§ LORD BLEDISLOEMy Lords, I rise to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he can now state the 887 constitution of and the terms of reference to the Royal Commission on Agriculture, and the date upon which it will commence its sittings. In putting this Question to the noble Lord, I may remind your Lordships that it was about two months ago that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture announced in the other House the intention of the Government to set up a Royal Commission to deal, apparently, with the economic conditions of the industry both present and prospective. Two months have elapsed since then, and so far no announcement has been made either as to the constitution of this proposed Commission, or its terms of reference, or when its sittings would commence. In the meantime the problem, which is a very urgent one, remains unsolved, and there is a growing restlessness, I think you will agree, amongst the farming community as to what their economic future will be in the event of the minimum wage fixed by the Central Wages Board for the agricultural labourer going steadily up—as indeed it is at the present time—without, apparently, any relation to the future prices of the products of that labour.
I am sure that the noble Lord realises that this is an urgent matter, and I do not think it is unreasonable to ask, this being so, that an announcement should be made either in this House or in the other House at the earliest possible moment, as to what the intentions of the Government in this matter are. There is a growing impression—which I hope is not well founded—that the Commission itself will be constituted very much on the lines of the Coal Commission, and that it will be allowed to roam at large over all sorts of subjects connected with the tenure of land, the legal settlement of land, the relations between landowners and tenant farmers on the one hand and between tenant fanners and labour on time other, and, indeed, that they will be allowed to deal with that most difficult of all questions, the respective merits of private ownership of agricultural land and its nationalisation. I venture to hope that the noble Lord opposite will be able to give us some definite and reassuring statement to-day so that the feeling of unrest which is prevalent now amongst tine agricultural community may cease, and that some definite announcement may shortly be made as to what. the Government's agricultural policy is.
§ LORD ERNLEMy Lords, I regret to say that, though I recognise the importance of having a definite statement, as to the scope of the reference, the composition of the Commission, and the date of its first meeting made as speedily as possible, the matter is still under discussion. I hope, however, that I am going to Paris to see the Prime Minister on this matter either on Friday or early next week, and that I may then be able to report something quite definite to the noble Lord.