THE LABOUR QUESTION 217 



previously employed merely as routine clerks and shop 

 assistants, who have now become accustomed to an outdoor 

 life. They will be very unwilling to go back to indoor life, 

 and it is now the time to consider whether their wishes 

 and the country's needs might not be united. Much of this 

 routine work is now being done by women who will at the 

 end of the war be more efficient than the returned soldiers. 

 The returned soldier will have learnt the use of spade and 

 pick and be more suited to agriculture or forestry. Those 

 men who are of exceptionally high mental ability, but belong 

 to a somewhat low physical category, will all be needed 

 for the professions, skilled trades, and directorships. In 

 agriculture there is room for both those who have a higher 

 degree of mental ability, and those who are chiefly physically 

 strong. One thing is clear, we shall not need any compulsion ; 

 we shall only need encouragement and proper facilities. 

 Among the sources under Government control there are 

 nearly a quarter of a million of Poor Law children, many of 

 whom might be trained specially for the land. 



As regards the efficiency of labour it should be noted 

 that no little part of farm labour has been carried out by 

 the " sweated labour " of the family of the small or medium- 

 sized farmer. There are many farmers, especially at the 

 present time, every member of whose family is working 

 sixteen hours a day. Such a state of affairs is not in the 

 interests of the nation. At least one of the causes which 

 have driven men from the land has been the excessive hours 

 of labour. Of course, one hour of labour in the factory is 

 not the same as one hour of labour on the field. The factory 

 is more unhealthy, and, therefore, more exhausting. Never- 

 theless, however great the amelioration may be, the hours 

 of labour on the land are not infrequently excessive, and 

 probably do not conduce to efficiency. 



As regards the economy of labour one of the great 

 difficulties on a farm is the heavy work, due to bad roads, 

 not merely on the horses but also on the men. These 

 difficulties, however, are most strongly marked on farms 

 which are largely under grass, and if the grassland is ploughed, 



