KOVAI. (.U.M.M: 1 1 ui.. 



:i 



:,; 



ME. JAMES UAKUNKK. 



[Cottimud. 



pointed out county oxecuuvn* being, 

 though:, the propoi .iiiih.iuiv on representative 

 representing tie landlord, ..i..- i. j-iiM-utativo from 



.nor cla*, with .1 jiKiu-i.il . h.ui in.in. 

 who, in their owe, would bo the County Court Judge. 



at. rooted to hear a very conservative 

 body 01 agri, iiltm ists like the Associated Chambers of 

 Agriculture putting forward practically our own pro- 

 powl, and what wo had txvn advo-.inng for year*, 

 the only difference- being tiiat il. to a local 



court in the county. \\,- had not 

 that IXMIII <>t \i... W iiitluT lavouicd a court 

 baring a jurisdiction over a very much wider area, 

 perhaps the whole 1 or p.-rhaps groups of 



counties; and wo contemplated that that Arbitration 

 Board would be composed of representatives of the 

 to mteusU equally with t; \ , j.i. Minted by 



a judicial chairiunn. \\ . contemplated that these 

 men ought to be whole-time men not engaged in 

 business and not subject to local iiiflurnctw, citho: 

 mendly or otherwise; and that by being at their 

 own work constantly as an Arbitration Hoard when 

 their opinion was asked for and only in the absence 

 of agreement between the landlord and the tenant 

 would this Arbitration Board ever be called upon to 

 make any decision wo thought these bodies would 

 be able to do their work much more efficiently by 

 being chosen with a view to being expert in all the 

 matters relating to the decision which would require 

 to be made, and being in the business all the time 

 from day to day they would become so proficient that 

 their decisions would be approximately correct, which 

 you could not expect from a local amateur Court in a 

 County composed of men who were engaged in their 

 own businesses. These are the views which we hold 

 witii regard to the local court, the .un.iteiir local 

 Arbitration Court, as against a much larger Arbi- 

 tration Court, covering a very much wider area. 



I'J.778. Then I turn to No. 3 of your Conditions. 

 You refer there to the " more or less derelict con- 

 dition of the permanent equipment of many farms." 

 Is that a war condition or a pre-war condition? 

 It is a pre-war condition principally. 



12.779. That is due to what lack of expenditure 

 by the landlord? It was due principally to what we 

 may vulgarly term the washout of the period of de- 

 preciation, when tho floods of foreign grain came into 

 this country and put arable farming out. It was 

 principlly due to that, I should think. 



12.780. There was a subsequent recuperation. was 

 there not?- There waa. 



12.781. Was no attempt then made to bring up farm 

 equipment to anything like a reasonable standard ? 



I think the thing would have come about naturally, 

 but not quickly enough to satisfy the national need's. 

 It is certainly improving. 



12,782-3. Has the condition Keen improved, or has 

 it got worse during the war? That is rather a 

 difficult question. In some quarters, more especially 

 in England here, you must have had a good 

 deal of equipment set up with regard to buildings. 

 You must have had some of your buildings renovated 

 to be able to rarrv on tillage cultivation. On the 

 other hand, right throughout the country there must 

 have been a gnat dial of work that has been left 

 undone. I s|-ak from personal experience of my own 

 place. A vast amount of work has been left inc. 

 On the other hand, for the development of tilings 

 there must have been equipment of some kind, so that 

 the one might cancel the, other. 



I -.'.7- 1 Do you think tiVy would cancel each other? 



I am not prepared to say that. 



12,785. You have no opinion on that? No, I have 

 no knowledge to go upon. 



12.7*0. Then in ' No. 4 you refer to the waste of 

 foodstuffs, due to destruction by name. Have you 

 any suggestion to offer to rcmedy'this? The National 

 Farmers' Union have always taken :i strung position 

 with regard to game. We do not object to the 

 proper development of sport ; hut we tlo object in a 

 farming area to crops being ! l.y game, nnd 



we hnvo proposed some rather dr: dial 



re, for it. At the same time, where it 

 LjHine country. have no obj<N-tion In the ' 

 development of sport. 



