1 920. J Interim Report on Agriculture. 96^ 



the same effect, and laid down the principles which were 

 subsequentl}^ embodied in the Corn Production Act, 1917. 

 These principles were : — 



{a) that certain minimum prices for wheat^and oats should be 

 guaranteed, 



(b) that a minimum wage for agricultural labour should be estab- 



lished and Agricultural Wages Boards be set up, and 



(c) that the Boards of Agriculture should be empowered temporarily 



to supersede or to dispossess occupiers of land which was being 

 managed or cultivated in such a manner as seriously to afiect 

 food production. 



The Commission reprint in their Report a number of extracts 

 from the previous Committees' Reports, which reflect the strong 

 views held that an increase of arable land is necessary from the 

 points of view : — 



{a) of the need for ensuring, as far as possible, the 

 safety of the food supplies of the nation in time of War ; 



[b) of the need, consequent upon the exhaustion through 

 the War, of restoring man-power by the expansion of the 

 rural population ; 



{c) of the need to repay the huge war debt by national 

 economy in producing as much food as possible at home, 

 and buying as little as possible from abroad. 



The Commission point out that^the descending scale of 

 guaranteed prices for wheat and oats adopted in the Corn Pro- 

 duction Act, 1 91 7, viz., from 60s. to 45s. in the case of wheat, 

 and from 38s. 6d. to 24s. in the case of oats (both for the small 

 or Imperial quarter of 480 lb. for wheat and 312 lb. for oats) for 

 the period 1 917-1922, has proved to be too low to give any 

 real assurance to the farmer at the present time. It may be 

 mentioned, however, that as far as the principle of assurance 

 of prices goes, the Government have on several occasions 

 expressed themselves, through the speeches of the Prime 

 Minister and the President of the Board, as strongly in favour 

 of making the assistance to agriculture by guarantees of mini- 

 mum cereal prices more adequate and lasting ; and further 

 that the President of the Board in his speech at Shrewsbury 

 on the i6th December stated that it was the intention of the 

 Government to give effect to the recommendations of the 

 Royal Commission in this connection early in the coming 

 Session of Parhament. 



In return for the advantages of the guarantees,'the Royal 

 Commission propose that the powers of oversight and control 

 of fanning operations in Part IV. of the Corn Production Act 



