374 THE 'LOCAL INQUIRY' 



plodding type. His case very likely may not 

 have a leg to stand upon, and he is informed 

 * that the Council cannot entertain his application '; 

 or that ' his application is not within the terms of 

 the Act '; or that the Council ' does not consider 

 itself justified in putting the Act in force for a 

 single application.' 



The Council probably have been right in their 

 decisions ; but they have dealt a death - blow 

 in that district to further applications from the 

 more suitable men watching in the background. 



Or, it may be, the Committee decide that the 

 petition is ' on good faith and reasonable grounds.' 

 An inquiry is held ; the Act is explained to the 

 assembled applicants ; they all want to rent land, 

 but it is pointed out to them that the Act thinks 

 it best for them to purchase and lay down what is 

 for them a large sum as a deposit. The land will 

 be theirs in fifty years' time ; ' and a lot of good 

 it will do me then,' says the man who has already 

 struggled to his fortieth or even his thirtieth year. 

 When the freehold is acquired, it is further 

 explained that if the land be diverted from agri- 

 culture they may not sell except to the County 

 Council, or to the man from whom the land was 

 originally bought, or to the man holding the next 

 plot. The restrictions, only understood in so far 

 as they seem to affect their freedom, frighten them. 

 For men living from week to week, they seem to 

 be binding themselves to something irrevocable 

 and unsatisfactory. They think it is safer to back 



