io THE RAILWAYS AND AGRICULTURE 



the fiscal problem, and I wish to remain abso- 

 lutely impartial and free from prejudice in what 

 I say. But I do think the country should realise 

 that, whatever policy may eventually be adopted 

 on the subject of food imports, there is need for 

 a serious consideration of the question whether 

 the methods under which the British farmer 

 carries on his enterprises do not stand in need 

 of revision, especially in view of the lines upon 

 which his foreign competitors are operating. This 

 problem would, indeed, remain even if the most 

 generous degree of " protection " for which our 

 agriculturists could hope were granted to them. 



To help in its solution I propose to deal 

 seriatim, with different countries on the Con- 

 tinent of Europe, and elsewhere, showing what 

 is being done there for the organization of 

 agriculture in respect either to actual co-opera- 

 tion or to such grouping of consignments as 

 still leads to the big loads that our railway 

 companies are called upon to handle. To con- 

 fine myself, for the time being, to this one aspect 

 of a very wide subject may, I think, serve a 

 purpose of greater utility and more immediate 

 interest than if I entered at once on that more 

 general discussion of British v. Continental rail- 

 way rates and conditions which, as I have said, 

 formed the original object of my inquiries. 



