NATIONALISATION OF THE LAND. 107 



many of them, but the practical question is how best to secure 

 them. For myself, I am convinced that there are other and 

 better ways of securing to the State the full financial (and 

 social) benefits which it should receive from the complete develop- 

 ment of the land ; and recent and prospective legislation is 

 surely in the direction of securing to the State these benefits ? 



1. We have now the taxation of land values ; if this were 

 fully developed the community rather than the individual would 

 receive the increment. 



The Bill for the compulsory acquisition of land, which will 

 be introduced this Session, should enable public authorities to 

 acquire land easily and at a reasonable price, and thus secure 

 the needed access to the land. 



2. Occupying ownership carries with it the completest form 

 of security of tenure, provided that there is a sound system 

 of credit which enables the farmer to borrow money under a 

 system of redeemable loan rather than that of the perpetual 

 mortgage (without a sinking fund) which has had such baneful 

 effects in this country. 



3. The Agricultural Wages Board and Committees should 

 secure the position of the labourer. 



4. The railways and mines can be nationalised, if desired, 

 without nationalising the whole land of this country. 



5. The proper cultivation of the soil and the prevention of 

 its being put to improper uses can be secured by making perma- 

 nent the provisions of the Corn Production Act. 



Again, we must remember that other sections of the com- 

 munity, besides the agricultural, would be affected by nationalis- 

 ing the land, especially if anything approaching to confiscation 

 were resorted to. I quote the words of a well-known land 

 nationaliser : 



" Now the loss resulting from the confiscation of a considerable 

 proportion of private property in land, and from the consequent 

 sudden depreciation of land values, would not be restricted to 

 a single class of landowners. It would be felt by many others 

 besides the immediate owners of the soil. Through the agencies 

 of mortgages, building societies, insurance companies, etc., 

 large numbers of people of all classes possess a considerable 

 indirect interest in landed property, and would be hard hit by 

 any confiscatory measure. 



" Moreover, the ramifications and interweavings of credit 

 are so complex and so far-spreading that any sudden depreciation 

 of an important class of property must have disastrous con- 

 sequences, which would be felt by the whole community." 



Finally, I feel that there is a great danger in land nationali- 

 sation being taken up as a catch-word, and being regarded as 

 a sort of panacea. 



