SMALL HOLDINGS. 85 



downe, in the speech which I have quoted, did 

 not go so far as to propose an actual imitation 

 of the Irish system, but I hear often from I he 

 political platform, see often in the political 

 journals, the argument that what has been done 

 for Ireland can and should be done for England. 

 It will be thus useful to examine English pro- 

 posals regarding small holdings in the light of 

 the experience of Ireland. 



The small holdings legislation actually in 

 existence in England can be dismissed without 

 much discussion. It is admittedly a failure in 

 securing any large transference of land from 

 the hands of large landowners to those of small. 

 In so far as it provides for tenancy under public 

 bodies, it certainly fails to satisfy the desire 

 for small " ownership." What value it has 

 in slightly lessening private ownership in the 

 land is another matter. The most effectively 

 destructive criticism of its method of encourag- 

 ing small holdings is that private landowners 

 can make competing offers under better con- 

 ditions. Thus, the Duke of Bedford recently 

 split up the Great Farm, Maulden (Beds.), into 

 eighteen small ownerships. The terms were 



