148  THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED

of  such  an  industry,  supposing  it  can  be  worked,  as
Dr.  Schlich  affirms,  to  yield  a  profit  of  2\  per  cent,  after
allowing  for  compound  interest  on  the  necessary  outlay
during  the  long  period  that  must  elapse  before  returns
come  in.  Indeed  it  might  be  possible  to  go  further  and
allow  the  legitimacy  of  a  public  outlay  of  capital  without
interest,  assuming  that  the  timber  grown  displaced  a  trade
which  was  entirely  of  an  import  character.  The  large
employment  of  low-skilled  labour  in  such  a  rural  industry
might  prove  to  be  the  best  occupation  for  subsidised
labour  colonies,  if  it  were  deemed  necessary  to  establish
them  as  a  means  of  dealing  with  “  the  unemployed.”
§  16.  Establishment  of  Small  Holders  as  a  Means
of  Increased  Agricultural  Employment.
Other  proposals  for  a  revival  of  English  agriculture,  by
the  establishment  of  small  holders  with  such  a  property
in  the  land  they  cultivate  and  such  command  of  capital
as  shall  enable  them  to  place  dairy  produce,  fruit,  vegetables,
pork  and  bacon,  fowls  and  eggs  upon  the  market  at
profitable  prices,  are  interesting  contributions  to  the  solution
of  the  unemployed  problem,  provided  one  point  is  kept
clearly  in  mind.  Such  schemes,  if  they  are  to  contain
the  elements  of  success,  must  not  be  primarily  devoted
to  the  provision  of  work  for  those  who  are  already
unemployed.  Because  there  is  unemployed  labour  and
vacant  land  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  planting  of
this  labour  upon  this  land  will  be  a  serviceable  mode  of
dealing  with  unemployment.  If  bodies  of  trained,  ablebodied
  agriculturists  with  sufficient  capital  of  their  own,
or  furnished  by  the  public,  can  be  put  upon  good  land,
acquired  without  great  expense  or  leased  upon  terms