SMALL HOLDINGS 191 



content to contrast them with the miserable 

 outcome of the Act of 1892 880 acres in 

 fifteen years. But this line of argument is 

 not adequate for the reformer who means 

 business. The Act in question was of the 

 " shop-window " type : it was never seriously 

 intended to subdivide the soil of English 

 landlords, and it fulfilled its negative purpose 

 admirably. The acquisition of 155,000 acres 

 since the passing of the Act naturally provides 

 a forcible contrast to the puerilities of Tory 

 " Land Reform ; " but these statistics will, 

 in hundreds of English and Welsh villages, be 

 received without a vestige of enthusiasm. It 

 is, of course, no consolation to an Oxfordshire 

 or Berkshire labourer who has waited patiently 

 for years without any tangible result, if he 

 learns that much has been accomplished in 

 Cambridgeshire or Norfolk. The one bitter 

 fact for him is that since the initial meeting 

 when he was accepted as an " approved 

 applicant " he has been treated with con- 

 temptuous neglect. The figures recently 

 published speak for themselves. What sincere 

 reformer can be satisfied with such results 

 and prospects ? " Hopes," say the Com- 

 missioners, " have sometimes been encouraged 

 which have proved impossible of realisation." 

 What hopes, and why impossible ? After all 



