THE LAND SYSTEM OF BELGIUM AND HOLLAND 



By fiiviiLE DE Laveleye 



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I DO not propose to give here an account of the state of agri- 

 culture in Belgium and Holland, having done so elsewhere ; ^ 

 what I seek is to point out facts relative to both countries, calcu- 

 lated to throw some light upon the following question : What is 

 the agrarian constitution (i.e., the system of ownership and tenure 

 of land) most conducive to the progress of agriculture and to the 

 welfare of mankind ? 



A preliminary observation is requisite. Thirty years ago eco- 

 nomists were in the habit of considering only the production of 

 wealth, paying hardly any attention to its distribution, which they 

 thought to be regulated by inexorable natural laws ; the system 

 which yielded the largest produce being, of course, thought the 

 best. But modern improvements in machinery having doubled 

 nay, trebled the production without adding to the welfare of all 

 those who seemed to be entitled to it by their industry, endeav- 

 ours are now made to devise means of better distributing the 

 produce ; and there are those who think that of two systems of 

 agrarian organisation, the one which leads to the more equitable 

 distribution of the produce is the one to be preferred. 



For example, let us suppose a certain area of land to yield a 

 produce of i ooo, distributed thus : 



I landlord 200 parts 



I tenant 100 parts 



14 labourers, at the rate of 50 700 parts 



1000 parts 



1 See my books, " L'ficonomie rurale de la Belgique," and " L'ficonomie 

 rurale de la Neerlande" 



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