134 Large and Small Holdings 



" purchase system : I will therefore go for leasing, because I can get a 

 " bigger income for myself A Frenchman will probably argue the 

 " other way, and say : ' True, under the purchasing system I can only 

 " take a smaller holding than I could under the leasing system, but I 

 " am saving money under the first system in a sure and almost im- 

 " perceptible manner, as every day I am nearing the time when the 

 " holding will become a freehold which I shall be able to bequeath to 

 " my family.' This apparently does not appeal to the English peasants, 

 " and the passion for ownership does not exist among them to any- 

 " thing like the same extent that it does in many other nations 1 ." 



It is a curious fact that the last remnants of the lesser yeomanry 

 disappeared in the period 1760 to 1815, because, in view of the high 

 price of corn then ruling, the small man found it more profitable to 

 take a large holding as farmer than to retain his position as a small 

 owner. He sold his land, attracted by the higher income to be made 

 on an arable farm of some hundreds of acres. The economics of the 

 unit of holding were the determining factor in that movement. But 

 it is not any question as to the unit of holding which causes the small 

 capitalist of the present day to prefer tenancy to ownership. A small 

 holding is now more profitable than a large holding. The determin- 

 ing factor today is the problem of ownership itself, namely the 

 contrast between the exchange value of the land and the comparatively 

 small return to be obtained from it. 



The Departmental Committee could not well ignore the various 

 cases cited and expressions of opinion given in proof of this tendency 

 to prefer tenancy to ownership. The Report mentions yet other 

 causes making in the same direction ; e.g. a fear on the part of the 

 small capitalist that some new agricultural crisis might depreciate the 

 value of his land after he had bought it; the difficult question of 

 inheritance; the desire of small agriculturists to begin with a few acres 

 only, but to be able to increase their holdings as their savings grow, 

 an aspiration more easily fulfilled by a tenant than by a proprietor. 

 These are all no doubt real elements in the preference for tenancy, 

 though the relatively high cost of land is certainly its main cause. 

 The Committee, however, did not draw the conclusion that the Act 

 of 1892 should be so amended as to correspond to the actual needs of 

 the day. On the contrary, it held fast to the principles of the old 

 Act, and only recommended certain changes directed to facilitate the 

 purchase of small holdings. 



Its argument was that the great advantage to be expected from such 



1 Small Holdings Report, 1906, Minutes, qu. 3733. 



