Pamphlet by J E A Willis Fleming, June 1918
From The Muniment Room, a resource for social history, family history, and local history.
‘June, 1918’, printed pamphlet by J E A Willis Fleming addressed to the tenant farmers of the Fleming Estate, June 1918[1].
To my friends who occupy farms on my Estate.
GENTLEMEN,
I had hoped to read you these few remarks at our Midsummer Audit, but, owing to the press of business at this time of the year, few were able to attend, so I thought it best to' have what I intended to say put into pamphlet form, as I did at Christmas.
I bring these few further' suggestions before you because I feel very strongly that we have so many things to try and remedy in our country, and such a comparatively short time to do it in. I have purposely dwelt at some length on the Religious aspect of affairs, because I feel so very strongly that unless we do all in our power, not only to improve our own position, but, also that of the Nation to which we belong in this respect, all our work is of no account.
Hoping I have been fortunate enough to bring before you in these pages one or two matters you will find worthy of your consideration.
Believe me,
Yours sincerely.
JOHN WILLIS FLEMING.
JUNE, 1918.
Having been greatly encouraged by the kind manner in which you received the few remarks which it was my privilege to address to you at the last Christmas Audit, I have felt that I should like to place before you a few more simple thoughts, bearing on the present serious times in which we live, as they occur to me.
Before proceeding further, I wish to bring particular notice to bear upon the splendid work which has been carried on during the last few months, and is being carried on with the utmost vigour, by the British farmers. There was a time when a remark like this might have been looked upon as just flattery, but times have changed, and people don't flatter each other now, You may think this a queer simile, but being an old hunting man, my thoughts are apt to fly in that direction, and the fact is this, that I find myself comparing the farmers of England to a pack of hounds, and knowing the sporting instincts of the farmers as I do, I feel there are few things they would prefer to be compared to. I have watched my own pack of hounds in days gone by, puzzling through a long and difficult hunt on a cold scent, but they have surmounted with great perseverance each difficulty as it arose, and finally worked up to what appeared to be an insurmountable one, a wide river, but coming to the water they would plunge in without hesitation, and, landing on the other bank, shake the water from them and settle down to run in real earnest, and I don't think I ever knew hounds fail to gain their objective after having been put to such a severe test. Now, the British farmers have for many years been working on a very cold scent, surrounded by many and terrible difficulties, until they have at last come to the great and almost insurmountable difficult cy of the War. But, like the hounds, they have thrown themselves body and soul into it, and having already shaken their doubts and trouble from their shoulders on the far bank, are now facing along on the best scent a pack of hounds ever enjoyed. They are running for blood, and soon we shall have the great sight of seeing them roll their quarry over in the open, and more than win the War on the great question of food production. The farmers in this country to-day are fighting a hard fight, but, like their fellow countrymen at the Front, they are winning, and there will be sufficient food for everyone next winter. I feel no doubt about this.
I am very proud of having this opportunity of addressing a small though very representative body of British farmers here to-day, and if you will allow me I should like to offer you my hearty congratulations on the great national work you have achieved, and are achieving, as the days go by. Turning for a moment to our work on the farms, you will of course find it impossible to undertake any great improvements until more men are available after the War; but at the same time, it is wonderful what a good beginning can be made, and many improvements carried out, by the employment of a few women. I have found them a great help, in cleaning ditches, trimming hedges, spreading dung, hoeing roots, and in many other jobs. They thoroughly enjoy the work, and tell me they never felt better in their lives. I must say I am surprised at not seeing more women at work on the farms. Women could grub out the rubbish in some of the meadows, which is sadly in need of being done. A few more farmers have started sheep, but there are still several whom I should much like to see launch out on this important line, and down land adjoining the farms, so valuable for sheep, should not be allowed to grow gorse and other rubbish. Women could cut, grub, and burn it, and the grass would soon come again, I have already said that farmers have done a great deal, and I say it again, but it would be most unwise to slack off in the smallest degree. We must continue to look round and see what requires doing, and then do our utmost to do it, and the judicious employment of women will do more than anything towards the speeding up of the work on the farms and bringing matters up nearer the mark we are aiming at – namely, perfection in our agricultural methods in this country. We call reach that goal if we make up our minds to it, but it means that the slack farmers will have to make way for the energetic men.
