144 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



Western, added : — " In spite of the efforts thus made, barely 

 half-a-dozen farmers showed a willingness even to consider 

 the matter, and the renewal of these efforts in 1903 led to no 

 better results than before." As further indicative of the 

 policy of the London and North Western, mention might 

 also be made of the fact that on the publication of "The 

 Organisation of Agriculture," in May, 1904, the chief goods 

 manager sent a copy to each of the company's district 

 officers in agricultural districts ; and in January, 1905, a 

 number of copies were forwarded to them with a letter from 

 Mr. Ree, which stated : — 



I am sending you to-day copies of Mr. Edwin A. Pratt's 



book, entitled "The Organisation of Agriculture." Please make 

 use of the books to the best advantage, going so far as to hand 

 a copy to any large farmer or other person concerned in agricul- 

 ture whom it will be well to educate on the lines advanced by 

 Mr. Pratt. 



It will be seen from these examples — without reproducing 

 others which might be given — that, whereas the attitude of 

 the agriculturists on the South Eastern system, when invited 

 to state their requirements, had been simply to ask for a 

 general reduction of rates on agricultural produce, even to 

 the extent of 25 per cent., without any action being taken 

 by themselves, the attitude of the companies in general was 

 to point (1) to the need for co-operation on the part of the 

 producers, and (2) to the possibility of their obtaining, 

 through co-operation, lower rates on the basis of those 

 already existing. These two points— together with the need 

 for more being done to effect co-operation than the railway 

 companies themselves could do— were brought out very 

 clearly in a letter, dated March 25th, 1903, addressed by 

 Sir Joseph Wilkinson, then general manager of the Great 

 Western Railway Company, to Mr. Hanbury, President of 

 the Board of Trade, in reply to a communication sent to the 

 company on the subject of the railways and agriculture. In 

 this letter it was said : — 



It is a matter of general knowledge that in the past the farmers 

 have frequently had just reason for being a s rpicious body of 



