go GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI<AND - AGRICUIyTURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAIv 



dard was for the due cultivation of the land. The fanners must trust the 

 Board of Agriculture to do their utmost, even if and even when the utmost 

 of a government department did not fulfil all their expectations. 



The Board of Agriculture had long since laid their whole case before 

 ^the new authorit3% called the Man-Power Distribution Board, which had 

 been set up by the government. The Board of Agriculture investigated 

 every case of hardship sent up to it, cases of hardship — and sometimes indeed 

 cases of injustice — being unavoidable. Since in England and Wales there 

 were no less than 1,850 separate Tribunals, disparity of treatment was 

 inevitable. It was however the duty of the Board of Agriculture — and one 

 which they fulfilled — to refuse to intervene in favour of the farmer when 

 they did not think he was playing the game by the count r 5' and by the 

 army. 



Substitution of Labour. — The War Office proposed to withdraw no 

 more men from among those employed in agriculture — -before January or 

 April as the case might be — unless substitutes were sent to replace them. 

 Substitution was to take place in all industries, not only in agriculture. In 

 every district a Substitution Officer was going 'to be appointed by the mili- 

 tary authorities ; many had already been appointed. The vSubstitution Officer 

 had prepared lists of possible substitutes, who were men now serving in 

 the Reserve — soldiers who were, for instance, looking after railwa^^ brid- 

 ges or watching munition works The lists of substitutes were classified 

 according to districts, and many were actually being sent out to Substitution 

 Officers in different parts of the country, The Board's representative or 

 any authorized person was at liberty to see these lists : he could look up 

 a particular districts and see what reservists could be sent to replace 3'oung 

 and able-bodied men now working on its farms. The substitute might be 

 less efficient than the man he replaced. He would probably be twenty 

 3^ears older ; but he would be a trained agriculturist and would belong to the 

 district, for the Board of Agriculture had told the War Office that it was 

 no good to send a Yorkshiremen to work in Dorsetsliire or a Dorset man to 

 work in Yorkshire. In many cases it was hoped to arrange that the re- 

 servist would come back to his own village and his own home, where his 

 family was, and work in the occupation in which he was working on the day 

 war broke out. As regarded his wages, it would be the duty of the Board's 

 agricultural representative and the Area Commander to see that these were 

 fair and in accordance with the rates ruling in the district. 



Adjtistment of Differences. — Any difference which might arise between 

 a farmer and a reservist would be dealt with by the Area Commander, if ne- 

 cessary in consultation with the agricultural representatives. If the differ- 

 ence could not be adjusted and the man were recalled to the Reserve, the 

 War Office had promised to do their best to ensure that another substitute 

 would be found, if it were clear that the fault was not on the side of the employ- 

 ing farmer. The following sentences in the War Office circular to officers 

 commanding recruiting areas should be noted : " It must be borne in mind 

 in dealing with the whole of this question that all parties concerned must 

 be prepared to work together if the scheme is to be successful. The farmer 



