AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEES in 



October, will prevent them from doing so. 

 What he said then was rather a sinister portent 

 of the times. "There is," he remarked, "a 

 certain amount of unrest amongst agricultural 

 labourers at the present time, owing to rumours 

 of discharges on a large scale, due to the re- 

 duction of the arable area. I am not willing to 

 believe that there is very much in that, although 

 in some cases there may be. There are some 

 farmers who are affected by panic, and who 

 think, on account of the higher wages, their 

 only safety is to put more of their land down to 

 grass. If there is any deliberate movement 

 of that kind, there could be nothing more 

 dangerous or fatal to the agricultural industry. 

 It would create an army of landless men, men 

 who understand work on the land, and who 

 would make an irresistible demand, with justice 

 behind them, to have that land broken up and 

 given to them to deal with as small holders. 

 If farmers were led into that mistake, they 

 would be simply cutting their own throats and 

 destroying their own position. I trust the new 

 County Agricultural Committees will exercise a 

 very firm hand in the matter. . . . The great 

 danger to-day is that there is so much mutual 

 distrust and misunderstanding that rash steps 

 are taken which are very often irrevocable. 

 After all, all sections of the agricultural com- 

 munity must work and stick together, because 

 no one can settle their differences except them- 



