vi PREFACE 



The book has, therefore, been written less for statis- 

 ticians than for the British Public in general; and, I 

 may add, with no idea of lending special support to 

 either party in the great Fiscal controversy. That 

 the conclusions at which I arrive especially on the 

 question of ' Ownership v. Tenancy ' in reference to 

 small holdings will meet with universal acceptance 

 is more than I can hope for; yet even those whom I 

 may fail to convert to my individual views will, I trust, 

 nevertheless regard my statements of fact as an accept- 

 able contribution to the data on which questions of 

 vital importance to the well-being of the nation must 

 eventually be decided. 



To the considerable number of authorities, organiza- 

 tions, traders, and others throughout the country, from 

 Penzance to Prestonpans, who have aided me in collect- 

 ing the materials on which the pages that follow are 

 based, and but for whose sympathetic assistance the 

 book itself could hardly have been written, I beg to 

 offer my most sincere acknowledgments. 



EDWIN A. PRATT. 

 LONDON, 

 February, 1906. 



