12 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



enraged study of the unholy muddle in which a 

 century of well-intentioned demagoguery had 

 plunged the system of land tenures in New 

 South Wales — these were the hobbies allaying 

 the uneasiness of a frustrated ambition to be a 

 landowner. Curiosity regarding methods of work- 

 ing the land followed me to such strange scenes 

 as Papua, Fiji, Hawaii ; then to Canada and 

 to Great Britain. In this country four years of 

 inquiry have given me some knowledge of local 

 conditions. The sum total of it all has been 

 enough to convince (without any intention on 

 my part) the officials of an Irish government 

 department that I should be classed as an 

 " agricultural expert," and the editor of a 

 journal in London, which seeks to study seriously 

 the landed interest, that I should be allowed a 

 hearing in his columns. 



Now that I have the opportunity this book 

 gives of putting before the public a criticism of 

 British land conditions, I wish to make it clear 

 at the outset that it does not presume to be 

 that of an " expert " — cannot, of course, claim 

 to be in any sense final — but is founded on some 

 observation, is honest, and is not designed in 



