MR. HENRY TAYLOR AT HINDMARSH.

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Mr. Henry Taylor, the Honorary Commissioner of Emigration, gave an address on " The Farm Labourers' Revolt in England." The chair was occupied by Mr. James Weeks. A small book, entitled "Songs for Singing at Labourers' Meetings and Homes," was put into the hand of each person upon entering the Hall, and the proceedings were initiated by all present joining in a song selected from this book. Its opening verses, sung to the tune of "The Fine Old English Gentleman," were as follow : —https://www.youtube.com › watch?v=P7pFP2iQnVU

 “Come, lads, and listen to my song, a song of

honest toil,

 'Tis of the English labourer, the tiller of the

soil;

 I'll tell you how he used to fare, and all the ills

he bore,

 Till he stood up in his manhood, resolved to

bear no more.

 This fine old English labourer, one of the

present time.

 " He used to take whatever wage the farmer

chose to pay.

 And work as hard as any horse for eighteen

pence a day ;

 Or if he grumbled at the nine, and dared to ask

for ten,

 The angry farmer cursed and swore, and sacked

him there and then.

 This fine old English labourer, &c.”

 He used to tramp off to his work while town

folks were in bed.

 With nothing in his belly but a crust or two of

bread ;

 He dined upon potatoes, and he never dreamed

of meat,

 Except a lump of bacon fat sometimes by way

of treat.

 This fine old English labourer, &c.'.

