122 THE STATE AS FARMER 



would abolish anywhere are those doctors' 

 differences by means of which we all come 

 to good health. In a certain sense the 

 President of the Board of Agriculture has 

 always represented as nearly as possible the 

 person in the Cabinet who stood for land, 

 unless the arch-landlord himself were already 

 taken up with the Premiership, War, the 

 Admiralty or some other exalted office. Of 

 course time was when the landlord class took 

 all the offices and carried England through 

 for better or worse. It is the thing represented 

 by the President, then, that I wish to change. 

 I do not know that if we used all the tact that 

 is available in Parliament at the present time 

 we could make the change really palatable. 

 But I am sure that there is a very large minor- 

 ity who, though proud of their ancient tenure 

 of the land, would consent with a good grace 

 to new arrangements if it were shown that the 

 well-being of the State*, needed them. And 

 we should all rejoice if the change could be 

 made peacefully, because we want these more 

 eminent among our citizens to help towards 

 the success of the new scheme. I am inclined 

 to claim that a direct tenure of land from the 



