POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT 5 



cultivation becomes more and more intensive, 

 the average will be proportionately raised. 



We have thought it desirable to place this 

 paragraph first in order to show the vast 

 economic possibilities which underlie the revival 

 of British agriculture, a revival which must, for 

 reasons both of history and principle, be bound 

 up in the most intimate manner with the fortunes 

 of the Unionist Party. 



II. National Considerations 



1. Maintenance of National Physique 



The agricultural population of the country is 

 the backbone of its physique ; and without phy- 

 sique no nation can in the long run survive. On 

 this ground alone, if for no other reason, it has 

 a claim to special consideration. Bismarck, the 

 greatest example of the Tory-Constructive states- 

 man, said in 1879, " If the time should come 

 when corn cannot be profitably cultivated, not 

 only agriculture but the Prussian State and the 

 German Empire itself will go to ruin." The 

 reasons for this judgment are fairly obvious. Both 

 from a military and a social standpoint, industrial 

 life drains the physique of the nation, and if a 

 proper relation of population is not maintained 

 between the two, the industrial demand will 

 exceed the rural supply, and the nation will 

 deteriorate as a whole. 



