" LANDLORDISM." 153 



evil is the ignorant landlord, the man who is 

 content to own the land, and to let an agent 

 manage it for him. But his presence on the 

 estate gives some court of appeal to the tenant. 

 He is not nearly so bad as an absentee. The 

 worst type of landlord in England is the very 

 rich man who is easy as regards rents and 

 the like, but keeps an unduly large propor- 

 tion of his land shut up against production 

 and devoted only to pleasure. This type can 

 be evicted by compulsory resumption, or forced 

 into a better habit by wise taxation. There 

 is no sense in destroying a whole class to get 

 at him. 



Putting in detail the criticisms founded on 

 fact and not on mere prejudice against land- 

 lords in England, they would come down to 

 this : — 



An occasional landlord is harsh, over- 

 bearing, and expects because of his position 

 as an employer an undue degree of defer- 

 ence. 



Many landlords are ignorant of the science 

 of land cultivation, and do not make the 

 best use of the land. 



