AGRICULTURAL DRAMATIS PERSON.E 45 



old English country life. It killed the community 

 spirit, which we are now striving to revive, and worst 

 of all it turned the tillers of the soil into a landless 

 proletariat. 



The landowners have just this excuse — at that time 

 evcr\one was advocating enclosure as the great means of 

 securing the development of agriculture and increased yield 

 from the soil ; I am not aware of anyone who raised his 

 voice against it, or at any rate of anyone who put forward a 

 constructive counter-proposal — as was the case in Prussia 

 for example. The whole nation seems to have stood for 

 enclosure ; and most enclosures were sanctioned and 

 confirmed by Acts of Parliament. In view of this tact 

 the accusation against the landowners of wholesale 

 robbery cannot be justified. In support of this statement 

 an examination of enclosure legislation shows that land 

 was, in fact, allotted to the majority of the commoners; 

 but as they could not afford to fence it, as required by 

 law, they had to sell to the surrounding landowners. 



OWNER AND LABOURER 



Another mistake which owners have made, and I fear 

 still are making, lies in their having failed to identify 

 themselves sufliciently with the agricultural labourer and 

 his interests. For many generations the country labourers 

 were oppressed and exploited — there is nothing to be 

 gained by mincing words ; they were housed badly. 



by the Commissioners who were responsible for the awards, or that 

 the allotted portions were often sold as soon as they were made. 

 But any accusations based on these or similar facts must fall very 

 far short of a ( hargc of robbery. It is a proof of Mr. Curtler's 

 judicial spirit that lie emphasizes the real blot on enclosures, and 

 lays to the charge of the movement the siu of ignoring the moral 

 claims of the poor." 