The country is now calling for pork and bacon, and we have got to provide it. This should be simple enough, but the old extravagant system of keeping pigs in sties and feeding them on the fat of the land will have to go to It certain extent, but not altogether. Personally I am trying Mr. Edge's system of running them in a large enclosure, and they appear to eat less, to grow quickly, and to give no trouble to anyone; but I take it they will require to be brought into closer quarters to be finished off for the butcher. At Christmas I shall hope to be in a position to give you fuller details of this method of pig-keeping, as by then I may have the good fortune to breed a few under these conditions. Mr. Edge, who lives in Sussex, and has had great experience with this system, informs me that he has had nothing but success with pigs kept in this way. After all it must be a more common-sense method of keeping an animal whose whole nature it is to dig in the earth, for in a brick sty he loses most of the natural enjoyment of his life, and consequently some of his health with it. But these great times are full of fresh discoveries and new methods of doing things, and we farmers are going to be very progressive in the future. I fear our best friends could not have called us that in the past.
The Isle of 'Wight helps more to favour agriculture than almost any part of the British Isles, most of the land being rich and climate excellent. I read in Sir Richard Worsley's “History of the Isle of Wight,” 1781, that more wheat was grown here in one year than could be consumed by the inhabitants in eight. Also the number of sheep shorn annually averaged thirty to thirty-five thousand, also about ten thousand lambs were annually shorn, and three or four thousand went to London and other markets. It is possible that these figures arc very much exceeded now. I hope they are, anyhow, there is no reason why they should not be.
1 won't weary you further on the question of stock, except to ask you to increase the numbers, especially sheep, to the very best of your ability.
Touching upon the question of labour, this is undoubtedly a difficult and most important matter on the farms. Many farm hands are hopelessly and entirely bored with their work, taking little or no interest in it, and as idleness generally follows close on the heels of boredom, it becomes evident that it must be very much to the advantage of the employers to endeavour to bring about an interest and cheeriness into the lives of their men. On some farms an atmosphere of sluggishness and complete boredom prevails; you see it in the manner and the movements of the men. Mr. "Nigh-enough" is strolling about with his hands in his pockets. There used to be a saying in the Navy that "Nigh-enough" is the worse man in the ship, I hope it will be soon realised more generally that a thing is not only worth doing well for its own sake, but also if it is done indifferently or slackly it probably means public damage. Personally I like my men to advise me in many details of the work we have to do together, and in many instances they know a good deal more than I do. A man who is always doing things to order becomes a kind of machine – a hopeless state of affairs. We all of us like to do things our own way sometimes, and it is only right that we should. It is sometimes easy to help a man to be happier and more content in his home by encouraging him in his gardening, and if he wants to keep a pig to let him do so. In these days he certainly ought to. All countrymen should produce their own meat, and more besides if possible. Pig-keeping by the labouring man is of vital importance, and I think farmers and others should foster no suspicions with regard to the honesty of their workmen when pig-keeping is permitted. There is a little inscription on the wall of the lodge at Binstead House - "Contentment is wealth." Make your men thoroughly content in their lives, and you will find their work progresses much more favourably, and in sometimes taking their advice about it you give them a keener interest in it, and also gain, on the principle that "Two heads are better than one." We all enjoy being asked to give our opinion sometimes, and still more so if it is acted upon. The whole future success of the new conditions in agriculture will depend entirely upon how, in the first 'place, the Government treat our fll1'lll hands, and, secondly, on how each farmer, as an individual, behaves towards his men. I'm afraid a bad start has been made by putting 2d. per oz. more on tobacco. This is not a luxury, it is a necessity to many men, and they cannot do without it. I scarcely smoke at all myself, but I know so many working men who require their smoke as much as they do their dinner. I would sooner see a tax put on bicycles, which are a modem invention, and, more or less, a luxury. Very few men and women would consider it much of a hardship to pay something on a bike, and should perambulators be taxed it might have no serious effect on the increase of the population; but cutting down a man's smoke and other little necessaries of life will go a long way towards making him dull and irritable in his work.
In the case of the younger people, who are mostly fond of amusements of all kinds, it would be a pity to place these out of their reach; but all the same, I don't think it could be considered a hardship if a higher tax was placed upon them, and it might be a benefit to the nation in more senses than one.