 Mr. Taylor, upon rising, was received with loud and prolonged cheers. He said :— I don't apprehend at all any difficulty with you this evening. For the life of me I cannot see what we have to quarrel about, because what I have to say to you is simply a matter of fact — a matter of history, consequently it is not a matter for debate at all. I think I may say that the most important event in the social history of England, and one by no means unimportant to the political life of the mother-country during the present century, is the revolt of the farm labourer ; and when you through your Secretary invited me amongst you I thought it would not be uninteresting to you to hear something of the " old folks at home," feeling quite sure that none more than yourselves would rejoice to know of the elevation of the poorest and most dejected of our fellow-countrymen, of the liberation of the slave, and of the breaking asunder of the bonds of the British serf. It was in the month of February, 1872, that the warcry of the labourers was raised, and before proceeding to speak further of the movement we will briefly glance at the condition of the labourers immediately prior to that time, and look at the causes which led up to and made the movement a possibility. The condition of the rural population was that of almost complete subjection—of serfdom—to the village magnates—the lord, the squire, the parson, and the farmer. Badly housed, miserably clad, and working for starvation wages, their case seemed to be getting worse and worse, for in the olden times there used to be some show of a supplementary wage in the systematic bestowal of perquisites and parochial relief ; but these were failing, the farmer ceasing to recognise any responsibility beyond the payment of the nominal wage, be it ever so meagre or insufficient; and the poor law was becoming such a huge and expensive machinery, the screw being put on forcibly to throw the people upon their own resources ; and thus it was that in the "darkest part of the night" the daybreak of unionism dawned upon them, giving them hope and courage sufficient to successfully break the chain and demand the "liberty of the subject." The wages of farm labourers in the beginning of 1872, prior to the revolt, were as nearly as possible as I will state ; and I will take care not to exaggerate anything, for in very truth there is no need to do so. In Warwickshire—the county which the movement centres, and in which it took its rise—the men were receiving from 9s to 12s. per week, the difference, as in most other cases, being largely in proportion to the proximity of the village to towns and manufacturing centres; in Oxfordshire, from 8s. to 10s. ; Worcester, Dorset, Hereford, Wilts, Somerset, Devon, Essex, Beds, Cambridge, Herts, from 7s. to 10s. ; Surrey and Sussex, 1s. or 2s. higher ; and these sums you must understand to represent the wages independent of "tucker"— on the contrary, house rent, tucker, clothing, and other necessaries had to be miracled out of these wages into providing not only for the man who received it but often for a wife and family. I will not waste your time in any attempt to divide up these amounts and explain how they were made to meet domestic requirements, for hitherto I have failed, and it will be better as an exercise that you should go into the matter for yourselves. The social condition was very low ; the ignorance of the people was deplorable, and superstition abounded beyond belief. With little or no society beyond his intercourse with one or two others in the field, who were often kept at considerable distance apart to prevent conversation, he had no exercise for his mental faculties beyond the mechanical plodding about the farm or in the field, or if he once thought of his relation to society he would discern that he was a nonentity — no one noticing him or caring for him so long as he worked hard, kept off the rates, and refrained from “picking and stealing.” The farm labourer knew comparatively little of the world outside his own village, either as to the geographical relationship of our own country with others — anything beyond the boundary of England being to them " foreign parts,” whether it be America, Canada, the Cape, or the Australias — nor knew he anything of the condition of the labour market to enable him to make the best of his labour; nor could he well avail himself of any opportunity which might present itself at a distance, being continually in debt to the baker, who, as a matter of course could no longer supply the wife and family when the breadwinner had left, fearing lest he should lose what he had already advanced, for the beggardly condition of the labourer was such as to induce him to fraud and dishonesty — for who amongst us is prepared to hunger in a land of plenty ? In parish matters he was never consulted, nor his rights and privileges either known or recognised by himself or his " betters," who are frequently found fighting him now that he realizes and asserts them in the vestries and other parochial assemblies. Politically, of course, he was nowhere: having no vote, he was never consulted upon any matters whatever, however closely his interests were connected. There were a few exceptions, in the case of agricultural boroughs such as that of Woodstock, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, and created for the special benefit of noble lords and used accordingly, and where at one time either farmer or labourer would as soon dare to dispute the right of His Lordship to exist as to oppose him politically. Legally, he received plenty of attention: but lures and rabbits were protected to a much greater extent — the farmer who ran a dungfork into the behind parts of a labourer being fined five shillings for assault, whilst the snarer of a coney would receive two months' imprisonment as a felon. Cases arising from differences between master and servant, being in all cases decided by the employer class, were much the same as when the wolf caters for the lamb; for the labourers were mostly too poor to procure the defence which a lawyer would afford them, and the cases not being reported, or being reported by a ”local” entirely under the thumb of the magnates, there was no public opinion to operate as it is found to do so wholesomely in large communities where the Press is free; so that the law was frequently twisted and strained to pay off the grudges of bumptious J.P.'s whose dignities may have been assailed by the assertion of the liberties and independence of an exceptionally intelligent labourer who might feel the yoke too oppressive for his advanced stage of manhood. Such has been the conduct of the “great unpaid,'' and so infamously have they betrayed their trusts and privileges that they have become a byword and a reproach in the country districts that law in many cases is not so much respected as the invasion of it, and a Magistrate with a white necktie is regarded as about synonymous with a tyrant. And, verily, the revelations which have been brought to light through the operations of the National Agricultural Labourers' Union are such as to justify the people in their contempt towards such an institution, which has been such an engine of tyranny as to call forth denunciations from all communities, not excepting the Lord Chancellor himself, who, in the most severe language, rebuked a certain landlord, magistrate, barrister, and esquire named Wilberforce — a name he disgraced for summarily flogging two boys until the blood flowed in streams from them for having been in the field pursuing rabbits. We have taken care, since the labourers' movements have given us facilities, to expose and denounce many of the most flagrant injustices of these lordly tyrants ; but we have not been able to cope with one half of them. What was done in times previous when there was no one to keep a look out God only knows, but it was something terrible. The law in the hands of the rural J.P.'s was as the rod in the hand of the schoolmaster of the olden times, and was used as recklessly. The following song, composed by the Editor of the English Labourer, is a fair representation of the regard in which the labouring classes view the J.P. portion of their betters : —

 My name it is Squire Puddinghead,

 A Justice of the Peace, Sir,

 And if you don't know what that means,

 Just ask the rural p'lice, Sir.

