SETTLING ON THE LAND.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15657, 1 August 1916, Page 2

SETTLING ON THE LAND.

BE-COLONISING ENGLAND. ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE PROPAGANDA. (FROM' OCR OWN COKBESrOXDEKT.) I/ONDON, June 15. Th_' Empire Land Settlement Committee -of th© Royal C-olonial- Institute has got to work at once on the subject of the settlement of ex-service men after the war, and its propaganda is being carried a stage further by means of fiome well-written and forcible leaflets. The question is now arousing considerable interest in i'-nglancl, largely owing to the introduction of the Small Holdings Hill, and the highly successful tour of Sir Rider il&gg'Wl throughout the Dominions. The Empire Land Settlement Committee point out that the war has made evident, to ail the peril to Great limaia of the neglect of her agriculture. "There is no great country," it says, "less self-contained in the essentials of her existence. \\ ith n soil and a climate unequalled throughout the -crld for the superabundant production of her people's food, --ho leaves her own fields hail-cultivated and draws from abroad about five-sixths of her broads tuffs and half of her meat. In war time all the oceans of the world niisfc he cleared of battleships and cruisers before she can be secure against starvation, although, her coffers be full of gold. Even then the temporary activity of submarine? and the everincreasing shortage of merchant shipping Ttita consequent freight charges, which sometimes exceed m amount the value of the geeds carried, causo eorc distress among the very poor and deep anxiety to thoio who administer to their needs, as well as to those who arc rospo>nßih!a for safeguarding England r.gninsb tbc conclusion of a premature ! and ignoble peace such as internal dos- ! titution might necessitate. The economic circulatory system of Great liriJ tain must now bo improved forthwith, j and her constitution thereby pcrraan- { enily strengthened. This can only be i done by the definite determination of | th 0 peonlo of this country and of its Government that its agriculture shall bo at onco placed on a sound basis and enabled, without perpetual anxiety as to capricious and unwise interference and burdensome taxation, to produce a sufficiency of sturdy citizens and wholesome food." NEED FOR A PROPER SCHEME. At the end of this war the number of ex-service men wanting to settle on the lanri may he very largo indeed, and the committee argues:— "If we are to develop the natural resources of the Empire, if -we aro to guide tho flow of population to those parts of the Empire most in need of population from the point of view of •dcfipico. if we are to prevent our thinly-peopled lajids from being settled by alien emigrants T then we must have a great Central and Imperial machino which will deal with the question of migration from tho Imperial point of view. Its first duty will ho to see that those born under the British flag remain under that flag. It must see that those who are determined to settle in the now countries are guided to new countries within the Empire. All this is a plea for organisation instead of the I haphazard and laisser-faire system of the past. . It is a plea for confidence t and definite understanding between tho Imperial Government and the Dominion Governments, and tho Dominion Governments among themselves. The time has come for the creation of an Imperial Conservation Board, to take this great work in hand. This Board might be. advisory awl consultative in character, but it should also hare administrative powers of its own. , It would co-ordinate and control all the work of emigration now done by voluntary societies. It would bo the means for discussion and consultation between the different Dominion Governments. On this Board would sit representatives of the Dominion Governments, men who have had practical experience in dealing with land problems and the settlement of men on the land. Their experience would be invaluable to the Imperial Government, because there are few men in Encland who hare made any deep study of land settlement and the underlving principles essential to successful land settlement. HOME OR OVERSEAS? s, What are the personal prospects of those who decide to settle on tho land ? The Governments in our overseas Dominions have for some years been paying much attention to making settlement on, the land attractive. To an increasing extent they have provided for the advance of capital to the settlers, they have provided expert advice and guidance for those who are not skilled cultivators, they have encouraged co-operation, they have arranged for the new settlers to be placet! i'i groups on the la-'id so that they shall not lend isolated lives, but have tho social and business advantages of \;ih in a community. These things are all essential to sucrees. '•'ln tl:e united Kingdom the Government, has hitherto <l<«ie none of theso things, ard nitho-.'.irh there are mnnv thousands of men living on small holdings, tlicy do not in consequence make as good a livelihood as they should on* of this industry. However, there are now signs of our Government taking the mittter up, for some months ago it nor runted n committee to no into the question. The agricultural population cf the United Kingdom has been shrinking and shrinking until it i* now 'altogether too small for the safety and welfare of the ration. If we 'eo to maintain its physical ctnndnrd we nrst breed Tr>oro men in our 'cvurtrv districts. "We must aim, at having an overflowing rnml pow'-tioa. t'io. r'lrplus from which should go to people and cultivate British tor'-itory across the sea.- The <smaM or farmer must work •hard. That fact must be accepted. But the life is hea'.thv. he is his own TV-art"". and if he settles under right conditio"? he can make a good living. TF the ricrhf, en»"litions are not creatcd in the Tnited Kingdom then the roan who wants to settle 'rill be ouite .insin to n thor parts nr tne Empire where co">di+ ; or": pre hotter. But th«re is "o 'Wbt />nnditio"s can b° created which will make nettlei»pre a" nttwtive as it is anywhere in the Dominions, there .ye a good manv op."os of ei-l*.v.-tors who have returned' to Fnsrl'«h farm life after some "pars '** *he Dominions and who arc doing well.'' RE-COLON"ISING ENGLAND. Another leaflet says that- the war has taught us many lessons, but none so clearly and forcibly as this: that we cannot afford in these islands to bo so dependent as we have been in the past on oversea suDolies of the sunniest necessaries of life. "On the subject of our food supplies in time of war Royal Commissions had deliberated and reported, and countless books and pamphlets anu articles been written before the great European conflict began. Most of this material mav now be consigned to the : waste-paper" basket. Experience has ; taught us more "than ail the taJsiDg , and theorising of the past. "We know that our Navy his managed to beep the sea routes and our harbours open, that the price of food, thoush it. has risen, has never reached panic, prices, and that there has been no serious interruption of our seaborne supplies. "Wo know all this, but we are also able

to realise more clearly than before the war what a terrible thing it would have been if we had lost control of the sea- "• ''Do English people realise that we imported last year from over the sea nearly 100 million pounds' worth of wheat and meat alone? We may thans God and the British Navy that could get these supplies in safely. But suppose they had been intercepted owing to submarine attack or the defeat of our warships. We should very quickly have had to starve or submit. And the reason for this dependence on outside supply is not that our island soil has grown less fertile. Once we could support our whole population and still have a big surplus to export. Even now, if we wished, we could produce all the corn and moat required by our people. The reason is that we have thought too exclusively of cheap supplies. Wo have not cared whence ■we got our food, provided we got it cheap, and the boundless virsin soils of the new world could produce much more cheitnly than our own farmers. Wo gave too little thought to considerations of security and defence. The result is that we have had cheap and abundant food, but our arable lands have fallen down to grass, the plough has rusted in the shed or a comer of the 1111 tilled field, our countryfolk have migrated into the towns or over the son, and to-day there are a million fewer workers in />ur shires and villages than there were fifty years ago. Germany has CO per cent, more land under cultivation than this country, and she nroduces three times as mneh food. Thinsrs h:ive "o"r> so far that the people of the United Kingdom doend on importation for about four-fifths of the wheat n'ul tliree-ou artery of all tho food ihpy renuiie. We have onlv etgM million piv>nh. on our land, while France 1,- c ~:jrl.tec*n. and Germany twenty-two millions."