The Dominion.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2409, 15 March 1915, Page 4

The Dominion.

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1915. A VITAL IMPERIAL PROBLEM

Sir Rider Hagqahd's views on certain aspects of the British land problem are Bet forth in a cablegram published in another part of this issue. Some very urgent and perplexing questions are raised. The situation to which public attention is directed _ has for some time past been receiving the consideration of social reformers and politicians of all parties. Sib Rider Haggard has given a great deal of time and thought to the problem o.f rural depopulation. He has studied the sub-: iccfc in its theoretical aspects, and has. also practical experience. His latest statement indicates that unless effective measures, arc taken to counteract the increasing unpopularity of farm work the stability of the nation'will be seriously threatened. The facts and tendencies referred to concern the whole Empire, though the trouble has reached a more acute stage in Great Britain that in the Overseas Dominions. Some idea of the magnitude' of the exodus from the rural districts of England and Wales is conveyed by the following figures, showing the Berious fall since 1871 in the numbers of those actually engaged in farming pursuits as labourers, and shepherds:— 1871 922,054 1881 830,452 1891 756,557 1901 609,105, The_ exact figures for 1911 are not yet available, but it is understood that they will show a further decline. .The New Zealand population statistics show a similar drift from the country districts to the cities, though it is not so pronounced as that disclosed in the above table. Our rural population haß steadily increased, but the towns have grown much more rapidly. In 1881 only 194,981 people lived in the boroughs, as against 291,238 in the counties, but in 1911 the tables were turned, the boroughs claiming 605,598 inhabitants, as compared with 496,799 dwelling in the counties. The drift is shown in the following table, giving the percentage of population in counties and boroughs at each quinquennial census since 1881: — Year. Counties. Boroughs. 1881 59.44 39.80 1886 ' 56.58 42,46 1891 56.18 43.14 1896 55.69 43.69 1901 54.04 45.32 1906 51.63 47.79 1911 19.26 50.14 In a young country like this, the prosperity of which depends so largely on its land industries, the rural population ought certainly to outnumber the town dwellers. The readjustment of the balance is a matter that might well engage the careful attention of the Board of Agriculture. We are naturally proud of the extension of our cities, and their growth is not an unhealthy sign provided it is not out of proportion to the increase of the population as a whole. i It, is now generally admitted in Britain that the time is more than ripe for far-reaching land reforms. Rural betterment schemes are emanating from each of the great political parties, and after the war is over some important legislation on the question may be expected. In 1913 the British Board of Agriculture, at Che request of the Dominions' Royal Commission, undertook an inquiry on migration from rural districts in England and Wales. The investigation led to the conclusion that the area of farmed land is steadily decreasing, the only contrary influence being the increase of intensive cultivation. Considerably more men could find employment on the land than are now available, and the manual arts of agriculture are being neglected. The report further states that there is reason to doubt that the movement of the population from the rural districts has been much accelerated in the last year or two, and pciints out that tho normal movement to the towns is largely supplemented by an exodus to the Overseas Dominions, partly due to the activity of emigration agents. Doubt is expressed as to whether low WH-sm *r<s w much #. a I elite content is I&{Js of opportunity.. Ih«,,

report appears to deal almost exclusively with the causes of rural depopulation, and says very little about tlio cure. The principal ■ remedies which now occupy public attention are:—(l) To make the land more productive; (2) to give the labourer a hotter wage; and (3) to make country life more attractive. Sir Rider Haggard declares that if the cost of labour increases lie will bo obliged to dispose of his dairy farm. This illustrates the difficulty of the position. It is, however, argued by the advocates 'of reform that "if the land produces more the farmer will be able to pay higher wages, capital will be attracted to it in the shape of more modern machinery and in other ways, and a stream will be set in motion which will fructify the whole countryside." The nation is faced with the undeniable fact that one of its most vital industries is in danger of being paralysed for lack of an adequate supply of workers. In discussing the problems of village life, Mr. E. N. Bennett remarks that-the land of England and Wales is worked by twenty-eight males per square mile, whereas if the land was used like that of Belgium with her seventy-two workers per square mile the rural population would bo increased by nearly two millions. It is not only the exodus to the cities that the British land reformers aro endeavouring to check. They also aim at checking the emigration of agricultural labourers. The country cannot spare them. This means that the Overseas Dominions must be prepared in the near future for a considerable diminution of the stream .of' immigrants from the rural districts of Britain. They will either have to discover other outside sources of supply or find means of augmenting the growth of their own populations. The falling birth-rate is a menace to the whole Empire. "We are," as Sir Rider Haggard says, "trying to hold nearly a quarter 'of the earth with about sixty million Anglo-Saxons, and the task is as much as we can do." The best way to defend the Empire is to populate it. If it is to be made as selfreliant a.nd self-sufficing as possible, its vast resources must be' more adequately developed; and if this is to be done by British people the shrinkage in the birth-rate must be stopped.