18 THE AGRICULTURAL CLUB. 



Rooks will arrange for a steady increase now that man has 

 ploughed up grass. The food area for the rook has increased, 

 and nature tells him that there are more bugs to kill bugs 

 which, if not eaten by birds, will prevent man from getting food. 



This is an instance of idealism exhibiting itself in one 

 whose main business in life as a valuer is severely prac- 

 tical. The scheme of Village Reconstruction to which 

 Sir Trustram Eve referred is outlined in a memorandum, 

 of which he was joint author with Lord Ernie and Lord 

 Milner, published as an Appendix to the Report of the 

 Selborne Agricultural Policy Committee. The scheme is 

 one which goes to the root of things and proposes to readjust 

 the physical structure of the villages so as to meet modern 

 needs and, above all, to make land accessible to a larger 

 number of those who desire to own or occupy it. 



In another passage of his address to the Club, Sir Trustram 

 Eve said : 



It is a settled principle that private interests must give way 

 to public good, provided proper compensation is paid. The 

 Lands Clauses Acts, Public Health Acts, Small Holdings Acts, 

 and the like contain this principle. 



Is it a question of public good that the villagers should be 

 made happier ? and incidentally given an incentive to stay in 

 the village and not migrate to the towns, which is what is happen- 

 ing in every country in the world. 



How can villagers be made happier ? The answer is land 

 good land, in the right place, and on reasonable terms rented 

 land, and owned land, but land on some terms. 



Land to a villager is his natural ladder a ladder from a 

 position of serfdom to that of a free man. 



Before land is rearranged in or about villages the State must 

 make up its mind whether receipts of farmers are to be artifici- 

 ally bolstered up for all time, and whether wages are to be 

 dictated for ever, or whether free play for the individual is to be 

 allowed to rule our lives at some future date. 



In the first case you must make village surroundings and 

 amenities suitable for wage earners, and in the other case, for 

 free men who will work part time as wage earners and part 

 time for themselves. 



In another paper, entitled " A Few Thoughts on Agricul- 

 tural Reconstruction and Free Trade," Mr. W. S. Miller 

 propounded his suggestions for the attainment of the 



