AGRICULTURAL WAGES. 217 



fact that it is now a voluntary sacrifice of profits 

 made for reasons of sentiment. If an attempt 

 were made to enforce that sacrifice and a further 

 one by law, the willingness would disappear. 

 Agriculture depends now for a very attenuated 

 and a somewhat precarious existence on low 

 wages, low profits, low rents. If a Free Trade 

 community decides to do so much violence to its 

 Free Trade principles as to attempt to raise the 

 wage rate by legislative interference, it will find 

 that it will be in justice necessary to open up 

 the whole question of profits and markets. 



There was an interesting struggle made by a 

 large section of the Australian Labour Party 

 to withstand the conclusion that, if a com- 

 munity is to dictate wage rates, it must impose 

 some check upon the foreign competitor who 

 keeps to a low wage rate. In the early stages 

 of the Australian Labour Party, a very large 

 proportion of its numbers were " Single Taxers ,: 

 — that is, they believed that by taxation of land 

 values to a degree sufficient to confiscate all 

 rent, the problem of poverty would be solved. 

 These gentlemen were, however, gradually forced 

 by their working-class constituents into State 



