I0 7] ECONOMIC WORKINGS OF THE SYSTEMS 1Q y 



used to any considerable extent by the croppers. They 

 are going to leave the cropping system, and ultimately 

 many of them, or of their descendants, will become inde- 

 pendent landowning farmers ; but the route they are to 

 take is not so direct as that indicated by avenue number 

 one. 



The second avenue open to croppers leads them into 

 tenancy proper. This means the payment, as rent, not of 

 a fixed percentage of the product, but of a stated amount 

 either of product or of money, which can be made to vary 

 according to the specific economic importance of partic- 

 ular pieces of land. Tenancy proper tends to center 

 responsibility and risks upon the tenant. He, therefore, 

 can reap, in the first instance, the benefits of good man- 

 agement and skill in agriculture. Of course, this does 

 not mean that the tenant could continue to appropriate 

 all the extra gains due to his efficient allignment of the 

 productive factors. Land would tend to get its due part, 

 but the actual rent might lag somewhat behind the static 

 rent if unusually progressive methods were employed by 

 the tenant, thus making it possible for him to realize con- 

 siderable entrepreneur's profits. The point which it is 

 desired to emphasize is that the tenant system proper is 

 not inherently bad. It is not only elastic enough to 

 tend to give the tenant the entire part of the product 

 imputable to his labor, but it is also a system in which it 

 is possible for all the profits to inure to the benefit of the 

 tenant, thus offering him the highest inducements to 

 adopt the most efficient methods of production. 



It goes without saying that those who have managed 

 well under this system may soon pass into the ownership 

 of land. It is not so evident, however, that it is easy 

 for the croppers to pass over into tenancy. It is to be 

 inferred from what is said above concerning the lack of 



