NATIONAL ORGANISATION 113 



This should be composed of not more than twenty 

 members. 



The need for such an Executive is great. It would 

 in the first place voice agricultural opinion as a 

 whole. It would be able to take prompt action when 

 the interests of agriculture demanded it. At present 

 the existing agricultural bodies cannot move 

 quickly enough ; as a rule, they criticise proposed 

 legislation after it is introduced, whereas it should 

 be an understood arrangement that no legislation 

 affecting agriculture should be introduced in the 

 Imperial Parliament until it had first been submitted 

 to and discussed with this Council. Such arrangement 

 has long existed in Germany and Denmark. But the 

 principle is by no means new here, for it is becoming 

 more and more the practice of our own Government 

 to consult the County Council Association before 

 bringing in legislation affecting County Councils. 



I am submitting this constructive scheme simply 

 for the sake of putting forward something concrete, 

 as one is apt to weary of negative criticism, but it 

 does not pretend to be in any way complete. 



As the creation of a voluntary system of organisa- 

 tion naturally takes time, it will be most important 

 to see that the development of the official adminis- 

 trative organisation is undertaken without delay. 



This Official Organisation is, of course, the Board 

 of Agriculture. When we have a reorganised and an 

 enlarged and a financially stronger Board whose work 

 in its own sphere will be supplemented by a carefully 

 developed system of unofticial voluntary organisa- 

 tion, then we shall see administrative machinery 

 capable of developing our agricultural industry to 

 the full. Again, I resort to a diagram to show a 

 suggested reorganisation of the Board of Agriculture. 



H 



