Small Holdings in Cornwall. 
393 
the small occupiers hold under needy owners, or owners who take 
from them a rent out of proportion to the real value of the land. 
The land is consequently impoverished, the houses and buildings are 
dilapidated, and the occupiers are often in worse circumstances than 
farm labourers, and it seems to me that the only person who is bene- 
fited is the owner who gets an excessive rent. These very strong in- 
dictments show that the mischief, the break-down, is caused by the 
demand being so generally in excess of the supply, that rents are 
paid which altogether preclude the possibility of general success.” 
The remedy for this is to increase the supply of small holdings 
until the demand is met, when rents will find their proper level. 
Such facts as the foregoing do not by any means prove that small 
holdings are necessarily a failure, but simply show that in some cases 
they can only be obtained on terms so ruinous as to prevent success. 
Whilst, however, in many cases failure has resulted from the 
land being rented too dearly, the statistics we give on page 394, 
relating to East Cornwall, presumably show that by means of small 
holdings a considerable percentage of those who, themselves or their 
fathers, were once labourers, have succeeded in becoming occupiers, 
not only of small holdings, but also of large ones. Notwithstanding 
all the difficulties that have surrounded them in the past, such as 
their scanty earnings, their lack of education, and the general high 
prices they have had to pay for the land, it is surprising to find 
that so many have succeeded, and presumably they may be taken 
more or less nearly to represent that which prevails in those parts of 
the kingdom where small holdings form a considerable proportion of 
the entire number. 
The first four parishes mentioned are purely agricultural ; the 
second four have a small proportion of the population engaged in 
mining. No return received has been suppressed or altered to suit 
any purpose or theory, as the writer’s object is simply to present the 
facts as he finds them. 
Tn the first group, the first parish cited, St. Germans, has a 
railway running through it, and is within about six miles of Devon - 
port by road or water ; it has a fertile soil, and good climate, and 
withal possesses a large proportion of small holdings ; yet on the 73 
holdings it has not one of the occupiers who was himself either 
a labourer or a labourer’s son. The only explanation that can be 
suggested is the circumstance of being so near Her Majesty’s Dock- 
yard, and Devonport being a great naval centre the young men are 
attracted either to the dockyard or to the navy. 
That it may be seen to what extent small holdings exist and the 
proportion they form with respect to large ones, we have arranged 
the holdings in three classes, viz., from 5 to 50 acres, from 50 to 1 00 
acres, and from 100 acres upwards, giving in the ne.xt column in 
each class the number of present occupiers who were formerly 
labourers or are the sons of labourers. It will be observed that 
the second group of parishes, having part of the population engaged 
in mining, shows the highest percentage of occupiers who were once 
labourers or are the sons of labourers. 
