GROWTH UNDER STORMY SKIES. 201 



The years 1913 and 1914 proved to be two years of con- 

 siderable unrest in agricultural districts. In Yorkshire 

 and in Herefordshire the Workers' Union made the most 

 headway. In Lancashire, Cheshire and Somerset the 

 N.A.L.U., was very active. In Yorkshire, the Workers' Union 

 began to formulate a demand for the minimum wage of 

 245. a week. Wages there varied from i6s. to 2os. for ordin- 

 ary labourers, and from 19$. to 22s. for cattlemen and horse- 

 men, plus cottages, potatoes, milk. At the May hiring, 1913, 

 at Brigg the wagoners obtained 22 to 25. A union was 

 formed at Scotch Corner, Richmond, called the Richmond and 

 District Farm Labourers' Union which demanded a weekly 

 half-holiday and overtime pay at the rate of 6d. an hour. 

 It was stated that Mr. Harry Evans, through starting the 

 Union, was thrown out of work, and could find none in that 

 neighbourhood. 1 



The labourers' demand for a living wage became insistent 

 in Yorkshire and a year later a strike very nearly took place. 

 The Herefordshire labourers in 1913 were also murmurous 

 with discontent. A year later, as we shall see, over 1,000 

 notices were served on farmers ; and one can hardly feel 

 surprise at the demands made by the men. 



In theHcrefordfoKrnalaf July 12, 1913, there isan illuminat- 

 ing report of afarmlabourersummonedfordebt. When asked 

 by the Judge at the Leominstcr County Court what his wages 

 were, he answered " us. and a cottage." He had a wife 

 and four children to support and his wages stopped on wet 

 days. He got a bit of wood now and again and was allowed 

 a row of potatoes in a field. He once was paid as much as 135. 

 a week, but this was without a cottage. He had never kept 

 a pig or fowls. He offered to pay los. in the pound by in- 

 stalments of 45. a month. The Judge made the order but 

 expressed his doubt of the debtor's ability to pay. 



In August and September there was a revival of trade 

 unions in Somerset and Wiltshire. 



Much attention was given in this year to the dietary of 

 agricultural labourers. Somebudgetsgivenbyme in my book 

 The Tyranny of the Countryside, published in 1913, evoked a 



1 Yorkshire Herald, August 22, 1913. 



