IMPERIAL CONSIDERATIONS 181 



countries ; and in wealth because we have not striven to 

 organize and settle our migrants under the best possible 

 conditions. We left them to shift for themselves, un- 

 organized and unassisted, and we have paid the penalty 

 in the present under-developed condition of the land of 

 our Empire. 



Fortunately there are now signs that the importance 

 of organized and scientific settlement is beginning to 

 be realized. 



But the crucial question is -do the people and the 

 Governments of the Empire understand that this is 

 the greatest problem that confronts us, and that the 

 rmh/ solution is for the Imperial Government — 

 acting in unison with the Dominion Governments — 

 to concentrate upon the creation of a great Imperial 

 Land Policy V I have dealt at length with these general 

 considerations ; for it is necessary to bear in mind the 

 question of developing the land of the whole Empire, and 

 the relation it bears to production from the soil of the 

 United Kingdom. 



In June, 1920, Sir Herbert Matthews, the Secretary 

 of the Central Chamber of Agriculture and a man who 

 has worked heart and soul for the cause of agriculture, 

 put forward the suggestion that the time was ripe for the 

 formation of an Imperial Chamber of Agriculture. 



And I agree with him that this would be desirable if 

 it can be achieved ; there is an Imperial Chamber of 

 Commerce — why not an Imperial Chamber of Agri- 

 culture ? 



Such a Chamber would help to bind together the 

 agricultural interests of the whole Empire, and prevent 

 clashing ; it would enable our agriculturists to present 

 a united front to the Wf)rld, and it could do much to 

 hasten the ilay of a self-supporting Empire. 



