88 LAND SETTLEMENT & EDUCATION 



It is difficult to foresee the effect which the War 

 will have on agricultural labour generally, but it is 

 hard to imagine that the farm labourer now fighting 

 for his country will return to the land in those 

 counties where wages and housing conditions are 

 poor. Low wages do not mean cheap labour. From 

 the national point of view it will be necessary to 

 improve the condition of labour where it is bad ; 

 as for the employer, it is a commonplace of econo- 

 mies that high wages mean a larger output and 

 better work, and prove in the end more economical 

 than low wages. 



But there is also the problem of the urban 

 labourer and the land to be considered and the 

 use we might make of him if we chose in finding 

 a solution for the great problem with which we are 

 dealing. 



As far back as the reign of Queen Elizabeth it 

 was recognised that workers were entitled to the 

 use of some land so that they might supplement 

 their wages or maintain themselves in times when 

 there was no wage at all. 



The same principle of the right possessed by 

 wage-earners of access to the land is expressed in 

 our Poor Law, which decrees that the authorities 

 must provide land for allotments. 



But though the principle is established in law, 

 it is as yet far from being established in fact, and 

 from providing our workers with a dual occupation 

 — and society thereby with an economic stabiliser. 

 As usual, we must take a trip abroad for the most 

 convincing proof of this statement. 



