other aspects of the question. Production must also be considered in the light of the changes in the labour employed and in the conditions of employment. 76. In most countries with developing industries, there has been a relative decline in the proportion of the employed population engaged in agriculture, but that is a national consequence of the extension of manufacture and commerce. What is of particular interest, however, is the absolute changewhether the numbers engaged in agriculture have increased or fallen. With the marked advance in the development of agricultural machinery and labour-saving devices during the past fifty years, even absolute decline by no means indicates a decline in the prosperity of the industry. Considerable attention has been given to the absolute decline in the agricultural population, but the decline is less than has been frequently represented. 77. In Great Britain, comparing the numbers employed in 1871 with the numbers in 1921, and allowing for necessary corrections due to variations in the returns, the comparable figures seem to be: males, 15 years and over, 1,438,000 in 1871, and 1,325,000 in 1921, a decline of 113,000. To this, however, must be added a very considerable decrease in the numbers of young workers under 15 years of age, who, in 1871, amounted, according to the Census figures, to 105,000, and in 1921, to 20,000. There has thus been a total reduction of nearly 200,000 male persons engaged in agriculture. Of this total, boys under 15 therefore account for 85,000, a fact which indicates the progress which has been made in restricting juvenile employment in agriculture; a progress which has been much greater than in any of the other countries and in respect of which British agriculture stands in advance to-day of the agriculture of any of the European States. The fall, both in the number of boys of 15 and over, and of the men employed has been very marked in the last ten years. The figures for 1911 showed an employment of 1,395,000; thus a decline of 70,000 is indicated between 1911 and 1921. Figures showing the change in the number of women employed in agriculture are difficult to assess, owing to the uncertainty of such returns; but there has not been at any time in the past fifty years in this country the large number of women employed in agriculture which we find in other European countries. Nevertheless, there has been a decline in the number of women employed in Great Britain. There is thus a substantial fall in the numbers of persons, both male and female, employed in agriculture; and this decline has been undoubtedly affected by, and has in its turn affected, the contraction of the arable area. 78. In other countries we find varying results. In Denmark, the population engaged in agriculture has shown a small increase. In 1870 the number was 495,000, as compared with 532,000 in 1911, while a marked feature of z 20800 B the Danish returns has been the steady increase in the number of farmers, and the decline in the number of labourers, due to the constant growth in the number of small independent holdings. In Holland there has also been an increase in the number of males engaged in agriculture, while in Belgium there has been a decrease, which between 1880 and 1910 amounted to 84,000, or 13 per cent. In Germany there was a decrease from 5,678,000 in 1882 to 5,261,000 in 1907, while at the same time there was a marked increase in the same period in the number of women employed. This increase is, however, evidently due more to change in methods of enumeration than to any real change in the actual numbers employed. In France there has also been a decrease, though slight, in the numbers of males employed, from 5.33 millions in 1866 to 5.28 millions in 1911, and, as in Germany, a marked increase in women; but again the figures of women employed cannot be treated as comparable between period and period, owing to changes in methods of enumeration. 79. On the whole, therefore, a more marked decline in the agricultural population has taken place in this country than in the other chief North-Western States of Europe; and in comparing the decline in Belgium with that in Great Britain, the very large number employed still on the land in Belgium, relative to its acreage, must not be forgotten. Thus, whereas the number employed per 100 acres in Great Britain amounts to 4.4 and in Denmark to 5.5, the number employed in Germany is 6.5, in France 7, in Holland 9, and in Belgium 10. Belgium still carries per acre the highest population among the West European States. 80. A further line of comparison is in respect of wages received by agricultural labour. In considering any figures on this subject, allowance must be made for the fact that in most European States the small-holder greatly preponderates, and the relative number of employed agricultural labourers is therefore much less than in this country. Thus the percentage of holdings in England under 50 acres is approximately 66 per cent., in Denmark 95 per cent., in France 90 per cent., in Germany 92 per cent., in Belgium 95 per cent., and in Holland 90 per cent. The great extension of the " petite culture" on an intensive scale in Belgium, and the very large numbers of small-holders, not only in Denmark, but in France and Germany, reduce the amount of hired labour. Comparison, therefore, must also be made between the economic position and well-being of the small-holder in these countries and of agricultural labour in this country. Even in this respect comparison is difficult, because the economic and social conditions of the small-holders vary widely. The country which compares most favourably with England is Denmark, where the social status, housing and standard of comfort of the small-holder provide on the whole a better life than that of the agricultural labourer in this country. On the other hand, the lot of many of the small-holders in foreign countries is one of considerable hardship, involving an exiguous return for the labour, and especially the family labour, which is put into the holding. 81. When the wages of labour are compared, this country presents a standard higher than in any of these other countries. Comparisons made during the period before the war show that the average of wages in this country was very considerably higher than in Germany, France or Belgium, and, though to a less extent, higher also than wages in Denmark and Holland. Reliable material is by no means plentiful, and there is great difficulty in forming an average of real wages in the different countries. Allowances are always difficult to estimate, while, in addition, the comparative cost of living in the several countries under observation has to be reckoned with. But when all these factors are allowed for, the conclusion which we form is that wages of agricultural labour were better before the war in this country than in any other Western European country, and were from 25 per cent. to 40 per cent. higher than in Germany, France and Belgium. 