The Farm-Worker's Future
Wages on the Farm. By David Eccles. (Signpost. Is.) Wages on the Farm is an able exposition of the Conservative Partv's agricultural policy. It begins with an exceedingly good diagnosis of the position of agriculture in 1939, which holds the balance very fairly between agriculture and other industries. Few people could find fault with this section of the booklet. Unfortunately, however, the suggestions for curing the disease are neither so specific nor so satisfactory as the diagnosis. For instance, in the section dealing with marketing, the margin between what the producer receives and what the consumer pays is clearly brought out, but beyond such vague generalisations as "co-ordination of all interests under the direction of Parliament," and the desire to "put monopolies and combines in their place," there is no indication as to how this big margin is to be reduced.
Mr. Eccles gets near to the right answer when he touches on the question of efficiency and output per man. He realises clearly that the ability of the agricultural industry to pay high wages does, in the final analysis, depend upon this factor. He realises, too, that whatever may be the theoretical arguments in favour of farms of different sizes, farmers and farm-workers are human beings and not pawns to be shifted about because of the theories of economists or politicians. Unfortunately, however, he avoids the obvious con- clusion of these arguments, namely that the only answer to these problems must be specialisation rather than the "mixed rotational farming" so dear to agricultural politicians. And if the aim of our agricultural policy is to increase output per man to the maximum, why does he suggest that greater financial help should be given to poor land—surely a direct way of encouraging inefficient production?
The section dealing with agricultural wages—which, judging bs its title is presumably the most important section in the booklet— can hardly satisfy the farmer and much less the farm-worker. Mr. Eccles believes that a minimum wage of 70s. a week is satis- factory and that this wage should allow the farm-worker to pay los. a week for rent and los. for rates, water, electricity and bus fares. According to Table 6 on page ii, the 1937-38 expenditure of tht typical agricultural household showed 4s. 9d. per week for rent and rates, and 4s. Het. per week for fuel and light. In other words, Mr. Eccles is suggesting the increased expenditure to the agricultural worker as approximately los. a week under these headings. This, added to the 57s. 4d. shown as the total expenditure in the 1937-38 figures, means that at pre-war prices the weekly budget of the farm- worker would amount to very nearly the basic minimum wage suggested as the present figure. If the rise in cost of living is taken into account it is hard to see how the proposed wage of 7os. can cover this, quite apart from the rise in comparative social an financial status that must be assured to the farm-worker if he to stay stay on the land.
In spite of these and other similar points, the booklet is dead% written and a valuable contribution to the agricultural problem. lib value would be even greater if it could have been extended into a full-length book, and if such conclusions as those on wages and consumption could have been dealt with in greater detail.
H. D. WALSTON.
Previous page
