272 



LAND REFORM 



the areas given to their English equivalents, reckon- 

 ing two and a half acres to the hectare, the results are 

 as shown in the following table : — 



Average sizes Percentage 



Area occupied. of holdings. owned by 



Acres. Acres. cultivators. 



" Small " Peasants . 8,214,960 ... 5toi2|... 81-23% 

 "Middling" Peasants 24,304,687 ... I2| to 50 ... 90-55% 

 "Big" Peasants . 24,674,592 ... 50 to 250 ... 9r98 % 



On this subject Dr. Meitzen, who was one of the 

 greatest authorities on German agricultural economy, 

 wrote : " The inclination of the German to establish 

 his family on his own plot is a blessed trait of the 

 greatest moral advantage. It has been sufficiently 

 shown that the possibility of acquiring land fosters 

 hope, encourages energy, and never lets useful activity 

 flag." 



In reading these accounts there is one thought 

 which comes uppermost — one which should hold the 

 serious attention of all who are interested in the 

 political future of this country. The militant section 

 of the "Social Democratic Party," represented by 

 Karl Marx, are bent — as is shown by their writings — 

 on capturing the rural population. In this — so far as 

 Germany is concerned — they have utterly failed. 

 Whatever may be their success in towns, in the 

 country districts they have been met by the millions 

 who have something to lose, and have been defeated. 

 They have found that "collectivism" has no chance 

 where " individualism " is in such overwhelming force. 



It is found, in fact, that the very class which forms 

 the strongest bulwark against communistic attacks is 

 largely increasing in Germany. During the period 

 1882 to 1895 the census shows that while the larger 



