A National Policy. 69 



administration which will separate the actual control of 

 industrial processes from the more general questions of 

 policy which are properly political questions. A Parlia- 

 ment which attempts to deal with every detail of 

 administration, as well as with the large political issues, 

 is bound to become overloaded, and must leave the great 

 bulk of the work to permanent officials, over whom it can 

 exercise no real control. 



The central authorities ought to be real boards of 

 control, subject to Parliament for carrying out the general 

 policy laid down, but with greater powers of initiative and 

 more freedom of action than the present departments have. 

 They should be definitely representative of the principal 

 interests involved. The Boards need not be large but 

 should be representative of the scientific and technical 

 workers in the industry, of the managerial interests, both 

 land and farming, of the workers, and of the consumers. 

 Full publicity should be given to the work of the Boards 

 and the different interests involved should have ready 

 access to the Board, and be kept in touch with its proceed- 

 ings. It should not be necessary for those seeking 

 information to resort to the cumbersome method of 

 questions in Parliament, and the present attitude of 

 burking enquiry so evident in the evasion of such questions 

 should be frankly departed from. In short, the principle 

 upon which the Boards should work should be that they 

 are responsible bodies, dealing with the industry openly, 

 and not sheltering behind a Ministry through the the bottle 

 neck of which alone they find csontact with those most 

 directly interested in the industry. It is not so much a 



