FREEHOLDINGS THE PEASANT'S LADDER. 173 



from the masses of the unemployed. By this means 

 alone a curse would be turned into a blessing. 



It might be argued that people who have never been 

 accustomed to use a spade, a fork, a hoe, or a rake 

 would find some difficulty in turning their hands to 

 agricultural pursuits ; but this is a difficulty that would 

 rapidly disappear ; and to a man of energy and common 

 sense a little perseverance would soon be rewarded by 

 success. A very strong inducement to follow the new 

 pursuit would be its healthful character ; and the 

 knowledge that the smallholder was working on his 

 own freehold, and that every ounce, so to speak, of 

 additional effort would be for his own benefit, would act 

 as an enormous stimulus to his endeavours. 



Under a system of what is called intensive cultivation, 

 and with a careful selection of crops, it has been alleged 

 that a single acre of ground would produce enough to 

 provide a livelihood for one man ; but as a large number 

 of prospective small holders are likely to have families 

 to support, it will be most important that any legislation 

 which may result from the present activity of the movers 

 in the direction of freehold small holdings shall provide 

 that they shall be of all sizes to meet any requirements 

 say from a quarter of an acre to ten acres. If this 

 were so, the creation of such varying holdings would 

 provide stepping-stones that would be in the nature 

 of a ladder for the ordinary farm servants, enabling 

 them to rise gradually from mere positions of dependency 

 to positions of more or less substantial ownership. 



Thirty-six years ago the present writer said : 



" Few things will tend so much to make the peasant 

 contented, and to give him an interest in the soil which 

 he cultivates, as the extension of the allotment system. 

 Every farm labourer should have the opportunity of renting, 

 on very moderate terms, not less than half an acre of land. 

 This land should be held direct from the landlord, or, if 

 held from the farmer, the rent charged should never be 

 higher in proportion than that paid by the farmer himself. 

 In every way the labourer should be encouraged by the 



