Page:The New Protectionism.djvu/111

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CHAPTER VII

THE CASE OF AGRICULTURE

There is one great fundamental industry which deserves separate consideration in this problem of economic defence — agriculture. The belief that the decline of farming is an injurious factor in our recent history is by no means based exclusively on considerations of militarism and defence. The decay of rural industries and the concentration of our population in great cities, removed from wholesome regular contact with Nature and devoted more and more exclusively to mechanical and commercial pursuits, have been sources of deep concern for hygienic, æsthetic, and moral reasons. Those concerned for the quantity and quality of our population have pointed with alarm to the dwindling proportion of the popula-

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