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RABI - the first 150 years - Part 4
End of an Era Beginning of a Century
The years 1880 to 1910, and the completion of RABI’s first 50 years, was
a period of significant change and enormous technological development
in Britain. Schooling became compulsory; time was standardised by the
adoption of GMT; agricultural workers (men that is) were given the vote;
old age pensions were introduced; both Queen Victoria, after celebrating
her Golden Jubilee, and King Edward VII died; the Labour party, the
Suffragette movement and Sinn Féin were all founded and there was a
plethora of technological firsts, ranging from radio transmission and air
flights to zip fasteners and paper clips.
It was also a time of change for RABI. At the beginning of 1880 the
charity’s founder, John Mechi, seconded a proposal, which was
unanimously agreed at the February council meeting, “that any member
of the council on compounding with his creditors shall be disqualified
from retaining his seat on the Council Board”. Ten months later, the
following letter, addressed to the secretary Charles Shaw, was read to the
December council meeting:
“Dear Shaw,
Owing to my advanced age, declining health and financial difficulties I
have determined on resigning my seat at our Council and also
withdrawing my name as a Trustee to the royal Ag. Bent. Instn. In doing
so please assure my brother Councilmen that my exertions on behalf of
the Charity will continue and that I shall always look back with pleasure
on our social intercourse in connection with the charity.
Dear Shaw
Thine truly
J.J. Mechi ”.
The secretary was ‘instructed to reply on the most sympathetic terms.’
Within five days of the meeting on 9th December his affairs had been
placed in the hands of the liquidator and he died on Boxing Day, not of
diabetes, as previously recorded but, according to his death certificate,
‘phrenitis, gastritis, exhaustion’.
Tribute to a Worthy Founder
The minutes of the next council meeting, on 4th January 1881, record:
“That this being the first meeting of the Council since the lamented death
of Mr John Joseph Mechi the secretary be instructed to convey to Mrs
Mechi and family their unfeigned regret at the loss they have sustained by
the decease of their much valued friend and coadjutor Mr Mechi. In their
severe bereavement the Council desire to assure Mrs Mechi and her family
of their sincere and heartfelt condolences.” It was unanimously agreed
the secretary prepare a framed address, be ‘engraved on vellum and
presented to Mrs Mechi’.
It was also recorded that there would be a proposal at the next meeting
for “an annuity be granted to Mrs Mechi out of the funds of the
Institution”. However, events seem to have overtaken this proposal as
within days of the meeting a national ‘Mechi Fund’, had been established.
Championed by a number of MPs the fund was chaired by the Marquis of
Huntly and its committee included the Duke of Bedford, the Earl of
Leicester, Lord Carrington and many other men of wealth and influence.
As a result, at the February meeting the proposal was postponed “until
the total sum resulting from the Mechi Fund should be ascertained.” At
that stage, with £4,000 already, the prime minister William Gladstone, at
the request of Samuel Morley MP, granted a donation of £200 from the
Royal Bounty. It was agreed to close the fund at £5,000 (equivalent to
about £500,000 in current values) - an overwhelming acknowledgment of
the respect in which John Mechi was held.
In April the deaths are also recorded of Charles Cantrell (who had
chaired the council for the past 29 years) and Thomas Scott (the original
deputy-chairman), who had both served on the council since its
formation. Subsequently, at the May meeting, it was unanimously
agreed: “That the Annual Dinner of the Society should be abandoned for
the present year in consequence of the death of the Founder and of other
influential members of the Society.”
Cattle Plague Donation
During this time there was also a long-running correspondence with the
Norfolk Cattle Plague Association. The members of the association,
having decided that there was now little likelihood of their remaining
funds (about £6,000) being required for the original object of the
association, wanted to give two-thirds of the amount to RABI.
The RABI council had agreed that it would permanently invest the
money and use the income exclusively for the relief of Norfolk farmers,
with a stipulation that should any legal proceedings be taken against the
Association for breach of trust the money, or investments, would be
returned. However, the agreement ran into legal obstacles and after
several months of procrastination it was finally resolved that the money be
invested by the Norfolk Cattle Plague Association with the interest paid to
RABI.
The council agreed that the income from the fund would be used to
‘maintain one married couple, one male and two females’. In return all
present members of the Association were each granted a vote, for the
period of their life, in the annual ballot for the selection of pensioners.
Balloting for Pensioners
By present standards the system of selecting pensioners by an annual
vote may now seem somewhat archaic. But with the number of
qualifying applicants far exceeding that which could be accepted, this method of selection with the results being available for public scrutiny, was considered the most acceptable.
However, the allocation of votes, based on how much a subscriber
donated, could enable wealthy donors undue influence in the selection
of pensioners. Large donations could also result in voting rights being
granted for a considerable number of years with the rights passing on to
heirs or executors.
For example, in 1885 Miss Emma Goodman of 68 Tavistock Street,
Bedford left £1,500, which equated to 228 votes (for 60 years) to be
administered equally by four trustees (72 each) and “on the death of
any one of the Trustees his or her votes to be divided among the
survivors”. When the last surviving trustee died, in April 1930, the 228
votes passed to the Bedfordshire Agricultural Society “until 1944
inclusive”.