The tax on farmers need not be regarded, I think, with anything approaching condemnation. Farms will be expected to yield, and will have to be made to yield, a bigger supply. Advanced prices are likely to remain, or even be increased, so a farmer should be in a position to meet any such tax. Also relief is promised in cases of exceptional conditions due to bad seasons. It is, however, all important to keep accounts, and this can be done simply by making an entry on one page of everything received and on the other of everything paid out, when at the end of the year, anyone with a slight knowledge of book-keeping could inform a farmer whether a profit or a loss had been made. An estimate of the value of the stock at the beginning and end of the year would have to be considered in the accounts. The necessity for all this is that farmers can be assessed to Income Tax, under schedule D (exact profits) or under B (double the rental value), so it is clearly shown that it will pay to keep farm accounts. But the whole position is this, to put it simply – w have expensive times ahead of us, not cheap ones. After all these years I think it has been plainly shown us that in the long run the latter do not pay. We have had cheap things in the past, and have been paying pretty dearly for them of late. We have, in fact, lived long enough upon each other's charity, and there is no reason why in future we should continue to make presents in our business relations to each other. Take a farm. There should be no reason why that farm should not be let at its fair and correct value, its produce sold at fair and correct prices, its labour paid fair and correct wages. I sincerely hope that in future we may have right and fair value allowed for everything, so that we may have a higher standard to live up to, becoming far more practical and business-like in every way then perhaps it may be said that at last old England has got under weigh, and is forging ahead on the road to prosperity. With regard to wages, I think one has often thought in years gone by that it would be preferable to see the working man in a more independent position, being not only able to meet the rent for his house, but also his own rates and taxes. He would then be in a better position to use his vote in a sensible manner, as he would be sharing the same responsibilities as those above him.
Dwelling for a moment on the question of better education, I think it is borne in upon us more and more forcibly that something more than what we have at present in our schools is absolutely necessary. We have in the case of Russia a terrible warning. We see there what a thoroughly ignorant people are capable of. Mr. Fisher' is undoubtedly right when he speaks of education as a liberator, and goes on to say--" In enforcing education I am not invading individual liberty, for education is a great liberating power. There is no protection so effective as the protection of superior knowledge. Labour problems will be solved by education." Rural education certainly requires to undergo a great change. The farm worker of the future should be given a greater chance of learning his business. Life in our villages might be made very much more attractive and worth while, with the result that a more industrious, more keenly interested spirit would show itself in the bearing of the people. For the farm worker of to-day it is our duty to make his life on the farm interesting and attractive, by putting him in a responsible position, and encouraging him to bring forward his own ideas, and, if possible, practice them in the work he may be called on to do. Being happy and interested in his work, he will not wish to show it when he gets home at night, with the result that his boys will grow up to think that Dad's job is not a bad one, and will wish to follow in his footsteps. You may easily look on the other side of this picture, and consider the bad and far-reaching influence of a discontented man. I know it is within your power to put an end to such unhappiness and discontent amongst our farm workers, and I earnestly ask you to do so, and by this means encourage many a lad to follow his father to the farm. In the meantime we must hope that some scheme will be prepared to enable our country lads and lasses to have a more useful and practical education for work on the land. We must hope to see the working man running his own show more, and running it well. We don't want the "pity the poor working man" atmosphere to be in evidence, it isn't a healthy condition of affairs. But all good things come at last, including rationing, which is a thing one could wish had come earlier in the War, as it would not only have meant a more abundant supply of necessaries at the present time, but also have prevented that unpleasant sensation which I think many of us experienced that we were not .Sharing alike; however, it has come now, and we shall be a long way from starving on the amount doled out to us.
