Farmers and Floods
Farmers are not the only sections of the population whose financial losses from snow, frost and flood in the past two months have been very heavy ; town-dwellers have in some districts suffered consider- ably ; but it is clear that the damage done in agricultural districts is quite abnormal, and those who have sustained it deserve abnormal treatment at the hands of the Government. The statement on the subject made by the Prime Minister on Monday did not err on the side of generosity. It is true, no doubt, and satisfactory, that many Government Departments, not least the War Office, have combined to lend first-aid of different kinds to farmers in distress, but what is in question is not that, but the financial position of farmers who find themselves left with drowned stock and waterlogged acres as the result of what is essentially in the legal sense an act of God. It is by no means sufficient for the Minister of Agriculture to give the general assurance that " the Government's action will be on a scale that matches the need," or for the Prime Minister to say that before decisions are taken the extent of the damage and the general conditions created must be assessed. Farmers are always -in a large degree dependent on the weather. They realise that, and make allow- ance for it. But no man could reasonably be expoted to make allowance for such conditions as have prevailed in Great Britain since the middle of January, and the claim that those who have suffered most—for some discrimination between desperate and mar- ginal cases is essential—should be treated broadly on a War Damage basis deserves serious consideration. There is clear justice in the submission that the financial loss the snow and floods have imposed should be so far as possible spread over the whole community and not fall predominantly, not merely on one class but on the particular sections of that class which happen to live and ply their trade in special areas. The opening of a Lord Mayor's Fund, started with a Government contribution of £1,000,000, will go some way, but it is very doubtful whether it will go all the way. Mr. Dalton has promised a further statement, and his approach to the problem is sympathetic, but the Government must be pressed to see to it that one way or another sufferers from this disaster get the help they need.
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