Politics and the Land 



have seriously studied social problems, with a 

 view to remedying or minimising the evil 

 tendencies of the present phase of civilization — 

 the desertion of the land, and the neglect of 

 children, to mention two fundamental questions. 



In England politicians have ever endeavoured 

 to put aside the consideration of social problems, 

 and where they were not to be avoided they have 

 been dealt with in a perfunctory way ; a problem 

 as a problem is of little interest to the average 

 Englishman. This feature, to my mind, really 

 amounts to a national characteristic. 



Then arose the pernicious Manchester School 

 that burst upon the nation with its pleiads of 

 false doctrines. They came at a moment when 

 England, supreme in the manufacturing world, 

 was increasing her wealth by leaps and bounds. 

 Is it surprising, then, that generation after 

 generation of politicians, fortified by apparent 

 results in their belief in the soundness of the 

 Manchester doctrines, were led to neglect the 

 land and the social welfare of the home popu- 

 lation and to think only of factories — of foreign 

 trade and foreign relations — and to leave the 

 people to muddle through somehow ? 



But our people as a people have not muddled 

 through : all medical authorities are unani- 

 mous as to the physical degeneracy that has set 

 in among our town population. All sanitary 

 authorities agree that the housing of the poor 



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