226 SUBDIVISION IN OTHEK COUNTKIES 



passed in 1908, 1909 and 1910 allow every farmer to voluntarily 

 place beyond the possibility of expropriation and seizure for 

 debt a holding of a value not exceeding 8000 francs (Rs.5000) 

 which is occupied and worked by his family. This holding 

 remains a joint family property. It is now proposed to 

 extend the scope of this law, presumably in the directions 

 already taken in other European countries (vide post). 



G Germany. — In Germany the Law of Inheritance varies 

 greatly in the different States. In Prussia the law and custom 

 favour the formation of large estates, while in Southern Ger- 

 many the reverse is the case. 



In Wurtemberg a certain moderate portion, defined by law, 

 of the father's property passes to each child, and over the 

 remainder the father is allowed libeity of disposition. So far 

 as is possible, an effort is made to leave a small farm intact to 

 a single son, but it frequently happens that the daughters are 

 on their marriage allotted a share of the paternal land, and 

 as the husband is probably the possessor of a piece of land 

 elsewhere in the commune, the subdivision and intersection 

 of land became serious, and it was estimated * in 1880 that 

 the land in Wurtemberg was held by 280,000 peasant owners 

 with less than 5 acres each, as against 160,000 proprietors of 

 estates of more than 5 acres each. 



In Bavaria part of the State has adopted the Law of 

 Inheritance laid down by the Code Napoleon, and in the 

 other part the law ordains t that on the death of the father 

 one-third to one-half of his property (according to the size of 

 the family) must be divided equally amongst his children, and 

 over the remainder he can exercise a testamentary disposition. 

 Great efforts are made by the peasants to keep their farms 

 intact, but the land has become much subdivided. 



* " Agrarian Legislation in Germany During the Present Century," 

 by R. B. D. Morier (1880). 



f'The Law and Custom of Primogeniture," by the Hon, G, C. 

 Brodrick, 



