PROPOSED REMEDIES 63 



he loses money on it ; if a public body builds 

 a charge falls on the rates ; and both are 

 naturally loth to incur the liability. But if the 

 labourer could pay an economic rent the 

 difficulty would disappear. This could only 

 be made possible by raising his wages. In 

 that case what of the farmer ? There seems 

 to be an opinion among agriculturists who 

 are not farmers that the present improve- 

 ment in their financial position, due to the 

 rise in prices, enables them to pay higher 

 wages ; and in fact wages are being raised. 

 But it is highly improbable that they can or 

 will be raised where they are lowest suffi- 

 ciently to pay the difference between a full 

 and a reduced rent without some other ad- 

 justment. If that took the form of with- 

 drawing other allowances the cottager would 

 be worse off than before by just so much, 

 which is not to be thought of. An alternative 

 is to compensate the farmer by a corres- 

 ponding reduction in his rent, for which the 

 owner would be reimbursed by the full rent 

 for his cottages. There would thus be a 

 financial readjustment all round. It looks 

 very simple, and Mr. Whetham has given an 

 account of its successful introduction on a 

 Devonshire estate ; but since on many 

 estates farm rents are already below the 

 economic level one anomaly would only be 

 cured by increasing another. 



