THE 1 .IBRARY
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
/.
*
PRACTICAL POLITICS.
(ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL LIBERAL FEDERATION)
PRACTICAL POLITICS
I.
THE TENANT FARMER, BY JAMES HOWARD.
II.
FOREIGN POLICY, BY MOUNTSTUART E. GRANT DUFF, ESQ., M.P.
III.
FREEDOM OF LAND, BY G. SHAW LEFEVRE, M.P.
IV.
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY, BY SIR DAVID WEDDERBURN,
BART., M.P.
f otrtwtt ;
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1881.
The Right of Translation it Rawed.
LONDON :
.^ CLAY, SONS, AND TAVLOR,
BREAD STREET HILL.
THE TENANT FARMER
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS.
BY
JAMES HOWARD.
THE TENANT FARMER:
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS,
INTRODUCTION.
SAGACIOUS men have long foreseen that the time changes
would arrive when the land laws of Great Britain by the e
would have to undergo great changes in order to
bring them into harmony with modern thought and
the exigencies of the country. The signs of the
times appear to indicate that, from sheer force of
circumstances, the day is fast approaching when
the legislature will be compelled to turn its atten-
tion to the amendment of the several laws which
constitute what is popularly termed "the land
question."
Among the circumstances conspiring to bring The
about this result are (1.) The depressed and de- stances
clining condition of agriculture throughout the to bring
United Kingdom a stern fact which has created in about.
the minds of both landlords and tenants the greatest
anxiety and alarm as to the future. (2.) The
entire failure of the Agricultural Holdings Act to
B 2
4 THE TENANT FARMER:
accomplish the avowed objects for which the pre-
sent Government passed it, viz., the increased pro-
duction of the soil. (3.) The enormous and ever-
increasing sums paid for foreign supplies of food,
amounting last year to no less a sum than
one hundred millions sterling.
General In the following pages it is not my intention to
scope of
the Essay, discuss those complicated laws which relate to the
inheritance, succession, and transfer of land, but to
limit myself to that branch of the subject which
embraces, more immediately, the relations of land-
lord and tenant, a branch of the general land
question as I shall attempt to show by no means
limited to the interests of these two sections of the
community, but one to which the welfare and pros-
perity of the millions of our industrial population
are intimately linked.
The If, in the following pages, I combat the opinions
feeling 8 and prejudices of the territorial class, it springs
territorial from no feeling of animosity or hostility ; on the
contrary, I entertain, and have reason to enter-
tain, a high regard for the nobility and aristocracy
of the country ; further, if, instead of farming my
own land, I were a tenant farmer, long experience
and observation would lead me to desire to live
upon the estate of one of the old families of
England.
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS.
BRITISH AGRICULTURE: ITS EXTENT AND
NATURAL CAPABILITIES.
The general public, whilst fully alive to the The geno-
importance of our manufacturing, mining, and com- ignorant
t r of Agricul-
mercial pursuits, and also fully aware of their turai
affairs.
gigantic proportions, are, to a great extent, igno-
rant of the importance of our agriculture, of the
immense capital embarked in its pursuit, and the
enormous annual value of our farm produce.
In order, therefore, to show how vast are the immense
value of
interests at stake in this branch of industry, I f ann Pro-
duce and
would point to the fact that the annual value of ^^ th of
the produce of our fields and homesteads is esti-
mated at from two hundred and fifty to three
hundred millions sterling (300,000,000?.), whilst
the agricultural and pastoral value of the land of
the United Kingdom is computed to be worth
the prodigious sum of two thousand millions
(2,000,000,000?.).
Surely the mere announcement of these figures
should be sufficient to arouse the attention of all
classes to the imperative necessity of removing
every impediment which stands in the way of the
prosperity of this great branch of our national
industry.
Hitherto the little band of land- law reformers,
in their efforts to bring about needful changes,
6 THE TENANT FARMER:
Land-law nav e received but little aid from popular support.
reformers
with little wn il s t * ne y nave na( l to contend with the oppo-
support. s ^ion of the most powerful, the most wealthy, and
the most influential class of the community. The
territorial class appears to regard with dread the least
interference with what is termed " the sacred rights
of property," and this notwithstanding that the very
object of some of the proposed changes is to en-
hance the value of this property, and to ensure the
permanent prosperity of both owner and occupier.
Fa pro- The British public has been repeatedly assured
ductions
susceptible that the present produce of the land falls far short
of great
increase. o f that which it is SUSCCptible Of yielding. Net-
Derby's withstanding: the excellence of the farming to be
opinion.
seen in some parts of England and Scotland there
can be no question that under more favourable
conditions of tenure, the produce of both animal
and human food could be immensely increased.
The opinion expressed by a certain eminent States-
man that production might be doubled has often
been quoted and as often denounced. Although
the estimate formed by Lord Derby is, in my
opinion, an excessive one, still in support of the
Earl's views it would be easy to cite opinions
expressed by well-known farmers. I prefer, how-
ever, to quote the opinions of another noble Earl,
one who, by his own class and by the farmers
of his own county Norfolk is acknowledged to
possess as intimate and as practical a knowledge
of the art of agriculture as any man in the
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 7
kingdom, be he farmer or landowner. The Earl The Earl of
Leicester a
of Leicester, in addressing a meeting of Norfolk
farmers, remarked, " Since I last met you I have
travelled through much of England and through
parts of Scotland, and, taking into consideration
the whole of the land I have seen under cultiva-
tion, I think I may safely state that the produce
might be nearly doubled under a more perfect
system of agriculture."
To Lord Leicester's I would add the recent testi-
mony of a man of world-wide reputation. There
is no higher authority upon agriculture than Mr.
J. B. Lawes, of Rothamsted. In Mr. Caird's
recent and valuable work, British Agriculture,
this eminent author writes, "To Mr. J. B. Lawes
the agriculture of this country is more indebted
than to any other man living." Addressing the
Berwickshire Agricultural Association in May of
the present year, Mr. Lawes remarked : " No
one, I suppose, can doubt that the soils of this
country are capable of producing very much more
wheat as well as meat than they do at present, if
not indeed all that is required to support the
population." l
If the increase be estimated at one-third Estimate
which, in my opinion, might profitably be raised e d yield
our fields and homesteads would yield more than they of such
11101*6 3.86(3.
do by nearly one hundred millions a year. Surely, produc-
tion.
1 See Pamphlet Is Higher Farming a Remedy for Lower
Prices f Published by G. Macaskie, Berwick-on-Tweed,
THE TENANT FARMER :
then, this is a subject worthy of the gravest con-
sideration of the people and of the Legislature, for
what an enormous influence would be exerted by
so much extra wealth raised from the soil, and this
not only upon the interests of the farmers,
labourers, and landlords, but upon the trade, the
commerce, and the general prosperity of the whole
nation.
In the following pages it will be the endeavour
of the writer to show how a portion of this grand
result may be brought about.
PAST AND PRESENT SYSTEMS OF AGRICULTURE
COMPARED.
Modem It might prove interesting to many readers were
i'armiug
compared the relations which have subsisted between land-
with past
methods, lord and tenant from feudal times to the present
day recited, and the various changes which have
taken place in these relations traced ; ] the imme-
diate present, however, is that with which we are
most concerned. One of the main objects of this
essay is to explain to that large portion of the
public, not practically acquainted with agricultural
matters, how the existing relations between land-
lord and tenant tend to check production and limit
the national wealth. In order to bring this part
of the subject within the comprehension of such
1 On this subject see "W. E. Beai^'s Essay on Relations of
Landlord and Tenant. Cobden Club Series.
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 9
readers it is necessary to become explanatory, and
to go more fully into details than at first sight
would appear desirable. I commence, therefore, by
pointing out that until a comparatively recent
period English farming was conducted upon an
entirely different system to that of the present.
The farmer of the past pursued what is termed an
exhaustive, the modern farmer pursues what is
known as the restorative system. The old practice
required but little capital, the animals were fed
entirely upon the food grown upon the farm, and
the only manure used was that produced by the
animals so kept. In order to prevent the exhaus-
tion of the soil the old-fashioned farmer was com-
pelled to have frequent recourse to fallows i.e., the
land had to be rested Nature's method of restor-
ing fertility. Such a style of farming may be old
., . . 1 method in-
described as a penurious, routine, spend-nothing jurious to
-i . , ail con-
system, under which little capital was required, cemed.
little produce raised, little labour employed, no
enterprise required, and the small amount of pro-
duce sold was balanced only by the smallness of
the outgoings.
The modern system of farming, properly carried Capital re-
out, requires considerable capital. The tenant the mo-
.-,/./. 7 dern far-
must have a capital of from 101. to 201. per acre, mer and
his out-
according to the nature of the land occupied and goings.
the amount of live stock it is capable of carrying.
Large purchases have annually to be made of oil-
cake, corn, and other feeding stuffs, for producing
10 THE TENANT FARMER:
beef and mutton ; costly manures have to be bought
for raising roots and green crops to be consumed by
the animals. The money expended on these sub-
stances often amounts to more than the rent of the
farm. Then there is the purchase and maintenance
of expensive machinery, and above all the labour
bill, which again exceeds in amount the rent paid.
ORIGIN OF THE DEMAND FOR TENANT RIGHT
AND EFFORTS TO OBTAIN IT.
The intro- It is not surprising that soon after the introduc-
duction of. i i i> i i t> n
high farm- tion of the modern system of " high farming,
ing led to
the de- under which, in addition to the outlay already
mand for
tenant mentioned, large sums were often expended in
pipe-draining, removal of hedges, road-making, and
other permanent improvements, greater security of
tenure began to be demanded, and claims set up for
an equitable tenant-right : that the occupier should,
on quitting, be paid compensation for the unex-
hausted value of his outlay upon the farm was
advocated as a simple act of justice, and the
demand grew louder from year to year as the
progress of high farming extended.
Mr. Pusey, Notwithstanding sustained efforts to stifle the
M. P., in-
troduces cr y a formidable advocate arose in the person
the subject J
into Par- o f the late Philip Pusey, M.P. for Berkshire, a
hament. '
landowner of rare sagacity, long recognised as
the leading mind in English agriculture, and
for many years the editor of the Royal Agricul-
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 11
tural Journal. As long ago as 1847, Mr. Pusey
brought a bill into Parliament which recognised
the tenant's right to his improvements. The
preamble ran thus : " Whereas it is expedient for
the better security of farmers in the improvement
of land, and for the consequent increase of produce
therefrom, as well as employment for farm-labourers,
to enlarge and extend the custom of agricultural
tenant-right, in accordance with the modern advance
of husbandry."
I believe that no more honest measure was ever Fairness of
proposed to the British House of Commons ; it held measure
and its re-
the balance fairly between landlord and tenant, it jection.
gave the latter an absolute right to his improve-
ments, whilst the interests of the owner were fairly
and fully secured : moreover it contained a clause
rendering null and void any agreement entered
into contrary to the provisions of the Act. The
Bill was referred to a Select Committee, which sent
it down to the House with the compulsory clause
struck out ; notwithstanding this concession, owing
to the opposition it met with, no further progress
was made. The next session another Select Com-
mittee was appointed, " The Agricultural Customs "The Agri-
Committee," of which Mr. Pusey was Chairman. Customs
Commit-
Evidence was taken, which was clearly in favour of tee " ; the
import-
compulsory legislation ; still, the measures recom- ance of its
mended were permissive only. There was then, as
of late, a strong prejudice against doing anything
that threatened to restrict the " sacred rights " of
12 THE TENANT FARMER :
landowners. The Committee, however, after hear-
ing many witnesses made the following important
report : " That this wider system of compensation
to the outgoing tenant seems to be highly beneficial
to agriculture, to the landlord, and to the farmer,
to lead to a great increase in the productiveness of
the soil, and to extended employment of the rural
population." This declaration seemed encouraging,
and being an expression of opinion by landowners
forming the Committee, must never be forgotten by
the advocates of tenant-right. After an opinion so
deliberately expressed by a Committee of land-
owners, who had had the advantage of hearing the
best witnesses the country could produce, it is idle
for opponents to pooh-pooh the question and allege,
as is so frequently the case, that nothing more is
required than a good understanding between land-
lord and tenant a very desirable thing unques-
tionably, but as precarious as it is desirable.
Mr. Pusey After persevering several sessions, Mr. Pusey
T1VGS U.T)
the sub- dropped the Bill, finding the attempt to bring over
ject,
which was his brother landowners to his enlightened views
allowed to
slumber a hopeless task ; and the subject was allowed to
for twenty
years: a slumber for more than twenty years. Surely this
lesson to
farmers of fact alone should bring home to the minds of the
the present
day- present generation of farmers the necessity of
having some representatives of their own class in
the House of Commons, at all events, men who
have a real sympathy with their interests. I
would further remind them that when the subject
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 13
was revived in Parliament it was not by a county
but by a borough member.
On April 18th, 1872, there appeared in the Eviction of
. tenant far-
Daily Telegraph a communication headed " Evic- mers in
Scotland.
tions in Scotland " [From our Special Correspon-
dent]. From this article the country learned the
startling fact that the Hon. Nesbit Hamilton had
suddenly terminated the tenancy of the foremost
and most popular farmer in Scotland the late Mr.
George Hope of Fenton Barns, a man of world-
wide reputation. To Fenton Barns, agriculturists
from all parts of the world had been accustomed
to resort to see one of the best examples of British
farming. Mr. Hope's family had, moreover, been
upon the estate for a century.
Mr. Hamilton, when in Parliament in 1849, was
one of the most formidable opponents of Mr.
Pusey's measure, and denounced in strong terms
" all legislative interference between landlord and
tenant," but in 1872, by the exercise of a right
which an unjust law gave, he made the largest
appropriation of a tenant's improvements hitherto
made public. Mr. Sadler of Ferrygate, another
tenant on the same estate, was also got rid of,
solely, it was asserted, and generally believed,
upon political grounds, as in Mr. Hope's case.
Mr. Sadler informed the writer that his improve-
ments were confiscated without the least com-
pensation. I had known both Mr. Hope and Mr.
Sadler for many years, and, without exception,
H THE TENANT FARMER :
they were the most enterprising farmers of my
acquaintance.
Notice to Great consternation was created in the minds of
a BUI to farmers throughout England and Scotland by these
the law of high- handed proceedings, and much indignation
Landlord
and was expressed by the press and the public. At
Tenant.
the time these evictions were announced I sat
in Parliament as member for the Borough of
Bedford ; at once, the same week, I gave notice
of a motion " to call the attention of the House to
the question of the insecurity of tenant farmers'
capital, and to the injury sustained by the public
thereby," and before the House broke up I an-
nounced that in the next session I would introduce
"A Bill to amend the Law of Landlord and Tenant."
THE GOVERNMENT MODE OF DEALING WITH
TENANT RIGHT.
Theintro- The next year, in accordance with the notice
the Agri- mentioned, the " Landlord and Tenant Bill " was
cultural . . i i -
Holdings brought in, the aim of which was to give ample
Act forced
upon the security to the tenant without trenching one jot
Govern-
ment, upon the rights of the landlord. Parliament,
however, broke up without any opportunity of
carrying the Bill to a second reading, but it
had been so much discussed out of doors, and
public feeling among farmers had set in so strongly
in its favour, that during the" interregnum one of
the present Secretaries of State informed me that
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 1ft
this would be one of the first subjects the new
Government would deal with.
Accordingly, soon after the meeting of the new
Parliament, a modified edition of the Landlord
and Tenant Bill was introduced, with a new name
-"The Agricultural Holdings Bill." The fact
was the Government felt that an inconvenient
agitation had been raised among their own friends
the farmers which it was desirable to quiet as
speedily as possible, but in a manner which would
not wound the sensibilities of their other and more
powerful friends the landowners a difficult task,
but no one doubted that the ingenuity of the
Prime Minister would be equal to the occasion :
whether, however, his party in the House were to
be educated, or the farmers bamboozled could not
be foreseen.
Upon the assembling of Parliament in 1875, a important
deputation
deputation from the Farmers' Club of England from the
Farmer's
waited upon the Earl of Beaconsfield. On thisCiubof
England
occasion the writer was deputed to place the views to the
Prime
of the Club before the Prime Minister. It being Minister.
necessary at such interviews to put your case as
concisely as possible, probably the following extract
will contribute to as clear a comprehension of the
subject as a more elaborate argument. After pre-
liminary observations I spoke as follows : " Their The Far-
case was briefly this. The capital which a tenant em- claim for
compensa-
barked upon his holding consisted, for the one part, tion briefly
. stated.
of his live and dead stock, which were removable,
16 THE TENANT FARMER :
and for the other part of labour, manure, and
materials, sunk in or upon his holding which were
irremovable. In respect of the live and dead stock
the outgoing tenant had complete control, but over
the irremovable portion, although paid for out
of the same pocket, he had not only no control
but, by the presumption of law, it belonged to the
owner of the land. Their contention was that
the tenant whose moral right to improve-
ments he had himself effected all acknow-
ledged should have a legal and absolute right
to them, provided, of course, that an arbitrator
should decide that the improvements made had
added to the letting value of the land ; whereas
if they were held to be fanciful, or otherwise not
valuable to the estate, then a tenant who had so
foolishly expended his capital would have no claim
The injus- in respect of them whatever. Again, they desired
tice of the
existing to point out that the principle of reciprocity was
altogether wanting in the existing law, inasmuch
as an owner had the power to sue a tenant for
dilapidation or deterioration, and that indepen-
dently of any question of breach of covenant or
agreement ; they maintained that such a law was
one-sided and therefore unjust.
Longer " The next point to express an opinion upon was
notice to
quit farms an extension of the notice to quit. I shall be
required.
followed by a gentleman who will show that this
alone would not suffice to meet the case ; for my
own part I would say that the present system
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 17
under which a man of capital and position was, on
six "short months* notice, called upon to quit his
farm, to break up house and home, and to find
another, was a system worthy only of a barbarous
age.
" Of course the question arose, should legislation should
legislation
be permissive or compulsory ? They were almost be permis-
sive or
unanimously of opinion that if legislation took compui-
place at all it should be of a compulsory character.
To their practical minds it seemed not to be of
the slightest' use to trouble Parliament to pass a
measure to say in effect to landowners : ' You may
give two years' notice to quit, or you may give
security for unexhausted improvements.' '
The deputation was of course dismissed in the
usual way, with assurances that the Government
fully realized the importance of the subject and
hoped when the measure, in course of preparation,
was before the public the provisions would be
satisfactory to both owners and occupiers.
I now propose to show, as briefly as possible, how The DuVo
~ of Rich-
the present Government proceeded to perform the mondupon
the value
promise. In the first place I would produce His nn'i effect
f . of Tenant
Grace the Duke of Eichmond as a witness to the Right, and
the Agri-
need of Tenant Eight legislation, and to the im- cultural
Holdings
portance of the subject as affecting the food supply Act -
of the country.
In his high position as Lord President of the
Council in the present Ministry, the Duke of
Eichmond brought in the Agricultural Holdings
18 THE TENANT FARMER :
Bill. This Act came into force on April 14,
1876 if an Act can be said to come into force
when no one is bound to come under its pro-
visions. In introducing this Bill His Grace spoke
as follows :
" My Lords, I am sure I need not apologise for
bringing this subject under your Lordships' con-
sideration. It is in the highest degree important,
because it has a very close connection with the
production of food for the millions of the popula-
tion of this country. It has a great importance
and interest for your Lordships and all other land-
owners ; it is obvious that it has not less importance
and interest for those who cultivate the soil, and
with whom all landowners are brought into
intimate relations ; and if it is important and
interesting to those two classes, it is not of less
moment to the community at large, who, as
consumers, must be exceedingly desirous that the
producing power of the agricultural districts of the
country should be brought to such a pitch that
it will go as close as it can possibly be made
to go towards meeting the requirements of the
country. My Lords, this is not a new subject,
it is one which has long occupied attention
out of doors ; at almost every agricultural meeting
held for some time past it has been the theme of
discussion."
His Grace, after a passing reference to certain
localised customs, and briefly reviewing the report
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 19
of the Select Committee upon Mr. Pusey's motion
previously referred to proceeded to comment
upon the evidence given before the Committee as
follows :
" My Lords, I doubt whether any one would
say that this is a condition of things which ought to
be allowed to remain any longer. I think public
opinion has been sufficiently roused, and that
Parliament is now competent to deal with it.
After twenty-five years of agitation this matter has
been sufficiently digested, and the feeling is now in
favour of legislation. No doubt the subject is a
difficult one. According to the census returns in statistics,
showing
1851, the population of England and Wales was that Agri-
culture has
then 18,054,170, in 1871 it was 22,712,266, show- not kept
pace with
ing an increase between the two periods of 4,658,096. popula-
tion.
At the former period there were 37,000,000 acres
of land, of which 25,000,000 were cultivated. Of
course the total acreage was about the same in
1871, but the cultivated portion was 26,000,000,
showing an increase of only one million acres. My
Lords, under these circumstances the Government
have thought that a measure should be brought in
to secure to the tenant the capital he has invested
in the soil."
His Grace concluded this remarkable speech as
follows : " My Lords, I am not vain enough to
think that this Bill will satisfy every one, but I
think it ought to satisfy every moderate and
reasonable man, for while, on the one hand, it gives
c 2
20 THE TENANT FARMER
to the tenant that protection to which he is
entitled, on the other hand it does not invade
those rights of the landlord which in this country
have always been held sacred."
Such was the testimony of a Conservative
Minister to the necessity for a Tenant Eight Bill,
nor were the words of the Prime Minister, upon the
same occasion, less explicit. The Earl of Beacons-
field characterised the measure as one " protecting
the tenant's investments in the soil by placing
him in a juster position/' and "inducing him to
apply capital to the soil, an application which it is
in the interest of all classes to encourage." Mr.
Samuelson, M.P., recently remarked in the House,
that these " golden words " of the Prime Minister
cannot be too often repeated, for they expressed
his anticipation of what would be the effect of
giving security to the tenant;
THE AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS ACT; ITS
FAILURE AND THE CAUSE.
Permissive In the introductory remarks, allusion was made to
of the Act the failure of the Agricultural Holdings Act to accom-
til 6
cause of plish the avowed objects for which the present
Government passed it. If the Act has failed, which is
universally admitted, the reason is not far to seek.
Landlord The Landlord and Tenant Bill contained the follow-
Jnt ffiif" i n g clause : " Any contract made by a tenant after
sory! 311 the passing of this Act, by virtue of which he is
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 21
deprived of his right to make any claim which he Sacred
i -it t i i rights of
would otherwise be entitled to make under this owners
i i - i -i and
Act, shall, so far as relates to such claim, be void rights of
tenants :
both at law and m equity. This clause was how dealt
with.
violently denounced as an invasion of " the sacred
rights of property."
The Duke of Richmond, having fully acknow-
ledged the justice of the tenant's demand for the
security of his capital, and having made .elaborate
provisions in his Bill for the purpose, had the
hardihood to insert a clause at the end giving land-
owners the power of declaring themselves out of
the Act, and thus to retain full possession of what
His Grace termed their " sacred rights."
That such a measure should be the outcome of
such speeches as the Prime Minister's and the Duke
of Richmond's, is not a little astounding. Can
anything be more obvious than that in the opinion
of their Lordships their own property was to be
surrounded by " sacred rights," but no such " sacred
rights" should be extended, by law, to the pro-
perty of tenants ? To the most casual observer it
must be evident that the object of the Government
was not to grapple with the tenant's claims, but to
elude them.
At a later stage I propose to examine the general The
question of "Freedom of Contract" the specious ment plea
, . < i i TTT
plea for the insertion of the clause in question. What- of contract
examined.
ever may be said in support of the general principle
of Freedom of Contract, cannot avail the Govern-
THE TENANT FARMER :
ment in this case. It was open to the Ministry to
refuse the tenant's demands for legal security, upon
the ground that legislative interference would be
contrary to the well-recognised principle of freedom
of contract. Such a course would have been honest,
intelligible, and defensible, but when the Govern-
ment admitted the necessity for legislation, when
the Duke of Eichmond, as its mouthpiece, described
in such glowing terms the national benefits which
would flow from a measure giving the tenant
security for his capital, the ground freedom of
contract was surely cut from under them ; nor
does it require a trained logician to discover the
inconsistency of such a plea ; its indefensibility
must surely be obvious to the most untutored. 1
Rush of That the permissive clause rso far as the corn-
land- r
owners to pensation clauses are concerned has rendered the
contract
themselves Act worthless, is notorious, for when the time
out of the
Act - approached for its provisions to come into force,
1 The Marquis of Huntly a notable exception among the
Peers took throughout a broad view of the question, and after
the Bill had passed gave expression to the following senti-
ments : " I think," said the Marquis, " that when once the
Legislature has been asked to interfere with the present law,
to change the presumption of the law in favour of the tenant,
to declare that, by the application of capital, increased in-
dustry and increased production resulted, to assume that it
was of national advantage to promote that industry, and
therefore to give security for that capital in order to maintain
its application I think, I say, that Parliament might have
gone one step further, and made certain provisions in the new
law compulsory."
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS.
something like a panic seemed to seize landlords,
who, throughout the length and breadth of the land,
* o o
rushed with inconsiderate haste to contract them-
selves out of the Act; even the tenants of the
Crown Lands were served with the necessary
notice ; indeed, the farmers of England soon came
to the conclusion that, so far as their interests
were concerned, the Act was not worth the paper
upon which it was printed, and it is universally
regarded as the greatest sham in modern legislation.
TENANT RIGHT A NATIONALQUESTION. FOREIGN
IMPORTS CONSIDERED.
Having shown, in the preceding pages, how the Subject
should be
question of Tenant Eight has grown with the growth taken up
by the
of modern farming ; how its importance has been fully lar g e con -
stituencies
recognised and acknowledged, even by Conservative as
Ministers ; how the efforts to secure a comprehen- q uestion -
sive measure, giving security to invested capital, has
been defeated ; I would express the conviction that
until the great town constituencies come to the
rescue and take up the subject as one affecting
themselves as well as the farmer ; until the general
public see that the crippling of agriculture is one
fruitful cause of depression in trade, a full measure
of justice to the food-producing section of the
community stands but a poor chance of recognition;
and the delusive Act, which undoes by one clause
24
THE TENANT FARMER :
Drain
upon the
national
purse in
the pur-
chase of
foreign
food.
Tables of
Food Im-
ports.
all the good set forth in the other clauses, will
remain unrepealed.
In the opening pages, brief allusion was made to
the interests of the whole community being inti-
mately connected with those of agriculture, and
evidence has been adduced that from causes which
ought not to exist the food produced at home is
utterly inadequate to support the population. In
addition to the great drain upon the national purse
in the purchase of foreign supplies, there is the
terrible, if remote, possibility of a time arriving
when, owing to adverse seasons abroad, or to wars
or famines, we may find these sources fail us at the
critical hour of our need.
The Board of Trade has issued a complete set of
Eeturns, showing the value annually, since 1858,
of the imports of food per head of the population,
and also in the gross. Complicated statistics, how-
ever, would not be attractive to the reader. I
therefore give the following abridgment :
IMPORTS.
Years.
Population of
United
Kingdom.
1
Live Cattle,
Sheep,
and Pigs.
Corn, Grain,
and Flour.
Dead Meat
and
Provisions.
TOTAL.
1877
33,444,419
6,012,564
63,536,322
30,144,013
99,692,899
1872
31,835,757
4,394,850
51,228,816
18,604,273
74,227,939
1867
30,334,999
4,148,382
41,368,349
12,489,331
58,006,062
1862
29,255,015
1,888,236
37,774,148
10,630,734
50,293,118
1858
28,389,770
1,390,068
20,164,811
4,343,592
25,898,471
That these imports have grown much faster
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 25
than the population is more clearly seen by the
following table :
Value per head of
years. imported food.
1858
s. d.
18 3
18G2
1 14 5
Ib67
1 18 3
1872
268
1877 ..
2 19 7
These official returns coupled with the state- The
growth of
ments and figures given in the speech of the Duke foreign im-
ports of
of Kichmond, showing the area of cultivatable ,
penis tho
still uncultivated as well as the steady decrease in future -
the number of those who live by agriculture, are so
startling as to require no effort of mine to magnify
the gravity of the national peril to which we are
exposed. Should the supply of food continue to
decline in proportion to the population at this
increasing ratio, a great calamity awaits our
country, and this at no remote future ; a calamity
which wise measures, promptly adopted, may avert,
but if postponed will be powerless to check.
In the face of these facts, and in spite of the Six
, . months'
long agitation for greater security of tenure, three- notice to
quit the
fourths of the land of England as pointed out by general
rule.
Mr. C. S. Eead, M.P., at a recent meeting of
The Farmers' Club is held subject to a six months'
notice to quit. The phrase " farm as a lodger,"
common in some parts of the West of England,
expresses most forcibly the result of this insecurity.
A Scotch friend of mine, Mr. M'Neel Caircl,
26 THE TENANT FARMER :
Opinions has put the case in the following words :
of Mr. r
When France had paid her heavy indemnity to
v !U rd. Itiic
Chairman the Germans three hundred millions sterling;
of the
Scottish ghe had done with it. But our tribute to the
Chamber
culture 1 f re ig ner f r food is perennial, and it is equal to
a capital of three thousand millions bound on the
neek of the industrious people of this country for
ever, if no remedy can be found."
