102 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS 



§ 3. The remedies. 



What remedy is there then ? How shall we keep the labourers in the 

 country ? L,et us first of all say that everything which can contribute to the 

 greater economic and social comfort of the agricultural labourer, as 

 well as to his moral welfare will tend to moderate the rural exodus. 

 We are convinced that we can only keep the labourers in the country by 

 improving their position and rendering it, taking all the circumstances into 

 consideration, as enviable as that of the industrial labourers ; the farmers 

 must be in a position, at least, at seasons of intense agricultural labour, to 

 pay as good wages as the factories offer. The gains being equal, the work- 

 man will often prefer field labour ; he will still have the possibility of re- 

 turning temporarily to the workshop for the period of agricultural unem- 

 ployment. But, in order that the tenant farmer may fulfil his whole duty to- 

 wards his employees, the landowner must be moderate in his demands. 

 The one remedy, the Marquis Imperiali said, in which all others are included, 

 is to work for the prosperity of agriculture, so that it may be able to 

 pay strong men a^ well as most of the industrial establishments do. Then, 

 passing on to remedies rather of a moral order, he advocated notably: 



(«) That practical instruction in ever3i;hing relating to country life 

 should be made general. Encourage, said he, the foundation of profession- 

 al schools of agriculture in the villages, teach the young men and women 

 labourers to love countrj^ life, by means of lectures, courses for adults, 

 etc. (i). Let it be known that, if higher wages are paid for industrial 

 work, the life in the country is far cheaper and above all the health of 

 the men, women and children, better in the open air than in the small lodg- 

 ings they would have in the towns. Let us add for our part, that efforts 

 should be m.ade to combat the labourer's love of change — in fact, he 

 often leaves a master without knowing why — - and also it is necessary to 

 give some attention to the oesthetics, or, in case this word alarm anyone, 

 carefully to see to the cleanliness of the villages. In order to keep the 

 labourer in his hamlet, we must make his residence agreeable, and, before 

 anything else, obtain comfortable lodgings for him (2). 



{b) Good agricultural masters must be trained and recommended to 

 be gentle in their treatment of their labourers so that the latter may be 

 happy on the farms on which they live, well treated and not unnecessarily 

 made to do extra work. 



(c) Finally, the chief point is the encouragement of small farms. 

 Arrange, wrote the Marquis Imperiali, that every labourer may be able 

 to lease from 50 ares to 2 hectares, that the farmer may provide his labour- 

 ers with horses so that they may plough and cultivate their land and let 

 the labourer be able to keep a cow and a pig ; encourage the building of 



(i) Cf. Comptes Rendus du Xe Congris International d 'Agriculture. Ghent, 1913, p. 127. 

 (2) Cf. Dr. Labat : La vocation paysanne : Rev. des Deux Mondes, 1912. The author 

 especially insists on the necessity of preserving the mental attitude of the country folk. 



