THE STATE AS FARMER 145 



To have to walk miles after a long day's work 

 to reach a dismal over-rented cottage is 

 cruelty and a disgrace. There is no value 

 or training of any kind in such heartless 

 conditions. The farm hand is entitled as 

 much as the best among us to his happy and 

 convenient ' fireside clime,' and if there were 

 no other reason for State employment we 

 have one here. The miserable conditions of 

 the present system in the matter of housing 

 prove that it has been weighed in the balance 

 and found wanting. 



I have referred to a certain chaotic system 

 in farming which consists in doing the least 

 to the land, using as few labourers as pos- 

 sible, and avoiding all technical trades such 

 as milking and cheese-making. Squalor is 

 usually connected with urban slums in the 

 minds of students : its worst examples may, 

 however, be found in those farming districts 

 which set before themselves that unspeak- 

 able trade policy of a desert peace. I am 

 out to coax my fellow-citizens, not to rail at 

 them ; so I must say as little as possible about 

 the infamy of this so-called farming. But 

 I am obliged to refer to it again and again 



