THE POSITION OF TITHE-OWNERS 403 



Welsh landlords, Welsh Churchmen, and the Welsh urban and rural 

 population. It would remove the reluctance of many earnest 

 Nonconformists to cripple the cause of Christianity by appro- 

 priating to Caesar property dedicated to the service of God. 

 Educationally and morally, 50,000 acres of land contiguous to the 

 towns and villages of Wales would be of greater value than a wilder- 

 ness of museums. It would be absurd to attempt to foretell the 

 future price of corn. But probabihties seem to point to a gradual 

 rise. On the other hand, for many years to come, the prospect of 

 an approximation to par-value appears remote. Here there is 

 room for compromise in settling the figure at which the net annual 

 value of the charge, after deducting the necessary outgomgs, should 

 be redeemed. If this figure could be agreed upon, landowners might 

 be encouraged to extinguish the whole tithe issuing from their land 

 in the parish by the surrender of the acreage of land required to 

 produce the same net annual income which is now derived from the 

 rent-charge. Care should be taken that the land so surrendered 

 is near the village. Otherwise the mam advantage to the community 

 would be lost. The amount of land thus rendered available cannot 

 be accurately estimated till the figure is agreed ; but the total area 

 would not be less than 2| milhon acres. It is not suggested that 

 tithe-owners should be transformed into landowners. The process 

 of redemption would be gradual, not simultaneous. It would be 

 put in operation whenever pubhc bodies requhed to buy land for 

 small holdings or village reconstruction, and the purchase money 

 would be paid over to a church body, constituted on the lines 

 adopted in Ireland. Present conditions are favourable to such a 

 transaction. The price of land enables owners to extinguish the 

 rent-charge by the surrender of a reasonable acreage, and the low 

 price of Consols enables investors to obtain a larger interest on 

 their money. 



Landlords and tenants are confronted with a common danger. 

 They stand or fall together. Tenant-farmers have nothing to hoj)e 

 for from theoretical land-reformers. The most thej^ can expect 

 from the single tax is a rise of rents and an increased number of 

 sales. Neither of these changes would be acceptable to a class of 

 men who, in spite of their traditional pose as Kcensed grumblers, 

 would rather remain as they are. 



As compared with 1888, tenant-farmers have imj^roved their 

 position. From one point of view this might not appear to be the 