In 1882 the council agreed a rule “that Firms, Companies, and
Corporate Bodies making Donations to the Institution shall receive Votes
at the rate of One for every Five Guineas, such Votes being vested in a
Trustee or Trustees, to be appointed at the time the Donation is made,
and to cease on the death of the same or surviving Trustee; but in no
case shall the number of trustees appointed exceed the sums of Five
Guineas so paid.”
This encouraged donations from numerous organisations such as local
farmers’ clubs, agricultural associations and hunts that held votes for
varying lengths of time. Not all of them had an obvious connection
with agriculture. For example, in 1897, the Tring Association for the
Prosecution of Felons donated £5 5s 0d and held one vote for 50 years.
The records also list 73 vicars and others who had life votes standing
in their names, as a result of church collections, and among the
executors “administering deceaseds' votes” the Westminster, Barclays,
Lloyds and National Provincial banks, as well as the Public Trustees
Office, all held a considerable number of votes which were not due to
expire until 1962 to 1966.
Death of Victoria
The minutes of the February 1901 council meeting carry the text of a very
fulsome address to “The King’s Most Excellent Majesty” expressing the
council’s condolences on the death of Queen Victoria and welcoming King
Edward VII to the throne. At the May meeting the secretary read a letter
from the Keeper of the King’s Purse, Sir Dighton Probyn, confirming that
the King was “pleased to accede to the request that he should become
Patron.”
In August 1901 the Archbishop of Canterbury voiced his support of
RABI. In a letter read to the council, he said that having “inquired in to
the work” of RABI he was “quite satisfied that it is of great value”. He
added that the need for it “in the present state of agriculture is
undeniable and the mode in which an endeavour is made to meet that
need appears to me to be sound in every way.” He declared his support
for the donation of harvest festival collections to the charity and
encouragement for “clergy who are deeply interested in the agriculture of
this country” to find other modes of supporting RABI.
By 1909 two topics dominated the council discussions – the affects of
the government’s proposed introduction of an old age pension scheme
and a celebration to mark RABI’s 50th anniversary.
Pensions Act
David Lloyd George, the chancellor of the exchequer in Asquith’s Liberal
government was determined to take action to "lift the shadow of the
workhouse from the homes of the poor". He believed the best way of
doing this was to guarantee an income to people who were too old to
work and in 1908 he introduced the Old Age Pensions Act to provide
between 1s. and 5s. a week to people over seventy on incomes not
exceeding 12s. a week.
The council set up a sub committee to study the effect that such a
pension scheme might have on RABI funds and its pensioners and, as
result of its deliberations, the following statement was made at the
AGM in June 1909. “With a view to preventing their funds – which are
entirely voluntary – from being used in the relief of State obligations,
the Council have resolved that the pensions of persons who are over 70
years of age shall be reduced by such a sum as will enable them to
apply for the Government Old Age Pension of the largest amount,
provided such a reduction does not involve their Pensioners in any
pecuniary loss. Any saving thus effected will enable the Council to
increase the number of their annuitants.”
However, it was not to prove to be a straightforward operation as the
auditors (Messrs Deloitte) pointed out to the October 1909 council
meeting. Because, unlike the government’s old age pension scheme,
RABI did not pay the same rate to men as to women the calculations
would be different and the charity “must entertain the keeping of an
entirely fresh set of books and additional office staff as well as more
lengthy and careful audit of the accounts.”
At the same time the auditors estimated that the savings should be
not less than £1,000 a year “if the revision of pensions was carried out
with care and accuracy.” In fact the secretary reported to the December
meeting that “a saving of £1,500 per annum would probably be
effected”.
Dinner That Never Was
As early as June 1908 the RABI chairman, The Earl of Jersey, was
approaching the Prince of Wales to seek his consent to preside at a
Jubilee Dinner in 1910. Not surprisingly, the prince was “disinclined to
make any definite arrangements for an event separated from us by so
long an interval of time”, and told him to come back nearer the time.
During 1909 there are indications that some members of council were
concerned that a date for the dinner could not be fixed until they had
received a response from the Prince. This was resolved by his
acceptance at the beginning of 1910 and at the council meeting on 2nd
May it was reported that “the Prince of Wales had expressed his
personal approval of the arrangements made for the Jubilee Dinner on
the 10th inst, and that the acceptances up to date amounted to 370”.
On 6th May, just four days before the dinner, King Edward died. As it
is recorded in the proceedings of the 50th annual general meeting on
8th of June: “The arrangements that had been made for celebrating the
jubilee of the Institution by a public dinner, at which the present King
had graciously consented to preside, were in consequence of the
national affliction immediately cancelled.” The report continues to say that the jubilee fund, which would remain open until the end of the year had already reached a total of £5,000.
In an attempt to salvage some sort of celebration of the anniversary it was decided to hold the postponed jubilee dinner in December, during 'cattle show week' (the forerunner to the Smithfield Show), and the Duke of Portland who had expressed a willingness to attend, was invited to preside. Unfortunately the Duke was unable to attend during December and he suggested that the dinner should be postponed "until the present Prince of Wales becomes of age to take part in public affairs when he would be glad to find out if His Royal Highness will honour the Society by presiding."
As a result, on the recommendation fo the dinner committee, the council decided to 'relinquish' the dinner and what had been hoped to be a year of celebration ended on a rather low note.
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