GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION 133 



fies the farmer nor retains the advantages of a 

 landlord. As in Ireland, a vast Land Purchase 

 scheme would ultimately be necessary as an 

 inevitable result, involving an enormous capital 

 investment by the State. And it is to avoid 

 such a calamity that the State should now 

 intervene to advance the comparatively small 

 sum which is required each year to enable 

 tenants to purchase their holdings on accept- 

 able terms when no other alternative is 

 presented. 



Although in many quarters it is urged that 

 the whole country should be farmed by oc- 

 cupying owners, whether large or small, and 

 the suggestion, if it could be realized, offers 

 certain advantages both political and national, 

 such a complete change, if it ever happens, 

 cannot take place for many generations, and 

 the transformation must of necessity be 

 gradual. The intervention of the State must 

 be confined, at any rate in the first instance, 

 to genuine cases of breaking up of estates. 

 Loans for purchase could only be made after 

 careful consideration of the character and 

 ability of the man, the nature and position of 

 the land, and the valuation proposed. Thus 



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