CHAPTER IX. 

 NATIONALISATION OF THE LAND. 



" LAND Nationalism " is a current phrase which is fre- 

 quently used, like " the blessed word Mesopotamia," by 

 those who have but a vague idea of its significance. At the 

 Club it was one of the subjects, like education, small holdings, 

 and the tied cottage, which might be confidently expected 

 to be referred to by some speaker in the discussion, no 

 matter what the original topic for debate might be. There 

 is a certain glamour about the idea so long as it remains in 

 the rarefied atmosphere of generalities. " God gave the 

 Land to the People " is not only a pleasing sentiment, but 

 embodies a truth which as a theoretical proposition is 

 undeniable. Those who accept the literal reading of the 

 Biblical story of the Creation might perhaps argue that the 

 Creator made Adam the first landlord, but even they might 

 hesitate to adopt the conclusion that the whole world was 

 given him as his private property. At any rate if the world 

 were conveyed to Adam by Divine decree it must be assumed 

 that his right of ownership passed to his descendants, and 

 that he held only a life interest in the property. 



For practical purposes, however, it has to be recognised 

 that we are a long way removed from the Garden of Eden, 

 and that, as a matter of hard fact, the greater part of the 

 earth's surface, which is suitable for human habitation, 

 has been acquired, mainly by conquest in one form and 

 another, by individuals or groups of individuals, who claim, 

 and exercise, rights of ownership to the exclusion of other 

 individuals or groups. It may be an interesting subject 

 for academic debate that every human being has an equal 

 right to possess every bit of the earth's surface, but it would 

 be about as profitable as a discussion of the equally interest- 



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