In vacating the chairmanship of the Scottish
Chamber of Agriculture, Mr. Caird also spoke as
follows : " The improvements created by a tenant's
skill, capital, and industry, are in substance and in
justice, though not in law, the property of the
tenant who makes them. No doubt they are
attached to or combined in the case of drains
and manures inextricably combined with land
which belongs to another. But the just solution
of that state of things is not that the one should
swallow up the other without compensation, but
that the owner of the land who takes such improve-
ments should pay for them, according to the benefit
which he appropriates and that the tenant-farmer
should thus cease to be oppressed by an exceptional
law. That law robs the tenant of his property
when he is evicted without compensation. And
this species of injustice is probably productive of
much greater injury to the community than even
a robbery by violence, because it operates on a
much wider scale ; and by the fear of subjecting
tenants' property to confiscation, spreads distrust
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 37
everywhere, and deters great numbers of tenants
from making the expenditure which is necessary for
the due cultivation and for the unrestricted growth
of food. It also warns off much free capital which
would naturally seek profitable investment in agri-
culture, if the law did not make it artificially
insecure. Thus the injustice operates with great
severity on the occupier, while the loss to the
country from restricted production is incalculable.
But if by making the municipal law just, and
allowing natural laws to act, capital were made safe
to come freely to the enrichment of the soil, and the
development of agriculture, a country peopled and
wealthy as this is so many mouths to be supplied,
and such abundant means to supply them, if you
took away hindrances this country, I say, would
rapidly exhibit such a change, and such an expan-
sion of growth, as is almost inconceivable to those
who have not attended to the results which may be
attained by the application of capital to land, with
freedom and judgment. And who would lose by
it ? No doubt, under the present system, a land-
lord may, now and then, snatch an advantage by
unexpectedly appropriating an occupier's improve-
ments without compensating him. But that, though
it rankles deep when it occurs, is necessarily excep-
tional. Most men beware of subjecting themselves
to it. Every flagrant instance of it makes them
more wary. Still, cultivation would be worse, and
tenants' improvements more rare than they are,
28 THE TENANT FARMER :
if landowners generally were to use, to the full, the
advantage which the law gives them. The main
action of the law is really as a deterrent. Land
owners as a body are thus, in truth, great sufferers
by this and by everything that hinders the enrich-
ment of the soil that belongs to them. Their rents
are just a share of the profit derived from the land.
The greater the production and profits, the greater
in the long run will inevitably be the share going
to the landlord."
At a previous discussion, Mr. Caircl conclusively
showed that the much-extolled Scotch system of
leases signally failed through the absence of
tenant-right. He remarked : " On a seven-course
. farm, held on a nineteen years' lease, you may
reckon that the last five years will be a period
of reduced expenditure by the outgoing tenant,
and of exhaustive cropping. Then the first seven
years of the new lease will be a period of liberal
expenditure and gradual restoration of productive
power. For the next seven years you may expect
the farm (unless it had been greatly reduced), to be
in full fertility ; and then begins again the evil
cycle of exhaustion. You will have on the indi-
vidual farm seven years of Egyptian fatness, alter-
nating with periods of comparative leanness ; but
the lean years will be in the proportion of twelve
to seven." The shortcomings of the system of
leases without tenant-right was also forcibly ex-
posed by the late Mr. C. Wren Hoskyns, M.P.
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 29
From his valuable work, The Land Laws of
England, I extract the following : " A lease, even
for twenty- one years, underlain by a law which
confiscates to the owner whatever is left unremoved
or unexhausted by the tenant, is deceptive in
operation, because it includes those years near its
termination, during which productive outlay has
to be withdrawn, and ' the mill works half time ' ;
and of necessity restricts all investment to that
which can be withdrawn within the term."
FEUDAL LAWS AND USAGES, IMPEDIMENTS TO
AGRICULTURE.
Nothing is more astounding than the fact that England'
wealth
whilst England abounds in wealth, and is in a lavished
on foreign
position to find millions on millions of money for enter-
prises.
all sorts of foreign enterprises, our own fields are
left to languish for want of the capital so freely
lavished in other lands. We may well inquire into
the causes of such an anomaly. Were I to main-
tain that the root of the evil lay in the relics of
feudalism, the statement might be objected to as
merely the emanation of a prejudiced mind or a
disordered imagination. I prefer, therefore, to give
the views of one of the most sagacious and candid
among the younger members of our nobility one
whose opinions already carry with them no little
weight. The Marquis of Huntly, in his opening
address to the Social Science Congress at Liverpool
30 THE TENANT FARMER :
The Mar- of which he was President remarked as fol-
quis of
Huntiy lows: "The application of capital to the soil by
on feudal
laws and both landlord and tenant, so as to increase its pro-
their bear-
ing p n ductive powers and consequent value, is the great
ture. necessity of these times, and requires many changes
in usage and laws that had a feudal origin. In
ancient times the great ambition of the Baron was
to maintain his power by maintaining his connec-
tion with the land ; and so the laws he made were
intended to secure its continued and unbroken
descent to his descendants. But as his land now
represents so much capital by wise expenditure
and adequate care capable of indefinite increase
the old laws have lost their raison d'etre, and
become, in many ways, either useless or mischie-
vous. They so tie up the landlord's hands as to
prevent an adequate outlay on his part, and so
deny security to the tenant as to hinder a sufficient
expenditure of means and labour on his, and thus
prevent the growth of our real and agricultural
wealth."
The Laws The " usage and laws," referred to by the
of Distress
and Hypo- Marquis, have both a social and an economic
thec ; their
influence bearing ; for instance, the Baron-made English Law
m imped-
ing agri- O f Distress, and the Sister (Scotch) Law of Hy-
culture v '
in d the 1 "" Pthec, lower the credit of the farmer with the
credit' banker, the merchant, and the trader, and thereby
erect an artificial dam against the flow of capital
into the land. At the same time, these laws have
the effect of extracting from the tenant more of his
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 31
own capital in the shape of increased rent ; for
dependence upon these laws for the recovery of
their rents often acts as an inducement to landlords
to accept tenants with inadequate means some-
times with little or nothing to lose such tenants
being generally ready to agree to higher rents than
men, with capital to risk, consent to give. The
preference given by these laws to the landlord over
every other creditor is unjust, impolitic, and un-
questionably injurious to the public interest. Their
injustice would at once be realised if, instead of
giving priority to the landlord, they gave security
to the banker for any advances made to a tenant to
carry on his farm. I would ask, if a proposal were
made to secure the banker, would it not receive
universal condemnation ? Undoubtedly it would.
Further, if put forward for the first time on behalf
of the landlord, would not the proposal be unani-
mously rejected ? Why this feudal privilege of
the landlord should be retained I have yet to hear
any valid reason advanced to show.
The Game Laws and the usages which flow from Game
them have had no little share in repelling capital the preser-
from the land, and also of hindering successful game :
P . i .. i i T ITT their evil
farming where it is applied. It would be easy to results in
dwell upon the manifold evils, moral, social, and capital
. from the
economic, which result from the undue preservation of land,
game, but I will confine myself to one feature. Men of
capital and spirit are repelled from the pursuit of
agriculture by the fact that being called upon to hand
32 THE TENANT FARMER :
over game, reared at their expense, is felt to be lower-
ing to their social standing, if not a sore degradation.
An exam- Take the following instance : Not long ago I
was requested by a friend to go into a distant
county to look over a farm of more than a thou-
sand acres, which had been offered to him by
a nobleman. This farm required a tenant's capital
of about 20,000?., of which sum my friend was
possessed, and which he was ready to embark ; but
upon an intimation being given that the game
was reserved by the landlord, my friend imme-
diately dropped the negotiation, bluntly remarking
that he had once held a farm, belonging to another
noble owner, on this condition and never intended
again to put himself in such a hazardous position
or submit to such serfdom.
Rent not The taking of a game farm is not altogether a
considera- question of rent, as many allege. No tenant can
taking a make a safe bargain for such a farm, inasmuch as
' it is impossible that he can foresee the extent to
which preservation will be carried, and thus to
form an estimate of the stock of game which the
farm will have to carry ; moreover, and this is what
a respectable man feels most, he is often exposed
to the petty tyranny of a gamekeeper, who, upon
many an estate, is regarded as a more important
personage than the chief tenant. Having been a
keen sportsman for many years, I write with no
bitter animosity upon the topic ; but, being a
sportsman, I have had the greater opportunities
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 33
of observing the evils of over-preservation. A
highly respectable farmer, whom I have known
many years, wrote to me in the spring of the
present year, as follows : " I have just threshed
the produce of a field of twenty acres, situated near
the wood, and have got barely twelve quarters of
saleable wheat [100 quarters might have been ex-
pected]. This loss, on one field only, will indicate
to you what I have had to suffer from this wretched
practice of game preservation." My readers will
not be surprised to learn that this tenant has given
the noble owner of the farm notice to quit. Farmers
do not object to winged game ; in moderate number,
they are thought to be useful, but ground game,
hares and rabbits, are their abomination. These
animals, from their habits, destroy or spoil ten- or
twenty-fold more food than they consume ; these
are the creatures which repel men of capital from
the soil, but around which the law throws the mantle
of its protection.
Probably there has been no more potent influence The legal
. . system of
at work in repressing the embarkation of capital " Settle-
ments "
upon the land than that emanation of the feudal discourage
outlay in
system, the scheme of " settlements," a plan which improve-
J ments
has enabled owners to burden their estates with b y both
owners
permanent charges, and to reduce their successors and occu -
to the position of life-owners. On this subject, the
late Joseph Kay, Q.C., justly remarked : " It is
difficult to conceive a system more certain to re-
press any efforts for improvement, or to discourage
D
34 THE TEKANT FARMER:
any outlay of capital upon the land." The life-
owner is often compelled, in justice to his younger
children, to abstain from outlay upon the improve-
ment of an estate which he has no power to dispose
of or to will. I should not, however, have touched
this branch of the subject, but from a desire to
supplement Mr. Kay's statement by pointing out
that tenants are just as much discouraged by the
system as owners. It can easily be conceived how
the enterprise of a tenant must be damped when he
finds that his landlord is not in a position to make
the permanent improvements in buildings, roads,
draining, cottages, or other works, 1 necessary to
the successful farming of the occupation. The
Agricultural Holdings Act, it is true, has, by the
powers conferred on Limited Owners, done some-
thing for the abatement of the evil, but a far more
comprehensive measure is needed before the root
of the evil will be reached.
Feudal The most apparent, as well as the most potent of
depend-
ence of all the repelling influences, has been that legacy
tenants
upon land- of the feudal system under which the tenant was
lords
checked placed completely in the hands of his landlord,
enterprise.
who could eject him from his house and farm on
the shortest notice; could, up to the passing of
the Ballot Act, claim his vote at Parliamentary
Elections ; and can confiscate any irremovable
1 Since this has been in type, the Marquis of Hartington^
speaking on Mr. Chaplin's motion, expressed a strong opinion
upon the evils of our system of entail and settlement of estates.
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 35
property he has, in or upon the land, at quitting.
The marvel is that so many men of spirit have
submitted to such conditions, and that any pro-
gress at all has been made under such a system
of dependence and uncertainty. 1
To some extent the charms of country life have Desira-
bility of
counteracted these adverse influences. Eemove raising so-
cial status
those repelling causes from this attractive pursuit, of tenants.
which carry with them loss of independence and
social status ; let the social standard of the class
be thereby raised, and men of capital and intelli-
gence will flock into its ranks. The more inde-
pendent the position of the tenant, the more the
latent energy and locked-up capital of the class will
be called forth. Unless these are forthcoming we
shall never be able to hold our own against the
foreign producer.
Whether the relics of feudal laws, or the usages Restric .
which have come down with them, have exerted
the greater influence in checking the flow of capital * 6
toward the land is difficult to determine ; but there mjur
can be no question that the antiquated system, so
general throughout the kingdom, of tying the hands
of the farmer by covenants as to the crops he shall
1 " It is obvious, almost to a truism, that the occupation
which most resembles ownership itself must, by the im-
perative laws equally of the soil and of human instinct, be
the most profitable to both parties by the uninterrupted pro-
gress of improvement and addition to the land." The Land
Laws of England, by C. Wren Hoskyns, M.P.
D 2
36 THE TENANT FARMER :
grow, or the rotation in which he shall grow them,
and further restricting his liberty as to what of
the produce he is to be allowed to sell, or what
to consume upon the farm, has had a most mis-
chievous and paralysing effect. I propose to enter
more fully upon this topic before concluding.
COMMERCIAL PRINCIPLES AND FREEDOM OF CON-
TRACT IN RELATION TO FARM TENANCIES.
Land- I have already attempted to show that by the
owners by , . . r i ->*-
contract- admissions oi the Ministry and the course pursued,
ing out of
the Act the question of freedom of contract, so far as the
have
proved the Government is concerned, has been removed from
uselessness
of permis- the controversy. So again, the action of the land-
si ve legis-
lation, owners of the kingdom in contracting themselves
out of an Act which a house of landowners had
passed with great unanimity, has placed them out of
court on the same point ; for by such a course they
have conclusively proved that permissive legislation
has failed, and that if those beneficent changes in
British agriculture so graphically and eloquently
portrayed by the Duke of Eichmond are to be
brought about the Agricultural Holdings Act must
be made compulsory.
Long before the Act was introduced, Mr. C. S.
Read, M.P. who, as a tenant farmer of wide ex-
perience, was likely to know whether freedom of
contract existed or not stated to the Farmer's
Club " that he would not take the trouble to walk
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 37
across the floor of the House to pass a Bill without
a compulsory clause." The result has justified his
anticipations as to the uselessness of such a measure
as that passed by the Government.
On the grounds above stated, I should not have Mainten-
, , . . . , , ance of
entered upon this point in the controversy, but 1 freedom of
contract.
am aware that " freedom of contract " is regarded by
some legal and economic minds as a thing not to be
meddled with on any consideration ; indeed it is
looked upon by many educated people as something
almost as sacred as the rights of property.
Whilst prepared to enter upon an examination of Outside
1 T 1 f I'll t ^ 6 SCO P 8
the subject, I do not for a moment admit that the of the
discussion,
principle of freedom of contract is an element in tut never-
theless ex-
the discussion of the question in hand. The fact
is that the law leaves a portion of the property of
an important class of the community dependent
upon the will of another and a stronger class ;
whilst at the same time it not only protects the
property of this stronger class in respect of its
capital, but it also secures the interest which such
capital bears, viz., the rent. The Law of Distraint
secures the latter, and the right to sue for dilapi-
dations protects the former. When, therefore, the
weaker class comes forward and appeals to the
legislature to protect its capital against appropria-
tion by the stronger, to raise the cry, " Freedom of
contract ! " is simply raising a side issue and divert-
ing attention from the main argument.
Such opponents, when unable to sustain their
41035O
38 THE TENANT FARMER :
ea for objections to a compulsory tenant-right upon the
e appli- . .
cation of ground of freedom of contract, are in the habit of
c ommer-
ciai princi- falling back upon a plea for the application of com-
amined. mercial principles to the hiring of land. Such
reasoners appear to lose sight of the fact that in
our sea-girt isle the landowners are in possession of
a monopoly i.e., land is a fixed and limited
quantity and further, that if commercial prin-
ciples are to be applied to the tenant or lessee, it is
equally necessary that they should be applied to
the owner or lessor. Until, therefore, the privileges
secured to landowners by law are swept away the
discussion of the question is premature.
If the question of the application of commercial
principles be raised at all, it must take a far wider
range than that proposed. The policy of the State
preparing the way for their application would have
to be fully considered, and this would involve not
only the abolition of all privileges, but the more
important question of the overhauling of the whole
system which tends to keep the monopoly of the
land in few hands.
The main To return to the main point under discussion
point,
freedom of freedom of contract I would observe, that I have
Contract,"
resumed : never yet met with a man who would not acknow-
moral
right of ledge that a tenant has a moral right to any pro-
the tenant
to im- perty he may be called upon to leave behind him ;
versaii uni " but go a step further, and urge that as a matter of
a b stract justice, that in the interests of the com-
munity the right ought to be secured to him by
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 39
law, at once the objection is raised by the class of
persons alluded to : " Surely you would not inter-
fere with the great principle of freedom of con-
tract ? " It is not wise to be frightened by a
phrase, the expression is simply a comprehensive
brevity, and like many other such convenient
brevities, which although they may embody a valu-
able principle, often lead to confusion of ideas and
to error.
Freedom, to be real, must be both just and Legal de-
finition of
rational, and not confounded with licence ; it means freedom.
liberty not, however, the liberty to oppress or
extort unfair conditions, but a liberty which, like
the freedom enjoyed by a subject of a free country,
is controlled by rules, founded on right, on reason,
and the welfare of the State. Lord Bacon said :
" True liberty exists only where there is a
cheerful obedience to wise and just laws." If,
therefore, it can be shown that any law which
affects the tenant is unwise or unjust, what be-
comes of the plea for freedom ?
Without stopping to inquire whether in rela- The plea
for free-
tion to farm tenancies this boasted freedom of dom ad-
vanced l>y
contract really exists a freedom, I would remark, one side
only.
seldom paraded except by one side, and this the
stronger let us inquire what, in other matters,
the State has thought it right to do in the way
of control.
I gather from legal sources that the theory of
Government proceeds upon the assumption that all
40 THE TENANT FABME& :
Theory of bargains must be subordinate to the general inte-
Govern-
mentin rest ; that contracts conflicting with the common
respect of
bargains welfare cannot be permitted. That if it can be
or con-
tracts, shown that the making of any class of bargains is
irreconcilable with the public good then, although
the agreement be not unreasonable as between
the actual parties, a broad and solid ground exists
for legal intervention. Further, that if from
any reason the parties to a certain class of agree-
ments cannot meet on equal terms, and those who
hold a stronger position can obtain advantages at
the cost of those who are in any degree dependent,
if the arrangement be one of public importance and
frequent occurrence, then controlling influence is
both necessary and salutary.
So clear is the doctrine that contracts must not
contravene the common good, that, unaided by
enactments, the rigid Courts of Common Law, as
well as the elastic Courts of Equity, have not
scrupled at pronouncing the most diverse agree-
ments illegal, on the simple ground that they were
opposed to public policy.
Public The late Lord Chief Baron Pollock said, " Public
Foundation policy being the foundation of law, is supported by
by Govern- decisions of every branch of the law, and an un-
ruies the limited number of cases may be cited as directly
courts.
and distinctly deciding upon contracts and cove-
nants on the avowed broad ground of the public
good, and on that alone/'
If we turn to Parliamentary enactments, we find
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 41
also the same broad principle asserted. In the Parlia-
mentary
Merchant Shipping; Act, an act designed for the enact-
ments
protection alike of seamen and the public, any limiting
stipulation in an agreement inconsistent with the contract,
provisions of the Act is rendered void ; and Mr.
Plimsoll, in his praiseworthy efforts, sought further
to control freedom of contract between shipowners
and owners of cargo, on the ground of the present
waste of property and loss of life.
Does freedom of contract exist between railway
companies and their customers the public ? Has
not Parliament in the matter of fares, of rates, and
in a variety of ways in the interests of the com-
munity, stepped in and controlled the freedom of
the companies 1 An important principle is con-
tained in Mr. Cardwell's well-known Act ; by this
Act special contracts entered into by consignors, by
which the companies' legal liabilities would be
evaded, are declared void.
The Truck Act, again, is a direct interference with
freedom of contract ; so was the abolition of Pur-
chase in the Army ; so are all the statutes that
govern the time and conditions of labour, such as
the Factories and Mines Acts.
Then again if " musty precedents " are wanted, Ancient
ic precedents.
there are the famous statutes of frauds, and the
statutes of limitation ; by the latter, the remedy
for breach of contract, after defined periods, was
swept away. Numerous other examples of Parlia-
mentary restraint of free contract could be adduced,
42 THE TENANT FARMER :
such as the Licensing Acts, the laws relating to
Usury, Wager Policies, Gaming, and Simony. For
instances in recent legislation, I would refer to
the well-known provisions rendering contracts sub-
versive of the Irish Land Act void, both at law and
in equity, also to the Cattle Plague Rating Act, by
which the landlord was bound to pay half the rate,
notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary.
The Pro- Perhaps, for the present purpose, there is no
perty Tax
an exam- better example than the Property Tax. In support
terference of the principle of this tax, and in the interests of
with free-
dom of the revenue, Parliament enacted that any contract.
contract.
covenant, or agreement under which the tenant is
made liable for the property tax, shall be void both
at law and in equity. Not long since a tenant upon
the estate of a sharp owner, submitted to me a
farm lease he was about to sign, in which he was
bound to pay all rates and taxes now chargeable, or
which should be hereafter imposed, " property tax
excepted." l It was a very arbitrary document, and
I remarked, " You may thank Parliament for the
property tax not being included. If, when the
1 Although rates fall ultimately upon the owner, there can
be no question that when fiscal charges local or imperial
fall on the occupier in the first instance, and no legal provi-
sions exist for deducting them from the rent, they have a
tendency to remain upon the occupier, and often do so remain
for a longer or shorter period. If the interests of the farmer
had been well looked after in Parliament the Education rate,
the rates for sanitary purposes, and similar local charges,
would never have been placed upon the shoulders of the
tenant. (J. H.)
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 43
Property Tax Act was passed, a tenant had been
left in the enjoyment of freedom of contract, the
tax would have had to come out of your
pocket." I maintain that, in passing the Property
Tax Act, the two Houses of Parliament virtually
declared that in making contracts the tenant did
not meet his landlord on equal terms, and surely
a parliament of landowners must be considered
competent and impartial judges of the point.
Perhaps enough has now been said to show that control of
interference with freedom of contract, or the right constitu-
. . , tional.
to control it, is neither so revolutionary nor so un-
constitutional a doctrine as is often alleged ; that
our laws, written and unwritten, can and do control
contracts. I would, however, before dismissing
this branch of the subject, call attention to the
doctrine of "restraint of trade." If it can be
shown and to me the fact has always appeared
self-evident that the present insecurity of the
tenant's capital acts in restraint of trade, and
therefore the interests of the community would
be subserved by further legislative interference
between landlord and tenant ; then I hold that
Parliament would be proceeding upon the ancient
lines of the constitution in giving the legal security
demanded. If parliamentary action is justifiable
in respect of any trade, surely it is justifiable when
dealing with the most important and the most
essential of all trades, the one upon which the
food of the community depends.
44 THE TENANT FARMER :
CONCLUSION.
The value Gathering up the conclusions arrived at by a
of our
tenant- general review of the subject, the result would
farmer
class. appear to be that the future of agriculture depends
very largely upon prompt means being employed
for raising it from its present prostrate condition,
and for invoking a spirit of enterprise which has
been all but stamped out by adverse influences.
I have had more opportunities than fall to the
lot of most men, of seeing the agriculture of other
countries as well as my own. In Hungary, and other
parts of Eastern Europe, are estates of immense
size, which the owners are compelled to keep in their
own hands in consequence of there being two classes
only, owners and labourers. Some of these foreign
proprietors farm estates of 100,000 to 300,000
acres each, and rumour says that the majority of
them are gradually becoming more and more im-
poverished. The value of our own tenant-farmer
class, to my mind, can scarcely be over-estimated.
No other nation possesses anything comparable to
it, either as to numbers, wealth, or intelligence ;
their property is estimated by Mr. Caird as " equal
to one-fifth of the whole capital value of the land."
That so important a section of the community
should be permanently crippled would be nothing
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 45
less than a national calamity. I have been taught
that the ultimate object of government should be
to find out the wants of the community, and to
supply them ; here, then, is a subject worthy of
the gravest consideration.
The question naturally arises, What remedies are Remedies
withiii
within reach which will enable the present and reach,
future race of farmers to cultivate the land of
Great Britain to a profit, and to withstand the
foreign competition which has set in ?
A return to protection, whether in its own name Protection
impos-
or under a counterfeit, may be at once dismissed as Bible,
beyond the range of possibilities. The unexampled
prosperity of the past thirty years, and the progress
made in the condition of the working classes, are
too fresh in the memories of people to admit of a
doubt upon the point. Were, however, the question
raised, say on behalf of the tenantry, the people
would not be slow to discern that the British farmer
had been handicapped in the race with the foreign
producer both by the landowner and the State ;
with one voice the public would demand, before pro-
tection was even considered, that the farmer should
be freed from the restrictions imposed upon him,
and a fair chance be given him of competing with his
foreign rivals. If raised in the interests of owners,
it requires no prophet to foretell the fate of an
appeal for protection on behalf of the most opulent
and the most powerful class in the country the
rents of whose lands, moreover, have in less than
46 THE TENANT FARMER :
twenty years advanced upwards of ten millions
a year. 1
It is idle for any section of the community to
attempt to disguise the fact that the population of
the United Kingdom will never again submit to have
its food taxed for the advantage of a class. Any
Government, which should forget that one of its
chief functions is to see that the people are able to
provide themselves with the first necessaries of life
food and clothing without artificial restrictions,
and should venture to propose import duties,
would, assuredly, be driven from power, or very soon
be brought face to face with civil commotion.
Obstacles In addition to any power which the legislature
to progress
which a can exercise in the removal of the impediments to
landlord
can re- the advance of agriculture much remains for the
more.
landowner. On previous pages some of the obstacles
to progress which an owner can remove or lessen
have been indicated. I now proceed, very briefly,
to allude to some others.
Effect of To induce a tenant to farm with spirit, it is obvious
frequent
re-vaiua- that the first element must be security security not
tions of
farms. only that he shall reap what he sows, but that his
own improvement of a farm shall not, for a specified
time, lead to the raising of his rent. The plan of
re-valuations at unexpected periods so commonly
resorted to, of late years, upon many estates has a
most paralysing effect upon even the most enter-
prising tenant. Leases are often objected to both by
1 See Caird's British Agriculture, page 49.
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 47
landlord and tenant ; the former does not like to
part with the control of his land, and the latter
does not care to bind himself to a particular farm
and to be bound to pay a fixed rent for the same
for so lengthened a period ; but where this is the
case, with a view to encourage a tenant freely to
embark his capital in the improvement of his
holding, an undertaking should be given that no
advance of rent would be asked for a prescribed
period, and a long notice to quit agreed to.
In this respect Lord Tollemache has taken a step Lord Toi-
lemache
which is quite a new departure in farm agree- and stabil-
ity of
ments. In a letter addressed to his Suffolk tenantry, tenure.
in May of the present year, his Lordship remarked :
" If my farm agreements can be improved so as
to benefit the tenants without injury to the land I
shall be very glad to give my best attention to any
suggestion that can be offered. Many writers
strongly advocate the granting of long leases, but I
doubt the prudence of any man of capital who
would accept, in these times, the offer of a lease
which would bind him to the payment, for fourteen
or twenty-one years, of such a rent as a landlord
could agree to. Indeed, I have tenants in another
county to whom I had agreed, on their application,
to grant long leases, and who have since begged to
be released from their engagements. In substitu-
tion for a lease, I have, in Cheshire, given to the
tenants a lease-note, that is, a written promise
which secures to him, upon certain conditions,
48 THE TENANT FARMER :
undisputed possession of his farm for twenty-one
years without any increase of rent. Under such
a promise, although the landlord is bound, so
long as these conditions are fulfilled, to retain the
tenant at his present rent, the tenant is at
liberty at any time to give up his farm. I should
not at all object to extend this promise to my
Suffolk tenantry upon such conditions as would
ensure the land, with our united action, 1 being
brought into a high state of cultivation."
I have no hesitation in stating that, although
the agreement will be regarded by landowners
as one-sided, Lord Tollemache has taken a most
effectual step towards attracting capital to his estate.
The stipulation would not satisfy the Irish demand
for "fixity of tenure," but it assures that stability
of tenure so much desired by English farmers, and
which is so essential to calling into play the energy
and the means of the occupier.
Four This radical change, although it will doubtless
years'
notice to prove beneficial to both parties, will, judging by the
past, be an example rarely followed. The tenacity
with which " the rules of the estate " are adhered
to, is too well known to justify hopes of the
example being adopted. Parliament alone can
1 The increased energy and activity of the tenant demand
the outlay of capital by the landlord before his own can be
safely thrown into the partnership ; for such the relation
in England must become. The Land Laws of England, by
C. Wren Hoskjns, M.P.
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 49
make general that stability of tenure recognised by
Lord Tollemache as essential to success. The term
for the ordinary rotation of crops upon a farm is
four years, and I do not think this an unreasonably
long notice for Parliament to sanction ; it would
probably satisfy the notions of the present race
of English farmers if the shorter period of two
years were made the legal term ; the longer period
however, is the time adopted by that practical agri-
culturist, Lord Leicester, who, four years before the
expiration of a lease, gives his tenant notice whether
or not the lease is to be renewed.
One very general and formidable impediment to a Necessity
rr> rv
farmer s success is the want of efficient and sufficient stead ac-
rrn -i commoda-
homestead accommodation. The production of meat tion. Be-
newal of
has become as important a branch as corn-growing, fences,
' water sup-
often of greater importance. To carry on thispty.cot-
J tages, &c.
branch suitable homesteads are indispensable; it
is now known that warmth and comfort to the
animals are equivalent to a certain amount of food,
and no man can produce meat to a profit in the
cold, comfortless homesteads so common throughout
the country.
Again, small inclosures, crooked fences, and
insufficient water-supply are serious obstacles to
success, especially in the use of steam-power in
tillage. These drawbacks lower the value of an
estate, and very materially increase the farmer's
difficulties and expenses.
Upon these topics I would again quote Lord
E
50 THE TENANT FARMER :
LordTol- ToUemache. From the very sensible letter to his
lemache c*/vn T i p 11
on the re- bunolk tenantry 1 give the following extract :
moval of , .
impedi- " X rom information I have received from various
ments.
quarters I am led to believe that really energetic
and skilful farmers of sufficient capital can contend
successfully with the existing low prices provided ;
that they are supplied with good and convenient
houses and homesteads and an ample number of
labourers, who, with good cottages and half-acre
allotments attached to their cottages, have every
inducement to behave well to their employers ;
that their fields are well arranged and sufficiently
free from hedgerow timber, and that they sustain
no injury whatever from the preservation of game.
