THE RURAL PROBLEM 33 



the farm. Thus it would vary not only from district to 

 district, but actually from farm to farm.* 



But be the increase great or small, it is quite obviously 

 a burden that the tenant farmer cannot afford, and should 

 not be called upon to pay. This leads us to the conclusion 

 that any Minimum Wage Law for Agriculture must contain 

 a clause giving the tenant the right at any time within 

 12 months of the appointed day to give notice (say, 3 months' 

 notice) to terminate the tenancy at the next quarter day. 

 He will thus have an opportunity of transferring the burden 

 on to shoulders that can, and ought to, bear it. If he is 

 already rented nearly as heavily as he can bear,f this will 

 ensure that the bulk of that burden is transferred, while the 

 competition of others anxious for access to the land will 

 secure that not more would be transferred than the actual 

 cost of the increased wage. 



In cases where the land is at present let at a lower rent 

 than the landlord could now obtain, or is in the occupation 

 of a tenant whom the landlord dislikes, the effect of bringing 

 the contract automatically to an end would be to enable 

 the landlord to make a better bargain, or to get rid of his 

 tenant sooner than he otherwise could. This is not a 

 serious objection, as leases of farms are usually short, and 



* The rate of wages now being paid in any district can be gauged 

 roughly by reference to Appendix B. But the number of acres per 

 labourer is not so easy to ascertain. An attempt is made, for what 

 it is worth, to work out the county averages in Appendix G. 



This calculation has at least a negative value, as proving that average 

 figures are valueless, and that, even if extreme cases are left out of 

 account, the number of acres per labourer varies so enormously that it 

 is impossible to arrive at any general conclusion as to the increased 

 cost of farming per acre which a minimum wage law would entail. In 

 Durham, where the average wage is 22s. 9d., and the average number 

 of acres per labourer appears to be 7G-4, a minimum wane of 23s. 

 would only make a difference of 2d. per acre per year. Whereas in 

 Suffolk, where the average wage is 16s. 7d., and there are only 26-2 acres 

 per labourer, the average increased cost of labour would be about 

 8s. 4d. per acre per annum. 



t In spite of the large increase in agricultural values during the last 

 few years there are considerable numbers of old tenants whose rents 

 have not been raised, on the principle, held by many landlords, that 

 rent should not be raised on a sitting tenant, even where economic 

 conditions justify. But the number of occupied farm houses is greater 

 now than it has ever been before, and when a tenant leaves there is 

 usually competition for the farm. 



