THE AWAKENING 369 



forefathers, the distance of the foreigner from 

 our markets being fully counterbalanced by the 

 subsidiary advantages he secures for himself 

 alike by his improved methods and by his resort 

 to combination. 



But the awakening has come. The conviction 

 is spreading among the agricultural community 

 at home not only that " something must be 

 done," but that they should do what they can 

 for themselves without further loss of time. 

 The bogey of excessive rates imposed by rail- 

 ways supposed to be indifferent to the welfare of 

 the rural districts through which they run their 

 trains may not have disappeared, but it is 

 disappearing. There are seen to be other con- 

 siderations besides railway rates, and the assur- 

 ance of the railway companies that equality of 

 conditions in respect to home and foreign 

 produce will meet with equality of treatment 

 is at last gaining acceptance. Even, again, 

 those who look for the salvation of British 

 agriculture to tariff reform and " protection " 

 must see that, whether they achieve their desires 

 in this direction or not, the need for agricultural 

 organization will still remain. This truth has 

 been realized alike by "protected" Germany 

 and "free trade" Denmark. So the question is 

 — " What should the British farmers do in order 



2 B 