We are now approaching the fourth anniversary of the War. It still continues, so also do the great and blessed lessons which we derive from it. we have still very much to learn, and humility would seem to be one of the first lessons. So many of us are very averse to humiliating ourselves, especially before God. In Church we hardly think it, necessary to kneel, unless we have large soft hassocks, and as for bowing ourselves before the Almighty, many of us consider this a foolish and un-necessary thing. "Faith in God" is also such an unreal thing in us. It is often said that God is not taking much interest in this War because he allows such terrible things to happen, and that it seems so hard that innocent people, who are supposed not to have done anything wrong, should be obliged to suffer with the supposed guilty ones. We may feel quite certain that there are no innocent people. we have all sinned, and it is right that we should be punished. Also we may feel quite certain that what we know and believe to be right will come out victorious in the end; but what we are not certain about is how long the Almighty will think it necessary to punish the world before He allows goodness and right to conquer. We grumble because those we consider to be our best men are killed, but instead of grumbling we should be thankful for it, because they are the best to go on ahead and intercede for us. The more foolish of us are left here, and given further chances of improving our-selves. Those who have suffered most from the War should be the happiest, for to them is given the privilege of being able to look farther ahead and to understand more fully some of the happenings which are allowed to occur in these great times. But as the War progresses so it appears to be increasingly hard to discover many good results in the religious life of the nation, derived from its teaching. I propose to dwell upon what I consider to be the most serious topic we have to discuss in these most important times, a topic which, unless we can more closely agree upon, all our work is in vain; no really good results can be derived from it, it is the religious spirit existing, or shall I say, not existing, in the lives of the people belonging to all classes of this nation. But to you I will speak of that belonging to the working classes in our country villages, because they, I know, look to the farmer for a lead, and accept more readily suggestions coming from him than from anyone else. During the many years I roamed the country with my hounds, I had the good fortune to come across some of the good old-fashioned type of yeomen farmers who at one time of day exercised a great influence in our countryside, but they, like a good many more fine old institutions, have more or less died out in these days. I would urge all British farmers of the present day to realise more fully the importance of their position, and I think they will readily do so, and be ready to accept the grave responsibility, which is undoubtedly theirs, of not only setting a very high example, but also leading and directing in every possible way the lives of those who dwell in our countryside. In regard to so many of us, the apathy which exists in religious matters is a very serious thing. No antagonistic feeling appears to exist towards God's teaching and His Holy Church. It is purely an attitude of complete indifference. Nothing can be worse than this; a state of affairs governed by hatred would be much easier to deal with – hatred is a living thing, and can be tackled, but supreme indifference is a dead condition, most difficult to deal with.
There is a little book entitled "As Tommy sees us," written by the Rev. Herbert Gray. If you have not come across it, you will find it well worth reading; it gives one a great idea of the standpoint from which the British people are inclined to regard the Church and her work. There are many people in our villages who, though they will tell you they never go to Church, or in fact to any place of worship, at the same time take a certain amount of credit to themselves for reading their Bible at home. They probably put their own interpretation on what they read, and there is the danger of that being a wrong one. They can generally impress you in conversation, and are without doubt leading very straight and respectable lives; but they may be in the position of the good man on the broad road, who in all probability may be on the way to damnation, whereas the bad man on the narrow way may not be. I have felt very grieved at the way our clergy have been taken away from their parishes in these critical times. I don't mean in the case of the curates, who could generally be spare, I imagine, to go and minister to our troops; but it seems to me it would be wiser to take a general from his army or all admiral from his fleet than the rector of a parish from his more than important post. In addition to this, we now hear it suggested that the clergy should go and fight. I was always under the impression that the clergy-man was a man of peace, not war, and that he went to a battle-field to minister to the troops and tend the sick and wounded – his only weapon of defence, and what could he desire alone, the all powerful arm of God shielding him.
