Land Problems and National Welfare 



It is wiser to recognise the sad fact that the 

 wage-earner's children of to-day are usually 

 taught nothing in their homes ; and, instead of 

 wasting time in vain regrets, it would be well 

 to see what steps can be taken to supply in 

 school hours the needed practical instruction. 

 And if practical manual instruction were to be 

 embodied in the school course, it may well 

 prove that 20 years of such education might 

 recreate those conditions which would again 

 make home instruction possible. 



Consider the case of the ordinary rural 

 labourer. By far the greater number have no 

 land to cultivate for themselves; very many, 

 even of the married men, make a change of 

 home almost yearly; and when the labourer is 

 lucky enough to have an allotment this is often 

 so far away from the cottage that the family 

 can do little work on it. The children of these 

 men have clearly little chance of learning any 

 practical agriculture at home. 



Now the Education Authorities can do much 

 in giving the right bias to education, by pro- 

 viding continuation classes, farm schools, etc. ; 

 but the fact remains that the best training for a 

 country lad is to work with his father on his 

 own plot of land, so that the development of 

 small holdings has also an important educational 

 value. 



Access to land must also be the chief induce- 

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