RECONSTRUCTION.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—NOW that the war has been brought to a victorious 'con- clusion, the period of reconstruction is at last within sight. The problem of employment is so vast that, besides comprehensive Government schemes, there is room for all existing organizations whose usefulness has been tested by the war. Amongst these the Boys' Country Work Society may fairly claim a place. For two years the Board of Agriculture made a grant towards its support, and during this year the Ministry of Labour has agreed to a per capita grant on all boys placed by the Society and sent by the London Employment Exchanges.
It is probable that after Christmas many London boys will be out of work; to these the land offers an admirable opening after the overetrain of factory life. The minimum rates of wages now fixed by the Agricultural Wages Board for lads under eighteen do not compare unfavourably with the normal wages of a town boy. The future of the farm worker is being carefully considered, the importance of agricultural work cannot be overestimated, and we may feel confident that the problem of our food supply will never again. be forgotten.
The migration of the adult town worker to the land may be impracticable, but the settlement of the youth capable of adapta- tion to new surroundings, and of profiting by the rural instruction which will be offered under the Education Act, is a different matter. Numbers of our boys now in the Army are hoping to go back to the farm work when. released from the Colours, and still correspond with their former Country Secretaries who chose their situations and befriended them when placed.
To extend this work voluntary helpers are needed : in London to help at the Selection Committees, in the country to recommend situations and to visit the boys. Besides workers money is also needed, as the Government grant will cover only half the cost of the work. Cheques should be sent to the Hon. Treasurer, offers of voluntary help to the Hon. Secretary, at the office of the Society.
FRANCD3 MORRIS, Vice-Chairman. Vesisru B4arso, Hon. Treasurer.
Boys' Country Work Society, 163a Strand, W.C. 2.
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