22 LANDLORDS AND LEGISLATION 



stances. While land was at panic prices 

 wholesale reductions had to be made in rents 

 (which tradition forbids should now be raised). 

 The landlord, being the chief capitalist of the 

 business, employed all his available cash to 

 maintain the industry without any expectation 

 of return. For nearly a quarter of a century 

 he was the feather mattress of an invalided 

 industry. He has been abused for being too 

 hard, and he has been blamed for being too 

 soft. However that may be, he was instru- 

 mental in bringing English farming through a 

 period as critical as is to be found at any time 

 in its history. 



The trend of recent legislation and the 

 threatened taxation of land has had a dis- 

 astrous effect on the hitherto conservative 

 policy of landlords. As has been shown, they 

 were content to hold their large estates with 

 only a nominal return on their capital because 

 of other advantages attached to their position ; 

 but these advantages are not such that it is 

 worth their while to pay heavily for them, 

 which a tax on land would involve. At the 

 present time agriculture is improving, there is 

 a demand for agricultural holdings, good rents 



