Protection 



no other. To dream of wheat artificially raised to 

 £5 per quarter once more is impossible; no nation 

 like England producing so little foodstuff will ever 

 dream of allowing it, nor do I think that any leader 

 of the Conservative party expects it. The alter- 

 native is feasible, and, moreover, we should not 

 feel that women or children were starving in city 

 slums to put money in our pockets. Agriculture 

 is different from other industries. The Free Trader 

 may say (possibly with truth) that it does not pay 

 the people to protect watch-makers, and that there 

 is no reason why they should flourish at the general 

 expense, but he cannot think that we can dispense 

 with our rural population or agriculture. 



Let farmers of all politics prepare for the 

 struggle. We must not rest until every farmer is a 

 member of the Farmers' Union, and until that 

 approximates more nearly to the trade union ideal 

 of " Each for all, and all for each." Yes, we must 

 take them for our pattern, with their unswerving 

 purpose and astonishing self-sacrifice. If we gave 

 on their scale our subscriptions would be 5s. an 

 acre instead of a halfpenny. Although we are far 

 from them, yet I am hopeful. I believe in the 

 Farmers' Union, I think there is a great future 

 before it, and am assured that it will expand 

 beyond our anticipation. There is a new spirit 



35 02 



