IQ20.] Speech by Minister of Agriculture. 



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to frame a moderate balanced policy which will do justice to 

 all concerned in the industry. Certainly the praise which 

 has been bestowed on the Bill, to the effect that at any rate 

 it is an honest effort to help the industry and to keep the 

 pledges which the Government has made, is the highest 

 tribute I would possibly ask for it from any agricultural 

 audience. 



The Scope of the Bill. — As Lord Hampden said just now, 

 we are not considering only the farmer, the labourer and the 

 landowner, we are considering also the far greater number 

 of consumers in this country. He was quite right in saying 

 that this Bill is really, in the long run, framed more in the 

 interests of the whole population — the consuming population — 

 than it is in the interests merely of agriculturists. There is, 

 however, one perfectly sound criticism directed against the 

 Bill, and that is, that it has been too long delayed ; that it 

 ought to have been introduced before, to have had the full 

 effect which is desirable. Well, you cannot always deal with 

 these extremely complicated, intricate and controversial 

 questions as quickly as you would like, and sometimes the 

 longest way round is the shortest way home. It was certainly 

 worth while — at least I think it was worth while — to try and 

 get a substantial amount of common agreement with regard 

 to this policy before putting it into a Bill and launching it 

 upon the parliamentary seas. I think our judgment in that 

 matter has been justified by the fact that there is a growing 

 measure of support for the Bill, sometimes coming from quite 

 unexpected quarters. I am delighted to see that amongst 

 the supporters of the Bill is now numbered Mr. Horatio 

 Bottomley, a very useful ally, who recognises that it is a Bill 

 which is for the interests of the nation as a whole. Then 

 I was particularly gratified to read in last Sunday's papers 

 that very wise, balanced and judicial support of the Govern- 

 ment's policy coming from that great agriculturist, my pre- 

 decessor. Lord Ernie. He points out most convincingly, 

 not only with regard merely to agriculture, but with regard 

 to national health and financial stability, that the interests 

 of the nation are bound up in a policy of greater home pro- 

 duction. He finished up by saying what I am sure will stick : 

 " It does not do to gamble with the food of the people ;" and 

 that is what we have been doing up till now in our national 

 agricultural policy. We have been gambling all the time 

 upon the chance — not the certaint\' — that we should be able 

 to get everything that we wanted from overseas. The idea 



