Rural Depopulation 17 1 



of the value of their farms, with buildings 

 stock and improvements. In every age, 

 and in every country, the mortgage has 

 been the curse of the peasant holder. The 

 interest is much more than the rent would 

 be under English conditions, and the 

 relations between the money - lender and 

 the peasant are infinitely worse than 

 those between the tenant and the landlord. 

 In England, from the mediaeval period 

 onwards, tlie landlord has been accustomed 

 to undertake the improvements of a more 

 permanent character, which still further 

 liberates the capital of the farmer. In the 

 past, on the whole, the relations have been 

 dominated by good feeling and good faith ; 

 although sometimes the admixture of new 

 blood, and sometimes the change in con- 

 ditions, brought about evils which led to 

 the intervention of the law. Broadly 

 speaking, the progress of legislation in this 



