178 LAND LAWS AND TRANSFER 



place his foot ; that his wages do not permit him to save ; 

 that, though unable to supplement them from other sources, 

 he depends entirely upon them ; that it matters little 

 whether he scamps his work or does it honestly, whether 

 he attempts to save or calls for another pot of beer, for the 

 workhouse is his inevitable end. The general public may, 

 perhaps, include among these and other causes of depres- 

 sion, the sense of insecurity which scares away capital from 

 the land ; dimly comprehended currency questions, to 

 which, like the Gulf Stream, all that is inexplicable may 

 be attributed ; the want of elasticity and variety in farm- 

 ing practices ; the lack of sufficient capital, adequate 

 knowledge, energy, and business enterprise, among both 

 landlords and farmers. 



These are the practical meanings of the Land Question. 

 Some of them can only be adequately discussed by expe- 

 rienced agriculturists, and upon such it may appear pre- 

 sumptuous to touch. But, without any desire to teach far- 

 mers their business, it is impossible not to observe in every 

 country district many points in which the general standard 

 falls hopelessly below the practice of the few. Many of the 

 causes of agricultural distress can be controlled by farmers 

 themselves ; others, like the seasons, defy human calcula- 

 tion. Some, on the other hand, can only be removed by 

 legislative action. 



This chapter will be confined to this latter class, and 

 to such subjects as the reform of the land laws, the pro- 

 vision for scientific agricultural education, the equipment 

 of a ministerial department of Agriculture, the revision 

 of railway rates. 



Insecurity lies at the root of the present conditions of 

 agriculture. Foreign competition, following upon disas- 

 trous seasons, produced the present collapse : it has been 



