others will no doubt be the basis of future action by the Board of
Agriculture and the Ministry of Reconstruction.

Before the War the imports of food less re-exports amounted to about 229
millions annually, or, to put the case in another way, about half of the
total food consumed in the British Islands was brought overseas; but "if
the most essential foodstuff, wheat, is considered, less than one-fifth
of what we required was produced in the country." The position was one
of terrible insecurity; but for the efficiency of the Navy the country
would have been starved into complete submission in this War, and its
prosperity and liberty would have been lost for ever. After the War the
financial question of the continued ability of the nation to pay for the
food we require is probably the most serious we have to face. The first
remedy for the existing state of things is the increase of tillage.
Assuming that the same pecuniary profit can be obtained by using any
land for tillage as for pasture or other purposes, it is obvious that it
is right to do everything possible to get that land devoted to tillage,
first, as national insurance for the reasons above stated, and, second,
to support a larger population under healthy conditions. One of the
great causes of discontent, of vagrancy, and of distress in the
sixteenth century was certainly the conversion of large tracts which had
formerly been arable into pasture land, because the land laid down as
pasture would produce a larger profit to the owner though it supported a
much smaller population and required far less labour. A considerable
portion of the rural population was thrown out of employment and the
supply of food was diminished. Again and again the decay of the
agricultural population has been the ground of complaint. Goldsmith
speaks of it beautifully and pathetically in the "Deserted Village," and
the process went on, becoming year after year a greater national peril;
but the Government and Parliament seemed to care little about it, so