Fortunes for Farmers 



continue. What will the result be for farmers 

 and the nation at large? Our landowners choose 

 to invest or retain their capital in land at a low 

 rate of interest, often not more than one or two 

 per cent per annum, preferring rather social 

 prestige and eminent position. When an estate 

 is hereditary, as so many are, they wish also to 

 do what they consider their duty to their ancient 

 tenantry and dependants. Lord Lansdowne voiced 

 this sentiment in the House of Lords in 1907. 

 " Surely," said he, " what gives reality to owner- 

 ship, what makes it so valuable is that we have 

 hitherto associated it with the power of guiding 

 the destinies of the estate, of superintending its 

 development and improvement, and above all 

 things the right to select the persons to be 

 associated with the proprietor in the cultivation 

 of the soil." 



There is no doubt that numbers of them have 

 nobly carried out their duties and spent their lives 

 in working for the benefits of their tenants, in short, 

 " guiding the destinies of the estate." These tenants 

 will certainly suffer if the present system vanishes. 

 They are well protected in comparison with 

 others — they pay lower rents, and their position 

 is in every way enviable. Under the advance 

 of small holdings prices are bound to rise all 

 round. The soil of Belgium is poorer than that 



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