Personally, we think that under an enlightened system of agri
culture rural Britain would prosper in spite of minimum prices and wages, and there would of course always be the greath I and pays.ca. moral gain of a thriving countryside. But whether that be so or not, it is just as reasonable to ask people to pay for national safety through the medium of artificially supported agriculture as it is to ask them to pay for battleships and artillery. On this point the opinion given by the Admiralty and quoted in the Report is very important. The Admiralty say : " The certain development of the submarine may render such vessels still more formidable as weapons of attack against sea-borne commerce in a future war." They go on to point out that any reduction of our dependence upon imported foodstuffs would lessen the volume of sea-borne traffic, and would thus greatly relieve the strain on the Navy.
Previous page
