The Organisation oj the Industry. 31 



which kept them in their class, and gave a new hope and 

 purpose to the whole of their fellows. In agriculture there 

 was no such outlet for the natural leaders. Scattered as 

 they were, working long hours with little leisure, too poor 

 to pay the necessary contributions to maintain such 

 organisations even if the initial difficulties could be over- 

 come, those who ought to have been the natural leaders 

 of their class had perforce to seek other occupations. By 

 their very circumstances the farm workers were unable 

 to take the same means as other workers to lift themselves 

 out of the pit into which they had fallen. Several 

 despairing efforts they did make, but it was easy for the 

 farmers to mark down the leaders and quietly but none the 

 less effectively to make it impossible for them to gain a 

 living. It was a difficult matter to create such a spirit in 

 the rural districts as would prevent victimisation. When 

 everyone's movements are known to all in the neighbour- 

 hood, the rural agitator did not require to be blacklisted 

 to close employment to him. He soon found that the 

 country was no place for agitators. 



To this lack of freedom driving away the most spirited 

 and independent of the workers we must add the lack of 

 opportunities for the families of farm workers. Parents 

 who had families growing up and wished to give them 

 opportunities for a better life than they had, found that 

 the country was no place for those who wanted to do well 

 by their families. Educational facilities as a rule were 

 not good, and if any of the children bade fair to rise above 

 the average level there were no openings for them. Thus 

 it happened that the parents who took their responsibilities 

 to their families most seriously would not stay on the 



