296 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



So bad have housing conditions become that many 

 instances could be cited of the shifts to which both farmers 

 and men were put to find accommodation. A farmer at 

 Woking told the Court on June 29, 1918, that his carter 

 with his wife and three young children were living in a 

 cowstall without any sanitary or other convenience. 



At Oswestry the Rev. D. Gwynfryn Jones gave an instance 

 of a house in Flintshire, " with only five rooms, counting 

 the coal-house, with four families living in it." 1 



It was found, however, that men living in farm-tied 

 cottages were extremely chary of reporting insanitation, 

 for fear of eviction, and through this conspiracy of silence 

 the public has no idea of the terrible conditions under 

 which many of the families of farm labourers are living at 

 the present day. 



Some persons have curious ideas on housing reform. 

 At Montacute, in Somerset, a land agent suggested, that 

 " there were persons in receipt of relief under the Poor Law, 

 who occupy whole cottages at Montacute, who might very 

 well be lodged together in one cottage to their own greater 

 comfort, economy and convenience." The reply of the Rural 

 District Council was commendably brief ; it was " There 

 is no need to comment on this most inhuman suggestion." 



In the case of Permits for the old men it is very gratifying 

 to find that in the majority of cases farmers are paying their 

 old retainers sums which fairly approximate to the minimum 

 wage. One humorous case came under my notice of a farmer 

 who sent for Permits for four of his men working in the prime 

 of life. The reason given why he was not paying the mini- 

 mum wage was that " the price of corn was not high enough. '' 

 On the forms filled in by the same men the reason given why 

 they wished to work under the minimum wage was " be- 

 cause master couldn't afford to pay them such high wages 

 with corn at the price it is." Feudalism is not quite dead 

 yet ! Of course the Permits were refused and this hap- 

 pened before every farm worker got his rise of 6s. 6d. 



One unpleasant incident which very nearly precipitated 

 a strike at harvest occurred this year. It will be noted 



1 Daily News, 24 April, 1920. 