It is most necessary in these times, for the sake of
the tenant as well as of the landlord, that the land
should be thoroughly well farmed, otherwise heavy
losses must accrue to both."
Cost of The cost of labour upon a modern farm is, as
labour and
means of already shown, one of the main outgoings ; an ade-
keeping up
a supply, quate supply is, therefore, of the utmost consequence
to the tenant, and little less so to the owner ; for the
value of an estate, to a great extent, depends upon
the labour supply. Owners who would maintain
the value of their estates, and at the same time aid
their tenants, will have to look well to cottage
accommodation. To keep a full supply of labour
in the rural districts, sufficient cottage accommo-
dation must exist, and this of a superior kind to
be found in most of our villages ; for as the people
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 51
become better educated they will demand better
homes, and if not forthcoming the more enterpris-
ing and best men will go where they are to be
obtained. Experience leads me to the conclusion
that nothing is more attractive to a labourer than
a good cottage with large garden or an allotment
ground ; an orchard is also much appreciated, and
it is of great advantage to the labourer, for whilst
often bringing in a good portion of the rent, little
or no extra labour is entailed.
Desirable as are the matters already dwelt upon, Freedom
, . , . , in cultiva-
there is no more important step which an owner tion and
can take than conceding to the occupier freedom crops. Re-
strictions
m cultivation and the sale of his crops. unneces-
sary.
How many of the difficulties which hamper the
farmer would at once be swept away if freedom in
the growth and the sale of crops were conceded !
That owners might grant greater freedom to their
tenants without damaging or risking their own in-
terests, accumulated knowledge abundantly proves.
The important discovery of Mr. Lawes, known to
every intelligent agriculturist, ought to assure owners
how little they have to fear. To the lasting honour
of this gentleman, after many years of persistent
labour and exhaustive experiments, he has demon-
strated that no amount of bad farming can destroy
the natural fertility of the soil. Through his long
and well-conducted experiments, we now know that
the power to inflict permanent injury upon Mother-
Earth has been withheld. Nature herself has to a
E 2
52 THE TENANT FARMER :
certain extent protected the landowner, for when a
grasping farmer has exhausted, what is well known
as the " condition," the land simply refuses to yield
up her increase Nature steps in and says,
" Hitherto shalt thou go, but no further."
Continu- Again, Mr. Lawes, by experiments carried on at
ous corn
cropping Rothamsted for nearly thirty years past, has
shown that land managed in accordance with the
teachings of science may be cropped continuously
without injury. To quote his own words, " I
have taken the liberty of growing twenty-seven
crops of barley in succession on my own land, and
I am not aware that it is any the worse for it."
Further, " Not only does the quantity keep up
where it is continuously grown and manured with
the proper manure, but the quality in weight per
bushel is increased, so that the average weight of
the last thirteen years is higher than that of the first
thirteen years." Again, the notion that it is indis-
pensable to retain the straw grown upon the farm,
has been exploded by Mr. Lawes a conclusion con-
firmed by the experience of others of his followers ;
indeed, the manurial effect of straw has been shown
to be all but nil.
No reasons, scientific or practical, remain why
the farmer of the future should be tied down to
the antiquated routine of the past. Let all such
restrictions, begotten of suspicion and distrust, be
swept away, and let the British farmer be as free as
those with whom he has to compete. I have faith
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS. 53
that under these circumstances the energies of the
race would triumph over all difficulties. Examples
are not wanting to prove that the interests of the
owner can be secured without crowding agreements
with covenants which hamper the liberty of the
tenant, and which, if persisted in, will prove the
most effectual means of checking the development
of the vast industrial pursuit that ruin is staring
in the face.
Inquiry and research, however protracted, into increased
the condition of agriculture, or speculation as to involves
, , increased
the future, must culminate in the broad conclusion capital.
that if a large increase in our food productions is to
take place, there must of necessity be a correspond-
ing increase of capital attracted to the land and
embarked in its cultivation. Without such increase
the result is simply impossible. A farm is, in this
respect, precisely similar to a factory ; a larger out-
put involves a larger investment of capital. How
more capital is to be attracted toward the cultivation
of the soil is the great problem to be solved.
It has been shown how our ancient laws, under HOW capi-
tal is to be
which land is inherited and held, check the flow attracted.
of capital ; how insecurity of tenure, and insecurity
of money embarked in cultivation, aggravate the
evil. Capital, as every mercantile man, every
member of the Stock Exchange, knows, is pro-
verbially shy, and the first element in attracting it
is, and always will be, security.
In 1873, a Committee of the House of Lords
54 THE TENANT FARMER:
was appointed to inquire into and take evidence
upon " The Improvement of Land/' of which
Committee the Marquis of Salisbury was Chairman.
The main question to be considered, as put by
these owners of property themselves, was, in
effect, " How can the owners of landed property
more easily obtain the capital needed for its
further development and improvement ? " The end
the Committee had in view was clearly not their
own private interest but the public weal. Their
Lordships* question does not appear a difficult one
to answer. Let the landowners, who have not the
capital needed for the improvement of their estates,
consent that legal security shall be given for the
capital of tenants, and, ere many years have passed,
it will be forthcoming to an extent that may aston-
ish the most sanguine. Land, in this case, would
be regarded in the light of a bank of deposit without
the attendant risks incident thereto.
Opinions of J n the foregoing pages it will have been noticed
noble pro-
prietors, that in support of the arguments I have advanced,
the opinions and example of noble landed proprietors
have been quoted. My object, in this course, has
been to show that the changes I have advocated are
not so visionary or revolutionary as many, in the
absence of such aristocratic support, would regard
them.
Conciud- In conclusion, I would observe that we have a
ing obser-
vations, limited area on which to raise the food of the
people. We have a population fast growing in
LAND LAWS AND LANDLORDS.
numbers. The production of our fields and home-
steads is crippled. The chief impediment to
increased production in this nation teeming with
wealth is want of capital. The farmer, alone of
all tradesmen, is the only one whose stock-in-trade
is liable to confiscation. To attract the necessary
capital security is indispensable. Judging by the
experience of the past and by the present stagnant
condition of agriculture, the first step for the
legislature to take is to give the tenant a legal
claim to the property he may have put into or
upon the land of another.
If the feeding of thirty millions of people strains
to the utmost the resources of the country, does it
not behove us to look ahead and inquire how the
wants of fifty millions are to be met ? a population
which we may expect at no remote period will have
to be provided for.
JAMES HOWARD.
CLAPHAM PARK, BEDFORDSHIRE,
July 1, 1879.
55
FOREIGN POLICY.
MOUNTSTUART E. GRANT DUFF, M.P.
FOREIGN POLICY.
INTRODUCTION.
" THE Gods have appointed it so ; no Pitt nor
body of Pitts, or mortal creatures, can appoint it
otherwise. Democracy, sure enough, is here : the
tramp of its million feet is on all streets and
thoroughfares, the sound of its bewildered thou-
sandfold voice is heard in all meetings and
speakings, in all thinkings and modes and activities
of men."
These words of Mr. Carlyle's, published about
. , , Kingdom
a generation ago, were recognised as true byhasbecome
i ii r* T c . to a very
many at that time, and will now nnd lew gain- great ex-
tent, a
sayers. There are still, as all may see, powerful crowned
Demo-
monarchical and powerful aristocratic influences in cracy.
our society, which may continue to work for long
ages, but to a very great extent the United
Kingdom has become a crowned democracy.
To some political philosophers this forms a Attitude of
i . ... , ,, , politicians
subject oi rejoicing, to others or regret. The m relation
politician, as such, neither regrets it nor rejoices
at it. His business is to use the facts and forces
60 FOREIGN POLICY.
around him, as best lie can, to promote the
happiness, first of the community of which he finds
himself a member, and secondly of the world.
TWO There are persons who say that a democracy
made crowned, or not crowned, however successful it
against de- n - . i rv
mocracies. may be in the management ol internal anairs, is
incapable of governing distant dependencies or of
carrying on international relations without disaster.
Only one To discuss the first of these allegations lies beside
of them
relevant to my present purpose, but to the second 1 will
the present
subject, endeavour to reply.
HOW the It is certainly true that if international affairs
relevant
charge is are to be successfully managed by a democracy,
care must be taken to adapt new means to old
ends ; the methods which were perfectly appro-
priate to a pure monarchy or a crowned oligarchy
will not be necessarily the methods which are most
appropriate to the altered circumstances.
The defects which are supposed to incapacitate a
democracy for the management of international
affairs are its fickleness, its ignorance, its liability
to be carried away by gusts of passion. Now the
whole of these defects have frequently been found,
and found together, in the management of inter-
national affairs by a pure despotism ; and if the first
and last have been less often observed under an
oligarchic government, the second has assuredly
not been wanting. We must meet the accusation
brought against democracy with a frank admission
of its truth in the past.
FOEEIGN POLICY. 61
Democracies, putting aside the case of the
United States, the circumstances of which are too
unlike ours to make the example of much con-
sequence in the present connection, have usually
been fickle in the management of international
affairs, have been ignorant, and have been liable to
be carried away by gusts of passion.
The remedy lies not in ignoring the fact, but in The
remedy
guarding against a manifest danger. threefold.
In order to do this successfully, three things are
requisite.
1. The democracy must be led by chiefs in whom
it confides.
2. These chiefs must act upon a thoroughly well
considered system of policy.
3. They must not only be fully informed them-
selves, but must have the art of making the people
see that they are so and of taking it with them.
CONSIDERATION OF THESE THEEE EEQUISITES.
The first of these propositions' will not be dis- 1. The de-
puted, but some will say that the chiefs, in whom mustbe led
by chiefs
one portion of the public confides, will be necessarily in whom
it confides.
distrusted by another.
This is far from true in relation to international
affairs. There ought to be no division of parties
with reference to them, and as a matter of fact there
have, for a long time back, till quite recently, been
no such divisions in this country.
Lord Aberdeen was perfectly right when in
62 FOREIGN POLICY.
December, 1852, he said in the House of Lords,
" The truth is, that, though there may have been
differences in the execution according to the
different hands entrusted with the direction of
affairs, the principles of the foreign policy of the
country have for the last thirty years been the
same."
There are divisions about international affairs
now, not at all because the Liberals distrust the
Conservatives qud Conservatives, but because they,
and not they alone, have come to the conclusion
that those at present in power have no clear ideas
and very little knowledge as to international affairs.
The great majority alike of Liberals and Conser-
vatives belong in international affairs to the same
party, and that is the party of Great Britain and
Ireland ; but most Liberals and the best Conser-
vatives have felt for the last two years in the
position of men who find themselves passengers
in a vessel, the crew of which is obviously un-
acquainted with the simplest duties of seamanship,
which has touched ground once or twice already,
and may at any moment be run on a rock-bound
coast.
We need not then linger over the first of the
three requisites which I have indicated. A man,
who is fitted by natural disposition and by acquire-
ment to be at the head of the Foreign Office, will if
he understands how to make his policy intelligible
to his countrymen, be, except on the rarest occasions
FOREIGN POLICY. 63
supported by both sides, whatever be his political
sympathies in our internal disputes, for the broad
outlines of British foreign policy are commanded
by circumstances, and there is no dispute about
them amongst reasonable men.
That brings me to my second requisite, that the n. These
IT iiT-1 chiefsmust
chiefs oi our crowned democracy, whether Liberal act on a
thoroughly
or Conservative, must act upon a thoroughly well well con-
sidered
considered system of policy. system of
J r policy.
What then should that system of policy be ? what
It should be a policy which abhors aggression, that sys-
which tries to promote peace everywhere, which, policy be ?
while always letting it be clearly seen that we
possess sufficient force to make it highly imprudent
for any one to assail us, behaves in the society of
nations as men of the world behave in ordinary
society, with as little inclination to take as to give
offence a policy which recognises the truth that
nations become great, not by squandering their
resources in Quixotic enterprises, but by husbanding
them; and that true glory depends, not upon military
success, which is at best splendid misfortune, but
upon brilliant achievements in the arts of peace,
upon wealth wisely and nobly used for public and
private purposes ; upon long lists of great statesmen,
great poets, great historians, great artists, great
orators, great men of science ; upon thinking first
the thoughts which other nations adopt, and building
up first the institutions which other nations imitate ;
upon deserving to obtain from the future the praise
64 FOREIGN POLICY.
,' XL 1
of having been wise and just. That and that
alone entitles any people to claim for itself the
first place amongst the nations.
Mr. Glad- It would be difficult to set forth the principles
principles, upon which British foreign policy should be based
more clearly than Mr. Gladstone did in his speech
at West Calder in November last. He said, as
reported in the Times:
1. That we should foster the strength of the
Empire by just legislation and by economy at
home, thereby producing two great elements of
national power, viz., wealth which is the physical
element, and union and contentment which are
moral elements, and that we should reserve the
strength of the Empire for great and worthy
occasions.
2. That we should do our utmost to preserve the
peace of the world.
3. That we should use every endeavour to
maintain the concert of Europe, remembering
that common action for a common object is the
only way in which we can unite the Great Powers
in obtaining objects connected with the common
good of all.
4. That we should avoid needless and entangling
engagements.
5. That we should acknowledge the equal rights
of all nations.
6. That we should have a sympathy with free-
dom, and a desire to give it a scope founded not
FOREIGN POLICY. 65
upon visionary ideas, but upon the long experience
of many generations within the shores of this
happy isle.
But it may be objected "dolus versatur in genera- Exami-
7 -7 n i 1-1 nation of
tibus ; all this is too vague, let us enter a little details.
more into detail.
What should be the national attitude with regard Ouma-
-n . ., , tionalatti-
to our Empire as it exists { tudetothe
To that I reply that we should defend every it exists.'
portion of our Empire from foreign attack with
the whole strength of the Empire, and that we
should maintain that Empire pretty much as it is
now a general rule which would not of course
prevent us giving up from time to time any por-
tion which we deliberately considered a " damnosa
hcereditas," such as the Ionian islands certainly
were, such as, there is every reason to suppose,
Cyprus will ere long prove Itself to be or from
acquiring additional territory, if really convenient,
in a proper and honourable'way, as has, for example,
often been done in India.
What should be our national attitude with regard Treaty en-
gagements
to our treaty engagements ?
I reply, that we should construe our treaty en-
gagements exactly as honourable men construe their
private engagements, always fulfilling them to the
utmost of our ability, but remembering, in public as
in private, the sound maxim "Nemo tenetur ad
impossibilia." But just because we should be very
66 FOREIGN POLICY.
careful to keep our treaty engagements, our ten-
dency should be to enter into as few onerous
engagements, and above all treaties of guarantee,
as possible. There are occasions when to enter into
a treaty of guarantee is the lesser of two evils, but
such occasions are very rare,
interven- Are we then, in matters which are not provided
tion and _ .
non-inter- lor by any actual treaty, to be partisans 01 inter-
vention.
vention or 01 non-intervention <
I reply, that we should be partisans of neither
the one nor the other. We should lean to non-
intervention, just as well-conditioned people in
ordinary society make it a rule to intervene as
little as possible in the disputes of their neigh-
bours ; but to assume an attitude of absolute non-
intervention, to try to be to Europe what Corcyra
tried to be to Greece, is to engage in a vain labour,
unless we can tow these islands into the middle of
the Atlantic and give up India. But there is
surely some mean between what a great jurist
has called the " bloody meddlesomeness " of the
half- educated Chauvinist or Jingo and that absolute
non-intervention to which our geographical position
says "No."
"Peace at Attempts are often made by unscrupulous writers
any price" ... i T M i ...
what to attribute to the Liberal party an opinion in
thatphrase _ .
means. lavour oi peace at any price. 1 need hardly say
that there is not the slightest foundation for such
an attribution. The phrase " peace at any price "
s not indeed a very happy one, even when used in
FOREIGN POLICY. 67
relation to the very small section of politicians
with whose name alone it is brought into con-
nection by any one who cares to use correctly
the ordinary terminology of politics. There is
no such thing as an advocate of " peace at any
price." The most pacific of politicians are in
favour of meeting force by force if these islands,
or any of the world- wide possessions of England,
are attacked, and they are further in favour of
standing by any treaty engagements to which
the honour of this nation is decisively and un-
equivocally committed.
The advocates of " Peace at any price " would
object however to extending the treaty obligations
of this country, and would get out of all existing
treaty obligations which bind us to go to war
under any circumstances, as quickly as good faith
would allow ; nor would they, I apprehend, under
any circumstances whatever, go to war for an idea,
or for any national interest about which there could
be the slightest difference of opinion.
The peace almost at any price party, which Peace ai-
mostatanj
comprises the vast majority of sensible men both price,
in the Conservative and Liberal camps, only in so
far disagrees with the " peace at any price " poli-
ticians, that it would by no means bind itself not to
go to war for an idea, nor to get, as soon as good
faith would permit, out of all treaty engagements
which oblige us to go to war. With the members of
this great party these questions resolve themselves
F 2
68 FOREIGN POLICY.
into questions of "relative duties." It would be
easy to imagine a case which in no way touched
the interests of this country, in which it would be
distinctly right for us to make war. But then it
would have to be a case in which it was clear that
our intervention would produce far more good than
harm, and in which it would be morally certain that
the misery which results from war would not be
misery in waste. Happily such cases are very un-
common in actual affairs. The case of the support
given in 1826 to the Constitutional party in
Portugal is not really in point, for we were bound
by treaty to defend Portugal against Spanish or any
other external aggression. If Pesth had been a
town on the Atlantic seaboard a strong case might
possibly have been made out for interference in
1848. The Hungarians had in the earlier stages of
their struggle with Austria a perfectly good cause,
and it would have been much to the advantage
of Europe that they should have succeeded then,
instead of nearly twenty years later. Hungary,
however, was not a country in which we could
have effected anything at all without turning
Europe upside down, and in which it was more
than doubtful, under the circumstances of the time,
whether we could have effected anything if we had
turned Europe upside down.
Wars for Every case in which we are asked to interfere for
the general good of mankind, or in other words to
fight for an idea, must be examined on its own
FOREIGN POLICY. 69
merits. We must take infinite care that we really
understand what we are asked to fight about. We
must be. on our guard against the generous error,
that because a power is weak and appears to be
bullied by a stronger power, it is necessarily in
the right ; and whenever there is a doubt we must
remember that our first duty is to our own people,
and above all, to that large class which, although
it is the most apt to ring the bells at the commence-
ment of a war which appears to be generous in
its objects, is always the first to be obliged to
wring its hands, if the war becomes a serious or
long-continued one.
We shall rarely go wrong if we remember that we
hardly any occasion can arise on which it can be
wise for us to adopt in European affairs an isolated
position. Our rdle should be that of a cementing alone,
force which holds together the great Continental
Powers, all of whom have more or less conflicting
interests. Except at one point, which is hardly a
portion of the continent, namely, the rock of
Gibraltar, we have absolutely no separate interest
on the continent of Europe. Whatever is con-
ceived by any school of British politicians to be
our interest on the continent of Europe is either
a chimera, or it is the common interest of nearly
the whole of Europe. If in European affairs we
find ourselves isolated, the chances are ten to one
that we are mistaken in our aims, or in the way in
which we try to carry them into effect. This may
70 FOREIGN POLICY.
not always be so. It has certainly not been so
always.
Yet some- It was not so, for example, in the end of the
times, as
just before y ear 1847, when it is but too possible that we
February, J
1848. were on ^e verge of being attacked by a coalition
of France and the despotic powers leagued together
to crush the one state which represented the prin-
ciple of freedom in this part of the world. At
that period, however, although we were isolated
with respect to the governments, we had allies
in the people from one end of Europe to the other,
and if we had been attacked, we might have lit
up a war of opinion from the Bay of Biscay to far
beyond the Vistula.
f statetf It is hardly possible to conceive such a state of
stances" circumstances again arising. The whole course of
torecuf 7 even ts since the outbreak of the Sicilian revolution
in the winter of 1847-8 has been playing the game
of England, if only England is wise, and does not
throw herself, as her insane rulers nearly led her
to do in the spring of 1878, across the path of
necessary and inevitable progress. If ever again
there comes a time when the state of things which
existed in Europe before 1847, or during the re-
action which followed the year of revolutions, is
reproduced, then we may again find ourselves
isolated ; for it is to be hoped that the love
of being free ourselves and of seeing others as
free as circumstances will permit, has got so into
our blood, that not even a long continuance of
FOREIGN POLICY. 71
Beaconsfieldian rule could make a majority of the
British people sympathize with anything analogous
to the Congress policy the policy with which we
broke even before the Reform Act of 1832.
But what is the likelihood of anything of the
kind coming to pass ?
The stream of tendency is the other way, and
we have nothing to do but to let well alone ; not
to attempt to prevent chemical processes by me-
chanical means; not to try either to galvanize
dead nations or to prevent new ones from rising
into life.
If we remember that it is only under the most
peculiar circumstances that we can act wisely in
European affairs without being on the same side
as an overwhelming majority of the Great Powers,
it is seldom, indeed, that we shall have to interfere
by force of arms. Our wars for an idea will be
few and far between.
A fussy anxiety to be interfering in the concerns A desire to
of other people is as undignified as it is foolish, and abroad
proceeds not seldom from a secret doubt of our own from a
strength. When foreign newspapers, trading upon doubt of
. our wn
the weakness of a section of our countrymen, try strength.
by taunts to engage Great Britain to do the work
which ought to be done by other members of the
European State system who are more immediately
concerned, it would show more confidence in the
greatness of the Empire if we were to remember two
passages in the speeches of a Minister who was
72 FOREIGN POLICY.
certainly not prone to distrust the powers either of
himself or of his country.
TWO quo- "What," said Mr. Canning, "is it to become a
tations . . n .. ,
from Mr. maxim with this country that she is ever to be a
Canning. ..
belligerent ? Is she never, under any possible state
of circumstances, to remain neutral ? If this pro-
position be good for anything, it must run to this
extent that our position, insulated as it is from all
the rest of the world, moves us so far from the
scene of Continental warfare, that we ought always
to be belligerent that we are bound to counteract
the designs of Providence, to reject the advantages
of nature, and to render futile and erroneous the
description of the poet, who has said to our honour,
that we were less prone to war and tumult, on
account of our happy situation, than the neighbour-
ing nations that lie conterminous with one another."
And again at Plymouth, " Our present repose is no
more a proof of inability to act, than the state of
inertness and inactivity in which I have seen those
mighty masses that float in the waters above your
town is a proof that they are devoid of strength,
and incapable of being fitted out for action. You
well know, gentlemen, how soon one of those stu-
pendous masses, now reposing on their shadows in
perfect stillness how soon, upon" any call of patriot-
ism, or of necessity, it would assume the likeness of
an animated thing, instinct with life and motion
how soon it would ruffle, as it were, its swelling
plumage how quickly it would put forth all its
FOREIGN POLICY. 73
beauty and its bravery, collect its scattered elements
of strength, and awaken its dormant thunder. Such
as is one of these magnificent machines when
springing from inaction into a display of its might
such is England herself, while, apparently passive
and motionless, she silently concentrates the power
to be put forth on an adequate occasion."
What then should our attitude be as to wars for wars for
British interests ? interests
In the case of wars which are recommended on
the ground of their being in defence of our legiti-
mate and undoubted interests, we must inquire most
carefully, first, whether the menaced interests can-
not be secured without a war ; secondly, whether
they are worth a war ; and thirdly, we must re-
member that we have always in the midst of us
large classes who have a personal interest in war,
which they quite naturally confound with a national
interest.
We all recollect the story of the man who said in
the spring of 1878, "D n it, is there to be no
fighting ? Why, I've two sons in the army ! "
We ought also to be certain that we know at
least the broad facts on which a judgment must
be formed.
" What I most fear," a person of position said to
a friend of mine, when the Eussians were advancing
in Armenia, " is that they should reach Lake Van.
If they once do that, they will descend the Amoor
and attack India ! "
74 FOREIGN POLICY.
This is hardly a caricature of the kind of con-
siderations which rallied a great many supporters to
the views of the present Government, but all things
are not British interests which ill-informed partisans
fancy to be so.
When the causes of error which I have noticed,
and others, such as the love of excitement, natural
to all men, have been weighed and allowed for, if it
is still found necessary to fight in defence of our
undoubted and legitimate interests, by all means
let us do so.
Seldom in. But the occasions in which any Power will be
deed shall
we have to mad enough to interfere with the undoubted and
fight for
our inter- legitimate interests of this country will be few in-
ests if we
take pro- deed, if we take reasonable and obvious precautions.
per precau-
tions.
What Now, what should these precautions be ?
these be ? We should, I answer, have a supreme Navy, an
adequate Army, a first-rate Diplomatic Corps,
Foreign Office, and Consular Service.
A supreme By a supreme Navy is meant a navy which (1) is
strong enough to meet and overcome any combina-
tion of fleets which it is reasonable to imagine could
be brought against it ; (2) is sufficient to make a
landing on our shores perfectly out of the question ;
(3) is able to clear the seas of the armed vessels of
an enemy at the very commencement of a war, and
to keep them clear.
As to the first of these points there will probably
be no difference of opinion. The navy was in a
FOREIGN POLICY. 75
position to cope with any possible combination of
fleets under the late Administration, and is, it may
be hoped, able to do so now.
The importance of the second can hardly be over-
rated. No victory, however decisive, won over a
force which had landed on our coast, could re-
establish the position of this country as the one
place in Europe which is perfectly safe from inva-
sion. The fabric of British credit would be disas-
trously shaken by a successful landing, even if the
army which had landed was hopelessly beaten
within a day or two.
It will be observed that under the third head
nothing is said of damaging the commerce of an
enemy. That is omitted advisedly, for our com-
merce is now so enormous that our navy will often,
especially at the beginning of hostilities, find that it
has enough to do in sweeping the enemy's armed
ships from the seas and in sealing up his war har-
bours, while it w r ill frequently be evident that any
attempt to stop an enemy's commerce or to blockade
his commercial ports will do to us as much or
more harm than it will do to him.
By an adequate Army is meant an army sufficiently AD ade-
. . i . quate
strong to co-operate with the navy in rendering a Army,
landing impossible, to take its share in holding
India, to garrison and defend the various fortresses
and harbours which we have scattered about the
world, and to take, when occasion arises, under our
treaty engagements, along with our allies, a part in
76 FOEETGN POLICY.
operations on the European continent regard being
had to the fact that it is mainly for pecuniary and
naval assistance that our allies have a right to look
o
to a country situated like the United Kingdom.
The army should be relatively small, but every
exertion should be used to make it superior to any
equal number of troops that could be brought against
it, and while the system of short service introduced
by Lord Cardwell should be carried further, the
question should be carefully investigated, whether it
is quite impossible to work that system in a manner
which is not too disastrous to the finances of India.
While endeavouring in every way to make the
army efficient, the Liberal party and the sounder
part of their opponents should never so far forget
their traditions as to cease to be jealous of mili-
tarism, the most dangerous at this moment of all
the diseases which afflict the European body politic.
I say the sounder part of their opponents, for the real
Conservatives, the conservatives who still exist in
some rectories and country houses, have just as little
sympathy with the bastard Imperialism of the Prime
Minister and his immediate following, as had the
French Legitimists with the system of Napoleon III.
which it attempts to reproduce in miniature.
A first-rate By a first-rate Diplomatic Corps, Foreign Office,
tic P Corps, and Consular Service, is meant such an organization
of our means of obtaining information with regard
to foreign countries and of influencing their Govern-
FOREIGN POLICY. 77
ments, as was sketched some years ago before the Foreign
J Office, and
Diplomatic Committee by our present ambassador Consular
Service.
at Berlin, Lord Odo Russell, who, true to the ancient
spirit of his house, and speaking with all the autho-
rity which belongs to his knowledge and experience,
said, " I am of opinion that diplomacy will become
one of the most powerful engines for the promotion
of peace and good relations. At the present moment
we look to armies to establish peace and goodwill
among Christians ; but I am sure diplomacy will
be a better engine when properly developed and
organized. The more feelers you have all over the
civilized world, the better informed you are, and the
more influence you can exercise ; and I think that
through an organization of that kind you are more
likely to establish peace and goodwill among Chris-
tians than you are through armies, Armstrong guns,
breechloaders, Minie bullets, and so on."
And this brings me to the third requisite, that in. The
& u chiefs of
the chiefs of the democracy must be fully informed the demo-
cracy must
about international affairs themselves, must have be inform-
ed thern-
the art of making the people see that they are so, selves > and
J inustmake
and of taking it with them. the P e P le
see that
It is under this head that there is most room for ^ are ,
iniormtu.
improvement in the method of conducting our affairs
which has prevailed even under normal Administra-
tions, for it is impossible to deny that neither party
has taken enough pains to see that it has had at its
disposal a sufficient number of men who have apti-
tude for and acquaintance with international affairs.
78 FOREIGN POLICY.
The second order of statesmen in some countries
of the Continent are far better informed about
what is going on in Europe than are many states-
men amongst us who in all other respects have
the advantage of them.
This is not only true, but it is an open secret.
Everybody knows it, and the fact that it is known
weakens all Governments. That was not so im-
portant when the mass of the people took no great
interest in international affairs, except during great
crises ; nor had any means, if they had a view on
foreign policy, of making that view prevail. Now,
however, when international affairs are discussed
in every newspaper and at every public meeting,
is it not high time that we should take care that
the natural leaders of the people should have
some right to say, "You know that these things
want anxious study, and you know we have given
them anxious study " ?
Never again shall we have international affairs
managed on a firm and consecutive system until
successive Cabinets become sufficiently strong, in
the number of persons accustomed to consider in-
ternational affairs which they contain, to give a
. reasonable guarantee to the mass of the people that
their rulers really know more about foreign policy
than they do themselves.
