rict could manage to pay--which meant rates lower
than many might have been willing to give. This means that any general
rate agreed to voluntarily will be rather on the low side. But I would
rather have a rate which is generally observed, even if it is rather
low, than that every farmer should be a law unto himself. If there is no
recognised standard, and one man with impunity pays a lower rate than
his neighbours, other rates also tend to come down, and then the process
begins over again.

Looking to the future, the only thing that I can say with any certainty
about the wages question is that it needs very careful watching. Let us
be sure first of our principle, that the first charge on land, as on any
other industry, should be a reasonable standard of living for the
workers. Then let us be sure of the fact that there is over a very large
part of England and Wales no certain prospect of an improvement in the
condition of the labourer compared with conditions ten years ago. The
dangers to be feared are that in the present lamentable weakness of the
men's unions large sections of farmers may break away from the
recommendations of their leaders; and that if depression continues and
war savings become depleted farmers will tend to push wages down in
self-preservation. These things must be watched. If the general
condition of agriculture improves without a corresponding improvement in
the workers' condition, or if conditions get worse and the brunt of the
burden is transferred to the labourer, we ought to be prepared to
advocate a return to the old Wages Boards or the adoption of a Trade
Board system. It must, I think, be a cardinal point of our Liberal faith
that though it is better to leave industrial questions to be adjusted as
much as possible by the parties concerned in the industry, the State
must be ready to step in in any case in which the workers have not
developed the power by their own combination to secure reasonable
conditions and prospects. It is to the prospects that I now turn.

ACCESS TO THE LAND

I mean by this that there should be as many chances as possible for men
and women who have an inclination for country pursuits to take up
cultivation of the soil; the freest opportunity for experiment in making
a living out of the land; and good chances for those who have started on
the land ladder to rise to the top of it.

The three things which stand in the way are:--

(i) The cost of building and equip