xvii LAND NATIONALIZATION WHY ? AND HOW ? 323 



to overcome extraordinary difficulties in the hope of at 

 length making a little spot of land their own. 



' ' The surface was thickly covered with large masses of rock of 

 various sizes, and intersected by the gullies formed by winter 

 torrents. These rocks have been broken, buried, rolled away, or 

 heaped into the form of fences. The land when thus cleared has 

 been carefully enriched with soil, manured, and tilled. These little 

 holdings vary from half an acre to ten or fifteen acres. The occupiers 

 hold by the right of possession ; they are generally poor ; but they are 

 peaceable, well-conducted, independent, and industrious; and the 

 district is absolutely free from agrarian outrage." 



A volume might be filled with similar cases, but more 

 are unnecessary here, for the evidence already adduced or 

 referred to is absolutely conclusive. Wherever there are 

 great estates let on an insecure tenure, we find in varying 

 degrees the evils here pointed out. On the other hand, 

 wherever we find men cultivating their own lands, or 

 lands held on a permanent tenure at fixed rents, we find 

 comparative- comfort, no pauperism, and little crime. And 

 as this is exactly what a consideration of the immutable 

 laws of human nature and economic science has demon- 

 strated must be the inevitable result, we have fact and 

 reasoning, induction and deduction supporting each 

 other. 



The Remedy. 



Having now cleared the ground by an inquiry into 

 principles and a survey of the facts, we come to the 

 practical question Can any adequate remedy be found 

 for these widespread and gigantic evils ? 



The common panacea of the Liberal party, " Free-trade 

 in land," must surely now appear to my readers to be 

 ridiculously inadequate. It was tried in Ireland by the 

 Encumbered Estates Act, and it so aggravated the disease 

 that a Liberal Government has now been forced to stop 

 free-trade in land altogether in Ireland, and fix rents by 

 act of parliament ! It has always prevailed in America, 

 yet many of the evils of land monopoly are very great 

 even there. It exists in Italy, yet great estates prevail, 

 and the tiller of the soil starves in the midst of abundance 

 as with us. It will do nothing for the poor evicted crofters 



Y 2 



