 



53 



