COST TO THE STATE 121 



unemployment after the war as a means of getting 

 back to the old scale. Success in such an attempt 

 would not be to his permanent interest ; he would only 

 finally drive the men off the land and progress further 

 in the vicious circle of having to lay down land to grass 

 because men were scarce. The mere prospect of a 

 minimum wage tribunal for particular districts might 

 very well ensure that it would have no work to do. 

 As the State is going to offer its guaranteed price, not 

 for the sake of the farmers or the landowners but 

 in the interests of the nation, it must ensure as part 

 of the bargain that the long-suffering agricultural 

 labourers obtain their opportunity of a decent living. 

 If it secures better wages for the labourers the State will 

 have got some return for its guarantee, and the question 

 of rents and tenure can well stand over until it is seen 

 how the situation is developing. 



What would such a policy cost and what would the 

 State obtain in return ? Let us assume that after a 

 time the arable land was increased by six million acres, 

 and that the State had guaranteed a bonus of ten shil- 

 lings an acre on all this increased arable land, then the 

 annual expenditure of the State would amount to 

 3 millions a year. On the increased acreage of 

 arable land the whole of the wheat required by the 

 country could be grown ; e.g., a declaration of war 

 in August, the usual date, could be followed by the 

 sowing of seven million acres of wheat for which there 

 would be land ready. Meantime there would be that 

 year's harvest in hand for the immediate needs of the 

 country, and if only one quarter of the increased arable 

 acreage had been sown with wheat in the previous year, 

 the country's stock to meet the first shock of war would 

 i 