 When culprits nabbed for petty crimes

 Within my Courts assemble,

 If I am sitting on the bench

 Oh ! don't I make them tremble

 At the great unpaid,

 Ask anything but justice

 Of the great unpaid.

 The cases that I have to try

 Are mostly small transgressions.

 So small, the Court in which I sit

 Is called the Petty Sessions ;

 A sort, of legal smalltooth comb,

 The offences are so tiny,

 You'd laugh at them, but you'd not laugh

 When I commence to fine ye.

 Oh ! the great unpaid, &c.

 If Polly Brown but takes a stick

 From Farmer Giles's fences,

 I fine her twopence as its worth,

 And fourteen bob expenses ;

 And if a tramp sleeps in a field,

 Such is my lordly bounty,

 I find him lodgings for a week —

 Provided by the county.

 The Union leaders I would hang

 'Twould be a task delightful.

 But since I can't, I am content

 To do the mean and spiteful ;

 And if my colleague, Captain Fair,

 Would be the poor's protector.

 The vilest things I dare to do

 Are backed up by the Rector.

 Oh ! the great unpaid !

 Ask anything but justice

 Of the great unpaid.

 This condition of things has given rise to a great agitation in favour of a better administration of justice, and for a Stipendiary Magistracy. The religious condition of the rurals was such generally as to afford little anxiety to the national shepherds, the clergy of the Established Church, who appeared to be “asleep in Zion.” They imagined that their flocks were well fenced in, and all that was necessary was an occasional walk round : their dogs, keepers, police, J.Ps., &c., were entrusted with the rest. For the most part the villages possessed the cardinal virtues ; they were “ poor, humble, and meek,” and rarely raised themselves beyond those boundaries. I noticed lately a paragraph in the English Labourer, giving as the Rev. G. Congrene's ideal of a Christian life an example in the Life of a Cornish farmers lad, who was so advanced in spiritual perfection that at last he gave six hours a day to devotion. This young man found the spiritual life in "fasting and early rising, six hours' daily prayer the mortification of the flesh, living on plain food, dressing in the cheapest clothes, dwelling among the poor, giving up all his means, and maintaining himself by daily labour on his father's farm, and constantly in spiritual anatomization." I need hardly tell you that there are no priests or clergy of any denomination who have faith enough in this kind of thing to live it themselves, and I must confess that I am quite as sceptical ; and yet there are hundreds of men getting good livings by preaching this and similar impracticable rot and falsehood to the poor of my country. The clergy of the Established Church are not alone responsible for thus teaching poverty, and submission to what was libellously called Divine Providence; it was preached week by week by dissenters, itinerant and local preachers, who seemed quite sincere ; and the tongues of those who held clearer views of the Divine will were silenced, because there seemed to be no way of escape. Now and then we heard a voice crying in the wilderness, a few solitary prophets denouncing the social wrongs, and doing what they could to improve the condition of the people; such was that venerable and godly man Canon Girdlestone, who for years stood out on the side of the oppressed, enduring the calumny and reproach of his neighbours. He assisted as many as he could to emigrate and migrate to better fields of labour, and so has earned the right to live in our memories, revered and respected; but, good man as he was, Canon Girdlestone could never understand what we meant by freedom for the labourer; and although he worked, and was prepared to co-operate with others to assist and benefit the poor, yet he could never realize the independence of the people and the possibility of their doing for themselves what he had recognised as the duty of other classes to do for them. And let me not be misunderstood to underestimate the kind feeling and benevolence of many who in their own way and through pity, did much to alleviate the sorrows of the poor, when I say that many of these their apparently greatest friends were the greatest opponents of the labourer's efforts at self-help and independence—threatening those who dared to assert such a position with all kinds of penalties involved in the withdrawal of their patronage. Whilst all these things were so there was a gradual and continual work going on— unnoticed but none the less sure— which must ultimately produce its fruits. Through the dames' schools and the parish schools, inefficient as they were, and with all the stumbling-blocks and barriers raised by a bigoted directorate mostly centred in the parish clergyman, there was and had long been a leaven of education which had done some thing amongst the naturally shrewd peasantry. That bugbear dissent had made sad havoc against the law and doctrine of "constituted authority;" and with all the strange doctrines preached by an oftimes illiterate local preacher in the "conventicle," there was the seed of revolt against a condition of things which seemed wrongs in the light of a growing