60 THE LAND AND ITS PROBLEMS 



such relations are good, they are about ideal ; the man, 

 interested in the land, keen on the prosperity of the 

 farm, with a nice cottage and garden and a pig, and 

 the farmer on his side regarding the labourer as an 

 old friend and careful of his interests. How different 

 from the relations between the factory hand and his 

 employer ! 



Granted then this good feeling as the basis, the 

 solution of the problem will be found in regaining what 

 was lost by the wholesale enclosure of the commons, 

 i.e. the labourer's direct interest in the land. He must 

 have easy access to land for allotments and later on to 

 land for small holdings — that is the first point. The 

 second is to give him a certain share in the control of 

 the industry, chiefly by means of Councils analogous to 

 the Whitley Councils and operative in a fairly circum- 

 scribed area ; and a share in profits over and above his 

 fixed wage. Further, it must be made clear that an 

 adequate wage for labour is indeed regarded as a first 

 charge upon the industry. Many employers were 

 aghast at the idea of paying a wage of 45/- a week to 

 their men ; and yet there is little doubt that, from the 

 end of 1 91 7 to 1921, 45/- per week was not as good a 

 wage as 20/- per week before the war. Thirdly, the 

 labourer has votes at parliamentary and county council 

 elections, and he should sit upon local bodies as well as 

 in Parliament — this is a development which is un- 

 doubtedly coming. And, fourthly, we must make good 

 our promises to improve housing conditions ; young 

 men wanting to marry, and remain in the country, must 

 be able to get a decent cottage at a fair rental. 



The energetic action which the Government have 

 been taking since 1917, to maintain and increase the 

 acreage under the plough, should be a guarantee to the 



