18 OCTOBER 1924, Page 2

On Wednesday the Liberal Publication Department issued a pamphlet containing

a rough draft of the Liberal agricultural scheme. The scheme is apparently, the outcome of Mr. Lloyd George's Committee on agri- culture. Good farming is laid down as the essential qualification for holding land. Farmers who satisfy the required standard of productivity will be given security for themselves and their descendants so long as the land is properly used. The farmer will be pro- tected against having to buy his farm when he does not wish to do so ; and if his land is required in the public interest he will be compensated. He can thus improve his farm without fear of losing the benefit of his improvements. The scheme also provides security of employment for the labourer and security of rent for the landowner. The main idea, however, is to encourage a cultivating ownership. "The Liberal land policy will create a ladder whereby labourers of energy and skill can become farmers."