Improvement in this respect can, it is to be feared,
only be brought about gradually by the conviction of
its urgent necessity forcing itself upon the minds of
FOREIGN POLICY. 79
men who engage in public business. When it has
done so, I cannot doubt that there will once again
grow up a general agreement about the part we
should take in Europe, and that we shall once more
be able to quote the words of Lord Aberdeen, which
I have cited above, as correctly describing the actual
state of things.
The late Government acted in all respects in A mistake
. -n ! i j of the lato
accordance with the traditions of English foreign Govern-
ment,
policy since the final abandonment of the ideas of
Castlereagh, but it made one very great mistake ; it
did not remember that in dealing with a democracy
you must not only be right, but seem right. 1
If it had occurred to Mr. Gladstone to take the
same pains to put his foreign policy before the
country as he did to put before it the question of
the Irish Church, that policy would undoubtedly
have been enthusiastically supported ; but the
amount of mental vigour which was used in. ex-
pounding the views of his Government upon
internal affairs was so enormously greater than
that used in expounding its views upon inter-
national affairs, that numbers of people here and
abroad jumped to the conclusion that it neglected
the latter.
Nothing could be better, as I have said, than the The
, * /> . Periclean
resume oi the principles on which English foreign dictum.
1 The present Government takes as its motto in all affairs, Videri
non esse. The late Government took as its motto in foreign affairs,
Esse non videri. The right motto for all Governments in all affairs is
Esse et videri.
80 FOREIGN POLICY.
policy should be conducted which was given by
Mr. Gladstone at West Calder, but the phrase
which he used immediately before, and in which he
recalled the Periclean dictum about women, that
the less they were heard of the better, was of course
taken hold of by his critics. Doubtless the less
foreign affairs are heard of the better, but that they
should not be heard of is, as the Germans say, " a
pious wish," and it is of the last importance that
the Liberals should make the country feel, that
though they are occupied chiefly with domestic
matters, they know more about foreign affairs than
their opponents ; that during the last twenty years
more correct forecasts as to what was likely to
happen on the continent of Europe have been
made by Liberal than by Conservative politicians ;
that it would be just as easy to prove that some of
Lord Salisbury's critics have been habitually right
as that Lord Salisbury, the only man now in the
Conservative Cabinet whom decently informed
Conservatives believe to know anything whatever
about foreign affairs, has been habitually, hopelessly,
and even ludicrously wrong.
Themis- The error on the part of the late Cabinet, of
appearing, though only appearing, to neglect
. international affairs, has led to such grave con-
sequences that we may be pretty sure no English
Government will ever fall into it again ; and it
may be hoped that the amending of this error will
draw attention to the deeper and more persistent
FOREIGN POLICY. 81
evil to which I have directed attention above the
evil, namely, that few English politicians find it
worth their while to make a specialty of the
study of foreign questions.
As soon as the leaders of party see that it will The two
, . parties in
be to their advantage that their countrymen should the state
may, it is
consider that they have a better acquaintance than hoped,
learn to vie
their opponents with international affairs, a with each
other in ac-
wholesome rivalry will be introduced, and both quaintance
J with
parties will begin to give an amount of attention * &-
ei II jii rs tin (I
to the organization of their means of acquiring ! n P erfect -
ing our
information which they have never done before. me , ans of
mforma-
The strengthening both in quantity and quality of tlon>
the Foreign Office and of the Diplomatic Service, to
which I alluded above, will be seen to be absolutely
necessary, and I trust it may fall to the Liberal
party to initiate a reform which is so much wanted.
That party, or at least an important section of it,
has always taken up a rather critical and not too
friendly attitude with reference to the services
which are directed by the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs. This is intelligible enough, for there is
unhappily no doubt that in the good old times
appointments in these services were often scan-
dalously jobbed. Useless posts were kept up and
filled by useless or worse than useless people.
Persons passed into the service and even rose high
in it who were emphatically hard bargains, merely
in virtue of their having powerful patrons. Now
however all that is very much changed. The
82 FOREIGN POLICY.
diplomatic service is not over-manned, but under-
manned. It would be difficult to propose any
wiser economy than that which would add a good
many thousands a year to the diplomatic estimates,
provided at the same time further security were
taken for the money being well spent.
New One of these securities should undoubtedly be
securities
wanted, throwing access to the service open to merit irre-
spective of party. Whether a Liberal or Conserva-
tive Government is in power, the sons of Liberal or
Conservative fathers should, if their attainments
and merits justify it, be able to come forward for
the diplomatic as well as for the military service,
not as a matter of favour but as a matter of right.
A modified The Foreign Secretary must in the last resort be
competi- the person to appoint his own agents ; and if he has
t/lVG 6X~
animation, to choose between the son of a political friend and
of a political enemy, both young men having been
stamped with the same stamp by competent
examiners, he will naturally choose the son of the
friend. Such cases however would rarely arise if
entrance to the service always involved taking a
good place in a competitive examination of a very
high order, such as has been frequently suggested.
Supreme Competitive examination is, as we all know, liable
His depart- to many drawbacks, but if the object of the ex-
rnent still . . .
to be left animation is not to place men in order as first,
to Secre- n .
taryof second, third, and so on, but to select a class 01
men out of which the Secretary of State may
choose, almost all its evils are avoided.
FOREIGN POLICY. 83
What is true of the Diplomatic Service is equally The
Forsiffn
true of the Foreign Office. It greatly wants Office,
strengthening. Nowadays it is virtually entered
by competition, but by a competition which, unlike
that which has been suggested for the Diplomatic
Service, begins at the wrong end, all candidates
who have to compete requiring to be nominated,
an arrangement which, to say nothing of its other
bad consequences, does not give the Secretary of
State the opportunity of having good men brought
to his notice if their connections belong to the
opposite party in the State.
Not until our public men take more seriously the Till the
suggested
duty of being students of foreign affairs before they changes
have been
can claim with any right to lead public opinion made, our
crowned
about them ; not until, by making the Foreign Office, democracy
the Diplomatic and Consular Services, as good as h ve a f * ir
ciiHiicc or
they can be made, we have provided Government mana g in g
< its mter-
with proper eyes and ears all over the world, are we Affair 1
authorized to say that our crowned democracy cannot
manage international affairs. The truth is, it has
never had a fair chance of doing so, it has never
possessed proper organs for their management.
It has been sometimes imagined that the gradual Great
democratizing of Europe would be fatal to diplomacy, di
the most exclusive and aristocratic of professions.
No one will continue to hold that opinion who looks
below the surface at the realities of things. A great
deal of the glitter and frippery that were once asso-
ciated with diplomacy and made it the laughing-
G 2
84 FOREIGN POLICY.
stock of serious men, lias already fallen off it, and
something more has still to fall, but the real import-
ance of diplomacy is only beginning. More and more
the diplomatist will think of himself, not merely
as the representative of his Sovereign, out of whose
personal income the English diplomatist used till
recent times to be paid, but as the representative of
the whole nation, from the Sovereign downwards.
More and more will he recognize himself to be the
expression of what ought to be, and, in spite of
occasional Jingo outbreaks, is with every decade
becoming more and more the prevailing feeling of
this country in its relations at least with civilized
States, " Peace on earth, goodwill towards men."
More and more will he recognize that his is in-
deed the highest of all the services, that the army
and navy are merely the necessary and honoured
instruments which the nation keeps in reserve,
with which to meet unreason, if he who is the
representative of reason shall unfortunately fail.
But the In order, however, that diplomacy should hold
Diplomatic ...
Service this position, we must take care to make the
must be .
improved Diplomatic Service and all that is connected
to enable
it to fulfil with it what it ought to be, and good though it
its destiny.
is in many respects now, it is susceptible of very
great improvements.
The objects that we should set before us by those
improvements are fourfold :
1. That in every spot of political importance in
the world there should be a thoroughly competent
FOREIGN POLICY. 85
person, whose business it is to collect and to transmit
to the British Foreign Office the most correct and
early information about all matters of importance.
2. That the Foreign Office should be so organized
as not only to store and arrange all this information
for the use of the Foreign Secretary for the time
being, but to make public as much of it as can
with advantage be made public.
3. That in every place of political importance
this country should be represented by a man to
whom his countrymen can point as a thoroughly
creditable representative of what is best in these
islands, that every British embassy and mission
should be a centre of the best kind of British
influence, and that no trouble or expense should
be spared to make all their members fit to take,
and capable of taking from the first, a distinguished
place, not only in Court society, to which our
diplomatists sometimes too much confine them-
selves, but amongst the men of letters and
politicians of the countries in which they reside.
4. That diplomatists should not be quite so
much "up in a balloon " as they often are. They
will pardon the expression to one who has the
sincerest admiration for their craft; and indeed
all the best of them will admit, that it is a real mis-
fortune that they are not oftener enabled, without
too great sacrifices, to come into contact with
our home political life. They greatly need " se
retremper " from time to time in its boisterous but
86 FOREIGN POLICY.
health-bestowing currents. Leave should be more
freely given and on easier terms for this purpose
to those in the regular line ; and there should be.
if possible, more frequent exchanges from parlia-
mentary to diplomatic, and from diplomatic to
parliamentary activity. That a man should be
at once a member of the House of Commons and
a representative of his Sovereign abroad, as was
the case, for example, with Philip Stanhope, was
no doubt an anomaly, but it was an anomaly which
had its advantages. 1
The evil which I would propose to meet is by no
means one confined to our own diplomatists. Other
free nations suffer just as much or more from it,
but it would be worthy of the mother of free nations
to devise a remedy.
Some in- I do not deny, I have indeed already admitted,
crease of
expend!- that in order to effect the necessary improvements
ture would
t>e re- some increased expenditure would be required, but
quired, but
not very it would not be very much ; and for every thousand
a year judiciously added to the diplomatic estimates,
we might safely withdraw five from the naval and
military estimates as framed, not by Ministers who
are thinking more of by-ends than of either economy
or efficiency, but from the estimates of really honest
Ministers, Ministers who do not mind harassing
interests if they serve the public.
" si vis " ^i v is pacem para helium " is a sensible motto
pacempara
enough, if it means "do not trust too much to
i-r,.. See Chesterfield's Letters.
FOREIGN POLICY. 87
reason in a world in which there is a great deal of
unreason ; " but " Si vis pacem para pacem " is a si vis
still better one, if it is understood to mean, " take pacem.
care to have all your agencies for seeking peace
and ensuing it in the foreground and in thoroughly
good order, so as to give reason the best chance
you can."
Much of the good, however, that might result Know and
diffuse
from the increased knowledge of statesmen about knowledge,
foreign affairs will be lost, if they do not take more
pains to spread their own knowledge and ideas
amongst their countrymen. If they do not do so,
their hands may be forced at any moment, and they
may be driven into courses which will be equally
disagreeable to sane Liberals and sane Conservatives,
by some sudden enthusiasm, which would never have
taken hold on the popular mind if men in the front
rank of politics had been wise in time, and had
kept their countrymen a little more au courant of
their thoughts. The Eussophobic nonsense which
is in a fair way to ruin India, would never have got
the influence it has, if statesmen had not blinked
the Central Asian question a dozen years ago.
88 FOREIGN POLICY.
THE ABSENCE OF THE THREE REQUISITES IN
THE MANAGEMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
BY THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT BRIEFLY
ILLUSTRATED.
Having then laid down and explained what
appear to me the requisites for the management
of international affairs by a democracy, I will take
the two great questions which have been before the
public of late years, and point out, by way of illus-
tration, one or two of the errors that have been
committed from want of attention to these
requisites.
The first requisite, that a democracy, if it is to
The first J '
requisite manage internationa affairs successfully, must be
filled. under the guidance of leaders in whom it confides,
has never been fulfilled since Lord Salisbury suc-
ceeded in tripping up Lord Derby and installing
himself in the Foreign Office.
Lord -^ i s fr m ^' na ^ even "k that the distinctive foreign
policy' 8 policy of the present Government dates, for the
policy of Lord Derby was in the main the policy
of which Lord Aberdeen spoke the foreign policy
which belongs to no party or to both. Up to the
rejection of the Berlin Memorandum, Lord Derby
was supported by his Liberal predecessors in office.
From that event to his resignation, the fault which
most Liberals attributed to his action was, not that
it departed from the old lines, but that it had not
been equal to the "occasion sudden" which was
FOREIGN POLICY. 8U
brought about by the Bulgarian massacres and the
effect produced by them in this country.
While respecting the spirit we should have broken Letter of
. . traditional
with the letter of the old tradition, that the mam- policy in
the East.
tenance of the Turkish power on the Bosphorus
was an European necessity.
The spirit of that tradition was that Constanti- Spirit of
traditional
nople and the narrow seas between Europe and policy in
* the East.
Asia must not fall into the hands of Russia or of
any other Great Power. Its letter only required
the Crescent to remain on St. Sophia. It was the
moment for a great decision, a decision as great
and more wise than that which Canning announced
when he said, " I resolved that if France had
Spain it should not be Spain with the Indies.
I called the New World into existence to redress
the balance of the Old."
Surely it was not beyond the resources of states-
manship to find some combination by which the
legitimate aspirations of Russia might be satisfied,
Greece, Italy, France and the Western Church
might be left unalarmed, while England remained
just as she was, with no necessity for undertaking
new responsibilities in the present, and freed from
the apprehensions about Constantinople which so
often trouble the repose of her statesmen.
Surely it was not beyond the resources of states-
manship to find some combination by which all
these good things could be accomplished, with
great advantage to the populations of the Eastern
90 FOREIGN POLICY.
Peninsula Bulgarians, Turks, Servians, Albanians,
Greeks, and all the rest of them of every creed and
every degree of civilization ?
I can only say as I have said before, Scribantur
hcec in generatione alterd ; but at least no such
decision was taken, and our Foreign Office entered
with the unhappy Conference of Constantinople into
the region of half measures and resolute irresolu-
tions. " England wills strongly in the East," said
a sagacious looker-on, " but she knows not what
she wills."
Lord In the spring of 1 878, however, the scene changed.
policy 1117 8 A new Foreign Minister seized the helm, and with
a courage and an intelligent appreciation of what
ought to be done, which his previous career had led
all careful observers to expect, put the ship about
and ran straight for the nearest reef.
No evi- There is, however, no evidence that this wild helms-
dencethat .
it has re- man, or the foreign policy which he represents, ever
ceived the ,,,,..,
support of had the slightest support irom the nation at large.
the nation
at large. His being helmsman is the result of a mere accident.
The last Nothing was further from the thoughts of the
nation when it returned the Parliament of 1874,
than that that Parliament would be mainly occu-
pied with foreign affairs. The history of what
occurred was given to perfection by the man who
said, " The parsons and the publicans have let in
the sinners." Petty questions and little spites
possessed the minds of the men who were the active
agents of the change, but it was caused much more
FOREIGN POLICY. 91
by Liberal inaction in some places and electioneering
blunders in others, than by those agents. The most
superstitious incumbent, the most assiduous fre-
quenter of the public-house, might well have thought
twice about his vote, the most crotchet-mongering
or apathetic Liberal might have raised his voice
for united and vigorous action, if he could have
foreseen that events of the greatest magnitude were
preparing, and that the question before him was
whether England was to be given up in dark and
difficult times to the guidance of "audacity and
pugnacity untempered by sagacity."
No one however foresaw this, and the majority
voted under the joint influence of beer and fear as
intelligently as the man who did his best to ostracise
Aristides simply because he was bored by hearing
him called "the Just/' while too many Liberals
pressed their crotchets to the bitter end.
It is well known too that the majority of votes
cast at the last election were cast in favour of the
Liberals. Their defeat was owing to numerous
small defeats, the result in more than twenty cases
of running too many candidates, and which, while
showing clearly that a trifling majority was against
them in a variety of electoral colleges, said little
or nothing as to the opinion of the country.
Even if this had been otherwise, to accuse the JJ infe *-
GUCC OrS lO
democracy of having sanctioned the foreign policy JJ
of the Anglo-Turkish Convention, the appropriation
of Cyprus, and the Afghan war, would have been forelgn
92 FOREIGN POLICY.
affairs can grossly unjust. It has never been consulted about
from it. any one of these things, which have been the result
of the perverse folly of a very small number of per-
sons. No argument whatever, either for or against
the power of a democratic society to manage well
its international relations, can be drawn from the
proceedings of the present Parliament.
The second Our second requisite was that the chiefs who
requisite
not M- had the confidence of the democracy should act on
filled.
a thoroughly well-considered system of policy.
Lord It will hardly be maintained by the most enthu-
poHcynot siastic supporter of the present Government that
Lord Saiis- this has been the case with our rulers during the
bury.
recent foreign complications. No one would for a
moment maintain that the policy of Lord Derby
was that of Lord Salisbury. If it had been so,
Lord Derby would still be in the Government, and
the admission that the policies are different is
sufficient to enable us to say that our second
requisite has not been fulfilled that the men who
have directed our foreign affairs since the beginning
of 1874 have not acted on a well-considered system,
but at the best upon two quite opposite systems.
LordSalis- Putting that however on one side, let us examine
, ,
policy of very briefly whether Lord Salisbury's own policy
1876 not t~\ T i
his policy on the Eastern (Question has been consistent with
of 1878.
itself. And for this purpose, with a view to give
every possible advantage to an opponent that the
severest advocate of deciding all moot points
against ourselves could require, let us forget the line
FOREIGN POLlCr. 93
which he took at the time of the Constantinople
Conference, and speak only of what he has done
since the 1st of April, 1878.
The policy on which the present Foreign Secretary Lord Saiis-
purposed to act was solemnly explained to the policy of
world in a despatch whose periods recalled the consistent
with itself.
good teaching of the Saturday Review upon its
promotion, in the years which immediately followed
the Crimean war.
In that despatch Lord Salisbury, amidst the The des-
patch of
applause of all those Continental politicians who, April 1st,
. . 1878.
loathing both England and Russia, ardently desired
that we should shed each other's blood and waste
each other's resources, placed himself between the
Czar and the advantages which he and his people
thought they had a fair right to claim in return
for the sacrifices and sufferings of a terrible and
exhausting struggle.
That policy might have been right or wrong, The
* 8 Salisbury-
but at least it was intelligible. It might have Schouvaioff
agree-
been the commencement of a series of acts which ment -
showed that the Foreign Secretary knew what he
was about, and was acting on a well-considered
system. The events of the next few weeks made
it clear, that unless Lord Salisbury had composed
his Circular for the express purpose of deceiving
his partizans and the w^orld, he was acting upon no
well-considered system ; for if it was right to stand
between Russia and her ends, it was clearly not
right to make a secret agreement with her in
94 FOREIGN POLICY.
virtue of which she obtained all the most im-
portant of those ends. In the forcible words of
the Duke of Argyll when discussing the notorious
Salisbury- Schouvaloff Agreement, "The whole scope
and purport of the transaction was to represent
England as bent on setting up again, as far as she
could, some semblance of a real Turkish Empire
in Europe ; and yet at the same time as yielding
up almost everything which was really substantial
in the fatal demands which the military success of
Russia had enabled her to enforce upon the Sultan.
Let us take, for example, one sentence from the
' Salisbury Circular ' of two months before the
sentence which perhaps, as much as any other,
had inspirited the friends of -Turkey 'The com-
pulsory alienation of Bessarabia from Roumania,
the extension of Bulgaria to the shores of the
Black Sea, which are principally inhabited by
Mussulmans and Greeks, and the acquisition of
the important harbour of Batoum, will make the
will of the Russian Government dominant over all
the vicinity of the Black Sea. The acquisition
of the strongholds of Armenia will place the popu-
lation of that province under the immediate in-
fluence of the Power which holds them ; whilst the
extensive European trade which now passes from
Trebizond to Persia will, in consequence of the
cessions in Kurdistan, be liable to be arrested at
the pleasure of the Russian Government by the
prohibitory barriers of their commercial system.'
FOREIGN POLICY. 95
Now to every one of these formidable results of
the Treaty of San Stefan o, except the very last,
England virtually gave her assent in this secret
Agreement. It made it all the worse and not the
better that she reserved her right to keep up a
show of remonstrance and of resistance in the
Congress. She was not to push her objections to
any decisive issue. The restoration to Russia of
her old Bessarabian frontier was expressly acquiesced
in. The Armenian fortresses were not to be rescued
from the Muscovite. Batoum, although not taken
by Russia, was to be surrendered tocher demand.
Well might those who had cheered the Circular be
ashamed of their own credulity when they found
themselves duped by the Agreement."
It would be a useless as well as a disagreeable task J* th
Circular
to go in detail through the policy of the Govern-
ment in Eastern Europe, pointing out its incon-
sistencies. The instance which I have cited is
quite sufficient for my purpose. It would be as
easy to prove that two and two make four and also
make five, as to prove a policy to be homogeneous
in which the Circular and the Salisbury-Schouvaloff
Agreement were nearly-related incidents.
I pass on to show that the same inconsistency, The same
incousist-
the same utter want of any consecutive and thought- e ' ic y OI \
J the north-
OUt system, which made futile the efforts of the! 768 *-
frontier of
Government on the Bosphorus, was present with India -
even more disastrous results in their action upon
the north-west frontier of India.
00 FOREIGN POLICY.
Thedes- There is no reason to suppose that when in
patch of
22nd a i875 J anuar y> 1875, Lord Salisbury first pressed upon
Lord Northbrook the establishment of a British
agent within the territories of the Ameer, he had
any intention of re-commencing what had been
called forty years before " the great game of Central
Asia."
If he had, I should still have called him a rash
and dangerous politician, but should not have been
so much frightened as I am when I see the Foreign
Office in charge of a man who has the haziest
notions as to the direction in which his own acts
are leading him.
The an- On June 11, 1877, in reply to Lord de Mauley,
Lord De Lord Salisbury spoke as follows : " The noble
Mauley of
June nth, Lord appears to have left out of his calculation
1877.
that there are deserts to be traversed, and that
perhaps a fortnight or three weeks, but certainly
not less than ten days, across these deserts, would
be required for the journey between the nearest
accessible points of the two territories. I can
assure the noble Lord that any danger of a Russian
inroad on the frontier of British India is not quite
so far advanced as he seems to imagine. The
nearest point on the Caspian at which supplies
could be gathered by Russia is over a thousand
miles from our Indian frontier. The consideration
of the danger to which the noble Lord refers may
possibly interest a future generation of statesmen,
but that calamity is not of such imminence as to
FOREIGN POLICY. 97
render necessary the motion by which the noble
Lord seeks to avert it. I will not dwell longer on
the geographical circumstances, except to protest
against the statement of the noble Lord that the
Empire of British India knows no bounds. My
Lords, the bounds of that Empire are very minutely
marked out, especially on the north-western side.
Whatever the Empire of Russia may be, there is
no doubt whatever as to what the frontier of
British India is. It is perfectly well known, I
cannot help thinking, that in discussions of this
kind a great deal of misapprehension arises from
the popular use of maps on a small scale. As with
such maps you are able to put a thumb on India
and a finger on Russia, some persons at once think
that the political situation is alarming, and that
India must be looked to. If the noble Lord would
use a larger map say one on the scale of the
Ordnance Map of England he would find that the
distance between Russia and British India is not to
be measured by the finger and thumb, but by a
rule. There are between them deserts and moun-
tainous chains measured by thousands of miles,
and these are serious obstacles to any advance by
Russia, however well planned such an advance
might be."
Now is it humanly possible that the man who
spoke these words knew that he was lending him-
self, and had been lending himself for more than
two years, that is since January, 1875, to carrying
H
98 FOREIGN POLICY.
into effect the most extravagant views of the school
of which Lord de Mauley had made himself the
spokesman knew that in less than eighteen months
he would have to rely on the Russophobic mania,
and on that alone, for honest political support ?
what Why, what had happened since the 21st January,
bury had 8 " 1875 ? The day after that Lord Salisbury had
from Ja^ addressed his despatch to the Government of India,
June' nth, pressing Lord Northbrook to procure the assent
1 877
of the Ameer to the establishment of a British
agency at Herat. Lord Northbrook and his Council,
thoroughly alarmed, had telegraphed to ask whether
the orders were peremptory or whether a discretion
would be allowed to the Government of India,
pointing out at the same time that the despatch was
based upon some quite erroneous assumptions as to
the feelings of the Ameer. Lord Salisbury had re-
plied, the Government of India had set forth their
views as to the extreme danger of the course
proposed, in their despatch of the 7th June, 1875.
To that Lord Salisbury had sent as a rejoinder upon
the 19th November, 1875, the despatch in which
occurs the too famous passage which led straight
to the murder of Sir Louis Cavaguari : " The first
step, therefore, in establishing our relations with
the Ameer upon a more satisfactory footing, will
be to induce him to receive a temporary Embassy
in his capital. It need, not be publicly connected
with the establishment of a permanent Mission
within his dominions. There would be many
FOREIGN POLICY. 99
advantages in ostensibly directing it to some object
of smaller political interest, which it will not be
difficult for your Excellency to find, or, if need be,
to create"
To this ill-omened despatch Lord Northbrook and
his Council had again replied. Lord Northbrook
had resigned, and Lord Lytton had been appointed
and instructed to do what Lord Northbrook had
never been instructed to do, that is, to offer some-
thing to the Ameer in return for the sacrifice that
was being demanded every care being taken to
ensure that we should give with one hand and take
with the other, in the spirit of the remarkable
paragraph which has just been quoted. In re-
turn for mere deceptive guarantees the largest de-
mands had been made upon the Ameer in violation
of treaties and of the pledges given by Lord Mayo.
That these instructions were given we know,
because they have been laid before Parliament ;
but they have been laid before Parliament only in
extract, and we are left to fill up the outline of the
unrevealed instructions from the ordinary sources
of information and from the acts of the person
instructed.
Armed with these instructions, Lord Lytton
had gone to India, had selected Sir Lewis Pelly,
of all men in the world the one whose name was
likely just at that moment to be most terrible to
the Ameer as a special envoy had found an
"opportunity and pretext" for sending a compli-
H 2
100 FOREIGN POLICY.
mentary and special mission to Cabul, such as
Lord Salisbury had desired Lord Northbrook to
find or make had been shown by the Ameer that
the pretext was seen through, and that the assigned
objects of the mission were merely ostensible.
Coaxing having failed, threats had been resorted
to. The letter of the 8th July, 1876, had been
written, and the Ameer warned that the responsi-
bility of refusing to receive the envoy would rest
entirely upon his Government. The Ameer had
replied in September. Lord Lytton had intimated
to the Ameer that we could break him as a reed,
that he was an earthen pipkin between two iron
pots, that if he did not desire to come to a speedy
understanding with us, Russia did, and desired it
at his expense. Large bodies of men had been
collected at Eawul Pindee ; a bridge of boats the
same of which Lord Salisbury, astounding to relate,
declared in June, 1877, that he had never heard
had been thrown, or prepared to be thrown, over
the Indus ; officers had been sent forward to inspect
the ground at a point on the Afghan border ; the
Peshawur Conference had taken place, and Sir Lewis
Pelly had threatened the Ameer, that if he did not
-accept the offers made, we would " continue to
strengthen the frontier of British India without
further reference to him, in order to provide against
probable contingencies." Our native agent had been
withdrawn from Cabul, and the Peshawur Conference
had come to an end without anything satisfactory
FOREIGN POLICY. 101
having been arranged, while proceedings had been
going on at Quetta which were quite enough to
have forced on a war with Afghanistan, even if
they had stood alone.
We were drifting into war when Lord Salisbury w e were
J drifting
replied to Lord de Mauley, not in the sense in which in * ** J
when Lord
Lord Clarendon used on a celebrated occasion that, Salisbury
' made his
as originally used, most accurate and picturesque
expression, but in the sense in which it is J^ lltb
ordinarily employed. We were drifting because
neither Lord Beaconsfield nor Lord Salisbury, who
have been the authors of the whole mischief, had
taken the trouble seriously to reflect what they
were about. The second had begun by wishing
to have his own way about a dangerous crotchet,
the establishment of a British agent at Herat ; the
first thought that a manifestation of " pluck"
would have a good effect on the constituencies,
and from one blunder to another they were being
led on to the invasion of Afghanistan.
The far more notorious words which Lord Salis- The state -
ments
bury used in replying to the Duke of Argyll a few made b y
J r J &</ Lord Salis-
days later, may be defended by his friends, as they bur y f ur
J J > J days after-
were in effect defended by Sir Stafford Northcote, rds not
' incom-
on the ground that his policy, alas ! required him
to make statements inconsistent with accuracy ; but
the reply to Lord de Mauley is couched in language
which is quite irreconcilable with the theory that
he so far understood that policy as to know that
in the years 1878-9, the only argument of any
102 FOREIGN POLICY.
weight, even with his own party, in favour of his
policy, would be the alleged necessity for im-
proving our old frontier in case of a Eussian
invasion.
The A perusal of the debate of August 9th, 1877,
speeches of
Lord G. on the subject of Quetta, and of August 14th, 1879,
Hamilton,
and sir s. O n the subject of the Treaty of Gandamak, will,
Northcote J
in August, I am convinced, leave on the mind of any con-
compatible scientious man of either party who reads them
with the r J
through, an indelible impression that the Ministers
whatwas w ^ re pli e( l on both those occasions to the speeches
done 8 f *ke Opposition, were absolutely blind to the conse-
quences of what their colleagues were doing. They
made statements which on that theory alone can be
reconciled with what is permissible, and happily
they were, unlike Lord Salisbury on June 15th, 1877,
not necessarily acquainted with the exact state of
facts about which they made startling statements.
On these, however, I will not dwell, for one
illustration is quite enough to make clear what I
mean, when I say, that the person mainly respon-
sible for the recent disastrous policy on the north-
western frontier had no consecutive well-thought-
out system in his head when he took the initial
steps of that policy. The natural result followed.
" Everything may be left, in part, to the hazard of
adventure, everything except the fate of nations."