intelligence. We shall not be likely to attach too much importance to the work of dissenters in the villages, to whom we are indebted very largely for the life and energy which were remaining to the labourers prior to 1872. Where dissent was most rife, there was found the most spirit and courage in the people ; and where only the Established Church predominated, there was most servility and cowardice, unless in some very exceptional cases where the clergyman was a better man, and not a worse, for holding such a position. Another force was at work. The railways were being carried in every direction through the rural districts, making it possible for men in the towns and cities to come more in contact with each other. The penny Press soon found a growing circulation in the villages; and thus Reynolds, Lloyd, and others commenced to talk strange things to enquiring disciples, which gradually made them very uneasy. It occasionally told them of cruel injustices which were practised, and how the perpetrators had been punished and held up to reprobation; and in comparing the reported case with their own circumstances they often found their own case the worse of the two, which made them restless and anxious for redress. They read of Trades Unions and strikes, and their hearts burned within them when they read of the triumph of the worker, and sank when the men were defeated. Now, men in the villages — the most plucky of them — had commenced working for railway contractors for a better wage ; some had gone to cities and towns — had dared to tear themselves away from their old associations: the village church and steeple, with its chiming bells on the Sabbath, was no small thing to sacrifice: and as each man wrote home, and forwarded to his wife and family the means of maintenance, or re-visited his village, the spirit of revolt was sown. All these things could be clearly seen by those who watched the signs of the times and who study cause and effect. Professor Beesley, in a pamphlet written five years prior to the starting of the movement, predicted that in that space of time in all probability there would be a rising of the farm labourers : and so it happened. Subsequent events proved how effectually the above causes had been in operation, for at the blast of the first trumpet men came forth from all parts of the oppressed rural districts, possessing such a power of natural eloquence and intelligence, though with a scanty education, which surprised everybody. It is a disputed question as to where the first sound was heard, nor does it signify much ; the field was ripe for the harvest, and whilst Joseph Arch was holding forth as much to the surprise of himself as of his neighbours, Teddy Haynes in Warwickshire, George Ball in Lincolnshire, and numbers of others in other directions were busily engaged in calling upon the poor to revolt against their miserable condition and demand a livelihood more compatible with our civilization. I cannot refrain from mentioning the name of J. E. Matthew Vincent, who at the risk — and no small one as that time — of the withdrawal of patronage, hurried to the assistance of Joseph Arch in making his voice heard in the country, and who, together with William Gibson Ward, a fierce and powerful writer, started the first paper which espoused the cause of the labourer in such a way as to command the attention of all classes. I do not mention these individuals and their work with less pleasure than I feel regret that they have not shown themselves more stanch to the principles which they at first professed to advocate. These have now no part in the matter, the English labourer having superseded the first. The labourers of Warwickshire had no sooner conceived the notion of uniting than the farmers, clergy, and squires, with Sir C. Mordaunt at their head, met in solemn conclave to consider this shocking ingratitude of the men, spoke of their kindness to the men in charities and perquisites, declared that they must " nip it in the bud," the Rev. Canon Holbeach declaring that it was "seditious and wicked," and resolutions condemnatory were passed by this "union of the powers" to stamp out the union of laborers, and they decided to give a week's notice to all who belonged to the movement to leave their employ. This they carried out, and at the end of the first week some 300 men were without means of subsistence, and many of them under notice to quit their homes. In the meantime I had been solicited, by some labourers in a village near Leamington, to address them on Unionism, and help them to start. Why they came to me I know not : I had never been in public, nor was I in the least a speaker, but a quiet homely man. Nevertheless I could not refrain, and with my shopmates we went over after our day's work was over, and, meeting a vast audience of labourers and their wives and daughters, we started a branch of the Union. I had the honour that week — the week the men were under notice to leave — to write the first appeal to the Trades Unionists and the country for help, which was liberally responded to, and which saved the men from submission, or perhaps a more violent rebellion. The Daily Telegraph and