CHAPTER VII 



THE ENGLISH LAND SYSTEM 

 ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH 



Before dealing further with the arguments for and 

 against a scheme for the restoration of Yeoman or 

 Occupying Ownership, and Peasant Proprietary, it is 

 well to review the causes which have led up to the 

 present system of land tenure in England. Such a 

 sketch, however, to be of any use, must begin at 

 a very early date, for " the centuries are all lineal 

 children of one another."^ Without this historical 

 reference, it is impossible for the general reader to 

 understand the present position of the Land question. 

 The problems contained in that question can only be 

 solved in the light of history. It is quite necessary 

 " to learn the meaning; of the old order of thino^s with 

 its community and equality, as a key to the right 

 understanding of the new order of things, with the 

 contrasting individual independence and inequality."^ 



This sketch, however, is by no means made in a 

 spirit of antagonism to any particular class. On the 

 contrary, it is made in the hope that all classes — land- 

 lords included — after seriously considering the results 

 of past legislation and methods, will come to the con- 

 clusion that for their own as well as for the national 

 good, a drastic alteration is urgently needed. At the 



1 Carlyle. 



' "The English Village Community," Seebohm. 



40 



