Fortunes for Farmers 



estate his neighbours say " His fortune's made," 

 and for this reason the continuance of the 

 Feudal System is tolerated (and appreciated) 

 in the Twentieth Century. 



There are drawbacks, for the landowner. He 

 gets a poor return on his capital, and sometimes 

 has to part with his ancestral estates. But this is 

 almost entirely his own fault in management — 

 in the choice of a steward or neglecting to over- 

 see him when appointed. Even in the best estates, 

 the income is not perhaps more than 2 per cent 

 or 3 per cent on the capital value, but the land- 

 owner gets a return in kind as well as money. 

 He lives in a semi-feudal manner surrounded by 

 his tenantry — and there are no better tenantry 

 to live amongst than the English — his position 

 is assured, his social station is supreme, and the 

 countryside in all senses of the word belongs to 

 him. Kings have not so happy a lot as this man, 

 if he has a decent disposition and treats his 

 dependants and tenantry fairly. We get the 

 reverse of the picture in Ireland where the land- 

 lords are absentees, spending their rents in England 

 or anywhere but at home. Their sympathy, their 

 politics and religion are as the Poles apart. The 

 result all may see — shooting of agents, cattle 

 driving, no-rent campaigns, destitution, and 

 rancorous strife. All things considered, the English 



168 



