262 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



way of a revival of British agriculture. So far 

 as situation is concerned, the British farmer is 

 as well off as any in the world ; his disabilities 

 are all made for him by his political system. 



Some advantage can be expected to British 

 agriculture from a reform of the system of Land 

 Titles (a reform which is being sought in part 

 by the Real Property Bill and the Conveyancing 

 Bill brought forward this year (1913) by the 

 Lord Chancellor). Land titles in England are in 

 the same state of antique muddle as the land 

 taxes. The old feudal titles, with their qualifica- 

 tions and their limitations, were not swept away 

 when the conditions to which they were ap- 

 propriate vanished ; but were patched a little 

 here and there, and twisted to meet new needs, 

 with the result that there was brought into 

 being the present maze, through which one may 

 only walk with the aid of an expensive lawyer. 

 Whilst the principle of entail survives, an exactly 

 simple general system of land titles is impossible. 

 But it is all for the good that the powers of the 

 tenant-in-life should be extended as is now pro- 

 posed, and that copyhold land should pass into 



