COTTAGE ACCOMMODATION. 285 



of country life. It is probable, though, that 

 owing to the opposition of " vested interest " 

 and the apathy, or suspicion of Hodge, that 

 he would rarely get elected. Why not, then, 

 allow rural district councils to co - opt artists 

 (in the widest sense) in the same way in which 

 county councils co-opt educational experts ? 



Lawyers are more difficult to get rid of, 

 judging by the composition of the House of 

 Commons. Conveyancing is still a costly 

 process in spite of the fact that people of all 

 shades of political opinion agree that the 

 transference of land should be as easy as the 

 transference of stock. 



A large landowner once told me that he 

 sold an acre of land for the building of cottages 

 for £100, and in totalling up the lawyer's 

 expenses on his side and on the buyer's, as 

 well as the mortgager's, the charges amounted 

 to exactly another £lOO ! 



There is an Act of which few people seem 

 to be cognisant called " The Land Transfer 

 Act of 1875," the purpose of w^hich was to 

 simplify and cheapen the transfer of land by 

 registration at the Land Registry Office in 

 London from one owner to another, but some- 

 how or other it has been kept dark, and the 



