Mr. Lloyd George and the Land In speaking of his
land policy on Saturday Mr. Lloyd George said that he had not suggested the creation of half a million small holdings ; but he does claim that it would be possible to put 500,000 more workers on the land in family farms, market gardens, chicken runs and fruit or flower-growing. Mr. Lloyd George has not yet developed the full details of his new land policy. His proposals in general fall into two parts, those which provide for immediate constructive work, and those which demand a long-term policy. It must be presumed that his agricultural measures fall under the latter head. Though a start might be made at once by devoting large sums of money to land drainage and settlement,.he must not be supposed to suggest that half a million men could be provided with work on the land in the course of a year or two. If Mr. Walter Elliot's organization schemes succeed, a basis will have been provided on which to. build up a more generous scheme of settlement; guided, as it should be, by the experiments which are now being made. Settlement at a cost of £750 per family, as we show on another page, is far cheaper than, for example, the beet subsidy.
* * * *
Previous page
