SOME OTHER REMEDIES 228 



4. To relieve members out of work through 

 disputes and lock-outs when sanctioned by the 

 Executive Committee or the General Council 

 of the Union. 



The membership of the revived Union has 

 steadily increased, and most urgent appeals 

 for the establishment of fresh branches have 

 been received from Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, 

 Northamptonshire and other counties, appeals 

 which cannot be met at present from lack of 

 means. The branches, it is true, when once 

 organized, are self-supporting, but for the 

 necessary expenses of organization it is un- 

 reasonable to draw on the funds accumulated 

 from the scanty earnings of the existing 

 members. I have described the constitution 

 of the new Union in some detail, because it is 

 scarcely known to the general public and still 

 more because it promises to become a very 

 real and beneficent factor in the regeneration 

 of rural life. The members of the Union are 

 recruited from the ranks of the best and 

 steadiest labourers, and experienced agricul- 

 turists have declared that they preferred to 

 have Union men on their farms because they 

 could usually rely on their sobriety and 

 industry. Until the Union secures a material 

 increase in its numbers any attempt at a strike 

 will always be attended with considerable 



