The excuse of the politician-economist is, no doubt, that facts
themselves humiliate us, and it is unfortunately true that a man Who is earning nothing cannot afford to buy anything even though plenteous harvests arc all round him. Perhaps the utterly inadequate Russian railways have been unable to convey enough corn to hungry Russians themselves. Anyhow, what is called a famine is frequently found on investigation to be a failure in distribution. The Soviet enterprise, whatever its reason or motive, will probably give an impetus to the fashionable Socialist demand that Import Boards should he set up in Great Britain to buy corn in bulk and sell it as it may be required for the nation's needs. It will be argued that the State could thus help the farmer by stabilizing prices, and yet, having bought foreign corn cheaply, come out of the adventure with a profit. We hope, however, that such adventitious pleading will not bewitch many people. The policy of bulk purchase is full of risks, as experience has proved, and the worst prospect of all is that it would end' in universal State-
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