CHAPTER XVII 



OTHER SCHEMES OF LAND REFORM 



There are several schemes advocated by land re- 

 formers to remedy the evils of the present system. 

 The most practical among them, and the one receiving 

 most support among ardent land reformers, is that 

 known as "Free Trade in Land." Shortly stated, 

 the object of this reform is to make the sale and 

 transfer of land as easy and inexpensive as that of any 

 other property ; to abolish the laws and customs which 

 invite, encourage, and perpetuate the accumulation of 

 land in a few hands ; to destroy the power of the 

 '* dead hand " ; to control the disposal of estates ; to 

 alter the law which allows a man to tie up land during 

 his lifetime, and for many years after his death ; to 

 abolish the law (primogeniture) which, if the land- 

 owner does not avail himself of his power to make 

 a deed or will, gives all his land, in one undivided 

 estate, to his heir ; in short, as described by a well- 

 known writer, to abolish the "old feudal system of 

 primogeniture, entails, long settlements, and intricate 

 devises of land, invented in order to keep great estates 

 together, and to preserve the great power of the feudal 

 aristocracy."^ 



Now, whatever may be the merits of these reforms, 

 it is difficult to see how they would facilitate the 

 creation of yeoman holdings or of a peasant pro- 

 prietary. At the best the process would be tedious 



* " Free Trade in Land," by Joseph Kay, Q.C. 

 K 261 



