Land Problems and National Welfare 



owner's charge : and further, the actual cost 

 of building has increased by at least one-third 

 during the past thirty years. 



I give these particulars in order to indicate 

 briefly what manner and condition of estate 

 we are considering ; and if I seem to dwell at 

 undue length upon the details of the course I 

 adopted, I do so, not only in the hope that it 

 may be of interest to some readers, but also 

 that it may even encourage others who are 

 called upon to face the great difficulties and 

 hard work attendant on the inheriting of a 

 large estate in a distressed condition. 



The Socialist ranter talks of confiscating the 

 landowner's rent — a pitiable cry when rent there 

 is none ! In my own case either I receive a 

 very low rental for the land itself, and no interest 

 whatever on the capital expended on the estate 

 during the past sixty years, or I get a low rate 

 of interest on that capital and no rent ; it is a 

 matter of one or the other, but not both. 



I am now considering the net income which 

 a property yields for the support of the head 

 of the family, for the payment of charges to 

 other members of that family, and for the up- 

 keep of house, gardens and shooting amenities 

 which, when not let, must properly be charged 

 to the privy purse and not to the estate. 



After careful consideration I can say deliber- 

 ately, that if the capital spent upon my estate 



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