NATIONALISATION OF THE LAND. 105 



There are about 50,000,000 acres of cultivated land (grass 

 and arable) in the United Kingdom. The gross income there- 

 from in the form of rental amounts to some 50,000,000 per 

 annum, or an average of i per acre. This is by far the lowest 

 average rental in civilised Europe. 



Of the above 50,000,000 at least 25,000,000, apart from 

 taxation, goes back to the land to pay for general upkeep and 

 expenses of management. So that the net income which the 

 agricultural landowners receive is (after payment of tithe, 

 land tax and income tax) considerably less than 25,000,000 

 a year. Whereas, in general terms, urban landowners do not 

 themselves develop and improve their land, the agricultural 

 landowner does do so. That our land to-day can be used for 

 growing food for the nation is owing to the fact that the owners 

 have spent vast sums in building houses, farm buildings, farm 

 roads, fencing and draining. 



In the case of many estates the capital spent on these improve- 

 ments equals or exceeds the total selling value of the estate 

 to-day. 



In common justice the owner would be entitled to full com- 

 pensation for the capital he has spent upon the industrial equip- 

 ment of the land. The income enjoyed by ninety-nine out of 

 a hundred agricultural landowners represents only a low rate of 

 interest on this capital and no real rental for the land itself. 



From the financial point of view, therefore, the State does 

 not stand to gain much by the nationalisation of agricultural 

 land. 



It is now very generally admitted that under our present 

 system of land tenure the production from our land is much 

 less than it should be ; but this is no reason for embarking 

 upon a great measure, which, if tried on a large scale, would 

 really be an experiment. Nowhere has land been nationalised 

 on a sufficiently large scale to give data upon which to build. 

 If we are dissatisfied with our present system would it not 

 be wiser to study the system of tenure in other countries, and 

 adopt that system which is found to be associated with a highly 

 developed and successful agricultural industry, rather than to 

 embark upon experiment ? 



And it is easily demonstrated that wherever Agriculture has 

 reached its highest stage of development the system of tenure 

 is based upon occupying ownership. 



There are upwards of half a million farmers, large and small, 

 in England and Wales. The question of supreme national 

 importance is to see that they produce the utmost amount of 

 food economically possible for the nation. 



It is clearly necessary to consider the psychology of this 

 important group, and there can be no doubt that the majority 



