10 THE! POLICY OF THE PLOUGH 



with which land can be acquired over the seas. The 

 world is not to them the world it was before the war. 

 Economists may tell them that wages are governed 

 by economic law, and that if economic law rules it so 

 wages must fall after the war. They simply refuse to 

 believe it. They say, " If the country can afford to 

 pay high wages during the war it can affor4 still better 

 to pay them during peace. During the war we have 

 tasted more of the good things of life than ever before. 

 We do not mean to sink back to the old level." There- 

 fore if the opportunity is not to be lost the discharged 

 soldiers and sailors must be promised new and better 

 conditions on the land. And the farmer, for his 

 part, must be assured that he really will be able to 

 pay for these improved conditions of labour. 



It is the important element of time which makes 

 *' artificial " expedients necessary. Legislation should 

 be passed before the end of the war in order that the 

 new conditions maybe ready for the disbanded soldiers 

 and sailors to take advantage of them during those 

 few critical days when they are making up their minds 

 what to do next. 



The national incentive for a transformation of the 

 character of our agriculture is obvious. It resides 

 in the fact, already mentioned, that the production of a 

 far larger proportion of our food supply is now seen to 

 be essential to our national safety. This incentive 

 visibly becomes stronger among the people. They 

 now contemplate deliberately and calmly the necessity 

 of expanding our agriculture at home even at some cost, 

 if necessary, to those who are not engaged in agriculture. 

 This is a great revolution of feeling. It is a thing 