The third The third requisite, that the chiefs of the de.
requisite *
mocracy must be fully informed themselves, must
have the art of making the people see that they
FOREIGN POLICY. 103
are so, and of taking it with them, has not been
fulfilled, and could not by any possibility have been
fulfilled, by the present Government, " Ex nihilo
nihil Jit." These gentlemen were not in possession
of sufficient information, and had not taken the
trouble necessary to enable them to manage pro-
perly our Foreign affairs, and they could not in
the nature of things give to the people a confidence
in their possessing what they manifestly did not
and could not possess.
The office of Foreign Secretary is by no means, in Qualities
the opinion of some, the place in the Cabinet which to a
requires the greatest amount of ability. Far more Secretary.
brain power is required, it is said, to enable a man to
contrive and carry through Parliament such a mea-
sure as the Disestablishment of the Irish Church
than would suffice to conduct well and wisely our
international affairs for a long time. That may or
may not be so, but pre-eminent amongst things
indispensable for the successful conduct of these
affairs are knowledge of facts, knowledge of men,
the critical faculty, caution, and common sense.
You could never make a good manager of foreign Defects
affairs out of a man in whose brain the craziest Foreign a
f i . i - Secretary
fancies were always running races ; you could not the Emir
for example have made a good foreign secretary out
of the Emir Fakredeen. 1 " There is a combination,"
said that individual, " which would entirely change
the wiiole face of the world, and bring back Empire
to the East Nobody ever opened my mind
1 For the history of this personage see Tancred.
104 FOREIGN POLICY.
like you ; you will magnetise the Queen as you have
magnetised me. G-o back to England and arrange
this. You see, gloss it over as they may, one thing
is clear it is finished with England. Now, see a
coup d'etat that saves all. You must perform the
Portuguese scheme on a great scale, quit a petty
and exhausted position for a great and prolific
Empire. Let the Queen transfer the seat of her
Empire from London to Delhi. There she will find
an immense Empire ready made, a first-rate army,
and a large revenue. I will take care of Syria and
Asia Minor. The only way to manage the Afghans
is by Persia and the Arabs. We will acknowledge
the Empress of India as our Sovereign, and secure
for her the Levantine coast. If she like, she shall
have Alexandria as she now has Malta it could be
managed. Your Queen is young ; she has an avenir.
Aberdeen and Sir Peel will never give her this
advice ; their habits are formed. They are too old,
too ruses. But, you see ! the greatest Empire that
ever existed ; besides which she gets rid of the
embarrassment of her chambers ! And quite prac-
ticable, for the only difficult part, the conquest of
India, which baffled Alexander, is all done."
The Emir But some one may say " Quid ad rem ? " What
Fakredeen .
Prime has the Emir Fakredeen got to do with our x oreign
Minister.
Office ? What has he got to do with it ? Why, for
the last two years the Emir Fakredeen has been
Prime Minister and Director-general of all our
affairs at home and abroad. Do we not see in the
passage I have just quoted, at once Lord Beacons-
FOREIGN POLICY. 105
field's astounding influence at Court ? the dispro-
tionate importance which India in the hands of
men, most of whom know nothing about India has
lately obtained ? the Delhi pageant, the Imperial
title, the design on Syria which was frustrated by
Lord Derby's resignation ? the protectorate of Asia
Minor ? the distrust and dislike of Parliament and
of hum-drum statesmen like the late Sir Robert
Peel ? to say nothing of the war on the north-
western frontier of India, and perhaps some further
development of insanity which may be concealed
under the phrase, " the only way to manage the
Afghans is by Persia and the Arabs."
No ; you certainly could not make a good Foreign The Emir
-n IT T Fakredeen
Secretary out of the Emir Fakredeen ; but I do not as com-
pared with
know that he would not have made quite as good Lord SaUs-
. bury.
a one as you could make out of a man like Lord
Salisbury, with whom the fates seem to have a
vendetta, and who has hardly ever espoused a
cause during all his parliamentary life without the
mocking voice of Destiny being immediately heard
from behind the scenes of the political stage,
crying, Lost ! Lost ! Lost !
Well, but Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury, The other
although the most powerful, are not the only of the
i / T /-* T /-NT T Cabinet in
members 01 the Cabinet. Good and well, we know their reia-
. tions to
the names of its other members, and all of us, who Foreign
affairs.
care to do so, can with great ease find out their
antecedents and judge for ourselves how far they
are likely to mend matters. No fair critic would
deny to some of them very considerable merit.
106 FOREIGN POLICY.
Every one admits that Lord Cairns is a great English
lawyer ; that Mr. Cross has managed, to the general
satisfaction, the administrative as distinguished
from the legislative duties of his office, and tha,t he
made one good speech about Foreign affairs ; we
all know that Sir Stafford Northcote is a sufficiently
good financier to shudder in secret at the statements
which he makes in public but all that has nothing
to do with the matter in hand, and I maintain that
no Conservative who knows what he is talking about
and has the slightest self-respect can venture to say
that these men, or any of them, have made a sufficient
study of foreign affairs to be able to direct this
country wisely and well in its international rela-
tions, for no one, I presume, will assert that the
kind of knowledge necessary for that purpose comes
by inspiration, or is transmitted on taking office
through some magical power latent in the Sovereign,
like that which was supposed to make the Eoyal
touch effective for the cure of the King's Evil.
But even if But even if the members of the present Cabinet
Cabinet had possessed the requisite knowledge to frame a
had know- .
ledge, consecutive foreign policy, there is no evidence that
would its '
members they have at all realized the importance ot enlignten-
have tried
to make . ing the country as to what they were doing, or making
policy in- their foreign policy intelligible. It has been through-
out a policy of startling effects and surprises, arranged
to dazzle the unthinking not to convince the judg-
ment of the thinking part of the community. I
should like to know when in modern times a critic
so kindly and so responsible as Lord Aberdare has
FOREIGN POLICY. 107
ever brought against his opponents, with the
approval of all well-informed and honest men, such
a charge as the following : " Certain Ministers have
not treated Parliament and the country with
openness, candour, and sincerity ; because they
have concealed many things they ought to have
revealed and have used language studiously calcu-
lated to mislead the people of England."
Years ago the Prime Minister boasted of his The Prime
consistency ; and consistent he has been in one thing, consistent
0>
in one
in that view of his surroundings which was the thing.
key-note of his first work, " The world is mine
oyster, which I with sword will open."
" Populus vult decipi et decipiatur" has been
......... . vutt decipi
the motto ot his Administration ever since Lord et dt
lur."
Derby left him, and will be its motto to the end.
HOW FOREIGN AFFAIRS SHOULD BE CONDUCTED.
The proper way to conduct foreign affairs is,
it appears to us, diametrically opposite to that
which we have recently witnessed. Details as dis-
tinguished from broad principles must of course
be kept secret while negotiations are proceeding ;
there may be and should be infinite reserve and
caution in the means adopted abroad ; but there
must be no surprises, the country must under-
stand thoroughly whither it is being led and why
it is being led, in a particular direction. There
must be reticence, and a good deal of it, but the
less reticence the better. The Foreign Secretary
108 FOREIGN POLICY.
must recognise that it is distinctly his business
not only to conduct foreign affairs but to lead the
opinion of his countrymen about them, and in this
he must be aided by his colleagues. If this be
true it follows for the proper management of
foreign affairs that a great deal more speaking
will be required of the Ministers of the future and
of their supporters. The fusillade of oratory which
we have had this autumn will be not an exceptional
but a normal occurrence. It will no longer be
possible for Ministers, of however secretive a turn,
to reserve their explanations to the month of
February. This increased openness of speech will
lead to many inconveniences ; but although the
government of a free people by itself (when as in
this country it has the inestimable advantage of
having the highest prize of all withdrawn from
.the contention of party, thanks to our monarchical
institutions, and when a very large number of offices
are also withdrawn from being a subject of con-
tention, thanks to competitive examination) is un-
questionably the best in the world, no sensible
man ever denied that it has its evils, and the
atmosphere of constant discussion, in which we
and our sons are destined to live, is one of these.
Still it is an evil which has its good side. An
atmosphere of constant discussion is necessarily an
atmosphere of intellectual life, and many minds will
be strengthened by political discussion to do good
work in fields far removed from politics.
FOREIGN POLICY. 109
CONCLUSION RESULTS RECAPITULATED.
I may recapitulate in conclusion the results to
which I have wished to bring my readers.
1. That there is no reason to fear that this
country, which is now so largely democratic, and
which will, like all other European communities
become in the next two or three generations more
decisively democratic than it is now, should find
itself at all hampered thereby in carrying on its
international affairs.
2. That the methods which have hitherto been
approved for the carrying on of our international
affairs are not in all respects appropriate to our
altered circumstances, but require some revision
and improvement.
3. That the improvements chiefly wanted are
these :
(a) That our statesmen should try to become
more and more international in the sense in which
M. Drouyn de Lhuys called Mr. Cobden an inter-
national man.
(b) That they should not only know more than they
do of foreign countries, foreign modes of thought, and
foreigners generally, but be known by their country-
men, to have a real knowledge of these things.
(c) That they should act upon clear, well-under-
stood principles, never laying themselves open to
the charge, as the present Government has done,
of involving the nation in new and tremendous
liabilities, not only behind the back of Parliament
110 FOREIGN POLICY.
and without having given any opportunity for their
schemes being discussed, but under circumstances
which involved a complete abandonment of prin-
ciples which have hitherto been considered sacred
by both parties in the state.
(d) That the good-ordering of the Diplomatic
Service should be recognised as a matter of supreme
national importance of as great importance as the
good-ordering of the army or the navy ; that no
expense and no trouble should be spared for the
attainment of this object ; and that we should set
before ourselves no lower ideal than that suggested by
Lord Odo Russell when he said, in 1871, to the Diplo-
matic Committee, " Our Diplomatic Service ought to
be as well organized for its purposes as the ' Prussian
army or the Society of Jesus ' are for theirs."
(e) That our statesmen should remember that
they have now to deal with a far more mobile
constituency than that which existed before 1868,
and that they should take much greater trouble
than formerly to be thoroughly intelligible ; that
alike by their own speeches and by all other
legitimate agencies they should keep their views
upon our foreign relations clearly before the people,
not trusting merely to being right, but remember-
ing the words of a wise man : " Reality and
Appearance. Things do not pass for what they
are, but for what they seem. Few be those who
look at the inside, and many be those who are
contented with what is on the surface."
CHBISTMAS, 1879.
FREEDOM OF LAND.
G. SHAW LEFEVEE, M.P.
FKEEDOM OF LAND.
THE NEW DOMESDAY BOOK.
THE modem Domesday Book, as the Parlia- The New
-r -i f Domesday
mentary Keturn, giving the list and acreage ot the Book.
Landowners of the United Kingdom, has been
happily termed, enabled the country for the first
time since the Domesday of the Conqueror, to form
an estimate of the ownership and distribution of its
landed property.
Compared indeed with the original, it is very
deficient in details. It is so framed as to give very
little local information as to the ownership of land
in particular parishes or districts, or the number of
tenants of the various owners, or as to the nature of
the ownerships. It does not distinguish between
leaseholders, copyholders, and owners in fee ; it
omits all reference to the owners of land let on
long lease; it does not distinguish what is mere
house property from landed property ; it does not
114 FEEEDOM OF LAND.
The New enable us to estimate how many members still exist
Domesday
Book. of the class formerly so numerous, the yeomen of
England, cultivating their own lands, or how many
can be considered as forming a class of peasant
proprietors ; it is admittedly inaccurate in many of
its details.
These inaccuracies, however, do not, it is believed,
disturb the general results ; and faulty though it
may be in many respects, it is still most valuable ;
it enables us to compare the numbers of land-
owners of different classes in the three kingdoms
with the number of owners in other countries.
At first sight indeed the aggregate is apt to mis-
lead. It appears to indicate a much larger num-
ber of proprietors than was supposed to exist. A
gross total of 1,153,816 landowners is given for
the United Kingdom : of these, however, no less
than 852,438 are entered as owners or lessees of
less than one acre of land, with an aggregate of
188,000 acres only, valued at 36,300,0002. per
annum. It is obvious that with rare exceptions
these must be owners, and most of them leasehold-
ers, of mere house properties. From the 301,378
entries of owners of above one acre, further reduc-
tions must be made in respect of duplicate entries,
holders of glebes, corporations, and charities. A
careful examination of the Return has shown
that, after making these deductions, there are
FREEDOM OF LAND. 115
certainly not more than 166,000 owners of The New
Domesday
land, as distinguished from houses, in England Book,
and Wales; 21,000 in Ireland; 1 and 8,000 in
Scotland.
It may be safely stated then that the number
of landowners of the United Kingdom is under
200,000. How then is the land divided among
these owners ?
A careful analysis has shown that 955 persons
own between them 29,743,000 acres out of the
72,000,000 acres accounted for, exclusive of manors,
woods, forests, property let on long lease, property
within the metropolis, and house property generally ;
giving an average to each of nearly 30,000 acres,
consisting of estates situate generally in two or
more counties. A further analysis has shown that
about 4,000 persons, in the next rank of landowners
own between them about 20,000,000 acres, with
an average of 5,000 acres each; that 10,000
persons own between 500 and 2000 acres, with an
aggregate of 10,000,000 acres ; that 50,000 persons
own between 50 and 500 acres with an aggregate
of 9,000,000 acres; and that 130,000 own be-
tween one acre and fifty acres with an aggregate
of 1,750,000 acres. These figures however rather
1 Including about 5,000 holdings bought by their tenants
under the Blight clauses of the Church Disestablishment
Act (1869) and the Irish Land Act (1870).
I 2
116 FREEDOM OF LAND.
The New understate than overstate the proportion of land
Domesday n
Book, held by Jarge owners as compared with small
owners. An addition should be made to the acreage
of the former, in respect of woods and manors which
are not accounted for in the return, and which pro-
bably amount to nearly 4,000,000 acres. Making an
addition on this account, it may be safely said that
15,000 persons own between them 64,000,000 acres
out of a total 76 J millions ; of the remainder about
1,500,000 acres are held in mortmain, by the Crown,
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and other Church
Corporations, the Universities, Public Schools,
Hospitals and Charities.
It will be seen, however, from the above figures,
that the distribution of land is very different in the
three countries. In Scotland more than half the
country consists of mountain and moor, of little
agricultural value, and held in immense blocks. The
remaining half is owned by a very small number
of persons ; peasant proprietors do not exist there.
One person only out of every 400 owns land ; and
one in twenty-eight owns a house.
In Ireland the proportion of landowners would
have been about the same as in Scotland, but for
recent legislation promoting the purchase of land
by tenants, which has added about 5,000 to the
number of small owners, or nearly 30 per cent,
of the previous number ; with this addition, one
FREEDOM OF LAND. 117
person in 257 owns land, and one in 120 owns a The New
Domesday
house. Book.
In England and Wales the number of owners of
land is proportionally larger than in the other
countries. There are parts of the country, such
as Cumberland and Westmoreland, where the
class of yeomen has not altogether died out.
There are considerable numbers of owners of small
properties in the neighbourhood of towns, which
would be more properly classed as owners of villas.
In Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire there are a
certain number of owners of small holdings. With
these exceptions there cannot be said to exist a class
of yeomen farmers or of peasant proprietors. One
person out of 130 is probably an owner of land,
and, omitting London, one person in twenty-six is
probably the owner of a house.
LANDOWNERS IN OTHER STATES.
If we compare the state of landowning, as Land-
owners in
thus disclosed, with that existing in others of the other
" States.
civilized countries of the world, whether in Europe
or in the New World, we cannot fail to be struck
by the extraordinary difference. Nowhere is there
anything at all comparable to the state of this
country, except in parts of Spain, in Bohemia,
and in Southern Italy and Sicily. Throughout the
118 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land-
owners in
whole of Western, Central, and Northern Europe
states. t ne greater part of the soil is everywhere owned by
a large body of persons, including large numbers
of what we should call the yeomen class, or small
farming proprietors, and still more of the class
of smaller owners, more properly called peasant
proprietors.
France is said to be owned in respect of two-
thirds of its total cultivated area by small farmers
and peasant proprietors, and one-third of it only is
owned by larger proprietors, who let their lands
on farming leases to tenants. M. de Laverne, the
highest authority on this subject, stated a few
years ago, before the separation of Alsace and
Lorraine, that the owners and occupiers of land
in France might be divided into three classes, as
follows :
FRANCE (OWNERSHIPS).
Total Acres.
5,000,000 owners averaging 3 hectares
(7| acres) 37,000,000
500,000 medium sized owners averag-
ing 30 hectares (75 acres) 37,000,000
50,000 large proprietors averaging
300 hectares (750 acres). 37,000,000
5,550,000 111,000,000
State domains and Communal property 10,600,000
121,600,000
FREEDOM OF LAND. 119
FRANCE (AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS). Land-
Total Acres. owners in
1,815,000 occupiers of less than 5 hec- ^ her
states.
tares (7 acres) , . . 12,540,000
1,256,000 occupiers of between 5 hec-
tares and 40 hectares
(100 acres) 43,800,000
154,000 occupiers of over 40 hectares
(100 acres) 27,142,000
3,221,000 83,482,000
Woods and forests 19,980,000
Moors and uncultivated land . . . 18,200,000
121,662,000!
1 It is of interest to compare this table with a similar one
for the United Kingdom :
OWNERS.
Total Acres.
130,000 small owners averaging 13 acres 1,750,000
50,000 medium sized owners with an
average of 180 acres . . 9,000,000
15,000 large owners averaging 4,260
acres 64,000,000
195,000 74,750,000
Crown lands and lands in mortmain . . 1,600,000
76,350,000
AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS.
Total Acres.
750,000 occupiers of less than 10 acres 4,500,000
316,000 occupiers of from 10 acres to
100 acres 14,700,000
92,000 occupiers of above 100 acres . 28,000,000
1,148,000 47,400,000
Mountains, moors, and woods .... 29,000,000
76,400,000
120 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land- From these figures it appears that France is
owners
in other neither owned nor cultivated to the extent that is
States.
generally believed by peasant proprietors ; one-
third only of its area is owned, and one-tenth of it
only is cultivated by this class. Another third
part is owned by half a million of persons we
should more properly class as yeomen, and one-
third of it is cultivated in farms of about the same
size. The remaining one-third is owned by what
are called large proprietors, 50,000 in number, and
one-third of the cultivated part of France is held
in large farms, most of them on tenancy. One
half the area of cultivated France is held on
tenancy; and the farms of over 100 acres very
much outnumber those in the United Kingdom.
Compared with this, five-sixths of the area of the
United Kingdom are owned by 15,000 persons, and
not one fiftieth part of it by small owners. The
number of small cultivators however is consider-
able ; they number three-quarters of a million and
hold one-tenth of the cultivated land ; the large
farms are under 100,000 in number, but they con-
tain about two-thirds of the cultivated land of the
United Kingdom.
Switzerland, Baden, the Ehine provinces of
Prussia, Bavaria, and Hesse are almost wholly
owned and farmed by their cultivators, varying
only between the moderate-sized farmers and
peasants. The same may be said of Sweden and
Norway. Belgium, in respect of one-half of its
FREEDOM OF LAND. 121
area, is cultivated by its owners, and in respect
the other half by a very numerous class of small jj*
tenants farming the lands of others. Throughout
the remaining parts of Germany, whether Austria
or Prussia, the land is owned by large proprietors
and small proprietors in about equal proportions :
large properties are not unfrequent, but among them
are dispersed an immense number of small owners,
for the most part cultivating their land themselves.
The same may be said of Piedmont, North Italy,
and of the northern parts of Portugal and Spain.
In none of these countries does there exist the
entire and absolute separation between the three
classes of landowners, farmers, and day labourers,
which is the distinguishing feature of the English
system ; in many of them there are numerous large
properties cultivated by tenants and labourers ; but
the tenant-farmers are members of a class of whom
many are themselves owners ; and a great proportion
of the labourers are also owners of land. Through-
out all the countries named at least 50 per cent.,
and in France probably 75 per cent, of the labour-
ing population in the rural districts are owners of
small properties, which they either cultivate them-
selves, or let out to their neighbours or relations to
cultivate, while working for wages themselves.
In the United States also the separation of the
rural community into landowners, farmers, and
labourers has not begun to show itself.
The land is everywhere owned by its cultivators.
122 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land- There are more than three millions of landowners cul-
owners in
states tivating their own lands. Even in the oldest settled
States, in the neighbourhood of large cities, where
wealth has accumulated to an extent quite as great
as the great manufacturing towns of this country-
can show, and where land has attained a very high
value, the same features exist. Ownership every-
where prevails as opposed to tenancy. The State
of New York may be compared in extent with
Ireland. It contains 22,190,000 acres of land
held in farms. Of these there were, by the last
census, in 1870, 216,000 owners as compared with
the 21,000 owners of land in Ireland. These
owners have increased since 1860 by 20,000, or 10
per cent. ; and this increase has been mainly in the
class of persons owning between three acres and
twenty acres. Of these there were 17,800 in 1860,
and 31,000 in 1870.
CAUSES OF DIFFERENCE.
Causes of What then is the cause of this extraordinary
Difference.
difference ? Why is it that land in England is
in the possession of so few, and in every other
part of the world of so many ? Is it the result
of economic laws only, working freely, without
any artificial aid or encouragement by the State,
or is it the result of legislation, and of political
or social causes ? Has it resulted in the full
development of the resources of the land ? Has
FREEDOM OF LAND. 123
it tended to the well-being of all classes, and* sesof
Difference.
stimulated the industry and promoted the thrift of
the lowest, as well as subserved the enjoyment of
the highest ?
Where a very marked difference is observed in
the conditions of one and more countries, the poli-
tical inquirer instinctively looks about for other
differences, and on finding them concurrent in all
cases, connects them together as cause and effect.
In the case therefore of landownership, it is not
strange that we should at once have our attention
called to the fact, that this country differs not only
in its condition but in its laws ; while in every
other country above referred to, the laws either
give no sanction to the accumulation of landed
property upon eldest sons, or, as in the case of
France and some others, compel its distribution
equally among all the children on the death of
their parent, and generally offer no facilities for
the maintenance of property in particular families
by means of entails, in this country the law gives
prominent sanction to the. one practice and facilities
for the other.
There are, however, economists, and by no means
an unimportant class, who believe that the present
distribution of land in England has no reference
whatever to these laws, and that it is due solely
to economic causes, which they conceive tend in
a wealthy country to the inevitable aggregation
of land in a few hands, and to a complete separa-
124 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Causes of tion of the functions of landowners, farmers, and
Difference.
labourers. In the view of such persons, the exist-
ing condition is defensible on the ground that it
leads to the best development of the resources of
the land, and is inevitable, as with the growth
of wealth and luxury, land itself must become a
luxury of the highest quality, the ownership of
which can be indulged in only by the rich.
According to this school the existing tendency
will be carried much further, and we may look
forward, as wealth increases in this country, to the
gradual but certain extinction of those few small
ownerships of land which still exist in rural districts,
and to the absorption of all small estates in larger
properties ; and they preach the doctrine that the
further this monopoly of land, as they frankly
admit it to be, is carried, the better will it be for
the country, as the better prospect there will be of
the duties of landlords being carried out. Land
is, and should be, in this view, an article of luxury
which only the rich can afford to hold ; and it
is only to be expected, and is certainly to be
desired, that the smaller proprietors should con-
vert their capital as landowners into tenants' capital,
by selling their land and becoming the tenants of
five times as much land as they could hold as
owners.
It may be replied to this, that in other parts
of Europe, where there is great accumulation of
wealth, there is no such tendency. Belgium is
FREEDOM OF LAND. 125
one of the wealthiest parts of Europe. It com- Causes of
. Difference.
pares with the manufacturing districts of England.
In proportion to its size and population, there is
certainly as much of capital invested in manu-
factories and railways ; and yet so far from the
tendency being to a reduced number of owners,
the reverse is the case, and the movement of
property is towards a gradually increasing number
of landowners. Small capitalists outbid the larger
capitalists for landed property ; and not only is
a great part of Belgium cultivated by its owners,
but of the remaining half a large portion is owned
in very small portions, and is let out to farming
tenants at very high rents. Land is there the
luxury of all classes, although there are many very
large proprietors.
The same may be said of Normandy, the
wealthiest, happiest, and most populous part of
France. It is a rich manufacturing district.
There would be the same motive there, as is
alleged to exist in England, for small proprietors
to sell their lands, become tenants of what they
previously owned, and to invest their money either
in industrial enterprises returning a much higher
rate of interest, or in tenants' capital, enabling
them to hire more land than they could own.
Yet such is not the fact. Small proprietors give
higher prices than large proprietors, prices that
would appear to be excessive in the agricultural
parts of England, yet there is no tendency for land
126 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Causes of ^ f a u i n to f ew hands. There is great variety of
Ditierence.
ownership in that part of France ; large owners
and small owners intermix ; large farms and small
farms are found side by side ; but the large owners
are not prone like pike in a pond to swallow up
the smaller fry of their kind.
The price of land in rural districts of France is
generally forty years' purchase of the annual value,
and often more. The peasants are not without
appreciation of other investments giving higher
returns ; it is well known that the great loans
raised of late years to meet the war expenses and
the German indemnity, have been mainly raised
from the savings of the peasants ; they are not the
less ready however to purchase land returning
one-half less interest. M. de Laverne has shown
that the common statement about the indebted-
ness of the small proprietors in France is not
true ; the mortgages on their properties average no
more than ten per cent, of the value of the land.
The same may be said of Holland, a country
where there is more accumulation of savings than
in any other part of Europe ; whose inhabitants are
accustomed to lend out money to every borrowing-
power in Europe, and often in loans of the most
risky nature. They appear none the less able to
understand the value of safe investments in land
at a very low return. Land is even more valued
by the small capitalist than by the wealthy.
So again in the United States. In many of its
FREEDOM OF LAND. 127
States the general condition of society is
the same as in England. Land in some of the
older States has attained a value approaching
closely to its agricultural value in England and
Ireland, but there is not the smallest tendency to
its passing from the hands of the occupiers to
a class of proprietary landlords. The land is
universally owned by its occupiers.
So far then from being able to draw any con-
clusions from other countries in favour of the
proposition that with advancing civilisation and
with increasing wealth and luxury, land tends
to fall into fewer hands and to become more
exclusively the luxury of a particular class, the
very reverse is the case ; and everywhere we find
other classes competing for land with the wealthy,
and giving for it prices, which would be considered
very high even in this country.
We are not, however, left to the resource only of
comparing existing things and tendencies in other
countries with what we experience in this country ;
we are also able to point to the changes which have
been made in those countries, with the very object
of bringing about their present state, and of
avoiding the condition which this country
presents.
It is important to recollect that the condition
which exists in England was that exhibited not
many years ago throughout the greater part of
Europe, that the laws such as we now have in
128 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Causes of England were the laws of the whole of Europe.
Difference.
and that Europe has within the last hundred years
almost universally abandoned them ; and further,
that our colonists took these laws with them to the
New World, but there speedily got rid of them,
finding them opposed to the principles on which
their communities were founded, and intolerable in
their results upon the free commerce of land.
LAND LAWS OF FRANCE.
Land Laws I n France, before the Kevolution of 1789, large
of France.
properties prevailed throughout a great part of the
country. They were held and preserved in families
by laws very similar to those which still prevail in
England. Primogeniture and entail were almost
universally in practice among the upper classes.
These laws, however, were the exclusive privilege
of the nobility. The law was different for inferior
classes. There existed even in those days a large
number of small owners. This class had existed
from time immemorial, and were either descendants
of small freeholders, or of Roman coloni, holding
on payment of small and hereditary rents, and
who had been brought within the range of the
feudal system, or were emancipated serfs who
held by certain tenure, but subject to most
arbitrary and galling services and dues, under
feudal lords. These people had inherited from
the Roman law the principle of equal and com-
FREEDOM OF LAND. 129
pulsory division of property on death. The prin- Land Laws
of France.
ciples of feudal law had never been extended to
them. Primogeniture was not their privilege ;
entail was expressly prohibited to them.
Even before the Eevolution great complaints
were made of the effect of entails, in causing
multiplicity of suits, in creating uncertainty as to
title, in depriving creditors of their just rights, in
promoting clandestine arrangements of property, in
withdrawing from the freedom of commerce so
large a portion of the land, and in tending to the
accumulation of property in few hands ; many
attempts were made by the executive government to
restrict and curtail this process, and .to make it as
little noxious as possible.
The celebrated chancellor, D'Aguesseau, wrote
of entails, in the year 1750, in language which
might be used of England in the present day.
The president of Aix, another distinguished lawyer,
had written to him as follows :
"One may doubt whether it would not be
advantageous to the interest of the State wholly to
abolish entails (substitutions) ; they help to preserve
family property, but it is only by sacrificing the
creditors of the family, who have lent their money
in good faith. Nothing is more unjust than this ;
and as it is a matter of indifference to the State
that the property of such families should be
preserved, it seems that no general reason exists
for permitting the maintenance of entails, which
K
130 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land Laws were invented by people possessed of a foolish
of France.
obstinacy to prolong their names, but who forget
that a bankruptcy, occurring in every second
generation, dishonours them."
D'Aguesseau, in reply, wrote as follows :
" The complete abolition of entails would
probably, as you say, be the best of all laws ; and
there might be found more simple means of
preserving a sufficiency of property in great
families to sustain their position. But I fear
that in order to arrive at this, we should have
to commence by reforming men's brains, and this
would be the enterprise of one whose own head
might be in danger of being reformed away. It is
in truth a great misfortune that the vanity of man-
kind is the predominating influence of legislation/' 1
It was by the inspiration of D'Aguesseau that a
law was passed in 1747 greatly limiting the power
of entail, and compelling publicity of them. In the
preamble of this law, it is stated that among other
evils of entails, they provided an order of succes-
sion different from that of the State ; that what had
been intended for the benefit of the family often
ended in its ruin ; and that entails interfered with
the freedom of commerce in land. The statute,
however, effected little ; it left untouched all the
existing entails, which still continued to spread
their noxious influence throughout France.
