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Council of Agriculture for Wales. 



[Dec, 



•any improvement suitable for the ordinary working of the farm on notice 

 being given to the owner, and to be entitled to compensation under the 

 Acts unless the owner proves to the satisfaction of the Ministry of 

 Agriculture, as an independent authority, that the proposed improvement 

 is unnecessary^, Part I of the First Schedule of the Act of 1908 being 

 revised accordingly. 



(3) Security of tenure conditional upon (a) the practice of good hus- 

 bandry by the tenant (b) the land not being required in the public interest, 

 or by the owner to farm either himself or by a member of his family, 

 in which case he should be required to prove to the satisfaction of an in- 

 dependent authority that his grounds for requiring possession are reason- 

 able. 



We fully recognise that the landlord and tenant system which has long 

 been a feature of the agricultural economy of this country has great and 

 obvious advantages. It is clear, however, that, under the pressure of circum- 

 stances, that system is inevitably breaking up, and some other system has to 

 be substituted for it to an increasing degree as the years pass. The demand 

 for security of tenure on the part of tenant farmers is mainly due to the fact 

 that so many owners choose, or are compelled, to dispose of their estates. The 

 only alternative to the landlord and tenant system that could give the 

 tenant a fuller measure of security would seem to be either universal State 

 ownership of land or a scheme by which occupiers are enabled to become the 

 owners of their own holdings. No system yet devised is free from some 

 disadvantage. 



We recognise that for the occupier to be the owner of his own farm is not 

 wholly an advantage either to the farmer himself or to the State. Financial 

 embarrassment in such cases is frequent, and, while there are exceptions, 

 experience does not show that those who own their own holdings use the land 

 to better purpose than those who are tenants. On the other hand, it is 

 undeniable that a large number of those who have been brought up on the 

 land, and of the smaller farmers particularly, have a strong desire to own their 

 own holdings, partly because of the sense of security that ownership gives 

 them, and partly also on quite other grounds. In view of this, we consider 

 that the State should otfer facilities to enable those who so desire to become 

 the owners of their own holdings. On the same principle we are of opinion 

 that, subject to proper conditions, the State should extend facilities to owners 

 of estates for the purpose of improving and developing their properties. 



III. Position of Workers.— We feel that there is need for improving 

 the position of the agricultural labourer, both by securing for him an adequate 

 wage, with the assistance of local Conciliation Boards, and by providing him 

 with better opportunities for cultivating land on his own account. We urge 

 upon agriculturists the desirability of providing land voluntarily for agri- 

 cultural labourers, wherever possible. We also feel strongly that steps should 

 be taken to provide, with the assistance of the State, local authorities and 

 private owners, adequate and suitable housing accommodation, including 

 tenements of the cottage holding type, in rural districts. 



IV. Small Holdings.— We are fully in sympathy with the policy of 

 creating Small Holdings with which the State is so definitely and closely 

 identified. The mere splitting up of the land into holdings of a small size is. 



