184 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



ship " school can point to the " magic of 

 property " and the incentive furnished by 

 independent control. In the eyes of these 

 enthusiasts, the labourer, once allowed to 

 own as well as till the soil, develops latent 

 powers of industry, patience, and efficiency. 

 ** It is something," says Juvenal, " to have 

 made oneself master of a single lizard." 



The advocates of the freehold are also 

 entitled to point out that at present the 

 small-holders in England under the Act of 

 1907 are in reality buying their land not for 

 themselves but for the Local Authority. 

 Not only the interest on the money advanced 

 by the State, but the sinking fund also is pro- 

 vided out of the small-holder's pocket, with the 

 result that at the end of the time period the 

 holding will become the absolute property, 

 not of h mself or his son, but of the County 

 Council. This has always been a hard saying 

 in the ears of our villagers, although the annual 

 burden of the sinking fund amounts to the 

 trifling sum of 4/9 per cent. As the Act allows 

 the sinking fund to be paid by the County 

 Councils, it is difficult to see why all these 

 bodies have not followed the example of 

 Glamorgan and a few other counties 

 in meeting this small additional burden 

 from public funds, in view of the valuable 



