118 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



County Council ; in most cases one might 

 just as well urge him to take a trip to the 

 Riviera. 



The deliberations of the Rural District 

 Councils are even more remote from the 

 general life of the labouring classes. It is 

 scarcely an exaggeration to describe them as 

 " farmers' clubs," and the one central tradition 

 of such bodies is with rare exceptions to 

 keep the rates down and do as little as possible. 

 Nevertheless to these Councils are accorded the 

 administration of Acts of Parliament designed 

 for the benefit of the labourers. Urban 

 politicians, obsessed with the ideal of self- 

 government, propose to intrust far-reaching 

 proposals for better housing to Councils whose 

 record in many instances may fairly be de- 

 scribed as one of obstinate obstruction and 

 callous neglect. 1 They fail to see that the 

 habits of self-government once so vigorously 

 developed in the English village have been 

 almost atrophied for want of use during 

 centuries of poverty and oppression. The 

 Parish Council is the only governing body in 

 which the labourers can play a part. Here 



1 The Select Committee of the House of Commons 

 appointed to consider Mr. Mackarness' Housing Bill 

 in 1906 reported as follows : " It is clear that most 

 Rural District Councils have taken practically no 

 advantage of the Act (of 1890}." 



