THE QUACK AND THE LAND. 27 



illusion, but not for anger — no, not even when 

 it is yelled out raucous, unmeaning as " The 

 Land Song " by a crowd of London industrials, 

 who would find Hampstead Heath unbearably 

 lonely except on a Bank Holiday. 



There is nothing so soothing as a consideration 

 of other people's misfortunes. Let the English- 

 man, who understands at once the complexities 

 and the failings of his own land system, and who 

 is apt to be enraged that the serious considera- 

 tion of reforming changes which he is willing to 

 give should be interrupted by stupid and un- 

 reasoning clamour, learn patience from the 

 experience of others. In particular, our Aus- 

 tralian experience, where the quack has had a 

 fine run (helped in his course by the fact that 

 he was met with abuse or angry silence instead 

 of with quiet reason), should teach the English- 

 man that he is not singular in his vexations, and 

 that it is often the duty of the patriot to suffer 

 fools patiently if not gladly. 



Starting with a clean sheet and 2,974,581 

 square miles of land, mostly usable in some 

 form, Australia, after about sixty years of 

 responsible government and with a population 



