Fortunes for Farmers 



from those won by a split vote) is safer than 

 any other. 



The essential factor, then, is a man of neutral 

 principles, who can appeal to all voters. There 

 is plenty of work for such. When a law that may 

 affect joiners is proposed, a joiner tells the House 

 just how it touches his brethren, whilst the 

 hundreds who know less than a plank how a 

 joiner sees life, listen with attention. In all 

 councils, the man who knows demands the 

 greatest respect. Where is the farmer who can 

 talk in Parliament from the underside, who can 

 bring detailed knowledge to bear on the thousand- 

 and-one matters that affect his livelihood? The 

 landlord speaks from above — a different aspect. 



In the present Cabinet John Burns has earned 

 the respect of many political opponents. He knows 

 what he is talking about. Before we have a working 

 farmer as Minister of Agriculture, the farmer must 

 awake from the sloth that renders him at present 

 insignificant, and girding up his loins for the 

 fray must declare himself neither Conservative 

 nor Liberal, but Agriculturist. 



Finally farmers must learn to think politically. 

 As a party they must fight for the farmers of 

 Britain, not for those of Canada, South Africa 

 or Australia. Never mind being called " Insular ' 

 or " Little Englander," for these are only the 



122 



