FARMING, PAST AND FUTURE 81 



May I remind you of another thing that Cobden, 

 and those reformers who worked with him, did not 

 foresee, namely, the necessity of ensuring that the 

 supply of home-grown food during the continuance 

 of a world war should be as great as can reasonably 

 be secured? 



May we not with advantage think of this last point 

 when we are discussing the strategy of the future? 

 Does any reasonable man now doubt that in these 

 islands it is unwise to neglect to support agriculture 

 in times of peace? If such a person is among this 

 audience, I must leave him to his own reflection, for 

 I have only too little time left in which to draw your 

 attention to such considerations. 



I believe, and I think it is fortunate that it should 

 be so, that the nation will have ample time in which 

 to reflect upon the problems involved, for in my 

 opinion, for some years after the war is over, the 

 world will have to stop thieving from the land, and 

 farming will have to become universal. 



I maintain, however, that it is wise to look forward 

 to the future, which may bring a time when Britain 

 is once again offered produce stolen in large quantities 

 from the soil. It is my ambition that by then this 

 country may have learnt to see the evil of handicap- 

 ping home agriculture, and it will, I hope, have 

 devised some scheme which will have the effect of 

 subsidizing home production. 



As regards her methods in the immediate past of 

 handicapping agriculture, may I start by speaking of 

 the subject nearest my heart education? At present 

 in our elementary rural schools all the thoughts of 

 many of the teachers are turned towards the hopes of 

 better pay in the towns. Can it be hoped that such 

 terms of employment will lead to any enthusiasm for 

 the romance of the art of food production being active 



4C 9*8 ) 7 



