SMALL HOLDINGS. 67 



Conservative plan, and (c) the actual Irish 

 system. 



The Liberal method of encouraging small 

 holdings has been given effect to in England 

 and Wales by legislation passed in 1908 and 

 1910. Under this legislation a local authority 

 may borrow money for the purchase in England 

 and Wales of land, either sold voluntarily or 

 under compulsion ; may subdivide the land 

 into small holdings and allotments, and lease it 

 to tenants, who pay a rent, which is calculated 

 so as to allow the local authority to repay its 

 loan within sixty years. After sixty years the 

 county council owns the land, and the small- 

 holder (or his descendant) continues to pay the 

 rent as before. He never becomes a proprietor. 

 He pays for the land, but he does not get it. 

 Alternatively, the man desiring a small holding 

 may purchase from the county council, but to 

 do that he must have some capital at the out- 

 set, as a deposit of 20 per cent, of the pur- 

 chase money has to be paid. This acts as an 

 effective embargo. Purchase is rare under the 

 scheme. 



The system has not, so far, proved a brilliant 