82. In the period after the war comparisons are still more difficult. Wages have risen in all the countries, though real wages are still more difficult to assess, but so far as we are able to judge, it still remains true to say that agricultural wages in this country are as a rule substantially higher than in any of these other countries, though in several districts we have found wages very similar to what were being paid at that time in this country. 83. But in this connection there is a further factor. Hours of agricultural labour in continental countries have been and still are undoubtedly longer than in this country. Thus, in Germany, in January 1919, the hours of agricultural labour, as agreed by the National Council of Peasants and Agricultural Labourers, were fixed for the year at eight hours per day for four months, ten hours for four months and eleven hours for four months; in other agreements we find rather shorter hours, but still substantially longer than in this country. Again, in Denmark, the agreements of the Danish Farm Workers Union of February 1920 and June 1921 provide for a working day, from March 1st to November 15th, of 9 hours between 6 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. The hours of work are in fact often longer, as only a very limited amount of labour is governed by such agreements. This is particularly the case on the smaller farms and above all on the farms where the work is done entirely by family labour. 84. We do not, therefore, forget the facts which indicate the superior economic position of the British agricultural wagelabourers in comparison with those of other European countries. Nor do we forget that in the rest of Europe the family-farmers far outnumber the small-holders of England. Each of these things must have a considerable effect upon the relative intensity of farming here and elsewhere. By cutting down wages it is certain that more land could remain in arable cultivation in England at a profit to the farmer; by multiplying the number of small-holdings cultivated by men who pay no wage bill and who know no restriction of hours of labour, the same effect on cultivation might be expected. Further, by a modification of the regulations governing compulsory elementary education in this country, so as to bring them into conformity, for example, with those of Denmark, much more child-labour would be made available both for the farmer and for the small-holder, again with similar results on the intensity of production. It is unthinkable that public opinion in this country would tolerate any material reduction in the wages of farm labourers, any material increase in their hours of labour, or any tampering with our system of elementary education which would result in the production of a class of "half-timers" available for farm labour. To this extent production in this country must always suffer in its intensity by comparison with countries where the standard of living, both as regards cash wages and opportunities for leisure and education, is lower than in England. But to the extent that the family-farmer, by his industry and that of his family, is enabled to intensify production, it is clear to us that an increase in this class of the agricultural community of England would result in a larger output per unit of land without entailing consequences socially undesirable. The wage-labourer may rightly object to hours of labour and to rates of pay which place him in a position materially inferior to that enjoyed by workers in other industries. The family-farmer, however, is working for himself; his wife and children, when engaged upon the holding, are working for the family advantage. In these conditions it is not regarded as a hardship by the persons concerned if they work long hours for a small reward, nor do we regard such a state of things in any way as anti-social. They are working for themselves; the profit of their long hours of labour is their own, and we consider that the satisfaction which they gain from this knowledge more than counterbalances the purely economic weakness of their position. We are of the opinion that any speeding up of the machinery by which the unsatisfied demand for small-holdings is met would result in intensifying production from the land without any lowering of the standard of living of the persons concerned when measured in terms which they themselves would wish to apply. PART III. METHODS ADOPTED BY OTHER COUNTRIES. 85. The study of foreign systems of agriculture shows that a large number of forces contribute to the well-being of the agri cultural industry in any country. The factors which we single out as sufficiently important for special mention are :— A. The system of land tenure, including the provision of small holdings. B. The fiscal organisation of the country and in particular the assistance to agriculture by tariffs or subsidies; C. The system of general education and the special provision for agricultural education and research. D. The economic organisation of the industry and in particular the development among farmers of co-operative methods of purchase and sale, co-operative credit and cooperative insurance. E. The institution of schemes for the improvement of livestock and crops, the standardisation of produce and the control of weeds and vermin. F. The organisation of transport, the provision of power and wireless, the assistance of subsidiary rural industries and the development of afforestation. G. The development of State or voluntary organisation, to provide the necessary central and local machinery for carrying out the various measures of agricultural policy. A.-Land Tenure. 86. We have given considerable attention to the question of the tenure of land. Under this heading falls the consideration of the question of ownership versus tenancy and of both the security of tenure for occupiers, and also the particular problem of small holdings. Reference must also be made, in connection with tenure, to the facilities for the registration of title and transfer of land. 87. Systems of Tenure.-Continental experience shows considerable variety as regards systems of tenure. But, if one takes a general view of the whole of the country from the Loire to the Vistula, there can be no doubt that peasant proprietorship very greatly preponderates. The only remarkable exceptions are Belgium, where not much more than a quarter of the occupiers own their land, Holland, where the proportion is about onehalf, and the German provinces, east of the Elbe, where practically all the land is owned by the occupiers, but half of it by large proprietors. So long as there is effective security against unreasonable disturbance, and compensation for loss due to disturbance, much of the benefit accruing from ownership would seem to be secured. But in most countries the sentiment in favour of ownership is strong, especially in Denmark, and it is significant that many competent observers in Denmark regard the system of ownership as the most influential of the causes of Danish prosperity. Ownership gives a feeling of security and a sense of attachment to and interest in the land which nothing else calls out so strongly; it is also the most satisfactory basis z 20800 B 3 |