THE RURAL LABOURER %7 



time will not permit me to give more than a brief 

 outline : the labourer and his relations to the land. 

 If we are to have a flourishing agriculture it is clear 

 that we must have workers on the land who are 

 highly skilled, contented, have fair opportunities 

 for advancement, and possess as far as possible a 

 direct interest in the land. 



Up to the outbreak of the War the wage of the 

 agricultural labourer in many of our counties was 

 disgracefully low, and his opportunities for better- 

 ment few. Seeing that our rural labour population 

 is smaller in proportion than that of any other 

 country, even in Belgium which is more densely 

 populated than England, one might have argued 

 from its being small that it would be in a position 

 to secure fair conditions of hfe ; but although in 

 some counties the wages are fair, the circumstances 

 of agricultural labourers generally in Great Britain 

 are not satisfactory. And the worst defect in their 

 circumstances is that the vast majority of them 

 have no direct interest in the land. 



But if we look at conditions obtaining in other 

 countries we find, for instance, that in Denmark 

 some 70 per cent of the agricultural labourers 

 own a little land, suthcient to give them a feeling 

 of independence and a direct interest in the land 

 of the country. So far from being harmful to the 

 interests of the farmer, the system on the contrary 

 has proved advantageous, for it secures to him a 

 supply of keen and intelligent workers. 



Another excellent way of securing the interest of 

 the men is by giving them a share of the profits. 

 This system has been in force for many years on 

 Mr. Edward Strutt's farms and one would like to 

 see it extended. 