Rogation Days have once more gone by, and it is difficult to see that we have in any way adequately thanked God, who provides us with every single thing we possess. I was thankful indeed for the service we had at Chilworth, May 7th. We started from the Church at 3 o'clock, the Vicar and choir leading. We halted at different places, and a Blessing upon the crops, the cattle, and the people in the parish was prayed for – a most impressive service, which one can hope and pray may become general throughout the country each year. At Stoneham also a very fine service was held. Prayers in Church are very good, but I do think we need our religion to be brought more to us in our work as well in the open fields, where God reveals Himself to us all around. We need to ask for everything in order to possess it in the way to do us most good, and, if a thing is good for us, we need have no fear it will be withheld. And what better way is there to ask than by standing out in the open where you can see God's bountiful gifts around you. People passing by while the service is in progress see it taking place, and may go home and think as they have not done before; and when the clergy come round my farm for this special service of the year, I like all work to cease while it takes place, so that both man and beast should literally stand at attention during this all important moment. I wish this was done on all farms; the delay caused in the work is most insignificant when placed beside the many advantages we reap, for we are told very clearly that all we do and live in God's senice will be repaid a thousandfold. Also these open-air services must do much towards helping to break down the intolerable reserve and shyness, and possible pigheadedness, of some, and perhaps be the means of leading many (who for some poor reason or other, and it always is a very poor one when it is really sifted) back to God's Holy Church, where we feel and know He comes in Person to meet us, and to administer to us His Holy Sacrament, renewing thereby our strength each week for the battle of life. But I fear there are some Churches God does not visit in the same way, Churches where the services are conducted in a careless and slovenly manner, where the sermon is sometimes bitter in tone, and where a system of driving, not leading, exists. You can go into one of these Churches on a week day and be struck by the want of devotional feeling there; it is with a sense of relief you come out. In other Churches, when you enter, you feel at once God is there. You are standing in the presence of your Maker; it is a feeling of intense awe. God may not visit some Churches. People are sometimes afraid of much ritual in Church, and are inclined to scoff at it. I have done so myself, but through the War God has shewn Himself as a very real Being to many of us who did not fully realise Him before. We were ready enough to humble ourselves and make obeisance to an earthly king, but saw little reason to show any deference to our Heavenly King. Such a state of things is almost incredible that we are averse to making humble obeisance before God on entering His Church while we are there and on leaving, for we know that where the services are conducted in a humble and devotional spirit, He is there, although we may not see Him at His Holy Altar. A wave of spiritualism is passing over this country. I understand this has followed ill the footsteps of all great wars. People have a longing to communicate with their beloved dead – a most dangerous state to allow oneself to get into. There are undoubtedly both good and bad spirits constantly around us. Occasionally God allows for some good purpose of His Own one of these spirits to reveal himself or herself to us. If our dear ones who have left this life are allowed to return and visit us at any time. we can only regard it as an instance of God's loving thoughtfulness for us, and understand that nothing but infinite good could be derived from such a blessed meeting. But on no account should we try any of the means of what is called Spiritualism, it is a most dangerous state of mind, and can lead to nothing but evil, and a certain looseness of character very much to be deprecated.
Sometimes our country is called Christian England, but I fear we have a great deal to do before we can lay claim to such a title for it; but should we ever' be in that proud position, which please God we may, then things which we have never thought possible may be allowed to take place again upon earth, as they were in days of old, and God may reveal Himself again to man in such ways as many of us now, in our ignorance, believe impossible. The lack of wisdom displayed in the affairs of our country is, I think, brought home to us intentionally by God, so that we may fully realise that, in spite of our folly, we are mercifully preserved from the consequences of it; but let us strive against the worst of all follies, that of leaving him out of our every-day existence. We need His all-powerful help, not only in gaining the mastery over our savage enemies, but also in re-constructing our country after the war, and making it a really good place, so that we shall be able to say with pride our country is England, Christian England. God grant that day may come, and come soon. Our country, and, indeed, the whole world, is being "purified as by fire." God is taking our dearest and our best through the jaws of death, to the very gates of Hell, in order to show us that He is supreme, and that His laws must, and shall, be observed.
Before I conclude, I should like to mention that our two shrines, though not absolutely completed, will he dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Southampton-the one in the Island on Sunday afternoon, June 30th, the one at Stoneham on Sunday afternoon, July 28th, and may I remind you, and also ask you to mention it to others, that after these dates the two buildings will be open at all times for Prayer and Meditation, and those who enter there may feel assured that God's blessing will rest upon them, and whatever their troubles or sorrows may be, they will receive that help which He alone call give. I believe and hope that services will also be held there. I should mention that the present representation of "Christ upon the Cross" in the Shrine is of carved wood. This is to be replaced later by one in stone, now being prepared by Mr. Eric Gill, one of our greatest English sculptors. These lines of Lord Tennyson's seem to me an appropriate conclusion :--
“For what are men better than sheep or goats
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves, and those who call them friend?
For so, the whole round earth is every way,
Bound by gold chains, about the feet of God."
J. WILLIS FLEMING.
