ENGLAND'S " DEATH AGONIES."
Lord Ernie, who writes a preface, quotes that dreadful pronouncement made not long since by M. Herriot, once Prime Minister of France : " We are witnessing the death agonies of England because she has deliberately sacrificed her agriculture to her trade." Mr. Brereton quotes another Frenchman, the economist Leplay, to the effect that the most important thing that comes out of the mine is the miner ;• and correspondingly out of the land the labourer. Unques- tionably rural depopulation is the essential danger. To quote another Frenchman, England without agriculture is a Colosse aux pieds d'argile. The human question is the vital question ; but in my view we shall best restore the rural• population by starting not with farmer but with the farm. Cultivate the acres now permanently waste owing to the breakdown of the landlord and tenant system and let the rich acres look after themselves. It should be open to every county agricultural committee to purge the shame of derelict acres within its borders.
Previous page
