MR. WAAGE ON STATE SMALL- 

 HOLDINGS AND CREDIT UNIONS 



While I was in Copenhagen I had two long and 

 most interesting interviews with Mr. Waage, who for 

 this purpose was so good as to visit me at my hotel. 

 Mr. Waage, I should explain, is perhaps the first 

 authority on State small-holdings in Denmark. In- 

 deed it was his official duty to draft two of the three 

 Small-holding Acts, namely, that of 1 904 and that of 

 1909, and therefore his opinions on these and kindred 

 matters are of the utmost value. I should state that, 

 as I was informed, Mr. Waage is what we should here 

 cajl an advanced Liberal in politics. 



The title of the last law, that of 30th April 1909, 

 with which I chiefly have to deal, is, as nearly as I 

 can translate it, " A Law for the Creation of Housemen 

 Holdings," the title in Danish being Lov om Oprettelse 

 af Husmandsbrug. 



As Mr. Waage explained to me, there have been 

 three of these laws, each of them appointed to run for 

 a period of five years. The first was passed in March 

 1899, and the last will expire in 19 14. All three are 

 essentially identical, their object being briefly to enable 

 men, or in some instances women, of approved char- 

 acter and experience, to acquire a certain area of land 

 in freehold by the aid of money advanced by the State, 

 which money is to be repaid in a total period of ninety- 

 eight years. 



The laws differ, however, in the following particu- 



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