FARMERS AND TITHES

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 25 January 1933, Page 7

FARMERS AND TITHES

CHECKMATING A COLLECTOR. EFFORT TO REMOVE STOCK. A force of East Kent farmers foiled the efforts of an Oxford undergraduate who had gone to Eltliam. a .village near Canterbury, to J collect all the livestock from ten farms. The live stock hud been sold by tender to pay the tithe due to Merton college, Oxford, and the farmers were determined to prevent its removal. The undergraduate left Oxford just after midnight. 111 charge of a fleet of lorries and ten men. He slept in his car at Eltham. Early in the morning lie eollected County Court officials and a. body of six policemen in charge of a sergeant, an<] secreted them at tlio waiting room of the railway station.

As soon as the farmers -saw this activity they called upon their tcserves. Lorries and cars were com-, mandeered, SOS messages were sent ,to the Lyminge Market, and buiulreds of farmers and workers assembled from a wide area. in. Eltham vilage groat excitement prevailed, and convoys of sympathisers were moved from farm to farm to prevent the removal of the stock. Eventually the undergraduate had to call off the collection, as his lorries did not arrive. They were found later at Postling, about seven miles away, surrounded by about a hundred farmers, w?To woufd not leave the vehicles untiL they set out—empty —on their journey to Oxford, escorted by motorcyclists. . * What had happened was this. While a watch was being kept on the movements of the undergraduate and police, other scouts patrolled the roads of the district and reported the position of the lorries. When news came through that the vehicles were making for Stonebridge farm the main body of farmers moved off al toil speed to the place. Upon arrival there*, however, it was found that at the lasi moment the lorries had turned back. They were “shadowed” for some miles. The main body of farmers later returned to the square at Eltham. where a meeting was addressed bv Alderman G. C. Scilloy. He claimed that the action of Merton College was illegal, on the ground that the bailiff, on going round the farm, had not made a,strictly formal levy. ’The farmers, he said, had every fight to resist the unlawful/ act, but hs warned them not to do anything unlawful.