LAND SETTLEYT1NT FOR SOLDIERS.
[To Tax Roma on THE " SPECTATOR."] you allow us to explain through your columns the objects of the Soldiers' Land Settlement Association and appeal for the funds necessary for their attainment P The Association seeks to deal with an admitted evil of our military system and, at the same time, with an urgent need of our national economy. The Short Service system, which is an essential part of our Army organization, must result in a large number of men being passed to the Army Reserve while still in the prime of life. The fact that they severed their connexion with civil life while still little more than boys makes it difficult for many deserving and capable Army Reservists to re-establish themselves as ordinary citizens when they quit the colours. The great need for trained agricul- turists to work the land of the United Kingdom and to develop the vast arable areas of the Empire is admitted, and is, indeed, the aim of much recent legislation. With a view to mitigating the evil and to some extent meeting the aced, it is proposed to take advantage of the growing public opinion in favour of increasing the number of those engaged in agricultural pursuits and of the facilities for settlement so liberally afforded by the Dominions and Colonies. It is unquestionable that, if cultivated on scientific and busi- ness lines, the land can be made to pay. Moreover it offers the soldier a career in which he will not be handicapped by serious competition, and for which his Army training, physical and mental, peculiarly fits him. The actual work of the Association will consist in qualifying soldiers for settle- ment or employment on the land, either at home or, when their liability to recall as Reservists has terminated, in the oversea Empire, and afterwards in finding openings for them. It is intended, as the first step, to establish training farms at borne, where the men, preferably during the period of servic in the Reserve, will acquire knowledge of agriculture and crafts which will be useful to them as colonists, farmers, or employees. The practical application to agriculture of co- operative methods, which are in these days essential to the success of working farmers, will be taught. The Association will be prepared to work with the Agricultural Organization Societies and with all voluntary agencies concerned either with emigration to British possessions abroad or with rural development at home, a matter upon which the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries may be relied on to advise. The War Office has been fully informed of the scheme. It is hoped that the processes of training and settlement may be made ultimately self-supporting. But at the outset the work must necessarily be experimental, and it will take time to arrive at the most economical and efficient means of carrying out the Association's programme. The experi- mental stage will be costly, and we trust that we shall not appeal in vain for the funds required. Further particulars may be obtained from the Honorary Secretaries, Soldiers' Land Settlement Association, Queen Anne's Chambers, Tothill Street, Westminster, London, S.W. Donations and subscrip- tions should be sent to Messrs. Robarts, Lubbock & Co., 15 Lombard Street, London, E.C., for credit to the account of the Soldiers' Land Settlement Association.—We are, Sir, &c., METHUEN, President. AVEBURY, Hon. Treasurer. SHAFTESBURY HORACE PLUNKETT GREY RICHARD SOLOMON ROBERTS NEWTON J. MOORE
PLUNKET ROBERT YERBIT REM
GRENFELL J. ST. Los STRACHEY We applaud this scheme to bring the soldier to the land, and in spite of the fact that Augustus failed in a similar enterprise, even though he called in aid the witcheries of Vergilian verse, we believe it to be sound and capable of a successful issue. May it gain the support it deserves.— ED. Spectator.]
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