POSITION OF COUNTY COUNCILS 257 



be more sympathetic ; but even in their case some- 

 thing is often wanted to form the said connecting link 

 with the would-be small holders, so that the land- 

 owner (or his agent) shall not be put to the trouble of 

 having separate business relations with a swarm of 

 small tenants, or the aspirant be left with his hopes 

 unrealized simply because of the difficulties that have 

 arisen. It may also happen that the land-owner has 

 not the capital available with which to meet the initial 

 cost of cutting up any considerable portion of his land 

 into small holdings, and would not care to give up 

 merely the choice morsels which could be utilized 

 without much expense. 



In what way can the connecting link of which I have 

 spoken best be secured ? 



Many well-intentioned persons have thought it might 

 be established as the result of combined legislative and 

 municipal effort, and Acts of Parliament have been 

 passed with the idea of creating a body of small holders 

 through the agency of the County Councils. But these 

 efforts have been followed by very poor results. The 

 stipulated procedure is so costly, so complicated, so 

 hampered by formalities, restrictions, and regulations 

 of almost every possible kind, that County Councils 

 have, as a rule, hesitated to take in hand a business 

 that was likely to give them a gre&.t amount of trouble, 

 without any corresponding guarantee of permanent 

 success. More especially was the great aim of the 

 legislators responsible for the Small Holdings Act of 

 1892 the creation of a peasant proprietary in England, 

 rather than merely the planting on the soil of a larger 

 number of those individuals who were indifferent to 

 ownership, provided they obtained land at a reasonable 

 rent, with security of tenure and the prospect of fair 

 compensation for the improvements they made. To 



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