1 See letters of D'Aguesseau, quoted in treatise on Substitu-
tions by Cosse".
FREEDOM OF LAND. 131
One of the earliest efforts of the Revolution
,
of France.
1789 was to deal with the land question. In the
celebrated meeting of the National Assembly of the
4th of August, it was at the instance of Vicomte
de Noailles and the Due d'Aiguillon, the foremost
and wealthiest members of the nobility, that all
feudal rights and privileges were abolished, and
among these were the privilege of primogeniture
and the power of making entails. Of the spirit
which animated the Assembly on these subjects
we can best judge from the well-known speech
of Mirabeau on the law of succession. " Is it
not sufficient," he said, "for society, that it has
to bear the caprices and passions of the living ?
must it also suffer from those of the dead ? Is it
not enough that society should be charged with all
the evil consequences resulting from testamentary
despotism from time immemorial to the present ?
must we also subject it to all that future testators
may add to this evil by their last wishes, so often
whimsical and unnatural ? Have we not seen a
multitude of wills which breathed of pride or
vengeance ; in some an unjust, in others a blind
preference \ The law cancels those wills which
are termed ab irato, but does not and cannot quash
those which we may call d decepto, d moroso, ab
imbecilli, d delirante, d superbo ? How many are
there of these acts of the dead towards the living,
where folly seems to dispute with passion, and
where the testator makes a disposition of his
K 2
132 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land Laws property which he dared not confide to any one
of France. . . . .
when alive ; a disposition in respect of which he
must have detached himself from all regard to his
memory, and have thought that the tomb would
protect him against ridicule and reproach ?..-..
There are no longer eldest sons or privileges in the
great family of the nation ; there should be none in
the smaller families of which each State is com-
posed. How many are there who, born without
fortune, succeed by some means or other in en-
riching themselves. Puffed up by this accident,
they often conceive a respect for their name, and
they will not let it pass to their descendants, except
under escort of a fortune which may recommend
it to consideration ; they choose an heir among
their children ; they decorate him by will with all
that can sustain the new existence which they
prepare for him, and their ambitious pride paints
for itself by anticipation, even beyond the tomb,
a line of descendants who will do honour to their
blood. Let us then stifle this germ of useless dis-
tinctions, let us break these instruments of injustice
and folly ! "
Under the influence of this passionate oration,
. the Assembly not only voted the repeal of the
laws of primogeniture and entail, but would not
even permit primogeniture ; it made universal and
applied to the nobility that which had been pre-
viously the law of the lower classes, namely, the
compulsory division of the greater part of the
FREEDOM OF LAND. 133
paternal property, of whatever nature, equally Land Laws
OI A 1 UI1CC.
among the children, leaving only a small propor-
tion to the discretion of the testator.
In 1792 the Assembly carried the same principles
further ; it abolished all existing entails ; the ex-
pectant heirs under entails were all irrevocably
deprived of their expectations ; and property sub-
ject to these settlements was, in the interest of
the public, freed from all limitations and placed
at the absolute disposal of existing holders.
It is worthy of notice, that so speedily did these
great changes commend themselves to the habits,
customs, and opinions of all classes, even of the
upper classes and of the nobility, and so rapidly did
the principle of equal division of property on death
gain acceptance, that when after the restoration of
the Bourbon monarchy, the reactionary government
of 1826 endeavoured to restore, to a very limited
degree, the principle of primogeniture and the
power of entail, so great was the force of public
opinion against the project, so strong was the
family feeling even of what remained of the old
nobility opposed to a restoration of such privileges,
that the Chamber of Peers rejected the proposals ;
the leading members of the old nobility voted ^
against them, and hundreds of eldest sons peti-
tioned against them on the ground that they
would introduce disagreement and discord into their
families. This shows how strongly the principle
of equal distribution of property had commended
134 FREEDOM OF LAND.
, even to the families of the old nobility ; and
it is not too much to say that there is no institu-
tion in France so popular and so immutable, as
that which requires equal division of property among
children. The law permits a father to dispose of a
certain portion of his property, and to accumulate
this upon any favoured child, but the universal
custom of France is to disregard this power, and to
distribute equally among the children.
The French Revolution did more than merely
alter the la,w. It took further measures to promote
the wider distribution and ownership of property.
The vast possessions belonging to the Church were
appropriated by the State, and sold ; 600,000
tenants became purchasers of their holdings, paying
for them probably in depreciated "assignats." A
portion of the property of the Emigres, though less
than is generally supposed, was dealt with in the
same way. A portion of the communal property
was also sold. Not less than a million tenants were
thus enabled to become owners. Long after the
Revolution, speculators, known under the name of
bandes noires, bought up large properties and
sold them to the tenants. The result of all these
operations was vastly to increase the number of
landowners, and to produce the state of ownership
which we now see there. Has the condition of
the peasants improved ? Who can doubt it who
reads the description given of them before the
Revolution and compares it with their present
FREEDOM OF LAND. 135
condition ? Has France gained or lost in a political, Land Laws
' of France.
social, or economic view, by this great accession to
the number of her landowners ? There is only one
answer possible for those who look back at her
history of the last few years. It is universally
admitted that she has been able to emerge from
her difficulties of foreign invasion, of a crushing
war indemnity, of the gravest political convulsion,
and of struggles with the Commune of Paris, only
by the conservative force of her great mass of
property owners, and the vast accumulations of
wealth created by their industry and thrift.
The principles of the Revolution, especially as
regards the land laws, were carried by the triumph-
ant arms of the new Republic, and yet more by
the spirit which had created this force to many
other countries, to Belgium and Holland, to the
Palatinate, to Baden, to Switzerland, and to a
great part of Italy. Everywhere the old laws
of primogeniture and entail were abolished, and
the principles of the French Code were adopted.
LAND LAWS OF GERMANY.
Even Prussia, and others of the German states, Land Laws
felt something of this impulse. The first sign they Germany,
showed was by secularising, as it was gently called,
the vast possessions of the Church ; and later,
when Prussia was at its lowest ebb, the legislation
pf Stein and Hardenburg did much to renovate
136 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Laud Laws ner an( j reanimate her people, by modernizing her
Germany. i anc [ laws, favouring the creation of absolute
owners, and substituting full ownership for feudal
dependency.
It may be worth while to dwell shortly upon
the changes which occurred in Prussia, 1 as they
were the model on which many other states have
subsequently acted. Indeed it may be said that
two methods have been followed by Europe, in
getting rid of the feudal land system the French
method of the Revolution, where little regard was
paid to private interests, where feudal services and
dues were abolished without compensation, and
feudal tenures were converted into absolute owner-
ships ; and the Prussian method, or the legal
method, by which the values of feudal rights were
commuted, or a partition was made of the land
occupied by the tenants, a portion being awarded
to their feudal superiors in compensation for the
loss of rights.
In Germany, as in France, the feudal system
had not extinguished altogether the anterior exist-
ing class of small proprietors. They were indeed
brought within the feudal system, and were con-
sidered as serfs ; but they continued in possession
of their small holdings, and exercised the rights
of property and of bequest in respect of them.
1 This account of the Reform of the Land Laws in Prussia
is taken mainly from Mr. Harriss Gastrel's able report in the
papers laid before Parliament in 1870.
FREEDOM OF LAND. 137
The subjection of the peasant to their lords Land Laws
was so great that " the air makes us serfs " became Germany,
a common expression. The oppression of the
serfs was carried to the utmost, and they were
not unfrequently sold to foreign governments as
soldiers; but notwithstanding this, the class con-
tinued in possession of their small holdings of
land. The power of the lord did not extend to
the appropriation of the peasant's lands. The lord
cultivated his own demesnes, either personally
or by his bailiffs, with the aid of the services
of his feudal dependents, and by the labour of the
serfs due in respect of their separate holdings.
It appears, however, that there was from an
early date a disposition on the part of the nobility
and feudal lords to encroach upon the lands of
their peasants, and gradually to convert the latter
more completely into labourers without land of
their own. We find, for instance, that in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the small country
towns petitioned the King of Prussia to protect
and maintain the yeomanry and peasantry, on
commercial and political grounds ; on the former,
because the nobles traded with the large commercial
towns, while the yeomanry traded with the small
country towns ; and on the latter, because it was
good for the state that the yeomanry and peasantry
should not disappear and leave nothing but nobles
and labourers. The Hohenzollern princes took
this view of the case, and directed their policy
138 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land Laws to the maintenance of the peasantry. They pro-
Germany, hibited the nobles from annexing the peasants'
lands ; and later they even forbad the eviction of
a peasant, except upon well-founded grounds, and
upon the lord of the manor replacing him by
another peasant. Frederick the Great, actuated
probably by military motives, issued severe edicts
on this subject, prohibiting the absorption of
peasants' lands.
At the beginning of this century Prussia had
retained the feudal system in some of its most ob-
jectionable features. Her subjects were divided into
three classes Nobles, Townsmen, and Peasants.
Each class was carefully restricted by law from
mingling with the others in any way. The lands
of each class were compulsorily maintained in its
possession. The nobles' lands were for the most
part the subject of unlimited entails. Freedom
of commerce in land did not exist. Though the
peasants were sustained and protected in their
holdings, they were subject to the most arbitrary,
capricious, and galling services and dues to their
lords.
The French Revolution and the humiliating de-
feat of the Prussian armies by the French, brought
on a crisis in this political and social system.
After the treaty of Tilsit, the Prussian statesmen
set to work to remodel her system, to modernize
her land laws, and to abolish the remains of the
feudal system. This great work was mainly
FREEDOM OF LAND. 139
accomplished by the legislation of Stein and Harden- Land Laws
burg. It was temporarily arrested in 1816 by the Germany,
reaction which set in after the close of the French
war, and was not finally accomplished till 1 850,
after the revolutionary rising of 1848. The effect
of this legislation was to convert the feudally
subjected peasant, with more or less imperfect
rights of property in land, into a perfectly free
peasant with absolute ownership, subject only to
a temporary rent-charge for commutation of the
feudal services ; to convert the feudally restricted
lord, with more or less perfect rights of property
in his land, into a perfectly independent land-
owner ; to relax the system of entails ; to abolish
all restrictions on the sale of land as between the
different classes ; and to establish the great principle
of freedom of sale of land. The operation was
assisted by the creation of Land Credit Banks, sup-
ported by loans from the State, and which in their
turn lent money to the tenants, repayable by
instalments spread over a term of years, for the
redemption of their rents.
The result of this legislation is that the land in
Prussia is now the absolute property of a large
number of owners, and that each owner is quite
independent of any other owner. The law recognizes
no distinction between land and other property in
respect of succession, and both are equally divided
among the children on the death of the owner.
Comparatively little land is now withdrawn from
140 FKEEDOM OF LAND.
Land Laws free exchange by entail. Entails are not absolutely
Germany, prohibited by law ; though the prohibition of them
was promised by the Constitution. The law of
obligatory heritage (as it is called), by which a
proportion of every man's property must descend
to his children (in Prussia one -third of the
property must go to the children equally if there
be two children, and one-half if there be more
than two), tends to prevent the accumulation of
very large landed properties, and the equal division
of real as well as personal property on intestacy,
runs counter to any existing custom of primo-
geniture. Title to land has been made clear and
almost indefeasible. The law of mortgages has
been simplified ; foreclosure and public sale are
facilitated. By all these measures, and above all
by the prevalence of absolute ownership of nume-
rous owners, the free exchange of land has been
fully attained.
The present state of Prussia as regards her land
ownership is this : exclusive of the Rhine provinces
and Westphalia, it consists of 70,000,000 acres, of
which about 50,000,000 acres are cultivated and
17,000,000 are forest. The land is owned by
1,300,000 proprietors, of whom about 16,000 are
large proprietors with properties of over 400 acres ;
350,000 are medium-sized proprietors and 925,000
are small proprietors. About half of the latter are
wholly employed on their small holdings, and the
remainder are occupied mainly as day labourers or
FREEDOM OF LAND. 141
have other industries. The large proprietors, who Land Laws
of
own between them about 45 per cent, of the Germany,
country, of which however a large part is forest,
either farm themselves or through their bailiffs,
and the relation of landlord and tenant is com-
paratively rare ; there are not more than 30,000
farm tenants. Of the total area not more than yVth
is withdrawn from free exchange by reason of
entails ; new entails are very seldom created, and
old entails are dying out.
In the Rhine provinces and Westphalia, owing
to the fact that they were subjected to the French
laws at the beginning of the century, the land
is even more distributed ; with an area of about
11,000,000 of acres, there are said to be 1,157,000
proprietors, giving an average of 10 acres to each.
Of the beneficent results of this legislation with
respect to land in Prussia, extending over a period
of nearly fifty years, and but recently completed,
there cannot be a doubt. The universal testimony
of the country is in its favour. It promotes
ownership versus tenancy; it aims at free ex-
change ; the discouragement of entail and the
withdrawal of sanction to primogeniture prevent
accumulation of land ; and the concurrence of
all economists and statesmen is in favour of the
yeomanry class as the main support of the empire.
There are nearly a million owners of land living
wholly upon the results of their own labour ; they
are said to form the most valuable section of
142 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land Laws Prussia's population, although not the most wealthy
Germany. Many of them have raised themselves from the rank
of day labourers. A well-known economist says of
them : " The inclination of the German to estab-
lish his family upon its own plot is a blessed
trait of the greatest moral advantage. It has
been sufficiently shown that the possibility of
acquiring land fosters hope, encourages energy,
and never allows useful activity to flag."
It has been thought well to dwell upon this
Prussian legislation, because it formed the model
which many other States have subsequently taken
for their legislation with respect to land. Austria,
Saxony, Hanover, Hungary, and Denmark, followed
in the wake of Prussia ; and the general principles
under-lying the more recent changes in Eussia and
the abolition of. serfdom in that great empire, have
been to a great extent borrowed from the same
source. Generally it may be said that the French
Kevolution gave the first impulse to these changes :
a reaction occurred at the close of the war in 1814,
which stopped further advance, and in some cases,
caused a return to the old system ; the revolution
of 1848, as a rule, compelled a final change.
It is not too much, then, to say that for the last
ninety years a large part of the Continent, and for
the last thirty years nearly the whole of the Con-
tinent, has been moving in the direction of more
absolute and more distributed ownership of land.
Its legislators have not been content with merely
FREEDOM OF LAND. 145
abolishing primogeniture and entail ; they have Land Laws
more actively thrown the weight of their laws and Germany,
their institutions in favour of individualism, and in
favour of ownership as distinguished from tenancy-
The sale of Church property and State domains has
largely assisted in this process. In some countries,
as in Sweden, old entails are permitted to wear
themselves out, but new entails cannot be created.
In Denmark the constitution of 1849 forbade the
creation of new entails, and promised that entailed
estates should be converted into free property.
This last promise, however, has not yet been
fulfilled.
In Portugal, it is reported to our Government, Portugal.
" that every opportunity is seized to necessitate the
transfer of land. The extinction and dispersion of
old estates ensuing from the laws now in force
have been sought for rather than prevented ; there
is a direct movement towards democratic institu-
tions, to which all measures of the legislature have
for some years tended. Another blow dealt against
the agglomeration of landed property is the
abolition of Prasos de Vita, a sort of right of
primogeniture which allowed property of a certain
kind to be left as an undivided inheritance for
three generations."
Of Gallicia, it is said, the local tribunals greatly Gaiii.-ia.
facilitate dispersion and division of land. The
Austrian civil code of 1869 accords no preference
to eldest sons ; exception is made in favour of
144 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Land Laws, majorat s, or family entails, but these cannot be
constituted without the consent of the legislature.
Sicily. Even in Sicily, one of the most backward parts
of Europe, changes have been made in the same
direction. Since 1812, when the feudal tenures
which had their origin in the Norman Conquest,
were abolished, the tendency of legislation has
been to favour the alienation and division of landed
property. In 1819 entails were put an end to,
and the testamentary power of a father was limited
to one-half of his property. In 1862 a law was
proposed for the disposal of the Church lands, which
amounted to one-sixth of the landed property in the
island; by 1869 about 20,000 lots of 451,000
acres were disposed of, averaging 23 acres ; yet
we are told that, in spite of these legislative changes,
the greater part of the soil of the island is still in
possession of the few. It has not been found
possible as yet to extirpate brigandage.
RESULTS OF CHANGES OF LAND LAWS.
Results of The methods and results of all these changes in
Changes
of Land Europe are described at length in the series of
Laws.
Reports from the representatives of this country
at foreign courts, which were laid before Parlia-
ment in 1870. They are unanimous as to the
benefits which have resulted from the changes they
report. Everywhere the production of the soil has
been increased. Industry and thrift have been
FREEDOM OF LAND. 145
stimulated. Pauperism has been greatly reduced, Results of
in many districts almost extinguished. Content O f iS
has taken the place of chronic discontent. The
rights of property have been greatly strengthened
and are now everywhere secure.
In the case of France, it is interesting to com-
pare the account given of its present condition by
Mr. Sackville West, with the description given of
it by the well-known writer, Arthur Young, imme-
diately before the Revolution of 1789. The state
of France as described by Arthur Young was most
wretched ; everywhere he found, on the one hand,
proprietors owning immense tracts of country
heavily encumbered with debt, and which they
were unable or unwilling to improve, and on the
other, a vast body of poverty-stricken tenants
overburthened with unjust taxation. In parts of
France, however, there were even in those days, a
considerable number of small peasant owners, culti-
vating their own land ; and Young, with his usual
discrimination, pointed out the difference in the
condition of these as compared with the mass of
the small tenants. He said of them, " their unre-
mitting industry is so conspicuous and meritorious
that no commendation would be too great for it.
It is sufficient to prove that property in land is of
all others the most active instigator to severe and
incessant labour." In another passage he said, " The
property in land is of all others the most active
instigator to severe and incessant labour ; and this
L
146 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of truth is of such force and extent that I know of
Changes .,-, i .
of Laud no way so sure to carry tillage to the mountain top
Laws. . ,. . . .,,
as by permitting the adjoining villagers to acquire
it in property ; " and he added the words which have
become a proverb, " Give a man the secure pos-
session of a bleak rock, and he will turn it into a
garden ; give him a nine years' lease of a garden,
and he will turn it into a desert. The magic of
property turns sand into gold."
This opinion of Arthur Young, of the influence
of ownership upon production and industry, is
the more important, as, while admitting the merit
of small properties, he feared they would result in
indefinite sub-division of the land, and in the in-
crease of population to an extent which the soil of
France could not support. " The population flow-
ing from this division, he said, would be the multi-
plication of wretchedness ; " and " properties much
divided would prove the greatest source of misery
that could be conceived." In this opinion he was
followed by many English economists. Of these
the ablest exponent was the late Mr. McCulloch,
who, writing in 1823, thirty years after the French
Kevolution, prophesied of France " that in half a
century it would certainly be the greatest pauper
warren in Europe, and along with Ireland have the
honour of furnishing hewers of wood and drawers
of water for all other countries in the world."
So far from these prophecies proving true, the
very reverse has been the case, and the extension
FREEDOM OF LAND. 147
of ownership, the bringing within the reach of all Results of
i Changes
classes the opportunity of becoming owners, the of Land
efforts made by the Government to facilitate the
connexion between ownership and cultivation, and
the enormous increase in the number of small
ownerships of land consequent upon the measures
of the Revolution, have not led to a great increase
of the population and to a consequent multiplica-
tion of a pauper class. They have had the very
opposite result. Production has been greatly
stimulated by the sense and security of ownership ;
but the population has not increased relatively in
the same proportion ; the average condition of the
people therefore is vastly improved ; pauperism is
almost unknown in rural districts ; the habits of
industry and thrift are universal. The complaint
now made by many economists is the reverse of
that which was predicted by Arthur Young and
McCulloch ; they contend that the system of small
ownerships is to be condemned because it tends
to check the increase of population.
It is true that the population of France in-
creases so slowly that it may almost be said to be
stationary. It is not by any means certain how-
ever that this can be attributed wholly to the
prevalence of peasant proprietors. In Belgium and
Switzerland, countries differing widely in their
commercial conditions, but agreeing in this that
they have a very large number of peasant owners,
the population is by no means stationary, and the
L 2
148 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of births exceed the deaths in a proportion not far
different from that of England. Let us, however,
assume for the purposes of argument that the
prevalence of peasant proprietors, and the wide
distribution of property in land, act as a restraint
upon individuals in such a manner as to reduce
greatly the rate of increase of population ; is it a
great disadvantage and a matter to be deplored ?
France is not a nation which has a genius for
emigration ; her sons love her soil too much, and
care not to face the unknown in other climes.
Without emigration, and with the rate of progress
of population that prevails in England, France
would not long supply a sufficiency for her popu-
lation. The increase of the proletariat without
corresponding increase of subsistence, would not be
considered a matter for satisfaction. The prophecies
of Arthur Young and M'Culloch, that her system
of small cultivators would lead to her becoming:
Q
the pauper warren of Europe, and her sons the
hewers of wood and drawers of water for the rest
of Europe, have not been fulfilled ; but they make
us feel what might have been the destinies of
France under a different system. Both objections
to her system of widely distributed property
namely, that it may lead to her becoming a pauper
warren, or that it may tend to a very slow rate of
increase of population cannot be sound ; which
of them would be the most serious ?
If the institutions of France have resulted in a
FREEDOM OF LAND. 149
self-acting process of adapting the growth of her Results of
population to the means of subsistence, it would of Land
i-T
seem to be not the least merit of a system which
is based upon the wide distribution of property,
bringing home to the lowest, as well as to the
highest, the motives of restraint.
Of the general condition of the small owners in
France and of the influence which the sense of
property has on agriculture, there can be no better
account than that of Mr. Sackville West, who in
1870 was Secretary of the British Embassy at
Paris, and who thus reported to the Foreign Office.
" The small proprietor is seen under more advan-
tageous circumstances in France than in any other
country in Europe, for he has in fact been the
creature of a system which, whatever may be urged
against it, has reconstituted the rural economy of
the nation and more than doubled the produce of
the soil. His mode of life presents a striking con-
trast and instruction illustrative of the system, for
it is based upon the proceeds of the land in which
he has a direct personal interest, and he lives, there-
fore, as an independent member of society according
to his means in the social scale. . .
" The condition of the small proprietors varies
very much in different Departments, as also does
the mode of cultivation ; but they will generally be
found in easy circumstances and living always in
the hope of bettering themselves ; and it is this
hope which absolute possession engenders that
150 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of stimulates them to fresh exertions, beneficial not
Changes .
of Land only to themselves but to the community in
Laws.
general.
This testimony in favour of the effects of a
widely distributed ownership of land is not to be
displaced by shewing that the average produce of
wheat in France is considerably below that of
England. It has already been shown by statistics
that France is not a country wholly of small
owners ; nearly half her cultivated area is farmed
by tenants; and there are 154,000 farmers who
cultivate upwards of 100 acres as compared with
92,000 tenants of the same size in the United
Kingdom. The wheat crops in France are mainly
produced by the tenant farmers on these larger
farms. The small owners as a rule do not produce
wheat. The low average production of wheat in
France is due to the soil and climate of her
middle and southern provinces. In the north,
the average production is as high as in England-
No argument therefore can be drawn from this
difference as against small ownerships.
Even Monsieur de Lavergne, who fully appre-
ciates the system of large farms, and who is not
in favour of an universal system of small proprie-
tors, says on this point, " Is it right to extol the large
property system to the disparagement of others, as
has been done to wish to extend it everywhere
and to proscribe the small ? Evidently not ; for
viewing the question merely from an agricultural
FREEDOM OF LAND. 151
point of view, the only one now under considera- Results of
/ Changes
tion, general results argue more in favour of small of Land
Laws.
properties than of large.
The same testimony meets us from almost every
part of Europe. Of Baden, where landed property
is very much divided, Mr. Bailie reports to the
Foreign Office.
" The prevalent public opinion is that the system
of small freeholds tends to promote the greater
economical and moral prosperity of the people, to
raise the average standard of education, and to
increase the national standard of defence and taxa-
tion. It seems to be a generally established fact
that the small farmers realize larger returns than
the larger farmers do from the same number of
acres, and the result is that the large properties
and large farms are disappearing, and being par-
celled out among a number of small farmers. In
fact, the price of lauded properties is determined
less by their intrinsic value than by the possibility
of selling or letting them in small holdings."
He adds that, " the small peasant proprietors do
not differ from the larger proprietors in respect of
dwellings, clothing, mode of living, or education.
There is no doubt^that since the revolution of 1848
there has been a great improvement in the houses
of the peasants and their mode of living, and in the
cultivation of the soil ; and their present condition
must on the whole be regarded as favourable in
respect of their means and general well-being."
152 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of Of Hesse Mr. Morier says : " An able-bodied
Changes .
of Land pauper is a being altogether unknown. I even
Laws.
found a difficulty in describing the sort of per-
son respecting whom I endeavoured to obtain
information.
" The most vivid impression which I carried
away from Viernheim was the equable manner in
which the wealth of the place appeared to be dis-
tributed amongst its inhabitants. The whole popu-
lation seemed to be on the same level of material
comfort and well-being. I could not bring back to
my recollection any sight or sound denoting the
presence of a squalid class, or any indication
pointing to a higher or a ruling class.
"When it has once reached a certain level of
well-being, a peasant proprietary is a good judge of
what amount of population the land will bear, and
just as it increases in wealth and comfort, and in
the special knowledge of the capabilities of the soil,
so it becomes alive to the danger of jeopardizing
this prosperity by over- population/'
He speaks of spontaneous and systematic emigra-
tion as the safety-valve. " The use of this regulation
is best understood in the Rhine provinces, which is
one of the best cultivated and most prosperous dis-
tricts in Europe. The Palatinate peasant cultivates
his land more with the passion of an artist than in
the plodding spirit of a mere bread-winner."
Of Lombardy, we are told that " Public opinion
holds that small proprietors are advantageous to
FREEDOM OF LAND. 153
our mountain soils, where the spur of ownership Results of
Changes of
is required to compel production. From a social Land
point of view the possession of freeholds may al-
ways be considered a benefit to the peasantry, and
when la petite culture is possible it is favourable
to agriculture."
There is no official report from Switzerland, but
of the condition of the agricultural population we
have abundant evidence from numerous writers
who have studied that country, and who all unite
in bearing testimony to the wonderful improve-
ments which have been made of late years, to the
marvellous industry and thrift of the small pro-
prietors, and to the general diffusion of wealth, of
comfort, and of intelligence. The Rev. Barham
Zincke, who has written a most excellent account
of this country, the result of many successive visits
to it, says of the Canton de Vaud, " I saw no
mansions in Switzerland, neither did I see scarcely
any houses that with us wo aid pass for cottages.
What I did see was a surprising number of good
comfortable small houses, which showed that the
district was inhabited by a large number of well-
to-do families .... It must be obvious that the
yearly produce of these little reclaimed grass farms,
in which every little patch and corner is made to
support as many blades of grass as the most careful
cultivation can force into existence, would not
maintain in their present style of living all the
families that reside in these comfortable houses.
154 FREEDOM OP LAND.
Results of But the Swiss system suggests and encourages the
Changes of '-
Land practice of saving ; and in most of these houses a
Laws. .
capital fund has been accumulated, which so aids
what these small farmers get during a year from
their farms that their families are enabled to live
with what is to them ease and comfort."
" It is an incidental and not unimportant result
of this system that it works in the direction of
enabling the population to provide themselves with
better houses than under the territorial system
they could rent from speculative builders of rows
of cottages run up by contract on land let for the
purpose on a ninety-nine years' lease. The com-
fortable little houses on the small farms through-
out this district are the property of those who
are living in them. That was the reason why
they spent as much as they could spare in con-
structing them well, and in making them roomy
and, in accordance with their ideas and wants,
commodious."
" We may infer from the general condition of
the Swiss that it is the possession of land, or
the prospect of being able to acquire it, that saves
a labouring class from sinking into a mob of
. pauperized drudges, and educates them into men."
How great is the difference between the state of
the Swiss as regards their houses and the agricul-
tural labourers of England as regards their cottages
will hereafter appear ; the difference between their
occupiers is scarcely less.
FREEDOM OF LAND. 155
It is not, however, necessary to go beyond the Results of
Changes of
immediate possessions of the Crown of England for Land
Laws.
a conspicuous illustration of the results of a widely
distributed ownership of land upon the production,
the industry, the content, and the general well-
being of a whole community. There is such a case
close at hand in the Channel Islands. The people
of those islands, since their union with England
800 years ago, have jealously preserved their local
government arid their distinctive laws. Chief
among these distinctions are their land laws, which
they have inherited from the common law of Nor-
mandy ; these laws favour the dispersion of pro-
perty, and forbid its accumulation by entail or
primogeniture. The result is, that with an area no
larger than hundreds of private estates in England
and Ireland, the islands boast of not less than
4,000 landowners, cultivating in most cases their
own property, and constituting a class of small
yeomen.
The industrial results of these small yeomen are
most remarkable ; the island is cultivated to the
highest point which it is capable of; the gross pro-
duce is extraordinary ; there is a general diffusion
of wealth ; thrift and saving are conspicuous in
every class ; cottages such as we see in England
and Ireland are unknown ; the people are better
housed than in any part of Europe ; pauperism is
almost unkown ; everything testifies to the stimulus
effected by the wide distribution of property, and
156 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of by the fact that property is brought within the
Changes of . . .
Land prospect oi acquisition by every one.
