520 History of the English Landed Interest. 



markets, the consumer's interests are entirely unaffected by 

 either landlord's rents or farmers' profits. "Were it otherwise, 

 the old controversy, as to whether the land taxation and tithe 

 fell upon the producer or consumer, would again arise ; but 

 unfortunately, after what we have now said, there is very little 

 doubt that thej'' are derived entirely from the producer's 

 profits. 



We have now merely to decide whether this dual control of 

 the soil is best. The alternative, of course, is the division of 

 landed estates into the small agricultural freeholds of the 

 yeoman ; and here we must refer our readers to a former 

 chapter,^ in which were discussed the advantages and disad- 

 vantages of small and large farms and landed proprietorship. 

 We must recall to mind that the precedents afforded by those 

 countries which have had recourse to a greater sub-division 

 of proprietary rights, with the possible exception of America, 

 have not been favourable to an imitation of the process in this 

 country. 



The American farmer pays no rent, but, as ]\Ii'. William 

 Maitland has recently shown, he pays something far worse in 

 interest on his mortgage. In many a bad season he would 

 have willingly surrendered his superior freedom had he pos- 

 sessed a squire to share his losses with him. There are no per- 

 centage returns to be extracted from the mortgage landlord, 

 and if the yearly interest is not ready when demanded the 

 farmer's only resource is to pay it by means of raising a 

 further loan at a still greater rate of interest. 



Farming on borrowed capital is, however, hardly worse than 

 the system whereby landlords are reduced to the same agency 

 for improving their estates. This brings up once more the 

 tendency of the Family Settlement System to interfere with 

 permanent improvements. Our history here, too, has a word 

 to say in the matter. Going back to the patriarchal era we 

 find that the unit of society was the family, and that owners 

 of property, both personal and real, were collections of indi- 

 viduals united together by blood relationship. In such times 



* Vide. Chapter VII. The Landed Interest in its relationship with 

 the community. History of the English Landed Literest, Part II. 



