Some Present-Day Policies. ' 47 



and foremen out of a total of 665,258 male workers 

 employed, the proportion being- a little over 3 per cent. 

 Even these positions bring- very little advance in economic 

 or social position over those of the other workers, and 

 the positions under those of bailiff or foreman are so little 

 differentiated in the social and economic scale as to make 

 little call to ambition. The position of a small holder does 

 offer more social independence, even if the economic con- 

 ditions show little or no improvement over those of the 

 wage earners. It is a more interesting^ life, if more 

 laborious, and there is always the hope that it may lead 

 to something better. 



But the g^reatest demand for small holdings does not 

 come from farm workers — a fact that is generally not 

 recognised by those who talk most about the matter. The 

 Report on Wages and Conditions of Employment in 

 Agriculture issued by the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries in 1919 (Cmd. 24) has an interesting section on 

 small holdings in England. " In very few counties," the 

 Report says, " have the Investigators found an unsatisfied 

 demand for holdings ... In most counties it appears 

 that the demand, even where it is larg-e, has been satis- 

 fied." In the same Report interesting information is 

 given as to the class of persons who apply for small 

 holdings. " The number of applications received from 

 farm labourers is small. . . . From statistics published by 

 the Board of Agriculture it appears that in 1914, of 3322 

 applications allowing 20 members for each of seven 

 Associations, 1029 only were agricultural labourers; that 

 is to say, 30.9 per cent, were farm labourers. The general 

 conclusion which the facts seem to warrant is that the 



