THE OBJFXTIVE IN PRODUCTION 167 



that the labourer must receive an adequate Uving wage 

 — that labour must be a first charge upon the industry ; 

 secondly, that the producer must be guaranteed against 

 loss if he is asked to grow certaui crops, or maintain a 

 certain proportion of the land under the plough, in the 

 interests of the nation. This amounts, in practice, to 

 the recognition of agriculture as a primar}' industry and 

 that a flourishing home agriculture is essential to the 

 well-being of the nation. But it is one thing — and a step 

 in the right direction— to recognize a principle in theory, 

 and quite another to live up to it ; time alone will show 

 whether or not the Government and the nation are 

 honest in their intentions. 



Further, the Act makes provision for developing social 

 life and amenities in rural communities. The import- 

 ance of this cannot be over-emphasized, for the by 

 no means necessary dullness of country life must be 

 alleviated if we are to keep up and increase our rural 

 population. 



As to the machinery for carrying out these provisions, 

 there are the Wage Boards ; these were established in 

 1 917, and their powers are confirmed in the Agriculture 

 Act. These Boards have been described on page 67, 

 et seq. 



THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ACT^ 



The Ministry of Agriculture Act 1919, the recent 

 Agriculture Act and, in a way, the Settlement 

 Facilities Act are all so closely related as to make 

 a single piece of legislation. The machinery for 

 securing the proper cultivation of the land is laid 

 down in the Ministry of Agriculture Act ; and it has 



* See Apptridix No. VIII showing the present and the former 

 arrangement of departments in the .Ministry of Agriculture. 



