168 BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



Gilbert Parker's " Land for the People " brochure, Mr. 

 Balfour says : 



" The extract from my speech at Birmingham, which 

 you have placed in the forefront of your pamphlet, suffi- 

 ciently indicates my general attitude towards the all- 

 important problem of which you treat. But I may, 

 perhaps, be permitted to add that, in my judgment, you 

 have done a great service by calling public attention to 

 some of the methods by which, in other lands, the creation 

 and maintenance of small agricultural owners have been 

 effectively aided. It is a mistake to suppose, as many 

 people do, either that small ownership is the natural 

 organisation of rural life i.e. the one which would uni- 

 versally prevail but for antiquated laws and bad tradition 

 or that, if it were suddenly established, as by a stroke of 

 the pen, it would immediately work smoothly and auto- 

 matically to the general advantage of all concerned. 

 This is too sanguine a view. The life of a small owner, 

 though honourable and independent, is rarely an easy one. 

 In some parts of the country his industry needs, for its full 

 success, to be supplemented by other employments. It 

 is laborious, and requires the vigorous co-operation of all 

 the members of the family who are able to help, be they 

 young or old, male or female. It has its risks, and in 

 many of the States where the system is most deeply rooted 

 in the national life, it yet has to be sustained by heavy 

 protective tariffs. But such considerations as these, though 

 they suggest caution, should not produce discouragement. 

 We must bear in mind, in the first place, that they do not 

 apply or scarcely apply to the districts and they are 

 many whose soil, markets, or other conditions, are really 

 favourable. We must bear in mind, in the second place, 

 that every criticism which can be directed against the free- 

 hold tenure which we so ardently desire to extend, can 

 be directed with far greater effect against any attempt 

 to multiply small cultivators who are not also small pro- 

 prietors. From them is exacted toil as severe, and care as 

 minute ; but they are not given the same reward, nor 

 are they supported by the same hopes. For the land they 

 till is not their own ; and multiply, as you will, your en- 

 actments for securing the fruits of an improvement to the 

 man who makes it, you will never efface the distinction 

 between possession and occupation. It is based on 

 sentiment, not on finance ; and no demonstrations of profit 

 and loss will extract from the tenant of a county council, 

 or a public department, labour which he would cheerfully 

 expend upon a holding which belonged to himself, and 

 which he could leave to his children. But more is re- 

 quired for the full success of the small farmer even than 

 the ' magic of property.' It is that ' more ' which is dealt 

 with in your pamphlet ; and it may be described in two words 



