264 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



not quite so prickly as it was a few months ago — about which some of us 

 have heard a good deal in the last year or two. The State is, of course, 

 entitled to pay for those commodities the production of which it wishes 

 to maintain or increase, or to come to the rescue of those whom it deems 

 most needful or deserving of succour. If, for instance, a ' nutrition ' 

 policy required an increase of, say, meat, or milk, or fresh vegetables, or if 

 the agriculture of one part of the country were, for some reason, in special 

 jeopardy, the disbursement of funds for such purposes would appear to 

 be perfectly legitimate. But if it were a permanent policy for the State to 

 support British agriculture in general, it might perhaps be desirable to 

 survey the whole industry, its place in the social and economic structure 

 of the country, its present and potential capacity to meet the food require- 

 ments of the people, and its relation to international trade. These 

 subjects are no doubt being studied now, but it can hardly be claimed that 

 the study is complete. Perhaps it never can be completed, for many of 

 the factors are far from static. But if a comprehensive, reliable and 

 possibly continuous survey could be made, it might form the basis on 

 which State aid might be allocated equitably, from time to time, to those 

 branches of the industry which it was desired, in the public interest, to 

 encourage and in proportions according to their needs. But on this 

 assumption, the shadow of State control still lurks darkly in the 

 background. 



This leads one, lastly, to consider whether in State aid, with its attendant 

 shadow, lies the only hope for British agriculture. The question is one 

 of paramount importance and of formidable difficulty, on which any one 

 should hesitate to dogmatise. But for some at any rate there would be 

 comfort in the belief, if they could hold it, that our farmers, given a fair 

 share of our home markets, could once more struggle through their diffi- 

 culties and maintain their position by their own initiative, energy and 

 resource. For many of them, times have been hard, but many too are 

 riding out the storm with courage and success. Observation, supported 

 by careful economic investigation, shows that the personal factor is still 

 one of enormous importance. Within one parish, even on neighbouring 

 farms, great disparity in farming practice and results may be found. The 

 man of enterprise and adaptability, the man who is eager to acquire new 

 information, to test new methods in the light of his practical experience, 

 and to apply his mind to the business management of his undertaking, 

 he is the man who is least clamant for State subvention to help him in 

 balancing his accounts. Education and research, both scientific and 

 economic, have yet many gifts in store, gifts the acceptance of which 

 carries no penalties. If they be accepted willingly and applied diligently, 

 is it not possible that the general standard of our farming might be raised 

 to a level at which it would be beyond the reach of any, save the very 

 heaviest, waves of depression ? If not, there seems to be at least a risk 

 that our farming, no longer the free industry that we know and respect, 

 may become a mere hanger-on of the State, dependent on its bounty and 

 subject to its commands. Economic independence is worth a struggle, 

 for with it may go a higher kind of freedom that is worth the hardest fight 

 of which man is capable. 



