76 HUNGARY - AGRICUlvTURAIv ECONOMY IN GENERAI, 



the importance and justification of large landed property organized on 

 modern lines, which he considered to be necessary to the victualling of the 

 urban populations and to provide a model of farming technique. But small 

 property is a matter of urgent interest to the increase of the population, 

 for small properties supply the labour of which there will be a double need 

 after the war. In deference to this principle Count Tisza affirmed that the 

 governement intended, and legislation contemplated, stimulating an in- 

 crease of small farms where conditions of the soil allowed of them, and 

 especially where there were many large properties insufficiently farmed. 



It should be remembered that in Hungary the importance, and future 

 of interior colonization depend less on the soil than on capital. Land exists 

 in abundance. The greatest difficulty is to find mortgagees, and to obtain 

 personal credit and credit for the conduct of the farm. 



A very recent development of the problem we are considering was the 

 introduction into parliament of two proposals when the projected -law as 

 to war taxes was being discussed. Latterly in Hungary many stock com- 

 panies, and societies of capitalists who are generally foreign providers, have 

 bought several million hectares (i) of land, being influenced by the promise in 

 the projected law of certain facilities with regard to the taxation of their 

 capitalized property. Count Maurice Esterhazy therefore proposed to the 

 govermnent to bring the projected law as to colonization before parlia- 

 ment before the tax on such property was imposed. 



To complete these measures Marquis George Pallavicini proposed 

 that two ordinances should be adopted, which would rule that the State 

 should have a right of pre-emption whenever there was a sale of land, and 

 that the right to buy lands should be limited, when foreigners or corpora- 

 tions using foreign money were concerned. The cases of allowing lands 

 to pass to the peasants and allowing them to pass to speculating capita- 

 lists are indeed very different. 



The two proposals were rejected by parliament, but they are none the 

 less a clear sign of a will to reach in the problem of interior colonization a 

 concrete solution which will take into account the needs to which the war 

 has given rise. 



(i) I hectare = 2.47 acres. 



