Land Problems and National Welfare 



affairs should be clearly recognised before it is 

 possible to begin to raise the standard of agricul- 

 ture ; and to this end we must further consider 

 the traits in the character of the English farmer, 

 and the various tendencies at work which have 

 not been beneficial to our agriculture. 



I must mention Free Trade here and enter 

 into more details in a subsequent chapter. 



English agriculture in comparison with that 

 of Germany, France or any other protected 

 country is penalised twice over. Firstly, because 

 it has been accorded no assistance, by means 

 of a tariff, against the competition of new 

 countries where land is cheap and rates and 

 taxes are low. And secondly, because it has 

 been entirely denied those abundant facilities 

 which have been so carefully created for agri- 

 culture on the continent — such as highly de- 

 veloped agricultural education, co-operation, 

 systems of marketing, and cheap transport. 



The competition of new countries was, un- 

 doubtedly, the chief cause of agricultural de- 

 pression throughout the whole of the old world. 

 It created a crisis that had to be faced. 



This unforeseen competition — Cobden, at all 

 events, did not foresee it, and Peel only agreed 

 to Free Trade because he thought it impossible 

 for wheat to sink below 45s. per quarter — was 

 met on the continent in one way, and in 

 England in a way entirely different. And 



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