108 THE GREAT WAR 



the root of material prosperity, but the key to the 

 maintenance of a healthy, vigorous and moral race. But 

 of all forms of productive capacity there is none more 

 vital, indispensable, and steadying than the application 

 of human industry to the cultivation of the soil. And 

 if there is one point at which order is beginning to 

 emerge from the present confusion of our social and 

 political aims, it is precisely with regard to the funda- 

 mental necessity of making a better use of the greatest 

 of all our natural resources. . . . That the land of these 

 islands is under-cultivated, and that one of the chief 

 causes of its being under-cultivated is that it is under- 

 peopled these two propositions at least are common 

 to agricultural reformers of every school. The recog- 

 nition of these two facts and the conviction of their 

 immense importance have been slow in persuading a 

 nation so preponderantly absorbed in urban pursuits 

 and interests. But they are gaining ground every day, 

 and bid fair to shatter the self-complacency with which 

 we have been in the habit of regarding our lop-sided 

 economic development. 



" This new attitude of the public mind is calculated 

 to ensure a fair hearing to those who are anxious to 

 urge the needs and claims of agriculture. Hitherto they 

 have often found themselves preaching to deaf ears ; 

 but now they can count on a large measure of sympa- 

 thetic attention, etc." 



