" LANDLORDISM." 141 



landlord, it becomes almost hopeless from the 

 outset that there can be any reasonable con- 

 clusions come to. 



There is an actual and real question in regard 

 to private ownership in the land, as to whether 

 it is more advisable that it should be held in 

 large tracts by great proprietors who lease to 

 tenants, or in small tracts by farmers who 

 directly employ the labour for its cultivation. 

 The answer is to be found by a careful con- 

 sideration of the national temperament and of 

 the character of the land, and the calls it makes 

 on capital. One gets no nearer to a sound 

 conclusion by outbursts against " feudalism," or 

 by a denunciation of " social snobbism which 

 the existence of landlords encourages." 



I recall one characteristic outburst against 

 " feudalism " — an honest outburst, not a bit 

 of political play-acting, setting up an Aunt 

 Sally to show a properly courageous rage in the 

 cause of the people — which seemed to have as 

 its chief foundation the fact that " the feudal 

 barons " had enclosed the commons, and thus 

 shut the people off from their rights of cutting 

 furze for fuel. One can admire the generous 