1^.7-<r What are theme remedial measures? Hiat 

 the fanner who i working nn economic proposition 



in agriculturu must be protected from the ravage* 

 of game of whatever sort in his particular spot, 

 i er he is farming, whether it is his own land or 

 ho is paying money for it. 



P. , -x. What are the measure* you propone?- I h.-y 

 \\oulil require to be varied, according to the natur 

 of the country and tho nature of the game. 



12, 789. Quito; but what are they:- They are ruthei 

 numerous. 



I '.;:" i. Due or two will do? To take the most 

 eMiciue case, you have your deer in the North of 

 Scotland. We have many nu inl.cr.s in the North ol 

 Scotland who are in the <lecr country. At the pi 

 time we are not proposing that deer should be 

 slaughtered outright in Scotland; but we do say. it 

 you have deer, they should be onfined to the deer 

 forest, and should be fenced around a large or ;. 

 small area. But if you ha\e M..-H LM..W ing -r-}'-. large 

 working their own proposi- 

 tion, I think it is only fair to ask that they should 

 be protected. The deer problem in the North is 

 unite different from the >oinh winged game problem. 



12,7!>1. What would you do with them? You must 

 remember this is a very thorny subj. 



12.792. 1 know; that is why I want to get informa- 

 tion on tho subject? In the'matter of winged game. 

 you have the same thing coming up again. The 

 tenant farmer, the smallholder or the occupying 

 owner must be protected from the ravages of game 

 on his crop. If the nation is to get crops, you must 

 protect them effectively. I do not mean to say 

 absolutely. 



12.793. I was wondering whether you had any con- 

 crete proposals which you were prepared to put for- 

 ward on behalf of your Union for dealing with this 

 particular Clause? We had our land policy drafted 

 about nine months ago. 1 think we hud something 

 with regard to game in that. 



12.794. Perhaps you can send it in? Yes. 



12.795. Then in No. 6 of 12,746 you refer to the 

 lark of education in agriculture aa a science among 

 the rank and file of agriculturists. To whom precisely 

 do you refer as ' ' agriculturists " farmers and 

 labourers!' -Yes, both. 



iL'.T'.Mi. Has your Union anything to offer in the 

 way of suggestions by way of policy on that? We 

 approve of the proposals for education in general, 

 and especially tho vocational training in rural 

 districts; and, generally, we approve of the attempt, 

 which I think is being honestly made on the part of 

 tin- Government, to give our farmers and farm 

 labourers and farm girls a much better knowledge 

 of the technical business of agriculture than they 

 had hitherto. We approve of all the measures 

 which are being taken in that direction. 



12,797. Including the Education of Scotland Act? 

 Yes; and while farmers are going to suffer in some 

 ways from that Act financially and with regard to 

 ipply of labour, perhaps a greater number of 

 the farmers may see in the future some compensation 

 for the financial expense and loss that they may 

 suffer in getting the education put in force. 



I-'. 798. Still, I suppose you would be prepared to 

 agree with mo that if you are going to increase the 

 knowledge of agriculture as a science amongst agri- 

 culturists, it must be done through the ordinary 

 machinery of the education of Scotland? So far as 

 the general education is concerned, I should say that 

 is true; but when you come to vocational training 

 in agriculture, I think the general Education 

 Authority, although they may have the powei i 



with it and it may he under their c maud, will 



to Ic-ive it to departments tlr.it are very much 

 i, .il with the working out of the 

 (clinical difficulties and the piaiti.al work. 



i 11 led education of this 



kind amongst the rank and file must interfere, to 

 .1. with your supply of labour? I have 



M to your last condition, the absence 



| ill-finite St.ite policy for agriculture in the 



liiture. I am not ijuite sun-, pi.-i i-dy. what you mean 



million. Do you want a definite State 



or. if the State left M.II alone altogether, 



