The Organisation of the Industry. 5 



was criticised from the standpoint of production, and the 

 condition of the worker began to trouble the social con- 

 science. The community was no longer inclined to leave 

 the industry to pursue its own course, but vaguely and 

 incoherently showed signs of judging its use of the nation's 

 land and its contribution to the common welfare. The 

 answer given by those who defended the present system 

 was that with all its defects the system worked better 

 than any other system which could be suggested for British 

 agriculture. They asserted that such defects as it did 

 show were due to the neglect of the industry by the State 

 and its failure to assist the industry against foreign 

 competitors. 



The landowners were on the defensive against the 

 political campaign launched by Mr. Lloyd George. The 

 farmers were uneasy because of the beginning of Trade 

 Union organisation amongst the farm workers and the 

 threat of a minimum wage enacted by legislation. The 

 workers were beginning to stir themselves hopefully in 

 another effort to secure reasonable conditions of living. 

 Everything seemed to point to the industry being faced 

 with political and industrial changes of a far-reaching 

 character. 



The outbreak of war altered entirely the position of the 

 industry. The nation found its overseas supplies largely 

 cut off. Turning to the agricultural industry it made 

 demands on it for an immediate increase in the production 

 of food, and criticism since then has ranged round the 

 capacity of British agriculture to maintain a larger food 

 production from the soil of Britain. Under the stress of 

 national emergency the community has discovered that it 



