CHAPTER XX 

 TENANCY AND A CONNECTING LINK 



THE alternative to a system of peasant proprietary 

 always assuming that an increase in the number of 

 small holdings is desirable is, of course, to be found 

 in tenancy. 



Here the ideal would be to have a broad-minded, 

 sympathetic land-owner, who was prepared not only 

 to give small owners practical encouragement, but 

 willing to go to any amount of personal trouble in 

 order to make sure that all the arrangements were 

 likely to be satisfactory. It must, however, be ad- 

 mitted that this disposition is far from being general 

 among English land-owners ; and while, on the one 

 hand, there may be a certain number who, for a variety 

 of reasons, would not favour the setting up of small 

 holdings in their neighbourhood at all, there are pro- 

 bably more who, while sympathetic in the abstract, 

 would not care to carry on separate negotiations with a 

 considerable number of small holders, whether as pur- 

 chasers or as tenants. 



These adverse conditions are especially likel} to be 

 experienced when the land-owner happens to be a mer- 

 chant or a manufacturer who has accumulated wealth 

 from his business in the town, buys an estate in the 

 country, and retires there to live a life of dignified 



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