XIX SOME OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 355 



desire it is a matter of vital importance, it will be useful 

 to set forth for the consideration of Land -reformers what 

 seem to be the principles which should guide us in this 

 matter. 



I begin with the proposition, w^hich will probably be 

 generally accepted, that the primary object of giving the 

 people free access to land is, to enable as many as possible 

 to obtain either the whole or a portion of their living by 

 its cultivation, and, by thus withdrawing some of them 

 altogether from competition with wage-earners ; while by 

 giving others a temporary alternative to wage labour, we 

 shall raise the rate of wages of the less remunerative kinds 

 of work all over the country. And as secondary benefits, 

 we shall have, in the first place, an enormous increase in 

 the production of food, displacing much that is now im- 

 ported from abroad ; secondly, an increased consumption 

 of manufactured goods by these self-supporting workers ; 

 thirdly, a diminution in the poors' rate from the dis- 

 appearance of paupers and out-of-works; and, lastly, a 

 public revenue arising from the continuous increase in the 

 value of land owing to the growth and increased well-being 

 of the population. These various benefits I conceive to be 

 important, somewhat in the order in which I have given 

 them ; at all events the first is undoubtedly the most im- 

 portant, while the last — the money profit — is the least 

 important. It is a valuable incidental result, but is not 

 to be sought after as one of the chief ends in itself in 

 depreciation of the other kinds of benefit. 



Now in order that the various good results above enu 

 merated shall be, in their due order, most certainly obtained 

 it is of the highest importance that the workers who gain 

 access to the soil shall be able, not only to live upon it, 

 but to live well and thrive upon it. We do not want 

 them merely to earn a living as long as they can work, 

 and go to the poor-house in their old age or during sick- 

 ness ; neither do we want them to be ruined by the first 

 bad season, or by any of the chances and misfortunes to 

 which agriculture is especially liable. On the contrary, 

 it is of the highest importance to the whole community 

 that the land-cultivators should be in such a position that 



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