Land Problems and National Welfare 



beneficially the wages of the labourers as a 

 whole. This is a very important point for 

 the labourers themselves to understand. I 

 fear, however, it will be a long time before 

 small holdings can be developed to such an 

 extent as to attain this end. Meanwhile, a far 

 quicker way would be for the labourers them- 

 selves to combine as they did in the days of 

 Arch, though carefully avoiding any hostile feel- 

 ing towards the other members of the industry. 



The point which I hope farmers will re- 

 member is that high wages do not necessarily 

 mean dear labour. In Lincolnshire, Yorkshire 

 and the North generally, wages are much higher 

 than in the Southern counties, yet labour is no 

 dearer, for the labourer is a better man owing 

 to his better food, clothing, etc., and more than 

 repays by his intelligence and capacity the 

 extra amount given him in wages. 



(4) How to secure to the rural labourer in- 

 creased opportunities. The answer to this ques- 

 tion really constitutes a summary of what has 

 gone before. By " opportunities " is meant op- 

 portunities of earning better wages, of obtaining 

 land and a home of his own — either as out-and- 

 out owner or as tenant with absolute security of 

 tenure,* and of the provision of better education 



* The rural labourer should clearly understand that at present the 

 amount which he pays to the County Council for any holding he 

 takes, pays for the purchase of the land, — not for his own possession, 

 but that it may be presented as a free gift to the County Council. 



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