SMALL HOLDINGS 25 



cases, a certain proportion of employment should 

 be reserved by Government and the great trans- 

 portation companies. It would be a wise move- 

 ment ; it would change a state of affairs of which 

 no nation could be proud, and would make 

 volunteering for the foreign service force much 

 more popular. 



The provision of a partial remedy for the evils 

 attending want of employment for discharged 

 sailors and soldiers is not, however, the chief 

 object of a Small Holdings Act. The chief object 

 of that Act is to assist in the desired revival of 

 agriculture, than which nothing can be of greater 

 moment ; first, as an aid to the Aliens Act, in 

 keeping some of the most able-bodied of British 

 workmen at home, instead of letting that ex- 

 ceedingly valuable capital quit the country ; and 

 second, as a means of increasing the production 

 of food in the United Kingdom. 



If it be desired to have the finest possible 

 population physically, it is surely wrong to aid 

 in sending out of the country the very best men : 

 yet there are many agencies trying to do that. 

 Work on the land, under really suitable con- 

 ditions, is still the very finest occupation for 

 able-bodied men. It does not seem to be con- 

 sidered so in Great Britain, although it is so 

 in other parts of the Empire. Why is this ? 

 Is not the answer perfectly plain ? Men on 

 farms, in Great Britain, have had to work under 

 certain conditions ; in other parts of the Empire 

 they work under very different conditions. 



There can be no question that the more food 



