19 



Islands owe their prosperity? Given an equable climate, a 

 fertile but not rich soil, and a skilful husbandry, and you 

 have the three prime requisites of success. That is true as 

 far as it goes, but there is still a factor wanting to make the 

 explanation complete. Other writers have placed it in the 

 possession of a race of cattle popular throughout the world, 

 a climate which is perfection, and a ready market almost at 

 their very door. To these combined, I would add, " A. 

 diffused property, a diffused capital and a diffused intelli- 

 gence." The 19,000 acres of arable land of Jersey are 

 divided among 2,000 farmers ; only six have farms of one 

 hundred acres ; some fifty or more own twenty acres, but 

 the great majority have small holdings from one-half acre to 

 live or six. Land does not often change hands. If inher- 

 ited, it cannot be devised by will, but must follow the line 

 of succession, the law requiring that at death every child 

 shall receive a part, the oldest son having the house in addi- 

 tion. The land laws thus discourage aggregation of prop- 

 erty, and favor its distribution among the members of the 

 family. Evejy man is at the same time a land owner, a cap- 

 italist and a laborer. To this " diffusion of property," and 

 to the universal thrift and industry naturally following such 

 diffusion, I attribute the general prosperity of the people. 

 It is natural that a man owning his little piece of land will 

 improve it to the utmost, and make it yield the largest income 

 possible. The man occupying temporarily another's land 

 will not lay out upon it any more than he can possibly help. 

 There results, then, from these small holdings, an intense 

 cultivation not possible on large estates. 



How different the case in England may be seen from the 

 following figures : of the 36,000,000 acres comprising Eng- 

 land and Wales, 4,500 persons own 20,000,000 ; 288 hold 

 over 5,000,000 ; 52 hold over 9,000 acres apiece ; 204 hold 

 over 5,000 and 2, 432 hold over 1,000. More than one-half 

 is owned by private individuals, holding 1,000 acres and 

 upward. In Scotland this aggregation of land by the few is 

 still more striking. Of its 19,000,000 acres, nine-tenths are- 

 held by less than 1,700 persons, and one-half of the whole 

 of its area is held by 70 persons. The whole number of 

 land owners is 131,530, but of these 111,658 own less than 



