302 LAND REFORM 



which points out an economic advantage of great 

 importance connected with the proposal for giving 

 bounties. It states : — 



" I consider that a bounty would have an enormous 

 effect on the increase in the production of wheat, and 

 that it would be an unmixed benefit to the poorer half 

 of the community, because it would keep the price of 

 wheat steady and low. The land that would be 

 brought into cultivation would be mostly old worn-out 

 pasture, not worth more than 15s. per acre now. The 

 proposals mean a great revolution in farming which at 

 the present time is to lay everything down into grass, 

 and let it remain till it is almost valueless except for a 

 small rental to the landowner. . . . The decrease in 

 the number of sheep in the kingdom during the past 

 forty years shows how little advantage the large 

 acreage of poor grass has been to the tenant. It 

 simply, in many cases, makes it easier for him to 

 do without employing labour, and he practically 

 depends for his living on spending as little as pos- 

 sible." 



General calculations are always open to criticism, 

 and are often faulty in details ; but those here given 

 are obviously sufficiently accurate to support the ar- 

 guments advanced, and the conclusions drawn from 

 them. These arguments and conclusions are ad- 

 dressed to those of the industrial classes who may 

 not have thought much on the subject of agriculture 

 and the extent to which their own prosperity is 

 dependent on that great industry. They are ad- 

 dressed to the general public, with a view of giving 

 some insight into the problem of rural depopulation 

 with its attendant evils ; and they are further addressed 

 to the philanthropist and social reformer, with the 



