CONDITIONS IN DENMARK 241 



became ' peasant proprietors,' but it is doubtful if they 

 have derived much benefit from the change of system. 

 Interest and repayment of principal still constitute 

 a heavy burden, and many a Danish farmer is, with 

 all his family, working for long hours, and looking 

 to England for the profits he makes on his produce, not 

 so much for his own gain as to satisfy the demands of 

 his German creditors. 



One of the main reasons for the magnitude of the 

 mortgage debt in Denmark is to be found in the sub- 

 stantial increase in the price of land, from time to time, 

 as the farmers became more anxious to buy. This was 

 especially the case on the resort, in the eighties, to 

 that system of co-operation by which the Danish 

 agriculturists hoped to avert the agricultural crisis that 

 then overtook them. 



When wheat-growing no longer paid, they turned 

 their attention to the production of dairy supplies on 

 the now well-known lines. Greatly increased possibilities 

 were thus opened out to small farmers, and the desire 

 to purchase small holdings was so general that it 

 became extremely difficult to obtain them at a reason- 

 able price. To assist in meeting this difficulty, Acts 

 were passed by the Danish Parliament in 1899 and 

 1904, setting aside substantial sums from which loans 

 could be granted to any agricultural labourer who, 

 having already a small amount of capital, wanted to 

 raise the remainder so that he could purchase a holding 

 of his own. The loans are granted under easy condi- 

 tions, and they have been taken so much advantage 

 of that since 1899 there has been a large increase in 

 the number of peasant proprietors. But this further 

 demand, coupled with the fact of State aid now being 

 available for would-be purchasers, caused the price of 

 land for small holdings to go up higher than ever. 



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