562 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



the vast majority of instances they are much crippled. Against 

 this class every hand is raised. If a tenant is pinched, whom 

 does he neglect to pay the tradesman, the lawyer, the banker ? 

 No, the landlord. If there is trouble about the collection of tithe, 

 on whose shoulders is the burden thrust by Parliament ? Those 

 of the landlord. On whom do the death-duties fall the heaviest ? 

 The landlord, who cannot discharge them in kind, and often 

 enough has nothing else out of which they may be satisfied. 

 And so forth. Meanwhile the upkeep of estates is costlier than 

 ever it was, since tenants require much in these latter days. 



The farmers, with certain exceptions, in my judgment, do no 

 more than make a hard living, and in many instances they are 

 actually losing capital. Still, one fact must be remembered which 

 farmers themselves are apt to forget they do, for the most 

 part, live, and, in comparison with the rest of the world, not at 

 all unpleasantly. They are independent and, where the gentry 

 are few, rule the countryside ; moreover with their hire is thrown 

 in a house, which often in a town would cost them at least fifty 

 pounds a year, that must be kept in repair by the owner. Fur- 

 ther their expenses need be but very small, since a farm actually 

 produces much that a farmer's family consumes, and, for the most 

 part, they are by no means lavish in their subscriptions, either 

 to public or private objects. These are advantages which are well 

 understood by many townsmen of the shopkeeping and profes- 

 sional classes. It is common to find in some districts that to a 

 considerable extent the demand for farms, especially for small 

 farms, proceeds from such folk who have saved money and de- 

 sire to end their days in the country. They know that if they 

 make nothing they will actually lose little on, say, a hundred 

 acres of land, of which the buildings must be repaired by some- 

 body else, and that the life is wholesome, with many incidental 

 advantages. It is often for these reasons that in most counties 

 there is still a demand for holdings at the present reduced rents. 

 Also farmers can only farm ; they have no other resource or occu- 

 pation, so they cling to their business until the end, whatever that 

 may be, although often enough they would do better to invest their 

 inherited capital and be content to exist upon the interest. 



