110 THE MINORITY REPORT 



as the minimum wage is the key to the problem of how 

 to attract the largest possible number of suitable ex- 

 Service men, so other measures, calculated to give the 

 farmer sufficient security and stability of price for 

 his produce, are essential if the land of England 

 and Wales is to be farmed in such a way as to provide 

 employment for the men and promote our national 

 interests. 



45. During the last two generations it has been our 

 economic poUcy to develop our manufactures to the 

 neglect of our agriculture, and to rely to an excessive 

 extent on the markets of the world for foodstuffs. 

 At the present time we import four-fifths of the wheat 

 and one-half of the meat we consume in this country, 

 as well as enormous supplies of cheese, butter, sugar, 

 fruit, eggs, and other farm produce. 



The average value of such imports, excluding tropical 

 products, but including sugar, consumed in the United 

 Kingdom in the three years before the outbreak of 

 war, 1911-13, exceeded £200,000,000 per annum. We 

 do not contend that the whole of these imports could be 

 produced with advantage within the United Kingdom. 

 We must, in the future as in the past, draw considerable 

 supplies from our Dominions over the seas, as well as 

 from foreign countries such as Russia, Denmark, and 

 Argentina ; and we do not for a moment dispute the 

 supreme importance of maintaining unimpaired our 

 ability to import freely in time of war ; but we have 

 learnt from the circumstances of the present War the 

 danger of relying to too large an extent on imported 

 foodstuffs. The high prices now prevaiHng constitute 

 a grave menace to the strength and resources of this 



