Mr. Walter Long was the principal speaker at the annual
dinner of the Melksham Agricultural Society on Tuesday. In regard to land reform he deprecated an attitude of mere negation. Those who lived by the land courted the fullest inquiry and were prepared to assist in a thorough investigation, but it must be open, honest, and aboveboard, and must be held by competent, experienced men of business ; and be greatly regretted the proposal to extend the duties of the Board of Agriculture and degrade it into a vote-catching department. As a remedy for low wages he suggested the extension of the principle of piecework and the abolition of any payment in kind. As a Conservative he had no objection to Wages Boards, but he opposed them on the ground that the establishment of a minimum wage would press hard on the agricultural labourer and probably result in turning per- manent into weekly employment, with unemployment for a considerable part of the year as an inevitable consequence.
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