Legislative Action 133 



demand a sum of ready money which would be more than most of the 

 persons in question would possess. The amount may be reckoned at 

 about 400 for a holding of 30 acres; and the small holder would 

 then still have the annual instalments of the remainder of the 

 purchase-money as a considerable burden lying upon him for the 

 future. 



But if the purchase of a holding thus makes demands upon the 

 capital of the small agriculturist which he either cannot meet or does 

 not consider it worth his while to incur, he is on the other hand much 

 more frequently in a position to invest his capital profitably in renting 

 a small farm. If the County Council can take land at the usual rent, 

 and will re-let it to the small man at a rent only so much higher as 

 corresponds to the expenditure incurred, the latter is as a rule quite 

 able so to increase the profitableness of the holding as to pay the 

 enhanced rent. He can then apply his whole capital as working 

 capital, instead of sinking it in the land. A witness before the 

 Committee of 1906, Mr H. H. Smith, sets out very intelligibly the 

 considerations which affect the small agriculturist on the taking over 

 of a small holding : " He does not look forward like the French 

 " peasant. County Council Committees who have sat to hear appli- 

 " cations for land under the Small Holdings Act have been sadly 

 "disappointed to find what a very small number of the applicants 

 " were willing to accept their holdings under the purchase system : by 

 " far the greater number of them are desirous of renting only, and that 

 " for short terms, the general desire being for a yearly tenancy. This 

 " may possibly have arisen from the fact that the future of agriculture 

 " in this country is still uncertain ; and no one can say that we have 

 " touched the bottom of the depression. Therefore the labourer who 

 " aspires to become a small farmer may hesitate to embark his earnings 

 " in an enterprise which binds him to a fixed rent, which rent must be 

 " paid, whether matters get worse or not... For the English peasant to 

 " become a proprietor under the existing Act means that he will for fifty 

 " years that is the whole stretch of his life have to pay a greater sum 

 " annually for the land which he is to make his freehold, than if he were 

 " merely renting it ; in addition to this he has to find a sum to be paid 

 " down representing one-fifth of the purchase-money. His proprietary 

 "instincts are not strong, and he does not care to pinch himself in 

 "order to benefit posterity. Moreover he argues 'the capital I am 

 " finding as part purchase-money of my holding if added to the money 

 " I must necessarily find to stock it, will enable me to take a larger 

 " farm as a leasing or renting tenant, than I can possibly take under the 



