BRITISH AGRICULTURE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 30 November 1933, Page 11

BRITISH AGRICULTURE

REGULATION AND RESTRICTION Speaking at a summer school of the Liberal Federation, Sir Francis Acland, M.P., said the Government bad proceeded on the principle of limitation of both foreign and home supplies, but there was no royal road to prosperity through regulation and restriction. Farmers could become prosperous only through the prosperity of their customers. It was wrong to be reorganising agriculture from the point of view ot marketing while leaving the structure of the land system just where it was. The landowner was being bolstered up and lie was allowed, on a change of tenancy, to take whatever advantage came from the improved marketing schemes. “The system of landlord and tenant is breaking down,” he continued, “and it is better that the system should he brought to an end in a proper way. It is wrong that we should < go on pretending that the system should be left alone and should rely on other measures to bring permanent i benefit to agriculture. But the National i Government is not going to touch Liberal policy on land reform, and they are relying soleiy on their policy of restric- i t.ion, quotas, protection and .marketing.’ Uttering a warning against this policy. ] Sir Francis declared that the moment j the State began to guarantee prices to ( any industry that industry would lean ■ on ihe State and expect to do it all the i time. Instinctively farmers would look , to Westminster rather than to their , fields. That would have an extra- i ordinarily bad effect. “AH parties ex- ( cept tlie Liberal Party are rushing violently down a steep place aaicl getting everything to-day under State control and organisation. I fear the gradual j elimination of all private enterprise in this great dependence on the State. Its exponents seem to think that the Stateis superior to the individual,. whereas the State is merely the individual invested with very dangerous power, and apt to 06 very liiGiticicuti in sonic things. I am very much afraid of this organisation acting in the name of the State.”