the London Daily News at first, and then other influential newspapers, espoused the cause of the labourer, and from almost all classes expressions of sympathy, as well as practical help, was forthcoming. Politicians of the advanced school imagined that they could see a power arising which might be of service to the party of progress. Social reformers rejoiced at the ''shaking of the dry bones,'' and conceived a grand change in society as a result of the movement : and thousands who have no sympathy whatever with workmen's combinations came forward to assist the labourer to a bigger loaf and his social and political rights. But there was another party, of immense strength, who, whilst they did not deny the labourers' right to sufficient food, were not prepared to concede any social or political position, knowing full well that in proportion as the labourer's influence and power was increased, theirs must diminish. This cut them to the core, and it was not to be wondered at if they resisted what they considered an encroachment on their “divine right” to govern. The farmers, upon whom the demand for a better wage was made, resisted upon two pleas — it affected their profits, and to them it presented itself as an interference with his right to decide for himself what he should pay his men — as though the seller should abide by the price fixed by the buyer for his commodity ; but, however absurd the arguments and notions of these employers may appear to us who can look without prejudice upon the question, there is no doubt of the sincerity of those who held them, who were quite satisfied that they were rendering a service to the poor men themselves if they could only destroy this most seditious Union and protect them from the seductive influences of the agitators. Who were the agitators ? Mostly labouring men from the field— men of power in speech who were pained with the smarts of the oppression which in common with those to whom then appealed they had been subjected in the past; and men who, if their knowledge of political economy was not of a sound order, were yet decided in their faith that their condition was not such as industrious men were entitled to. These expressions were uttered with tongues of fire, and they appealed effectively to tens of thousands of awakening souls, who aforetime were cast down and hopeless. These agitators were, as a rule, morally, the best men of their class, of good repute, chosen by the people themselves as their philosophers and guides, and far away from them I am happy in testifying to their industry and integrity; for I believe there were never so many men so hurriedly called forth to so important a work who acted more faithfully in their calling. Great and good men allied themselves to the movement in its early stages ; some of them are still stanch and tried friends. Mr. J. S. Wright, Alfred Arnold, and Jessie Collings, of Birmingham ; Rev:. F. S. Attenborough, of Leamington ; J. C. Cox, Mr. S. Morley and others in London are amongst the number who have rendered us valuable assistance, and to whom the labourers of England will be always indebted. In March, 1872, the first district was formed in Warwickshire, and in June the movement, had so far spread as to justify a union of the various districts in the country, which took place on the 29th, when a National Union was formed, with Joseph Arch as President, with an Executive Committee of 12 labourers, and a Consulting Committee of gentlemen who were known to be favourable to the movement, and myself as the General Secretary; There were also elected a number of men known as delegates, whose duty it was to go into the villages and invite those who were ready for union, and stir up those who were not. Now the war was raging. The farmers declared that they would not be interfered with by outsiders, but would manage their business in their own way; they averred also that their men were stirred up by designing politicians, socialists, and men of disrepute. All kinds of tyranny were practised ; whole families turned headlong out of their homes irrespective of legal process, thousands discharged from employment, poor relief cut off from the sick and infirm relatives of Unionists, parish doles were cut off, damnatory sermons preached at them, all kinds of threats were used, and the conspiracies of the farmers who amalgamated to crush the Union made the thing quite lively. Union poets arose who wrote songs reminding the men of bondage and inspiring them to patriotism. These were sung at thousands of meetings by tens of thousands of poor men and women who were looking to the Union as their only hope and refuge, and the greater the persecutions the greater were the bonds of sympathy and cause for united effort. There were numerous stand-up fights, and what with the courage of the new-born enthusiasts and the financial assistance of the members and friends of the Union, backed by public sympathy, the men almost invariably won ; and notwithstanding reverses and defeats, which were often as beneficial as victories, the Union soon succeeded in making some 50,000 members, with an average rise in the wages of agricultural labourers of 3s. per