CO129-581-16 British propaganda in Hong Kong 18-4-1939 - 29-10-1939 — Page 14

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Land Settlement.

The threat of international strife and the state of tension in

the world during the past year or more have tended to turn public

interest and attention almost entirely to questions of defence and

armed force. At the same time it has been realised that part of a

country's defence forces consists of its economic capacity and

ability to produce its own essential requirements. In Great

Britain a question of permanent importance is that of food product-

ion, and special attention is being paid to agricultural problems.

In this connexion valuable experience and help is being

gained from an attempt to solve in part the unemployment problem

through land settlement. During the past four years schemes have

been developed and financed by various public and private bodies

for putting unemployed men back on the land, A Land Settlement

Association, built up in a comparatively short time, has developed

a vast organisation which, on its own particular lines, is the

largest producer of foodstuffs in the British Isles.

In 1938 according to a writer in The Times, when the Associa-

tion's holdings were little more than one-third developed, the

purchases and sales of the marketing department amounted to

£750,000 in value. The output was about 44,000 pigs, 14,000,000

eggs, and over 1,000 tons of tomatoes. When all the estates are

fully developed, the total annual turnover will probably be about

£2,000,000. The purchase of common requisites and the sale of

produce are organised compulsorily on a co-operative basis,

Started to relieve the needs of a number of unemployed workers,

this movement will help to ensure the production of food should

a national emergency arise.