THE LAND SYSTEM OF BELGIUM AND HOLLAND 457 



Provinces 



Antwerp 



Brabant 



Flanders, West . . . 

 Flanders, East .... 



Hainaut 



Liege 



Limbourg 



Luxembourg .... 



Namur 



Average of kingdom 



Increase of Rents from 



1830 to 



Per cent 

 7.06 

 7.62 

 8.IO 

 13.96 

 8.94 



7-5 



10.28 



5.14 



9.87 



1835 to 

 1840 



Per cent 

 I0.22 

 12.48 



6-93 

 "39 

 I5-58 

 14.72 

 13.02 



7-73 

 15-35 



1840 to 



1846 



Per cent 

 6.32 



5-05 

 5.20 

 2.85 

 7.48 

 8.11 

 1.90 

 4.17 

 7.66 



1846 to 



1850 



Per cent 



8-33 

 2.41 



4-05 



1.05 

 741 



3-3 

 10.00 



1850 to 



1856 



Per cent 

 I5-38 

 I7-65 

 16.90 

 21.84 

 14.58 

 16.09 

 17.OO 

 14.71 

 16.36 



Rent per Hectare 



1830 



Fr. c. 



47-5 

 66.27 

 60.00 

 71.40 

 69.79 



62.35 

 46.80 

 28.78 

 3677 



1856 



Fr. 



75 

 100 



83 



106 

 no 



IOI 



62 



39 

 64 



Fr. 

 92 



135 

 I02 

 130 



135 

 124 



90 



44 



77 



9.10 



12.74 



5-90 



2.94 



17.14 



57-25 



10; 



Mr. Mill, that while the rate of profit and of interest has a down- 

 ward tendency in a progressing community, rent, on the contrary, 

 tends to rise incessantly. Thus the landowners actually reap all 

 the benefit resulting from the progress made by the entire com- 

 munity in various directions. Part of this progressive increase 

 in rent may be traced to improvements made by the farmers 

 in the cultivation of the soil. By raising the rent the landlord 

 lays hold for himself of this advance in the value of the land 

 produced by those who cultivate it. 



The increase of the revenue the landlord derives from his land 

 is not the result of improvements executed by himself ; and the 

 fact adverted to is a general one, which may be met with every- 

 where. In whatever cases landlords have actually made improve- 

 ments, they have got the interest of the outlay in the shape of 

 an additional augmentation of their revenue. 



For these reasons, I think that the increase of rent, being due 

 to the progress of society at large, and not to the exertions of 

 the landowners, ought not in justice to benefit the latter alone. 

 It would be but fair to divide this benefit. For a portion of it 

 the tenant should come in ; and this he would get if he had a 

 longer lease. Another part of it should fall to the share of the 

 community at large, in the shape of an increase of the land tax. 



At the present day the land tax {impot fonder) in Belgium 

 amounts to about 19,000,000 francs (,760,000). It ought to 