week all round. In 1874 there was a dead stand made against the Union in Suffolk, where at one time there were some 6,000 men thrown on the funds. The farmers combined ostensibly for the purpose of resisting certain rules of the Union and a rise in wages— the rate then being paid was 13s. — but the disguise was soon removed, and it was soon seen that it was against the Union itself they were fighting; and they declared that until the labourers gave up their newspaper and the voices of Arch, Ball, and Taylor were silenced, they would come to no terms with the men. The contest lasted for some months, costing us many thousands of pounds, which was raised from members' contributions and public subscriptions, which flowed in from all sources. Through want of energy in the men, which I can well excuse, and the season being favourable to the farmer, we could not claim a decisive victory, although we maintained our Union, and are stronger in that country to-day than ever; but it cost the fanners to such an extent that it is doubtful if they lightly undertake such another job. Moreover, whilst this battle was going on the farmers in other parts of the country were awaiting the results, whilst the men were strengthening their Union. Doubtless, if the farmers in the eastern counties had had an easy triumph there would soon have been attacks all round the lines. It was during this conflict that I conceived and carried out the idea of marching some 70 farmers' labourers from Newmarket to the North, finishing at Halifax, where the Trades Unionists organized a demonstration with 15 brass bands, and a procession of the whole of the Unionists — many thousands. To the credit of the Trades Unionists of England in each town we came to they met us right nobly, and so besides sending to the funds a net of nearly £800 Relief Committees were formed from which we received weekly contributions of money. There are continually little squabbles occurring in different parts of the country which waste a good deal of money, but which resists the tyrannical powers of the farmers, who have many of them yet to learn that there must be two to a bargain in lieu of one, as in former times. A great deal of money has been expended in law in resisting legal oppression, and the “ powers that be”  have been quite surprised to know ; the law, having been in the habit of dealing with questions according to their own notions or feelings. Large sums of money have also been expended in the removal of its members from badly-paid districts to places where labour is in demand. Large numbers have also been assisted to emigrate, and I am glad to say that our emigration policy has been very satisfactory, simply because, as a rule, the members are such as an agricultural or new colony requires. We have been gratified to receive so many testimonies from those who have emigrated to the effect that their position and prospects have been improved. I have received one during the past week from a couple from our Society, which is very pleasing. Our agricultural labourers at home are, in my opinion, far too numerous for their own good, and it will be well when they have the world for their market. The National Agricultural Labourers' Union has been a great success: it has been and is still a great educational power, and although the labourers have much to learn which has been gained by others through experience, and which can be secured through no other channel, I know of no means so likely to educate them economically, socially, or politically as the Society afforded them in their organization. They will blunder as all others do; but their aims are good, and under the direction of men in the future as good as those who have hitherto assisted them there need be no fears entertained as to the future. You will be glad to know that a work much greater than could possibly have been done by private benevolence for the poor has been performed by the poor for themselves by the application of the principle of self-help. The Union is now in healthy condition, having in its funds upwards of £8,000 accumulated out of the contributions of its members, who pay 2d. per week; it has given to the labourer a place in society which was hitherto denied to him: it has freed their labour and made the markets of the world accessible to them: its eye is vigilant upon those who would otherwise disregard the just claim of its members, and through its instrumentality the enfranchisement of the rate payer in the village as in the city is only a thing of the immediate future. Lord Suffield some time since, speaking of the Union, remarked, " Let us pinch them with hunger — that will bring them to their senses." And so it is, although not in the sense in which that bloated aristocrat meant it. It was the pinching which caused the revolt, and now that they have realized the power of combination they will never be content with anything short of what their growing intelligences teach them is right; and thus they will only share with all other classes of society the laudable desire and ambition to advance with the times.

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Wednesday 10 January 1877, page 7