PREFACE xi 



largest output fi'om the land, offers the fairest 

 chances to the men. 



So far as the security for the investment of 

 public money is concerned, there is little to 

 choose between the two systems. Under the 

 Small Holdings Act the State lends the whole 

 sum required for the purchase of land to public 

 bodies, without requiring any deposit, and on 

 two conditions. Those conditions are that in- 

 terest at 3^ per cent, should be paid during 

 the continuance of the loan, and that the capital 

 should be repaid by annual instalments. The 

 Unionists propose to lend the whole of the pur- 

 chase money to individuals, without requiring 

 any deposit, on the same conditions as to pay- 

 ment of interest and repayment of capital. 

 Whether the State lends to a public body or 

 to an individual, the risk is the same. The 

 loss, if there is any, falls, under the Radical 

 plan, on the ratepayer ; under the Unionist 

 scheme, on the taxpayer. For all practical pur- 

 poses he is the same person. If it is reasonably 

 safe to lend to the public body, it is reason- 

 ably safe to lend to the individual. In point of 

 fact, the risk is slight. Reducible mortgages 

 differ from permanent mortgages, in that the 



