A National Policy. 77 



The same method ought to be adopted In dealing" with 

 tenants who are not making the best use of the land they 

 hold. If the Committees are satisfied that better use could 

 be made of the land they ought to be prepared to shoulder 

 the responsibility, and if the tenants will not alter their 

 methods, the Committees ought to have the power to take 

 over the farms and instal competent managers who will 

 make better use of the opportunities. That is a reason- 

 able test to apply to the Committees. There is no justifi- 

 cation for them recommending altered methods unless 

 they are prepared to undertake the responsibility for the 

 courses they propose. We need not fear that any sudden 

 revolution will occur because the Committees are given 

 these powers. The Committees are likely to be conserv- 

 ative rather than revolutionary, but given a clear 

 expression of the national will to make the industry a real 

 public service, the results will have a tonic effect on the 

 industry, and by trial and experiment we may reasonably 

 hope for progressive developments. 



Under the Agriculture Act, 1920, where a receiver and 

 manager of an estate is appointed by the Minister of 

 Agriculture, the intention is to manage the estates which 

 have been grossly mismanaged, for the benefit of the 

 owners. In the Act as originally drafted power was to 

 be given to the Minister to determine tenancies and to 

 farm the land, or to let to other tenants. The idea under- 

 lying the powers in the Act, and in the proposals which 

 were deleted from the Act, was that a temporary arrange- 

 ment should be made in the public interest, but that the 

 rights of the owners should still exist and the estates might 



