54 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



except by the enterprise or public spirit of 

 members of the landlord class. As is only 

 natural, the men who found, finance, and 

 conduct these institutions, do all they can to 

 preach the identity of interest between owner 

 and tenant, concentrate attention on neutral 

 subjects, and divert it from questions of rent 

 or tenure. In the series of questions addressed 

 to Parliamentary candidates by Chambers 

 of Agriculture, a large number of points 

 are usually raised, ranging from religious 

 instruction in elementary schools down to 

 the worrying of sheep by stray dogs. Very 

 rarely does one find a question referring either 

 to rent or to tenure. 



Though agriculture may, therefore, to some 

 extent be described as a " burdened industry," 

 it cannot be said that farmers are failing to 

 make a living out of the soil or to secure a fair 

 return, which might, perhaps, be put at 10 

 or 12 per cent, on the average, from the capital 

 which they invest in their business. But this 

 does not by any means imply that the land 

 of England is being cultivated to the best 

 advantage. On the contrary, there is a wide- 

 spread opinion in almost every county that 

 the condition of the land is going back rather 

 than forward ; that in too many cases little 

 more is being done than scratching the 



