SMALL-HOLDING OWNERSHIP 215 



law, which I knew existed in that country, whereby 

 peasants are enabled to buy certain plots of land with 

 the help of State-advanced money. 



It seems to me that what is required at this 

 juncture at home is a knowledge of the real facts 

 of the case, so that those who study such questions 

 may be able to do so, not from a party point of view 

 but from that of their probable effects upon the 

 welfare of our country. So I determined to discover 

 those facts, and, as I hope the reader will admit, I 

 have done so to the best of my ability. 



Moreover, at some expense I have caused a trans- 

 lation to be made of the Danish Small-holding Law 

 of 1909, as, after a diligent inquiry, it appears that 

 no English version of this law is to be found in 

 any of our public offices. That this should be so 

 is strange. Also it might have been thought that 

 the informal committee appointed by Mr. Balfour 

 to investigate this question of the practicability of 

 the State-aided purchase of lands by their tenants 

 would above all things have desired to acquaint 

 themselves with the provisions of the only Act 

 of the sort that, to the best of my belief, exists in 

 the world. I presume, however, that they read it 

 in the Danish, or perhaps they also have procured 

 a private translation. 



I hope that all to whom this subject appeals, and 

 especially those who realise its enormous importance, 

 if they do not happen to know Danish, will study this 

 law in English, and with that object I print it as an 

 appendix (see Appendix B). 



Before attempting some consideration of these small- 

 holdings and putting forward the conclusions, be they 

 right or wrong, to which I have come personally, I 



