Land Problems and National Welfare 



enrol the country labourer. Many old-fashioned 

 farmers have said to me that it will be time 

 enough for us to begin to influence him when 

 we see Socialists carrying on an active campaign 

 in the counties ; but they are wrong — it will 

 then be too late. 



I have now arrived, I think, at the stage when 

 I can outline an ideal scheme for consolidating 

 the agricultural interests, whereby landowner, 

 tenant and labourer might each play his 

 part. 



Taking the county as the unit, the majority 

 of landowners would belong to the Central 

 Land Association, whose chief work would 

 be in London, but there should be sufficient 

 local organisation to get together meetings if 

 the need should arise. These landowners would 

 at the same time belong to their local Chamber 

 of Agriculture, provided that it was an active 

 one worthy of support, or that there was room 

 for the existence of an effective Chamber without 

 establishing one in direct opposition to any 

 society already doing good work. The Chambers 

 would go on as at present in districts in which 

 there might be a demand for an association of 

 the kind, and their main endeavour would be 

 to increase their membership. 



The Farmers' Unions, etc., would do like- 

 wise, so that the majority of farmers would in 

 the end belong to some society. 



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