our rivers, might bear it upon his feet as he shuffled with his leaky bucket towards some distant brook.
The Wind Blows Cold
Partly as a result of this epidemic, partly through national and world causes which we knew nothing of, a cold wind of economic depression began to blow through the vale; Elmbury felt it too, the townspeople as well as the country-folk turned up their collars, put their hands in their pocketsâand found nothing there. Elmbury had no independent industries; it was simply a market or clearing-house for the produce of the farmers on the one hand and the goods of the industrial cities on the other. It bought corn, cattle, sheep, pigs, eggs, butter and garden produce, consumed them, or distributed them to the big towns; it sold in return agricultural machinery, cars, lorries, cattle-cake and the various domestic goods which its tradesmen obtained from the manufacturers. But eighty per cent of these goods were bought by the farmers and others who got their living from the soil; theirs was the only real purchasing power, because they were the only real producers. In fact Elmbury was a perfect example of a âcountry-townâ; because without the country it would have perished.
As we have seen, it had no industries that were not directly connected (e.g. flour-milling) with agriculture; it had no considerable population of rentiers, for it was not a residential town, and the retired colonels and rich widows preferred to live in more fashionable places; and it had not yet discovered its one valuable and âinvisibleâ asset, the traffic in tourists, nor was it self-conscious enough, in 1924, to exploit it.
So when the farmers lacked ready money, there was scarcely a man or woman in Elmbury whose livelihood was not affected.The doctors, the dentists, the vet found that their bills were not being paid; the publicans sold less beer; the ironmongerâs premises remained overstocked with tools and implements which he could not sell; the draper was the poorer because farmersâ wives bought fewer new clothes; grocer, tobacconist, butcher, took less money and had less to spend in their turn; and Mr. Tempest the bank manager received anxious letters from his head office inquiring why so many of his clientsâ accounts showed balances in red.
âTwas all the fault of the Foot-and-Mouth, people said; and blamed, as usual, the Ministry of Agriculture. We did not know, then, that there were other and more profound causes of the trade depression, connected with sterling and the gold standard and international markets; we did not know that the wind of which we felt the sharp edge already was a mere zephyr compared with the blast which would soon wither us. We were blissfully unaware of the storm that was brewing in London and New York and Amsterdam; so we put all our troubles down to the autumn epidemic of Foot-and-Mouth, and looked hopefully to the spring.
The Idle Apprentices
Though my uncle and his partners went about with grave faces, and shook their heads over their December balance-sheet, we clerks were nothing loth to be idle, and spent the time very pleasantly sowing a winter crop of wild oats.
There were two other youths articled to my uncle, tough and happy-go-lucky fellows who mistrusted me at first because it had been reported to them that I had been to a public school, was probably lahdidah and sissy, didnât drink beer, and wore plus fours instead of the conventional breeches and gaiters. Sure enough I arrived in the hateful plus fours; and it was also true that at the age of seventeen I wasnât very familiar with pubs. Both matters were soon put right. I bought some breeches which were even yellower, and some gaiters which were even shinier,than theirs; and to match both breeches and gaiters a horse (eight pound ten from a friendly dealer) which although spavined and gone in the wind was possessed of a flashy and exhibitionist nature, and bucked me through the plate-glass
The Wind Blows Cold
Partly as a result of this epidemic, partly through national and world causes which we knew nothing of, a cold wind of economic depression began to blow through the vale; Elmbury felt it too, the townspeople as well as the country-folk turned up their collars, put their hands in their pocketsâand found nothing there. Elmbury had no independent industries; it was simply a market or clearing-house for the produce of the farmers on the one hand and the goods of the industrial cities on the other. It bought corn, cattle, sheep, pigs, eggs, butter and garden produce, consumed them, or distributed them to the big towns; it sold in return agricultural machinery, cars, lorries, cattle-cake and the various domestic goods which its tradesmen obtained from the manufacturers. But eighty per cent of these goods were bought by the farmers and others who got their living from the soil; theirs was the only real purchasing power, because they were the only real producers. In fact Elmbury was a perfect example of a âcountry-townâ; because without the country it would have perished.
As we have seen, it had no industries that were not directly connected (e.g. flour-milling) with agriculture; it had no considerable population of rentiers, for it was not a residential town, and the retired colonels and rich widows preferred to live in more fashionable places; and it had not yet discovered its one valuable and âinvisibleâ asset, the traffic in tourists, nor was it self-conscious enough, in 1924, to exploit it.
So when the farmers lacked ready money, there was scarcely a man or woman in Elmbury whose livelihood was not affected.The doctors, the dentists, the vet found that their bills were not being paid; the publicans sold less beer; the ironmongerâs premises remained overstocked with tools and implements which he could not sell; the draper was the poorer because farmersâ wives bought fewer new clothes; grocer, tobacconist, butcher, took less money and had less to spend in their turn; and Mr. Tempest the bank manager received anxious letters from his head office inquiring why so many of his clientsâ accounts showed balances in red.
âTwas all the fault of the Foot-and-Mouth, people said; and blamed, as usual, the Ministry of Agriculture. We did not know, then, that there were other and more profound causes of the trade depression, connected with sterling and the gold standard and international markets; we did not know that the wind of which we felt the sharp edge already was a mere zephyr compared with the blast which would soon wither us. We were blissfully unaware of the storm that was brewing in London and New York and Amsterdam; so we put all our troubles down to the autumn epidemic of Foot-and-Mouth, and looked hopefully to the spring.
The Idle Apprentices
Though my uncle and his partners went about with grave faces, and shook their heads over their December balance-sheet, we clerks were nothing loth to be idle, and spent the time very pleasantly sowing a winter crop of wild oats.
There were two other youths articled to my uncle, tough and happy-go-lucky fellows who mistrusted me at first because it had been reported to them that I had been to a public school, was probably lahdidah and sissy, didnât drink beer, and wore plus fours instead of the conventional breeches and gaiters. Sure enough I arrived in the hateful plus fours; and it was also true that at the age of seventeen I wasnât very familiar with pubs. Both matters were soon put right. I bought some breeches which were even yellower, and some gaiters which were even shinier,than theirs; and to match both breeches and gaiters a horse (eight pound ten from a friendly dealer) which although spavined and gone in the wind was possessed of a flashy and exhibitionist nature, and bucked me through the plate-glass
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