FREEHOLD COTTAGES AND LAND. 163 



industry and ability men earning wages higher than the 

 average (in the worst-paid districts such men may receive 

 wages 50 per cent, beyond the average) might fairly be 

 allowed to acquire the freehold of an acre. 



" My plan for giving such facilities to such men is as follows : 

 I will assume the land to be acquired to be an acre, and to 

 carry an annual rental of thirty shillings. Taking twenty- 

 five years' purchase of the rental as the value of the freehold, 

 the amount would be ^37, IDS. If the cost of conveyance 

 were as much as 2, IDS., the price to the labourer would be 

 40. I propose that this principal and interest should be 

 paid off together each at the rate of 5 per cent, annually 

 of the whole. Principal and interest the first year would 

 thus be 42, and the first year's payment would be 10 per 

 cent, of that amount, or 4, 45., equal to is. ?d. per week, 

 half of which would be repayment of principal. I propose 

 that the labourer should continue to pay the same amount 

 until the extinction of the loan ; but that each quarter the 

 amount of capital, i.e. principal paid off, should be deducted 

 from the amount remaining unpaid, and interest charged 

 only on the balance of the advance remaining in his hands. 

 Thus the amount for interest would diminish each quarter, 

 and the amount of his repayment of the loan would increase 

 each quarter ; and in this way the debt would be extin- 

 guished, and the land would become the labourer's freehold 

 in just under fifteen years. Five per cent, of principal is, 

 I propose, the maximum amount of repayment. A smaller 

 amount of repayment might be adopted involving a some- 

 what longer time for the final extinction of the debt in 

 the case of labourers unable to pay the larger amount. In 

 certain cases, where a labourer might, perhaps, be assisted 

 by one or two wage-earning sons living with him, a cottage 

 might be erected for him by the local authority on the 

 freehold, say, at a cost of ^150 or even less, the amount 

 advanced being returnable on the same principle. In both 

 cases security would be obtained by the local authority by 

 their retention of the mortgage deeds. 



" A freehold cottage on a freehold allotment would con- 

 stitute possessions that would be largely sought after and 

 highly prized, and which would, I am firmly convinced, 

 give an enormous stimulus to industry and perseverance. 

 The whole cost of transfer should be fixed by Parliament, 

 and should be the lowest possible amount. There are plenty 

 of conveyancers who would be glad to do, even at so low 

 a rate, the large amount of business that would accrue to 

 them. 



" In many instances it might be desirable to advance to 

 the labourer, on personal security, in cases recommended 

 to the local authority, small sums of money to enable him 

 to stock or to improve the agricultural value of his allot- 

 ment. The fund for such a purpose, and for covering the 

 entire cost of the system I advocate, might be formed by 



