THE TENANT FARMER 225 



and last but not least the prevalence of land specu- 

 lation. 



"A new factor is being introduced into the agri- 

 cultural situation through the development of huge 

 estates owned by corporations and operated by 

 salaried managers upon a purely industrial system. 

 The labor conditions on such estates are subject 

 to grave criticism. The wages are extremely low, 

 80 cents per day being the prevailing rate on one 

 large estate which was thoroughly investigated; 

 arbitrary deductions from wages are made for 

 various purposes; and a considerable part of the 

 wages themselves are paid in the form of coupons, 

 which are in all essential particulars the same as 

 the "scrip" which has been the source of such 

 great abuse. Furthermore, the communities exist- 

 ing on these large estates are subject to the complete 

 control of the landowning corporation, which may 

 regulate the Hves of citizens to almost any extent. 

 There is an apparent tendency toward the increase 

 of these large estates, and the greatest abuses may 

 be expected if they are allowed to develop un- 

 checked." 



Tenancy is another explanation of the condition 

 of agriculture in the United States. And students 

 of the subject, from John Stuart MOl down to date, 

 have condemned tenancy as a curse to a state. It 

 is a curse not only to the tenant but to the nation 

 as well. It is destructive of self-respect and inde- 

 pendence. It leads to ignorance, to improvidence, 

 to the decay of agriculture. Every nation in Eu- 

 rope that has tolerated tenancy has had to pay the 

 price of it, whether it be in Ireland, England, and 



