It may be taken for granted, I think, that the
whole question of the future of War Agricultural Committees will be called in question both inside and outside the House of Commons in the next few weeks. The Odlum case in Wiltshire, and the strictures passed by the judge on various members and officials of the County Agricul- tural Committee in the libel action brought successfully by Mr. Odium against the chairman of the committee, have very usefully compelled attention to the committees and their activities. Their existence depends on Defence Regulations, which is unsatisfactory at this time of day, and they undoubtedly did useful work in war conditions. But in many counties they are a perpetual cause of obstruction and irritation to the average farmer, who generally knows more about the capacities'of his own land than a stranger„and who can ill find time for filling up a multiplicity of forms which he can ill understand. Cases in which farmers have been compelled to carry out a committee's instructions at clear financial loss are far too numerous. A maximum yield from English agriculture in the years ahead is imperative, but it does not follow that Agricultural Com- mittees are the bodies to secure it, and secure it justly.
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