XII THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE 221 



war likely to do us good even in our trade, for it would 

 protect for us our customers as well as bind them to us 

 by the bonds of gratitude ; but it is the kind of war that 

 we never in any circumstances have undertaken. 



Then, again, if we see clearly and distinctly that 

 whatever facilitates the growth of abnormal wealth in the 

 few is bad for the rest of the community, we certainly 

 should favour all those steps which would render it more 

 difficult to accumulate such wealth. It would take too 

 much time now to go into all the measures which I think 

 would be advisable for that purpose. One thing, however, 

 would be certainly advantageous, though I am afraid it 

 will never be done, and that would be to repeal the 

 Limited Liability Act. I believe this Limited Liability 

 Act has been a greater curse to the country than any Act 

 of Parliament ever passed, because it as much as says, 

 with the authority and voice of the Government to the 

 people — You may enjoy the benefit and all the advan- 

 tages of commercial prosperity by simply subscribing 

 your money towards these companies. How are the 

 people at large to know which are good and which are 

 bad ? The mere fact that such an Act was passed was an 

 invitation to the people of the country. They accepted 

 the invitation, and for each one who has benefited by 

 doing so a score have suffered. 



The last thing, and perhaps the most important of all, 

 is to abolish the monopoly of land in this country. I 

 believe no half measures will do any good here. The only 

 thing will be to declare by law that the whole of the land 

 shall revert to the State for the benefit of the people, but 

 that no individual so far as is possible shall suffer any loss 

 during his lifetime or during the lifetime of any of those 

 who have reasonable expectations from him. If that were 

 done no landowner would have a right to complain. He 

 would receive an income probably as great as he has now 

 for the rest of his lifetime and for the lives of all his children, 

 while the nation would have the use of the land, and by 

 allowing every man to have as much as he could cultivate, 

 at fair rents and with complete security, would lead to 

 the production of an amount of wealth probably two 



