Letters to the Editor
A NATIONAL STOCK-TAKING
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In the Spectator of November 30th, your leading article on " Unemployment " makes several pertinent comments on this much discussed question that deserve to be pondered by those who are interested in solving a social problem that weighs more and more heavily on the national welfare. Unemploy- ment is so far from being a political problem that I am sure the minds of many of us cannot comprehend why it has not long since been taken out of the realm of politics, where it certainly does not belong. Unemployment, we know, means unsuccessful industries ; employment—successful industries.
By successful industries we understand industries guided by prudence, and a spirit of initiative that is always looking for new worlds to conquer ; in other words, initiative in improving, standardizing and creating new markets. There wffi always be periods of slump in all industries, due to chang- ing economic conditions, but it does not necessarily follow that these periods should affect all industries simultaneously. The manner in which they are affected is, to a great extent, dependent upon the sagacity of the industrial leaders, and the only real cure must come from the initiative of these leaders in guiding their industries back to the state of prosperity which no government or other outside agency can provide them " ready-made." -
At present we have a situation in which all industries are more or less stagnant. This would seem to indicate that national initiative is passing through a period that requires a " taking of stock "—an examination of the situation that will reveal the weaknesses that underlie a period of general depres- sion. It is only through this form, of analysis that we can bring our individual or national shortcomings to light and pave the way to their correction... It is nothing short of folly to expect that our shortcomings can be cured by incurring increased expenditures for largely unnecessary work that can only have the ultimate effect of putting additional burdens on the shoulders of capital which is already insufficient for the nation's needs.
It seems to me that one of the best illustrations of this need for a national stock-taking and analysis is the question of food. With a huge unfavourable trade balance, much of which is, no doubt, represented by imported foodstuffs, and serious unemployment, agriculture in general complains of its inability to make ends meet and asks for Government protection. Here is certainly something abnormal. With an enormous market for foodstuffs, represented by imports of hundreds of millions of pounds yearly, agriculture complains that it cannot earn a living. If it be true that agriculture cannot prosper under these conditions, then it might well be asked under what conditions it could prosper. This is a sub- ject in which a national analysis not only could, but should, be made, and it would no doubt show many glaring inconsis- tencies and, perhaps, at the same time, the way to at least a partial cure of the general problem of unemployment.
I do not wish by this to pick out agriculture unduly for criticism, or to throw too much onus on the farming com- munity. Agriculture, like many other industries, is in a daze created by the post-War upheaval of the general economic situation. It is therefore as fit a subject as any for analysis, and seems to offer an easier subject for study because of the enormous imports of food that make so heavy a drain on the nation's capital. If we look at agriculture in the light of the statistics of imported foodstuffs we find that many articles that should, and could, be produced at home are bought from foreign countries. For example, the Press has recently called attention to the fact that poultry and eggs of the value of about £20,000,000 are brought annually from other countries. This is a large sum of money which could be used to considerable advantage by the farmers of England. An increase in the income of farmers of £20,000,000 would go a long way towards reducing unemployment through the greater consuming povier of the country which it Would automatically bring about. It is not difficult to visualize the improvement tfiat would be wrought throughout the country in handing 120,000,000 of additional income to the farmers.
The same remark could be made of many other products of
agriculture, the aggregate imports of which are several times greater than those of poultry and eggs. The import statistics give an imposing array of them. They can all be put in the same basket and taken out for the analysis that sooner or later we shall surely be obliged to make. When the diagnosis is eventually completed it will probably be admitted that there is no known pill that will perform a miraculous cure, and that the only efficacious remedy is individual and national initiative ; in other words, a policy that will bring home to the individual producer a thorough understanding of the conditions that exist and the necessity for altering past methods so as to bring them in line with the changed economic situation.
We cannot be so pessimistic as to believe that British agriculture, when thoroughly awakened to the possibility of greatly increasing the national income through the increased production of the foodstuffs now lavishly imported from other countries, will not find the initiative to adapt itself to a policy of speeding-up the production of those articles which the import statistics show to be in greatest demand. Agricul- ture is not static. It lends itself to the speeding-up process as readily as the manufacturing industry, through better and more intensive cultivation methods, more and better machinery, and more careful study of the elements that govern successful farming. What, therefore, is needed more then anything else by agriculture is a vigorous national policy that will bring home to the fanning communities the opportunities which await an awakening of a spirit of enterprise on the part of producers and some form of organized collaboration that will help and advise those producers who are anxious to develop their output. The National Mark scheme is an excellent begirming. It could readily be supplemented with other forms of active co-operation.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
