A COUNTRY LIFE INSTITUTE 127 



now, part of their nature, but it is also a part of their 

 nature to yield to the force of public opinion ; and I 

 think therefore that our Government should be forced 

 to create an Imperial Conservation and Development 

 Board if it is the only way to secure the needed 

 organisation. 



It must be recognised that in our Dominions 

 there are many men who have had long years 

 of practical experience in dealing successfully with 

 Land Settlement schemes. In the United King- 

 dom, on the other hand, there is hardly anyone 

 who has studied the problem or knows anything 

 about it in practice. Therefore, common sense 

 dictates that we should utilise the assistance of those 

 who are highly skilled; and I can conceive of no 

 better way of utilising such men than by inducing 

 them to work under an Imperial Development and 

 Conservation Department. 



In close conjunction with the Imperial Develop- 

 ment and Conservation Department should be a 

 Country Life Institute — organised very much on 

 the lines recommended in the report of the Country 

 Life Commission which was appointed by Mr. 

 Roosevelt. We are an urban-minded people greatly 

 in need of education and information in regard 

 to land and agriculture ; the Country Life Institute 

 would provide all this — it would become a clearing- 

 house for agrarian knowledge. 



We believe that our Empire stands for all that 

 is most glorious in human achievement and civilisa- 

 tion : rehgious freedom, liberty of thought, a sound 

 philosophy, the right of national self-expression, 

 freedom from an unwise form of militarism and 