The most enlightened people in the island, equally
with public opinion, attribute these results to their
distinctive land laws ; to the fact that they have
successfully resisted the introduction of English
laws, which they believe would have an opposite
tendency ; and they significantly allege that if
these laws had been introduced some centuries
ago, the islands, by this time, would probably have
been each owned by a single individual ; and their
cultivators might have been in the condition of the
Irish tenants. As it is, a more prosperous, loyal,
and contented class does not exist under the
Crown of England than the small yeomen of the
Channel Islands.
CHANGES OF LAW IN THE UNITED STATES.
Changes of Our colonies have dealt not less rudely with the
United principles of English land laws. The various
States of North America retained them for many
years, so long as they remained colonies, but after
separation from the mother-country, commenced to
amend them. By their new constitution the sub-
ject of the land laws was left to the discretion
of the State legislatures. It is strong testimony to
the strength of public opinion against these laws,
and also to the result of the change, that every
FREEDOM OF LAND. 157
State has in succession abolished primogeniture changes of
t> Law in the
and has so restricted the power of settlement United
States.
that what we call entail is impossible. They
have universally, however, retained the freedom of
willing. They have rejected the French system
of compulsory division of property. They have pre-
served the parental authority intact. The universal
custom, however, of testators is to distribute pro-
perty on death equally among their children. Any
preference not justified by exceptional circumstances
is most rare, is condemned by public opinion, and
where attempted not unfrequently leads to the
will being disputed and upset on the ground of
undue influence. Land transfer is exceedingly
simple and uncostly ; mortgages, which are almost
a necessity for the existence of small properties,
are effected with the greatest ease and at a most
trifling cost, and the whole process of dealing with
land is assimilated to that of personal property.
Any legislation which tends to the monopoly of
land or to reduce or curtail the free rights and
dominions of its owners has everywhere been
repudiated.
Under this system, and under the influence of
public opinion, there is no tendency to create
landed estates on the English principle, and the
country throughout its length and breadth is
farmed by men owning their own land. Hence
the multitude of owners of land. The relation
of landlord and tenant of farming land is all but
158 FREEDOM OF LAND.
changes of unknown. The general aspect of the country,
Law in the . 1 ^ T ..
United especially in such states as JNew York, rennsyl-
States.
vania, Maryland, and New England would surprise
those who have not been out of England. The
rural districts have a more populous appearance
than even in this country. Every hundred to a
hundred and fifty acres belong to a separate owner,
who has a substantial house, and who farms the
land himself. There are no large owners. The
three millions of landowners are the foundation of
the social system, are the cause of stability, are the
conservative element in a system otherwise pro-
foundly democratic, and are also the promoters of
prosperity to the numerous cities and towns. The
same condition of things is extending through the
far West, hundreds of miles beyond Chicago, and
will eventually, and at no distant day, stretch across
the continent.
In a similar manner have our other Anglo-
Saxon colonies cast off the old shell of our land-laws,
as soon as they were endowed with the power to
legislate. They seem to have found them an in-
tolerable nuisance, wholly unsuited to modern life,
and to the necessities of an industrial society, of
which freedom of commerce in laud is the very
life breath. These changes have universally taken
the same direction ; the withdrawal of state sanction
to accumulation or to the preference of one child
over another ; the assimilation of the law with
respect to all kinds of property ; the limitation of
FREEDOM OF LAND. 159
family settlements, and the prohibition of a family Changes of
Law in the
succession different from that of the state ; the re- United
States.
gistration of titles ; the simplification of transfer.
CHANGES FAVOUR INDIVIDUALISM.
It is to be observed that these changes, alike in changeg
the old world and in the new, have been in the ^ ur
same direction and with the same object to favour ua um '
and strengthen individual property in land and to
promote its distribution. There is not in any of
the legislation alluded to the slightest trace of
communism, or of any new-fangled ideas of property
in land. No attempt has been made towards state
appropriation of land. No step has been taken
to secure to the community what is called the un-
earned increment. The individual owner is every-
where invested with full, absolute, and undisputed
control of the land which he owns. Freedom of
contract is nowhere interfered with.
Mr. West says of France, " Proprietary rights
can never be called in question. Whether a pro-
perty consists of one acre or one hundred, the
owner is absolute in all matters relating to posses-
sion. The legislature cannot interfere between him
and the tenant on questions respecting compensa-
tion for improvements or indemnities. Tenant
right and fixity of tenure are phrases scarely ever
heard of in France."
!60 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Changes Monsieur de Lavelaye says of Flanders, 1 "The
Favour , J
imii- Flemish tenant, though ground down by the con-
vidualism. J
stant rise of rents, lives among his equals, peasants
like himself, who have tenants whom they can use
just as the large landowner does his. His father,
his brother, perhaps the man himself, possesses
something like an acre of land, which he lets at as
high a rent as he can get. In the public-house,
peasant proprietors will boast of the high rents
they get for their lands, just as they might
boast of having sold their pigs or potatoes very
dear. . . .
" Thus the distribution of a number of small
properties among the peasantry forms a kind of
rampart and safeguard for the holders of large
estates ; and the peasant property may without
exaggeration be called the lightning-conductor that
averts from society dangers which might otherwise
lead to catastrophes."
Let it not then be said that any legislation in
the same direction, has any the slightest taint
either of communism or confiscation. The one
great object in view is not to destroy property, or
to lessen its value and the sense of security which
it gives, but to extend its influence as one of the
strongest and best agents in promoting individual
exertion, and as a spur to efforts to rise in the
social scale, which is equally powerful with the
1 See System of Land Tenure, published by the Cobden
Club.
FREEDOM OF LAND. 161
lowest as with the highest. It proceeds then on changes
.., ,,.,..,,. , Favour
the principle ot individualism as opposed to any indi-
..,.,. " vidualism.
principle of socialism or communism.
If then a right view has been taken of the
motives which have led to all the changes already
described in other countries, and of the results
attained, equally in the old world as in the new, it
must be difficult to suppose that England can with-
draw herself from the stream of modern life, can
hope to live in an atmosphere of her own, resist
all changes in her laws, and content herself with
going onward in the old groove, and under the
pleasing assurance of philosophers that land was
intended as a luxury for the rich, and that no poor
man need hope for a permanent interest in the soil
of his country, other than perhaps so much as is
covered by his hearth-stone when alive, and his
grave-stone when dead.
To those who argue that it is an inevitable law
of nature that land should in a wealthy country
become the luxury only of the rich, and that the
existing state of things in England is due to this
and not to our positive laws, two questions may
fairly be put with reference to the condition of
other countries. The one is, whether they would
really desire to substitute the English system of
complete separation between the three classes of
landowners, farmers, and labourers, for the yeo-
man and peasant proprietorship which so exten-
sively prevails elsewhere ? whether they would
M
tfi-2 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Changes contemplate with pleasure the possibility, or whether
indi- they expect, that the three million farming owners
ridualism. r
of the United States, with the advancing wealth
and population of that country, will gradually be
merged in about one-twentieth of their number of
landlords, and that the relation of landlord and
tenant should be universally substituted there ?
whether in France it would be better, or be de-
sirable in any sense, that the five millions of peasant
owners should be reduced to the position of tenants
at will to about one-hundredth part of their number
of landlords, and that the Irish system should pre-
vail there and in the Channel Islands as well as in
Ireland ?
The other question is what, on the assumption
that these changes are desirable and to be aimed
at, should be the first steps taken with a view to
this end, and with the object of facilitating and
promoting the gradual accumulation of land in few
hands, and the substitution of a class of large
landowners, with farming tenants for the existing
systems of widely distributed landownerships ?
Would not the first measures, adopted with this
object, be that their legislatures should again give
- the sanction of law to primogeniture, should again
give facilities for the entail of landed property, and
should again revert to a system of land laws which
would make the title to land obscure and compli-
cated, and its transfer therefore costly and difficult ?
And if this be conceded, how can it be doubted
FREEDOM OF LAND. 163
that these same laws and difficulties have in this changes
, , Favour
country been mainly instrumental in producing the indi-
vidualism,
result which we now observe ?
ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LAND SYSTEM.
In England, as in most parts of the Continent, origin of
the
there existed, prior to the feudal system, a very English
different state of things to that since brought Sy&tem.
about. In Saxon times England was undoubtedly
a country of very numerous landowners : they
consisted of " eorls," or larger owners, who held
under the Crown, and "ceorls," a very numerous
class, tilling the land they owned, and answering
to the modern class of yeomen, " the root," as
Hallam says, " of a noble plant, the free-soccage
tenants, or English yeomanry, whose independence
stamped with peculiar features both our consti'
tution and our national character." These two
classes owned the cultivated land ; beyond were
the common lands and forests, then called "folk
land," the land of the people, the property of which
was vested in the village community, and where
the villagers had the right to turn out their cattle,
dig their turf, or cut firewood. The property laws
of these people were not different from those now
prevailing among our colonists. There was equal
division of land upon death among the children ;
the power of alienation and of willing was fully
conceded ; there was a public register of all deeds
M 2
164 FREEDOM OF LAND.
origin of affecting land ; alienation was simple and public.
the
English These distinctive features of the Anglo-Saxon land
Land
System, laws were swept away after the Conquest. In
their place was introduced the feudal system of
land tenure, with its web of relations between the
sovereign, the nobles, the knights, the villeins, and
the serfs. The greater part of the land of Eng-
land was confiscated after the battle of Hastings,
and was granted out by the Conqueror to his
military chiefs. These chiefs or lords again, on
their part, granted portions of the lordships thus
confided to them to their principal knights and
retainers below them, to be held on the condition
of military service.
Some of the Saxon landowners survived this
process of confiscation, and were brought under
the system as free tenants of feudal superiors sub-
ject only to military service. Much greater numbers
were relegated to the position of villeins in the
feudal system, a position under which they con-
tinued to cultivate their lands for their own use,
but subject to dues and services, mostly of a per-
sonal or agricultural character, to their lords, and
were considered to have no rights as against such
superiors. Below these was the class of serfs, or
slaves, without any rights of property, the mere
menial servants of their lords and masters. The
feudal system being of military origin, founded on
conquest and maintained against internal difficul-
ties and foreign foes by force, had necessitated the
FREEDOM OF LAND. ]65
maintenance of military commands, or fiefs, in Origin of
i . the
strong hands ; the principle of primogeniture, English
therefore, by which the fief was inherited by the System.
eldest male descendant was also a necessity ; and
equally opposed to the system was the power of
alienation, without the consent at least of the
superior lord.
The general state of England, then, shortly
after the Conquest, was this. The country was
divided into a great number of separate lord-
ships or manors. The lord of each manor culti-
vated a portion of the land, entitled his demesne,
by himself or by his bailiff, partly by the assistance
of the villeins or small farmers of his manor, who
were bound to render him service some of so
many days' labour, and others of so many days of
team work and partly by the labour of serfs or
slaves. The common lands, or wastes, were appro-
priated in a sense by the lords, but subject to the
rights of the freehold and other tenants of the
manor to turn out their cattle or dig their turf
there.
Other portions of the land within the manor
were owned by free tenants, who owed only mili-
tary service, or in many cases fixed rents, to their
superior lord, and who in every other sense were
independent owners of their holdings. The remain-
ing lands of the manor were held and cultivated by
the class of villeins. Many of them had originally
been owners of their lands, but by commendation
166 FREEDOM OF LAND.
origin of or confiscation they had been completely subjected
the
English to the will of their feudal lords, and had lost all
Land
rights as against them. In theory and often in prac-
tice they were completely at the mercy of their lords,
" taillable et corveable sans merci ni misericorde "
(subject to dues and burthens without mercy or
pity), as the old lawyers describe them ; they
were, however, rarely or never disturbed in the
occupation of their lands. They were allowed
to alienate them with the consent of their lords,
and to bequeath them to their children ; and for
a time at least the old Saxon principle of equal
division among such children on death of the
owner without a will was preserved. In those
days the number of retainers a lord could muster
was a source of power .and strength to him. He
had no object then in dispossessing the tenants of
his manor, neither did he undertake for them any
of the duties which pertain to the modern landlord,
of building houses for his tenants or improving
their laud ; when, therefore, the country became
more settled and the lawyers began to study the
Koman law, they drew principles from it which
recognised the right of such tenants to what we
-should now call fixity of tenure, a right to con-
tinue in possession of their holdings upon payment
of the customary dues, services, rents, or fines,
and no longer to be merely tenants at the will of
tjieir lord.
Certain it is, that between the time of the
FREEDOM OF LAND. 167
Conqueror and of Edward the Third these villeins origin of
the
acquired a clear and absolute right to their hold- English
ings, and as tenants on the Koll of the Manor, or System.
copyholders, have ever since been recognised as
having an interest scarcely inferior to that of free-
holders. And it is this body of small owners who
constituted a large proportion of the small pro-
prietors, who at one time were the boast of this
country.
Domesday Book, the most valuable record of
the state of landownership and of the relation of
various classes of a population which any country
has ever possessed, informs us that about twenty
years after the Conquest the number of lords of
manors holding directly from the Crown or indi-
rectly from some superior lord, was 9,271 ; that
the number of freeholders holding under these
lords of manors by military service was 13,700 ;
and that the number of freemen holding from
lords of manors by fixed or determined rent service,
was 30,831, a total of 53,802 freeholders. The
number of villeins, as distinguished from burgesses
and serfs, and who were therefore occupiers of land
in rural districts, is stated to have been 108,407.
The four northern counties and Wales, comprising
one-fifth of the country, were not included in Domes-
day. Adding one-fifth then to the number, there
must at this time have been not short of 200,000
heads of families interested in the soil either as
freeholders or villeins. The relation f landlord
168 FKEEDOM OF LAND.
Origin of and tenant, such as we now know it, did not
English exist. There is little trace of land having been
System, let on lease to farmers before the reign of Edward I.
The principle of primogeniture did not in these
early times apply to any property but fiefs, or
lands held under fiefs by military service ; it did
not apply to that freehold property known as free-
soccage land, which had escaped confiscation at the
Conquest, nor did it apply to the property of vil-
leins. It is clear, then, that between the date of
Domesday and the time of Edward III. there must
have been a great increase in the number of persons
who had an absolute right in the soil of their na-
tive country. Certain it is, that Sir John Fortescue,
writing in the time of Henry VI., about a hundred
years later, speaks of the number of its freeholders
being one of the chief boasts of England of his day.
He adds, that although there were some noblemen of
great estates, yet that between these estates there
were great numbers of small freeholders. The number
of parish churches, the entries in old registries, and
many other indications, point to the fact of Eng-
land being, before the Black Death, very thickly
populated in its rural districts. And Professor
Eogers, who has investigated many old records and
manorial lists of the fourteenth century, has found
that the land was greatly subdivided, and that
most of the regular farm-servants of that time
were owners of land.
It would be interesting to trace, through
FREEDOM OF LAND. 169
succeeding periods, the gradual reduction of this Origin of
the
element of English life. Statistics are at no English
Land
period to be obtained, so that anything like an System.
accurate tracing of the decline is impossible.
It is worthy of notice, however, that, unlike most
other countries in Europe, where the principle of
primogeniture was confined to feudal fiefs and lord-
ships of manors or to the property of the nobility,
and was not applied to the property of inferior
classes, in England this principle came to be applied
to every species of landed property and to all classes
of landowners, however small. It was probably
extended to copyhold property about the time of
Henry III.
THE HISTORY OF ENTAIL.
It is however to the principle of entail that we History of
. Entail.
must mainly ascribe the reduction and disappearance
of small owners. This principle was by no means
one of the earliest features of feudalism. Fiefs and
lordships of manors being in the first instance con-
nected with military duties, even the hereditary
principle was not at first recognised, and was for
a time resisted by the feudal superiors ; but when
fully recognised every effort was made to secure
the perpetuation of these functions and properties
in the male line of the family. The Norman barons
endeavoured to introduce this principle shortly after
the Conquest, but they met with great resistance
from the Crown and the Church.
170 FREEDOM OF LAND.
History of The main object which the feudal chiefs had in
Entail. . .
view was to secure their fiefs and property to their
successors free from the chance of forfeiture in
case of treasonable acts of their own. Conviction
for treason was followed by forfeiture of property.
Entail would preserve the property for the family,
though the present holder might suffer forfeiture
during his lifetime.
On the other hand, the Sovereign, representing
the principle of order and of imperial interests, as
opposed to those of the. feudal lords or petty local
chiefs, was much concerned in maintaining the
principle of forfeiture of property in case of treason,
as one of the main securities against rebellion.
Any reduction therefore of this penalty was to be
resisted. A powerful ally in this instance was
found in the Church. The principle of entail if
once admitted would deprive the Church of the
main source of its wealth, the gifts of land by its
pious sons. The clerical lawyers therefore assisted
the sovereign in his efforts to prevent the intro-
duction of this principle, and we find that they
borrowed principles from the Civil Law with
.great ingenuity to upset the grants which had
-been obtained by the nobles with the object of
creating entails.
For the first 200 years after the Conquest, the
nobles failed to secure their object, or to effect
.entails. .During the whole of this time therefore
land was practically alienable ; and no doubt this
FREEDOM OF LAND. 171
contributed greatly to the increase in the number History of
Entail.
01 owners 01 land.
In the year 1285, however, the nobles found
themselves strong enough to force upon the Crown
and the country a law, which overrode the inter-
pretation which had been given by the lawyers to
the words of entail, and practically enabled perpetual
entails to be created. It is worthy of notice that
this statute of Edward I. known as ' De Donis/ an
Act still on the statute book and part of the law of
this country, never obtained the consent of the
Commons. This vicious principle of perpetual entail
speedily came into common use, and it was not long
before grave inconvenience and mischief arose from
it, and from the consequent withdrawal of a great
part of the landed property of the country from free
commerce. The celebrated Lord Coke speaking of
the statute ' De Donis/ said of it
" The true policy of the common law was over-
turned by this statute, which established a per-
petuity, by art for all those who had or would have
it ; by force, whereof all the possessions in England
were entailed accordingly, which was the occasion
and cause of divers other mischiefs ; and the same
was attempted to be remedied at divers Parliaments,
and divers bills were exhibited accordingly, but they
where always on one pretence or other rejected. But
the truth was that the Lords and Commons, knowing
that their estates in tail were not to be forfeited
for felony or treason, as their estates of inheritance
172 FREEDOM OF LAND.
History of were before the said Act, and finding that they were
Entail. * J
not answerable for the debts and incumbrances of
their ancestors, and that the sales or alienations and
leases of their ancestors did not bind them, they
always rejected such bills."
The bad effects of this statute are also described
by Blackstone in a well-known passage :
" Children grew disobedient when they knew
they could not be set aside ; farmers were ousted
of the leases made by tenants in tail ; creditors
were defrauded of their debts ; innumerable latent
clauses were produced to deprive purchasers of land
they had bought and paid for, and treasons were
encouraged as estates tail were not liable to for-
feiture longer than for the tenant's life."
These evils continued without remedy for another
period of 200 years. After this long interval the re-
viving power of the Crown and the ingenuity of the
lawyers combined to upset these perpetual entails,
and a method was discovered by which the celebrated
statute of Edward I. was circumvented and defeated.
The process by which this was arrived at, and
carried out, was so subtle, technical, and ingenious,
that it would be impossible to explain it in popular
language, or to make it intelligible to others than
lawyers and logicians. It is sufficient to say, that
by a kind of collusion between the courts of law
and the immediate holder of an entailed property,
the object of the entail could be defeated, and
landed property subject to it could be sold.
FREEDOM OF LAND. 173
Later the Tudor kings, Henry VII. and Henry History of
TTTTT -r Entail.
VIII., succeeded in inducing Parliament to give
legislative sanction to this curious device of the
lawyers, and also to deprive entailed estates of their
freedom from forfeiture in the case of the treason
of their holders. These acts again gave great
freedom to the sale of land, and though entails were
not wholly destroyed and were still valid for certain
purposes, they were not effective to prevent the
alienation of land. Thenceforward for another 200
years land again became freely alienable, and entails
were practically rendered innocuous.
It may be not unworthy of notice that these
200 years, when land was practically free from
the shackles of entail, when the holders of estates
were really their owners, and not merely the
ostensible owners or temporary enjoyers of them,
were not the least memorable years of English
history or the least fruitful of great Englishmen.
They embraced the Elizabethan era, and they
spanned the lives of Bacon, Shakespeare, and
Milton ; of Sydney, Ealeigh, and Blake ; of Cecil
and Walsingham, of Hampden and Pirn, of
Cromwell and Vane, of Strafford and Falkland.
It does not appear that, even in those days, not-
withstanding the absence of effective entail, men
had any fear of being unable to hand down to a
remote posterity the products of their fortunes in
lands and houses. Burleigh, Hatfield, Longleat,
Audley End, Holland House, and Bramshill, and
174 FREEDOM OF LAND.
History of numerous other great mansions, were built in this
Kutiiil. .
period, and still survive as evidence that even
in days when landowners were in full possession
of their property, they did not fear to build for a
long future.
Frequently during this interval attempts were
made by clever lawyers to restore the principle of
indefeasible entail ; the courts of law, however,
uniformly resisted such attempts ; in a well-known
case which came before them, and which was
known as the "Perpetuities case/' it was attempted
to create an entai] or settlement upon an unborn
person, not dissimilar to our present family settle-
ments, by giving a life- interest to a father and
vesting the property in his unborn eldest son ; the
Judges however rejected the scheme, alleging that if
this were permitted the following evils would arise :
1. That the owner of the property would be
prevented providing for his widow and younger
children in such proportion as he should think
fit.
2. That the eldest son being certain of his in-
heritance, and therefore independent of his father,
would not be subject to parental control.
3. That such settlements would lead to com-
plexity of title, and therefore to uncertainty and
expense of transfer.
It is most important to recollect these objections
of the Judges to the introduction of the first germs
of a system which afterwards unhappily was
FREEDOM OF LAND. 175
established, and which, as will be shown, has led History of
to the very evils which were thus foretold.
The period of freedom of land from entails lasted
from the date of the discovery of the means of
eluding the Statute de Donis, in 1472, till about
the time of the great Rebellion, another period of
nearly 200 years ; it might possibly have lasted till
our own time, but for the accidental effects of that
great political crisis upon the views of lawyers and
landowners. It again became a great object to the
owners of land to protect their properties from the
possible results of their acts if convicted of treason ;
and at a time when almost every landowner was
forced, either by inclination or public opinion, to take
one side or the other in the great national struggle
there was almost equal danger of the enforcement
of this forfeiture for treason, on either side, as now
one party and now the other prevailed.
It is interesting to observe that the lawyers and
Judges who had previously favoured freedom of
alienation, and had exercised all their ingenuity
to prevent entails, or to find the means of eluding
and breaking them, now shifted their advocacy,
and lending their subtleties to the opposite
principle, aided the landowners in protecting their
family estates from forfeiture, and succeeded in
forging the system of entail through family settle-
ments, from which the country has ever since
suffered.
A royalist lawyer, of great learning and in-
176 FREEDOM OF LAND.
History of genuity, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, the ancestor of
Entail.
the Earls of Bradford, was the first to devise a
plan, by which landed property could be settled
upon an unborn eldest son, in such a way, as to
elude both the statute law against entails, and
the common law doctrine against perpetuities,
and to lay the foundation for the family entails
such as we now have them. It is said that Sir
Orlando, whose reputation as a lawyer was so
great that he became "the oracle of both parties,
his very enemies not thinking their estates secure
without his advice," himself assisted in giving
currency to his own coinage, when he was raised
to the Bench of Judges after the Restoration ; in
other words, he upheld, by decisions from the Bench
the devices he had invented as a lawyer. However
this may be, it is certain, that about this period
there was invented by the lawyers and accepted
by the judges as valid, a system of entailing
property on unborn persons, wholly alien to the
principle which had induced Parliament 200 years
before to break the system of entails, and utterly
opposed to the doctrine of freedom and alienability
of land which had been the happy condition of the
country during that period.
The essence of the new principle thus introduced
was the settling of property upon an unborn person,
against which the courts of law had previously
struggled. The effect of thus permitting the
vesting of property in the unborn was to
FREEDOM OF LAND. 177
convert the immediate possessors of properties History of
T/* Entail.
hampered by these arrangements into mere lite-
holders, without any real power over the property,
without power to sell, or even to lease for any
period beyond their own lives, and without any
power of bequest in favour of other children than
the one named in the settlement. It had the great
merit however, at such a period, of preventing the
forfeiture of more than the life estate in the event
of the life-holder being convicted of treason.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to make
intelligible to other than lawyers how this was
effected, and how the old traditions and doctrines
of the law were evaded, or to describe all the
subtleties and difficulties which have since grown
out of it. It is sufficient to say that it led directly
to the system known as that of family entail under
which landed properties are now generally held.
It will be observed that this system has never re-
ceived the assent of Parliament. It has never fairly
been brought under review of the legislature. It
was the invention of lawyers, and was sanctioned
by the courts of law, but has never been subjected
to popular control.
MODERN ENTAILS.
The general object of such family entails may Modem
be briefly stated as follows : to secure that the
landed property which is the subject of them*
N
178 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Modem shall descend in the direct male line by the order
Entails. . . . .
oi primogeniture, intact and undimmished, lor as
long a period as possible ; to prevent the holder, the
tenant for life, and successive tenants for life,
from alienating the property, or bequeathing it
to their children in such proportion as they may
think fit.
It is customary for lawyers, in representing this
system, to speak of it as very limited in its opera-
tion, and as tying up estates for a comparatively
short period. They say that once in every genera-
^ion it is possible to break the entail, and for the
persons interested to join in freeing the property,
and selling or disposing of it as they think fit. It
is true that when the tenant in tail, as he is called,
the unborn son in whom the property is ultimately
vested, after the death of his father and perhaps
his grandfather, reaches the age of twenty-one, he
and his father can agree together to break up the
entail, and to cut off all other contingent interests
or collateral claims.
In fact, however, the system is so curiously
and artfully devised, that when this climax is
reached, when after the lapse of years there are co-
existing two or more persons in different genera-
tions, who by agreeing together can cut off the
entail, there arises out of the very nature of the
arrangement the greatest inducement to all con-
cerned in such a family settlement to take this
opportunity, not to free the estate from its
FREEDOM OF LAND. 179
cumbrous shackles, but to prolong the entail, and Modem
Entails.
to make a new settlement which will carry on
the entail to another unborn generation.
The process has thus been described by an
eminent legal writer:
" Upon the majority or marriage of the son who
is tenant in tail under a family settlement the
estate is commonly re-settled, he receiving an
immediate provision, and by his estate being re-
duced to a life- estate with remainder to his issue
in tail, parting with his prospective powers of
alienation. By such a process as is here roughly
described, the bulk of family estates in this country
are kept in settlement from one generation to
another, the new fetter being added at that epoch
at which the power of alienation arises."
And the late Lord St. Leonards, a powerful advo-
cate of the system, spoke of it as " from its own
nature leading to successive settlements." Although,
therefore, in one sense, such settlements may
appear to be limited in duration, the truer view is
that they embody all the vicious principles of per-
petual entail. They are intended to preserve the
family property intact through successive genera-
tions, and to prevent the head of the family, at
any time, from either reducing the corpus of the
property, or from exercising any option in favour
of a more equal distribution among his children ;
and subject to some perils, which will shortly be
pointed out, they certainly succeed in doing this.
N 2
180 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Modem It has been already shown that from the time of
the Norman conquest till the present time there
have been four nearly equal periods of 200 years
each. In the first 200 years entails could not be
effected. In the next 200 years they were per-
mitted by law, and their -evils were notorious, and
admitted to be most disastrous. In the third
period the system was again broken down, entails
were practically inoperative, landowners were again
masters of their own property, and land was again
brought into free commerce. In the last period
entails have again been permitted, through the
medium of family settlements which, if not per-
petual as they were in the former period, have
tended to perpetuities, as Lord St. Leonards has
told us.
This power and the consequent custom to entail
land has now existed for rather more than 200
years. It is commonly admitted that about three-
fourths of the landed property of the country is
subject to such entails. What effect have they had
upon the distribution and ownership of property ?
Have they been the cause of the accumulation of
land in few hands ? Do they tend to prevent the
application of capital to the land ? Have they
been in the interest of the families concerned ?
How have they affected the position and well-being
of the labouring class ?
FREEDOM OF LAND. 181
EFFECT OF ENTAILS ON NUMBER OF LAND-
OWNERS.
It would be most interesting to trace the number Effect of
of landowners through these periods, and to show number of
the effect of these various changes upon the distri- owners.
bution of land. Unfortunately, however, from
the Domesday Book till the return of four years
ago we have no certain facts and no reliable stat-
istics whatever. It has been already shown that at
a very early period there was a very large number
of small proprietors. It is probable that in the
time of the Edwards their number was very much
greater than at the present time, notwithstanding
that the area of cultivated land has been greatly
increased in the interval by the inclosure of com-
mons and the clearing of forests. There is every
reason to believe that a large majority of farmers
were yeomen, that is, were owners of the land
they farmed ; and that a very large number of the
labouring class were also owners of cottages and
small plots of land. The records of copyhold
manors give abundant proof of this ; and all the
testimony of early writers is to the same effect.
How far this number was reduced or affected by
the prevalence of entails between 1285 and 1470
we cannot tell, nor whether the greater freedom of
the next period either tended to increase their
182 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Effect of number or to stem the reduction which had been
Entails on , . . .
number of taking place. It is certain, however, that in the
Land- .
owners, time of the civil war the number of freeholders in
rural districts was considerable. It is matter of
history that 6,000 freeholders rode up from Buck-
inghamshire to Westminster to petition Parliament
against the arbitrary acts of Charles I., from which
Clarendon dates the commencement of the civil
war. It was from the yeomen that Cromwell
mainly drew his forces. It was the county free-
holders that formed the main support of the
parliamentary party.
