35& Co-operation in Tenure of Small Holdings, [aug., 



registered co-operative societies, which should sub-let it to 

 members : — 



1. The system simplifies the collection of the rent. Instead of having 

 to collect the rent in separate sums from a number of small holders, the 

 Council obtains it in a lump sum from the Society. The Society in turn 

 collects the rents from the members, and is able to collect it more easily 

 than an official of the Council could do. All agents who have had to 

 do with small holders know the difficulty of dealing with them in- 

 dividually; a committee composed of small holders themselves can deal 

 with them more effectively and with less friction than the agent of an 

 outside landlord. 



2. Provided the Society has a considerable amount of uncalled share 

 capital, the security for the rent will be greater, since the failure of any 

 member to pay his rent will not relieve the Society from the responsibility 

 of paying the full amount due. 



3. The small holders should be able to obtain the land at a lower rent. 

 The Council will be relieved from the necessity of employing a collector, 

 and will have greater security. It can, therefore, let the land more 

 cheaply, and as the management expenses of the Society will be very 

 small, the Society can sub-let to a member at a rent only very slightly 

 increased. 



4. Being, as indicated in Section 2, liable to suffer loss by the failure 

 of any fellow-member to pay his rent, the small holders will have an 

 interest in looking after one another and helping one another in any 

 difficulties that may arise. This is perhaps the most valuable result of 

 adopting the co-operative system of land tenure. 



5. For the same reasons, the committee of a society will make careful 

 inquiries as to the suitability and capacity of each of the members 

 desirous of acquiring small holdings, and will not apply for land on 

 behalf of any member who is not likely to be a successful small holder. 



6. As they will be already organised co-operatively, and will have a 

 sense of mutual interest, the small holders will be more disposed to 

 co-operate for credit banking, insurance, and other purposes, wherein 

 co-operation is admittedly essential to the success of small holdings. 



7. The Society will have a stronger hold over its members than the 

 Council would have over them as direct tenants. It can make more 

 stringent tenancy regulations, and will be in a better position to insist 

 that they shall be carried out. 



The same arguments apply equally to the co-operative tenure of allot- 

 ments, and the A. O. S. advocates that parish, urban district, borough, 

 or county councils, when creating allotments, should let the land to 

 co-operative societies, composed of persons desirous of obtaining allot- 

 ments, which would, in turn, sub-let it to their members. 



It has been already mentioned that the Society has drawn 

 up model rules for co-operative societies. Amongst these 

 rules are two which have been inserted by the Board of Agri- 

 culture, and which must be observed by all societies wishing 

 to acquire land under the Small Holdings Act, 1907. One of 



