15 NOVEMBER 1919, Page 2

We cannot help feeling that the promoters of the Enabling

Bill have suffered from a certain ignorance of conditions in the -villages. This is a common failing which we see in other than religious matters. It is equally familiar in Labour policy. Trade Unions have been characteristically built up in the inter- ests of artisans—that is to say, of typical town workers—and there never has been a coherent Labour policy for agriculture, if indeed a policy at all. Yet agriculture is the greatest and oldest of our industries. In the Church of England it has long been the fashion to speak of work in the towns as the only fit work for a strong and earnest man. We understand the point of view, and in many ways thoroughly respect it. In most errantry livings hardly enough work has customarily been found to occupy the full time of a strong man.