CHAPTER VII. 



TENANCY VERSUS OWNERSHIP 



THE farmer as such has not yet figured conspicuously in 

 our consideration of the rural problem, which has, 

 up to the present, been preoccupied with the crying 

 needs of the labourer, and with bringing into being that most 

 desirable agricultural factor the small holder. And yet it is 

 on the farmer that rural prosperity ultimately depends. 

 Nothing that has been urged in these pages clashes in any 

 way with his interests, and much of it will indirectly 

 strengthen his position. The minimum wage for labourers, 

 provided he be safeguarded against the possibility of being 

 called upon to bear at the outset an undue burden of expense, 

 will in the long run bring to his aid the labour of men more 

 intelligent and more reliable than any that have worked his 

 farm hitherto. The scheme of national cottage building will 

 revive village life and increase the demand for his produce. 

 The sweeping powers given to the public to acquire land will 

 rid the country of his worst enemy, the bad landowner, and 

 will result in greatly increasing his own sphere and security 

 of tenure.* Finally, the rise of countless small holders, whom 

 he at present views with suspicion, "j" will surely create an 

 imperative demand for many rural reforms which he has 

 long desired, but desired in vain. 



The interests of the farmers are, or should be, identical 

 and co-extensive with those of the whole countryside. The 



* The tenants of State farms in Denmark enjoy extraordinary 

 security of tenure. In one case, for instance, the tenant of a £1,000 

 farm belonging to the township has not hesitated to build splendid 

 stables on the farm at his own expense. 



f This is partly due to the practice of taking a small piece out of 

 a farm of, say, 200 acres to give to small holders, thus upsetting the 

 whole equilibrium of the farm and damaging the farmer to a far 

 greater extent than the mere value of the hind taken. It cannot be 

 too often urged that small holders should be as a rule grouped in 

 large areas ; the purchase of large tracts of land for the purpose would 

 not be so unpopular. 



