APPENDIX II 



THE EXTENT OF FRAGMENTATION AND SUBDIVISION 

 OF HOLDINGS IN OTHER COUNTRIES, THE CAUSES 

 OF THE SAME AND THE REMEDIAL MEASURES 

 TAKEN. 



(N.B. — Most of the facts referred to in this appendix have 

 been collected from writings published prior to 1914. As a 

 result of the war, the facts, as here stated, now need modifica- 

 tion in some cases, and must be taken as correct only down 

 to 1914. This, however, does not affect their value for the 

 purpose for which they are quoted.) 



A. England. — In England, as is well known, the Law of 

 Entail, the custom of primogeniture and the difficulties in- 

 volved in the conveyancing of land have resulted in the 

 concentration of the land in the hands of a very few persons. 

 It was estimated * not very long ago that there are in Great 

 Britain not more than 250,000 owners of land, and that four- 

 fifths of the land belongs to about 7000 persons. Consequently 

 there has been in England no question of excessive sub- 

 division of land — indeed the problem has been the exact 

 reverse, viz. the over-concentration of land in the hands of 

 a few people ; and the land legislation that has been under- 

 taken or projected in recent years has been intended to 

 encourage and promote subdivision of land and to bring 

 small holders into existence. 



B. France. — In France the situation is the opposite of that 



* " Free Land," by Arthur Arnold (1880). 



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