THREE DISTINCT PROBLEMS 75 



Service men on the land involved three distinct 

 problems, viz. : 



(a) How to ensure the return to the land of as 

 many as possible of the men who had been 

 engaged in agriculture before they joined 

 H.M. Forces. 



(6) How to fill the gap which will necessarily be 

 caused by the war in the ranks of agri- 

 cultural labour, thus bringing up the numbers 

 to the pre-war level. 



(c) How to create in the industry a new and 

 increased demand for labour so as to afford 

 employment for a substantially greater 

 number of rural workers than were needed 

 before the war. 



6. It is obvious that if upon demobilisation the ex- 

 Service men are to be induced to come on to the land, 

 the inducements of the life must be made sufficient to 

 attract them there, i.e. to outweigh in the minds of 

 the men the advantages which alternative modes of 

 life present to them, whether in this country or the 

 Dominions, or foreign countries. This elementary 

 consideration applies, in our opinion, not only to men 

 who were never on the land, but also even to the 

 300,000 or more farm workers who have left the land 

 since the outbreak of war. 



Another fundamental factor in the inquiry is that if 

 a large new demand for labour is to be created in 

 agriculture the State must take the necessary steps to 

 ensure that the industry will both want the men and 

 be able to afford them the rate of wages and other 



