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Farmers _Must Fight a Fifth Column

11th December 1942
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Page 19, 11th December 1942 — Farmers _Must Fight a Fifth Column
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Despite the Many Advantages of Mechanization, Certain Interests Are Working Against It

MANY promises have been made in the past concerning the agricultural industry of this country, and, • unfortunately, most of them have been broken. After an up-and-down period in its financial status there came a resurgence during the war of 1914-18, when a great acreage of land, much of which had been neglected for years, was put under the plough. During that time the hopes of the farmers were raised, as it was thought that Britain would never he so foolhardy as again to neglect its vital sources of home-produced food and rely to. such a huge extent upon imports.

However, -agriculturists soon became disillusioned, and the situation, steadily grew worse than before. A few farmers, whom circumstances particularly favoured, still managed to retain a degree of prosperity, thousands, however, lived from hand to mouth, and a proportion gave up in despair. Some saw their equipment wearing out and could not afford to replace it by similar or ' more modern machines. Meanwhile, owing to the comparatively low wages which could be paid, there was a continual drift to more remunerative occupations and to places where the amenities of life were more easily obtainable. • Now the picture has again changed, and even to a greater extent than previously. During this war there has been_ far better organization and more encouragement,' whilst the supply of the most _modern equipment has been on a comparatively generous seale.

Millions of Fertile Acres Added On many occasions we have given sidelights on the work of the County War Agricultural Executive Committees 'operating under the xgis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Their efforts, combined with the patriotic enthusiasm of the agricultural community; have resulted in millions of acres being added to the area of pro , duction. Even land which has hitherto been considered as waste, hardly worth cultivation, has been rescued and brought back to fertility, often to an amazing degree.

This has not been achieved without a splendid spirit of co-operative endeavour. The bigger farmers have assisted the smaller, and where such help was not available the Committees have themselves supervised the main operations and arranged for the provision of the necessary machines, whilst fuel has been allowed on a scale computed to meet all essential demands. All this has brought the Nation into a far more satisfactory position. '

What is more, this position must, at all costs, be maintained and fortified against any attack, insidious or otherwise, that may seek to rekindle in agricultureothe spirit of laissez-faire. To-day, under the conditions of dire necessity created by the war, farming has won its way to recognition as a key industry. In helping it to secure its rightful place in the Nation's internal affairs, its most zealous protagonists have had a long and bitter struggle, but they must be wary of skilfully directed reactionary forces that are already 'atwOrk.

Enemies of Farming Progress In fact, one might quite truthfully say that a Fifth Column in agriculture is now marshalling its strength to reopen the fight so soon as firacticable, and the seeds of discord that are being surreptitiously sown are expected to germinate quickly when more favourable conditions prevail. These retrogressiv% interests are merely biding their time to strike again, but even now they are still trying, by subversive means, to undermine the strength of the mechanized-farming movement.

What is the object of these so-called social reformers who have the backing of certain powerful political and religious factions? Seemingly, they have visions of this -Britain of ours being denuded of its existing physical features and the whole countryside turned into a vast prairie, with the small holdings destroyed and the hedgerows obliterated, ails nefarious work being accomplished by a big mechanized army cloaking .its objective under the label of progress.

Instead of admitting their indebtedness to such machines in helping to keep their island home intact and their standard of living at a high level, these misguided individuals are prepared to gamble with the Nation's destiny. Their ideas are many decades out of date, and they lack an aware ness of the present mood of the British farmer. Power farming is here to stay, and the sooner they recognize this cardinal fact the better, because it has helped to raise the efficiency of the industry and to improve the status of agriculture, in this country. No backward movement will stand a chance in the new order which is envisaged in the post-war period.

Synthetic Rubber The Attitude • Towards Home Production

OLD campaigners who fought for so many years on behalf of a carbide and a syntheticrubber industry in this country, must feel a certain vindictive pleasure in the apparent weakening of Government opposition to these developments. It will be recalled that, earlier in the year, after the sudden truncation of our supplies of natural rubber from the East Indies, a Government spokesman calmly announced on the air that we should have to depend upon synthetic rubber to an ever-increasing extent aa the war progressed, and that the provision of this material would be left to America, which had ample resources for its manufacture. • Far-sighted chemists and technologists seethed at the publication of such brazen effrontery, and most of us learned once more how easy it is to hoodwink a crowd of people provided one talks sufficiently high above its head. Even now, when many road vehicles may be found tyred with synthetic rubber, it is still not an aracommon thing to hear this group of substances referred to as " interesting," but, of course, " definitely mere substitutes, inferior to natural !libber."

Such an attitude, justified perhaps in 1912, can no longer be supported by scientific argument. Recently Mr. T. Smith, .on behalf of the Ministry • of Fuel and Power, announced that, in the future, coal, it was to be hoped, would become to. an increasing extent a raw material forthe manufacture of such produtts as synthetic rubber and plastics. The erection of a plant to make synthetic rubber from coal in this country, however, would not be justified at the present time. More recently still another _Government spokesman has indicated even more plainly that, at least, the foundation of such an industry is contemplated. In its initial stages, controversy centred largely around the possibility of establishing a carbide industry in Great Britain. Supporters of such a scheme found themselves overwhelmed by an opposition which stated that, even if Scotland could master sufficient hydro-electric power, it Still would not prove an economic proposition ; it was still cheaper and more profitable to buy from abroad.

So at a period when the blight of industrial depression lay heaviest on this country, and miners by the thousand were without employment, a profitable avenue of exploitation for almost the only abundant' source of mineral wealth in this country, was turned down. With the passing of this proposition went, for the time being at all events, any, hope of the establishment of a synthetic-rubber industry here, for from calcium carbide (produced from coal and limestone) comes acetylene, which, for this island, represents prob ably the best starting point from which to synthesize these complicated chemical compounds. Now, it is known that a small carbide installation is, in fact, operating here ; certainly its products are not for geneaal use. Technical improvements have made it possible to economize in the electrical energy required, and have opened up once again the possibility of establishing the industry .on a larger scale, for example, in Scotland. English synthetic rubber may yet be realized as an accomplished fact, and dependence on the U.S.A. be considered as only a temporary measure.

A closer examination of the problem reveals-the intimate linking which might be possible between a carbide plant considered as a primary unit, on the one hand, and a fine-chemical industry, on the other. Within the framework of this latter, a synthetic-rubber industry would constitute, perhaps, in the long run, a small although very important part, for calcium carbide and the acetylene obtained from it are the beginnings of a whole host of chemical products. It was customary in the past, if the sOurce of any synthetic product were doubted, to ascribe it to coal tar ; ninety-nine times out of one hundred, ,• the guess would be correct. To-day, if " acetylene " be read in place of " coal tar," the answer is likely to be just as accurate.

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Organisations: Ministry of Agriculture
People: T. Smith

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