Lord Macaulay, speaking of the yeomen class of
200 years ago, says that they were " an eminently
manly and true-hearted race. These small pro-
prietors who cultivated their own fields, and
enjoyed a modest competence, without affecting
to have escutcheons or crests, or aspiring to sit
on the bench of justice, then formed a much more
important part of the nation than at present. If
we may trust the best statistical writers of that
age, not less than 160,000 proprietors, who with
their families made up more than a seventh of
the whole population, derived their subsistence
from small freehold estates It was com-
puted that the number of persons who occupied
their own land was far greater than of those who
farmed the land for others. Great," he adds, " has
since been the change in the rural life of England."
There are also in most parts of rural England
FREEDOM OF LAND. 183
indications that in times not very remote the Effect of
Entails on
small squires and yeomen were much more nume- number 01
rous than at the present time. Great numbers owners.
of existing farmhouses have the appearance and
tradition of having been the residences of owners
and not of tenants. It is admitted that the yeo-
men class has all but disappeared from most parts
of England, and that the labouring class has
almost ceased to have any permanent interest in
or connection with the soil of their native land.
The number of squires has been also so reduced^
that in large districts there are very few resident
gentlemen, except the clergy. Inquiry on this
point has shown that in the counties of Berkshire
and Dorsetshire more than half the parishes have
no gentlemen of the landowning class resident
within them. Of the county of Nottingham it was
reported that of 245 parishes in the eastern
division only sixty-five have resident squires ; and
it was added, " the bankruptcy of one duke and the
eccentricity of another have caused great depres-
sion in this part of the county." Everything,
therefore, points to the reduction of the number of
landowners of all classes, whether of the squire
class, or of the yeomen class, or of the agricultural
labourer.
A careful examination of the list of landowners
will tend to the same conclusions. Of the 955 land-
owners of upwards of 10,000 acres each, and
averaging 30,000 acres, about sixty appear to have
184 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Effect of come into this category during the last thirty years ;
number of some few of their owners have bought out other
Land-
owners, large proprietors, but the greater part of them have
been created by the extinction of many small
proprietors ; and probably an examination of the
list of proprietors in the next rank would show
a somewhat similar result. Of those who have
existed more than thirty years a certain number
have from one cause or other been compelled to
sell portions of their properties, yet a greater
number have increased their properties, either by
marriage or by purchase ; and the general result
of an examination of the list must be the con-
viction that the number of large proprietors is
steadily increasing at the expense of the smaller
proprietors, and that the average holdings of land
by these large owners is also increasing. It may
be worthy of notice, that in the list of those who
have risen into the first grade of landowners within
the last thirty years by purchase, and not by mar-
riage, there is not a single name distinguished for
any great service to the State or to the public.
The days when statesmen, like the Cecils or Wai-
poles, or when great lawyers like the Howards,
the Cokes, or the Bridgemans, or great generals
such as the Marlboroughs and Wellingtons, could
acquire great properties of land and could found
families in the first rank of landowners, seems to be
past. The list consists almost wholly of success-
ful merchants, manufacturers, brewers, coalowners,
FREEDOM OF LAND. 185
ironmasters, or tradesmen ; it is from these classes Effect of
Entails on
that families are now being founded, which it is number of
Land-
hoped by means of entails to maintain for a long owners.
future among the landed magnates. Without wish-
ing to depreciate the merits of such persons, or
the services which they have rendered to the
industry and commerce of the country while build-
ing up their own fortunes, it may be permitted
to express a doubt whether society is much in-
terested in affording them the machinery for
securing that their names shall be escorted by
landed property in perpetuity.
It will not be denied, however, that if of this
class a certain number are continually pressing
into the ranks of landowners, and if an equivalent
number is not dropping off the list by the dis-
persion or division of the property, by will or by
sale, the list of large owners must be continually
increasing, and the number of small owners con-
tinually diminishing in greater proportion ; and the
time must come when the ideal of such a system
will be reached, when the country will be divided
among a comparatively few of the largest owners,
and when small proprietors will have ceased to
exist in rural districts or beyond the immediate
neighbourhood of large towns.
186 FREEDOM OF LAND.
DANGERS OF ENTAIL.
Dangers of But for one feature of entail by family settle -
EntaU.
ments there cannot be a doubt that accumulation
would be far greater than it has been. The one
counteracting force is that they sometimes tend to
defeat their own objects. The effect of the ar-
rangement is to divest the present holder of the
property of all real power over it, and to vest
the remainder with full power in the eldest son
when he shall attain the age of twenty-one and
survive his father. If the son should not agree to
re-settle the estate, as it is called, when he arrives
at the age of twenty-one, or if the father should die
before the son reaches this age, the property will
ultimately vest in the son to do as he likes with it.
The certainty of thus coming into possession of the
estate leads not a few eldest sons into early extra-
vagance ; they not unfrequently fall a prey to the
class of money-lenders who are always on the look-
out for them, and who induce them to anticipate
their inheritance by borrowing upon their expecta-
tions. A young man who begins in this way is
speedily brought to the point when he has ruined
his property even before he has come into pos-
session of it, and many are the cases where family
properties have been sacrificed and sold through
anticipations of this kind, favoured, if not created,
FREEDOM OF LAND. 187
by the very arrangements which were intended to Dangers of
EutHU.
preserve them intact. The settlor of the property
who thought to preserve the family estate for future
generations of his family, and who deprived his
son of the full dominion over it and of the power
of free bequest, is defeated in his object, through
having vested the remainder in an unborn grand-
son, of whom he could know nothing, and who
turns out to be unworthy of the charge.
Another feature of such family arrangements and
artificial attempts to maintain property in the family*
in successive generations of eldest sons, is the gra-
dually accumulating debt upon the estate. Although
the estate is settled on the eldest males in succession,
there must be some provision for other members
of the family. Widows must be provided with an-
nuities, younger sons and daughters cannot be left
without means, portions for them must be charged
on the property, in many cases debts must be
met by charges on the estate, generally by arrange-
ment between father and son when the pro-
perty is re-settled ; the result is that charges gra-
dually accumulate, and it is well recognised that
few except the very largest properties will bear the
burthens of this nature for two or three successive
generations, unless marriage of the heir brings
accession of wealth, or unless the property im-
proves greatly in value from some adventitious
circumstance ; and it may be doubted whether in
the long run more families are not ruined and
188 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Dangers of brought down by such arrangements than are
Entail. *
perpetuated and enriched by them.
The effect of these accumulating charges upon
the condition of the property itself will shortly be
alluded to ; meanwhile it must be pointed out that
the family settlement involves evils of no small
magnitude to the family itself. It deprives the
parent of the greater part of his parental control
over his eldest son ; the son is placed in a posi-
tion independent of his father, almost superior to
him, for nothing can be done to the estate with-
out the son's consent ; however unworthy he may
prove to be, the property must descend to him ;
the father has no power of selection or veto ; and
no doubt many a father has had reason to curse the
family arrangement under which his property is
settled upon one who is unworthy to succeed him.
There are other causes at work which tend to a
constant reduction in the number of small owners,
and which add to the inducement to persons to
enrol themselves in the list of great landowners,
and retard their retirement from the rank by sale
or otherwise. They are, however, closely allied to
that which has been already pointed out, and it is
difficult to determine whether they are not effects
rather than causes of the system. Chief among
them is the great political power which has been,
for the last 200 years, conceded to the owners of
landed property. One branch of the legislature
has been wholly created from their ranks. A large
FREEDOM OF LAND. 189
landed property is admittedly the necessary quali- Dangers of
. . Entail.
ncation for a peerage ; this rank is almost conceded
to an owner of over 20,000 acres. The English
county representation in the House of Commons is
also wholly at the command of the landowners.
They rarely look beyond their own ranks or beyond
their own county for a representative. The owner of
a certain standard number of acres, if of the right
side of politics, is almost certain of representing
his county. This command over the county repre-
sentation is mainly secured through the tenant
farmers. It is also the passport not only to honours
of all kinds, but to political office, and to state
patronage. The local government of the rural
districts is wholly in the hands of the landowners ;
the county magistracy is their recognised appanage.
The sports of country life are such as almost to ne-
cessitate large properties, and could not be so fully
indulged in if there were many small proprietors.
The sense of power created by the possession of
a large estate in a rural district is also great, and
is generally opposed to the existence of small owner-
ships within its range. Opportunities, therefore,
are seldom neglected of buying up smaller properties
where they are likely to interfere with this power.
In the neighbourhood of large towns, where
land has attained a building value, these forces
are counteracted by the personal interest of the
owners, tempted by high prices ; special facilities
have been given to the owners of settled estates
190 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Dangers of to avail themselves of this great demand for
building land. But in rural districts there is no
such counteracting influence.
While then, on the one hand, all these forces
promote the creation and increase of large pro-
perties, on the other hand the difficulties of title
in our most complicated system of land laws, and
the consequent expense of transfer, and the cost
of our system of mortgage, tell with infinitely
greater effect upon small properties than on large,
and act as a great discouragement to their
purchase or continued existence. This is what
Lord Hatherley said on this subject in 1859 :
"Look how the limitations of your law affect
the transfer of land. It is only on account of
these that you have difficulties in title ; because,
if it were not for the complexity of limitations, a
system of registration would long since have been
established, which so far as fraud and rapidity of
transfer was concerned would have freed us from
any difficulty of title whatever. You have now
the combined effect of fraud and the complicated
investigations of title which operate in the most
serious manner to prevent the free transfer of
land in our community ; what I wish for, and have
long wished for, is a free transfer of land."
All other experience tends to show that a cheap
and simple system of registration of title and
mortgages is an essential condition of the existence
of small properties.
FREEDOM OF LAND. 191
On the one hand, therefore, we have every Dangers of
V ' , , , ,. . , Entail.
encouragement given by law, and by political
and social arrangements, to the concentration of
land in few hands ; and on the other, every dis-
couragement given to its purchase, and to dealing
with it in small quantities, and by small people.
What wonder then that we should find the
number of proprietors continually diminishing,
and that England presents an exception so strik-
ing to the rest of the civilised world.
RESULTS OF THE SYSTEM IN IRELAND.
The most serious effects of the system thus Results of
described have been exhibited in Ireland ; and in Ireland,
it is well to pass them under review, although
the case of Ireland is very different from that
of England and far more serious.
It has already been shown that the number of
landowners in Ireland is proportionably far less
than in England. The difference is even more
striking than that already pointed out if we com-
pare the number of small proprietors in the rural
districts of both countries.
The three agricultural counties, Bedfordshire,
Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, with an area
of 1,173,000 acres, may be fairly compared with
the Irish counties Meath, Westmeath, and Cavan,
with an area of 1,360,000 acres. In the English
counties there are 6,412 owners of between 1 and
1U2 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of 50 acres. In the Irish counties with a larger
the System
in Ireland, area there are only 612 such owners.
Or if we take the mountainous districts of
Northumberland and Westmoreland, with an
area of 1,736,000 acres, and compare them with
Gal way and Mayo, whose area is 2,760,000 acres,
we find in the former 3,003 owners of small
properties, in the latter only 225 such owners.
It appears then that as compared with England,
Ireland has less than one-tenth the number of
small owners.
The difference between the two countries is the
more remarkable as, whatever may be the case
in England, it is certain that in Ireland land has
not acquired an artificial value. The price of land
in Ireland is very much below that of England ;
it does not average more than twenty- two years'
purchase of the annual rental, and has only
reached even this point within the last few years.
At this rate money may be invested in land in
Ireland to pay about 44 per cent.
The explanation of this great difference in the
number of landowners in Ireland, is to be found
in the early history of that country, in the fact
that it never passed through the feudal system,
that it was not thoroughly conquered by England
until the feudal system had already disappeared
from the latter. Under the feudal system, the
occupiers of land in Ireland, who held "under
ancient customs which gave them an interest in
FREEDOM OF LAND. 193
the soil from which they could not be dispossessed, Results of
would most probably have obtained the same re- in Ireland!
cognition and fixity of tenure as did the villeins
or copyholders in England. The later English law
treated them on the Conquest as mere tenants at
will of those who acquired by grant the land of
the dispossessed lords of the soil
In later years the position was still further
aggravated by the penal laws directed against the
Roman Catholics which forbade their inheriting or
acquiring land by purchase. When, added to these,
we have the English land system tending to the
aggregation of land, and offering every obstacle to
its dispersion or easy transfer, we can well account
for the paucity of landowners in Ireland ; and for
the fact that even when compared with England
their number is so very limited.
None of the justifications which are claimed for
the system of England apply to Ireland. The same
laws and the same system has achieved results in the
two countries as different as possible. England is
in the main a country of large landowners and
of large farm holdings. Ireland is a country,
proportionally of even larger landowners, but of
very small farm holdings. Of its 533,000 farm
tenancies, 450,000 are of less than 50 acres, and
50,000 between 50 acres and 100 acres. It is,
therefore, essentially a country of peasant culti-
vators. In England the custom is for the land-
owner to effect all the substantial improvements on
o
194 FREEDOM OF LA.ND.
Results of the farm ; to build the farm-houses and other
the System .
in Ireland, buildings, to dram and fence the land. In Ireland
the landlord as a general rule does none of these.
It is the tenant who lays out what little capital is
spent in this way, even to the building of the
house. He does this under a tenancy which is
rarely more than a yearly holding.
The condition of Ireland is still more remarkable,
when we consider that all experience from the
Continent shows that farming on a small scale
can only answer when largely combined with
ownership ; that it is the magic of ownership
only which gives the inducement to the industry
necessary for very small farms. Being a country
of small farms, it is free from the argument
that large properties are necessary in order that
farming may be carried out on a large scale.
It is equally free from the argument that large
properties are economically advantageous, as they
result in capital being invested in the land by the
owner, and in tenants being able to use the whole
of their capital in farming. Here then, of all
places in the world, one would expect to find a
large class of small owners. Apart from the recent
sales under the Irish Church Act, there are none.
There are all the conditions of a peasant proprie-
tary, without any proprietary rights, or any fixity
of tenure. The condition of Ireland before the
famine of 1848 closely resembled the condition of
France as described by Arthur Young, immediately
FREEDOM OF LAND. 195
before the Revolution of 1789. On the one hand, Results of
1 , , the System
a pauperised tenant class ; and on the other great in Ireland,
properties encumbered to a degree which made
the owners mere ciphers in the hands of their
creditors. This state of things was brought to a
crisis by the potato famine. The consequent emi-
gration relieved Ireland of its plethora of cottier
tenants. The effort made by the imperial legis-
lature was first directed to freeing property from
its encumbrances ; and the Encumbered Estates
Court was brought into existence for the purpose
of cutting the knots of these tangled interests in
landed estates, and enabling them to be sold. It
was believed and hoped that the land, thus freed
from its bankrupt owners, would pass into the hands
of capitalists, who would improve its condition by
expending capital in buildings, drainage, &c. It is
reckoned that one-fifth of the landed property of
Ireland has passed through this Court, has changed
hands, and the number of owners of such land has
probably been increased threefold. Those however
who devised this measure reckoned without taking
into consideration Irish feelings and Irish customs.
With rare exceptions, the new owners spent no
more capital on the land than did their easy-going
predecessors. When they attempted to improve, the
tenants often resented the process. It was an as-
sertion of complete ownership which did not tally
with the ideas of Irish tenants, of their relations
to their landlords. Whatever the English law
o 2
196 FREEDOM OF LAtfD,
Results of might be, the traditions, customs, and ideas of
the System
in Ireland. Irish tenants involved a relation to their landlords
far different from that which holds in England ;
they claimed a participation in the proprietary
rights, which was in fact conceded to them, by
custom, and which prevented the lords of the soil
from ejecting them without good cause, arbitrarily
raising rents, or appropriating, in the shape of
increased rent, the value of the tenants' improve-
ments. The new purchasers entered upon their
properties without any of these traditional feelings,
without any sympathy for their tenants, without
any knowledge of local customs, or hereditary
practices. They too frequently applied to their
new purchases the most extreme doctrines of pro-
prietorship ; they thought they were entitled to
raise rents to the highest rack- rental that could be
extracted, regardless of the previous history of the
estate, or of the customs of the country.
It cannot be denied that many cases of great
hardship and injustice arose to Irish tenants.
What was intended for their benefit resulted not
unfrequently in their ruin.
The result therefore of the Encumbered Estates Act
- was to intensify the demand for the recognition of
tenant right, and to give a great impulse to political
agitation in favour of fixity of tenure. England
at last turned an ear to Irish grievances, and the
Land Act of 1870 was framed, on the principle of
applying to the Irish land question so much of Irish
FREEDOM OF LAND. 197
ideas as was not wholly incompatible with English Results of
the System
doctrines. in Ireland.
It gave legal recognition for the first time to
local customs such as the Ulster Tenant Right,
which had created a practical property in the
tenant. It reversed the doctrine of English law,
that improvements of all kinds are annexed abso-
lutely to the land, and in default of actual agree-
ment enure wholly to the benefit of the landlord.
It recognised the fact that in the case of tenants
of small farms there could be such a thing as an
arbitrary and capricious ejectment, and it gave to
the tenant, who was ejected, a claim for any im-
provements effected, and damages for capricious
ejectment. It did not, however, go the length of
interfering between landlord and tenant as to the
amount of rent. It left to the landlord the power
of raising the rent to a point, when the rent would
practically swallow up the value of the tenant's
improvements, but it left to the tenant the option
of refusing this rent, of throwing up his farm*
and of making his claim for the value of his im-
provements and for disturbance of the tenancy, to
which he would be entitled.
It is unnecessary to pursue further the ques-
tion of tenant right or the relations of Irish land-
lords and tenants ; it is, however, important to
notice the impulse given by the state to the
extension of proprietorship in substitution for
tenancy, and to the creation of a class of peasant
198 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of proprietors, where none such existed previously.
the System
in Ireland. The framers of the Irish Land Act, and of the
Church Disestablishment Act, under the influence
and impulse mainly of Mr. Bright, recognised the
grave deficiency of proprietary rights in Ireland,
and the expediency of endeavouring to increase
the number of proprietors, and of converting
where possible, by agreement or purchase, tenants
into owners. This might indeed be deemed an
alternative process to that of fixity of tenure
demanded by the tenants. It was, at all events,
though novel in its application as a remedy, in
harmony with the ideas of English law and English
proprietors. However unwilling Parliament might
be to adopt any such plan in England, Ireland, it
thought, might be an exception without raising any
precedent dangerous to the principle of property.
The proposals in this direction met with no
opposition in either branch of the Legislature.
It is also worthy of notice that the first attempt
to extend proprietary rights followed the example
of France and Prussia. It was the secularisa-
tion of Church property which gave the oppor-
tunity for first experimenting in this direction. It
was probably felt that to sell the landed property
of the Irish Church in the open market was to
risk its falling into the hands of persons who
would capriciously and arbitrarily raise rents ; and
it was thought not only fair to offer such land in the
first instance to its tenants, but that the result of
FREEDOM OF LAND. 199
increasing the number of proprietors would be a Results of
gain to the cause of property in Ireland. The in
Irish Church Act, therefore, directed the Commis-
sioners charged with the sale of Church lands to
give preference to the tenants, and to charge the land
sold to them with the repayment of three-fourths
of the purchase-money by instalments spread over
thirty-two years.
The intentions of Parliament were admirably
carried out by the Irish Church Commissioners.
They have earned the gratitude of the Irish people
by pointing the road where it is possible much further
progress may hereafter be made. They might
have obstructed the policy of Parliament, or they
might have neglected to make it known to the
tenants. They have, on the contrary, used their
endeavours to make the policy of Parliament
intelligible and acceptable to the tenants.
Under this operation nearly 5,000 tenants of the
Church property, of the smallest class, have found
one-fourth of the purchase-money for their farms,
and have become absolute owners in lieu of
tenants ; for thirty-two years they will be respon-
sible for annual instalments of the principal and
interest of the remainder of the purchase-money,
which are about equivalent to their former rent.
It is in evidence that these new purchasers
have paid their interest with regularity and with-
out fail, and that many of them have already
been induced to effect great improvements on
200 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of their holdings, the result of the feeling of
the System.
in irekud. security created by absolute ownership in place of
yearly tenancy.
The Irish Land Act contained provisions known
as " the Bright Clauses " in the same direction, and
with the same object, that of creating a proprietary
class among the peasant farmers of Ireland. Under
these clauses the State undertakes to lend two-
thirds of the purchase-money of any farm sold to a
tenant, repayable, as in the case of the Church
property, by instalments spread over a term of
years. The Landed Estates Court (the successor of
the Encumbered Estates Court), is directed by the
Act to afford facilities to tenants to purchase their
holdings, when estates are sold in that Court, and
various other provisions are contained with the
same object. Hitherto, however, but little result
has followed. In the eight years which have elapsed
since the passing of the Act, not more than 100
sales have been effected to tenants in each year
under its provisions, a result which, whether
compared with the results of the Irish Church
Act, or with the intention and wishes of the
Legislature, is certainly most inadequate.
The attention of Parliament has recently been
directed to the failure of the Act of 1871. A Com-
mittee was appointed in the session of 1877, to
inquire into the working of the Bright clauses, and
to report whether any further facilities should be
given to promote the purchase of their holdings by
FREEDOM OF LAND. 201
the occupying tenants of Ireland. After taking Results of
rj the System
evidence of numerous witnesses, the Committee in Ireland,
reported in the session of 1878. Its members
unanimously agreed to the expression of opinion
that there is a great desire on the part of the
occupying tenants to become owners by purchase,
on sale of properties in Ireland, and that it is most
desirable that further facilities should be accorded
by the State with this object. There were differ-
ences in the Committee as to the mode in which
this object should be carried out, but there was none
as to the principle. In the past session (1879) a
resolution was proposed in the House of Commons,
and was carried without opposition and with the
consent of the Government, to the effect that " in
view of the expediency of a considerable increase in
the number of owners of land in Ireland among the
class of persons cultivating its soil, legislation should
be adopted for the purpose of increasing the facilities
offered by the State with this object, and of secur-
ing to the tenants the opportunity of purchase on
the sale of property consistently with the inter-
ests of the owners thereof." A stronger resolution
condemning the condition of landownership in
Ireland, or more emphatically declaring the duty of
the State to adopt effective measures for remedying
this condition, could not easily be framed. It is
certain therefore that the Government must speedily
propose to Parliament some measure with this object.
The evidence given before the Committee on this
202 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Eesuitsof subject in 1877-78 is eminently worthy of atten-
the System . , . , , , I-ITTT
in Ireland, tion, as showing the great obstacles which the land
system opposes to the purchase and ownership of
land by the peasant cultivators of Ireland. It
shows that as a rule the tenants are most desirous
of becoming owners by purchase of their holdings,
that they often give for the mere right of occupancy
sums which are not much less than the value of the
fee-simple of the land ; that they are ready to give
more than the average price given by outsiders ;
but that as a rule they never have or can have the
opportunity of purchase. The cost of title, the
difficulties of conveyance, and the delay and
trouble to both vendor and purchaser, absolutely
preclude the possibility of any separate transaction
of sale as between landlord and tenant, for the
purpose of taking advantage of the Act, however
much either of them, or both, may wish it.
It was admitted by the officials of the Landed
Estates Court, and by every witness examined
before the Committee, that a single tenancy will
never bear the cost of investigation of title, and
that therefore sales by agreement to single farmers,
with the object of carrying out the Act, were almost
impossible. "A single tenancy," says Mr. McDonnell,
one of the examiners of the Court, " will not bear
the cost of the investigation of title ; a gentleman
is offered 2,000?. for a tenant's farm, and he would
have to pay 200?. for the cost of showing title to it.
The smallest property cannot be passed through
FREEDOM OF LAND. 203
the Court for a less cost than IQOl. A small hold- Results of
ing of 10 acres is not worth more than 2501. in Ireland!
The costs of the transfer would swallow up forty
per cent, of the purchase-money.
The only chance which the tenants have of
becoming purchasers is where a whole estate is
sold, and the lots can be so arranged as to enable
the tenants to bid, and purchase either separately
or jointly. The costs in such case are distributed
over the property, and little extra cost is incurred
by selling in smaller lots.
The importance of this evidence is the light it
throws upon our system of land transfer, and the
grave obstacle presented to any purchaser of a small
holding. Landlord and tenant may be desirous of
effecting the sale, but the costs of investigation of
title make the transaction hopeless and impos-
sible. Who can say, with this light thrown upon
it, that the present state of landownership is the
result of purely economic laws ? With such dif-
ficulties opposed to the creation of small owners,
what must not be the difficulties incurred by the
small owner when brought into existence ? Every
dealing with his property is fraught with the
expense and delay of a system the most antiquated
and absurd. He cannot mortgage his property with-
out great expense. The whole of our laws of inheri-
tance and transfer are wholly unsuitable to small
owners. Having called into existence a class of small
owners, there is urgent need that the laws should
204 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of be made suitable for their continued existence, and
the System ITT -I-I-I-I--IT
in Ireland, such as will enable them to deal with their land
in a manner to prevent its being a burthen and
expense to them.
Looking back to 1848, when the Imperial Parlia-
ment devised means for encumbered landowners to
sell their properties, what might not have been the
result by this time, if advantage had then been
taken to promote the sale of such properties to
their tenants ? Many thousands of tenants might
have been added to the class of owners of land by
this process ; and who can doubt what would be
the result of such an accession to the class of per-
sons permanently interested in the soil of their
native country ? The opportunity has been lost,
but with our experience of the last eight years of
what has been done under the Irish Church Act
and the Land Act, it is still possible in the future
to do much. Who can say that, with such experi-
ence, the creation of a class of peasant proprietors
in Ireland is a mere dream \ What has been
achieved may be but the commencement of a new
policy which shall favour the spread or creation of
ownership rather than tenancy. Can it be doubted
that good results would follow the creation of such
a class in Ireland \ Who can look at the state of
ownership of landed property in that island without
feeling how insecure is its basis- -how limited is
the class of persons who are interested in its
rights ? What would not be the advantage to
FREEDOM OF LAND 205
Ireland, if of its 550,000 peasant farmers, a fair Results of
. ,, o mi the System
proportion were owners as well as occupiers ? They in Ireland,
would be an element of security both in the poli-
tical and social system. They would exercise a
powerful influence in promoting industry and
thrift. They would raise the standard of pro-
duction. They would supply the step of the ladder
by which the lowest might hope to arrive at the
position of landowners. Is it possible to suppose
that such a result is beyond the reach of political
effort ? The success of the experiment in the
sale of Church lands forbids a negative to the
answer, and raises every hope for further success
in a direction so full of promise to Ireland.
It will be said, perhaps, in answer to this, that
the economic condition of small farms is unsound
that a greater net produce would result, and a
higher rent to the landlord, if a number of these
small farms were thrown into one, and their
tenants, with one exception, turned into day
labourers. Whether this economic result would
be produced is a matter open to doubt. In the
opinion of many, small owners will hold their own
in production against large farms. But even if
it were not so, it may be confidently asked, whether
any one would contemplate with pleasure the con-
version of every twenty small Irish farms of fifteen
acres each into large farms of 300 acres ? Is the
condition of the English labourer such that the Irish
small farmer would envy his lot ? Which is the
20 G FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of superior in general status in the world ? Which
the System
in Ireland, has the pleasanter lot and the better hope for the
future ? Which is the best member of society ?
Which has the best opportunity of rising ?
Whatever, however, English economists and
theorists may think upon the subject of small
farms versus large farms, and small proprietors
versus large proprietors, it will be impossible to
persuade the Irish tenants to any other than one
conclusion. Their instinct and their traditions
are opposed to any conversion of small farmers
into day labourers. There remains therefore the
only alternative, to increase the productive power
of the small farmers by offering to them the
opportunity of converting themselves by purchase
into owners, wherever this can be done without
injury to the rights of property ; and by throwing
the influence, weight, and sanction of the State
in favour of a widely-diffused ownership of land,
as opposed to the opposite system which has been
at work in Ireland since its subjection to the rule
and law of England.
RESULTS OF THE SYSTEM IN ENGLAND.
Results of The same laws with respect to inheritance and
iu e entail have led to the same general result as in
Ireland in the distribution of landed property,
although the circumstances of its early history
were more favourable in England to the creation
of small proprietors, who have not wholly dis-
FREEDOM OF LAND. 207
appeared in some rural districts. It is admitted, Resnitsof
. . theSysteiu
however, that even these are destined to be merged in
1-1 -11 i England.
in their larger neighbours under the present system.
A wholly different system, however, has pre-
vailed in England as regards the management of
landed property and the distribution of land among
the tenants. It has been shown that Ireland is
a country of peasant farmers, where the landlords
do nothing as a general rule towards the im-
provement of the farms. In comparison, England
is a country of large farms, and the custom is for
all improvements to be effected by the landlord
and not by the tenant.
It must not, however, be concluded that England
is wholly a country of large farms. There are
large numbers of small holdings. According to
the Agricultural Returns, of 37,000,000 acres of
land, 27,000,000 are cultivated and improved, the
rest being mountain, heath, commons, woods, &c.
The cultivated land may be thus divided into four
classes of holdings :
^ , Average Total
ers> in acres. acreage.
Small holdings below 50
acres 333,630 12 4,181,346
Small farms from 50 to
100 acres 54,498 72 3,957,989
Medium-sized farms from
100 to 300 acres . . . 65,766 170 11,183,618
Large farms above 300
acres 16,106 472 7,512,972
470,000 26,835,925
208 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of The number of agricultural labourers and shep-
the System
iu nerds is stated to be 787,897. It will be seen
England.
from this table that England is by no means so
fully the country of large farms as it is often
represented to be. About one-third of its area
is held in small holdings and small farms, number-
ing about 388,000, and two-thirds in large farms,
numbering about 82,000. How many of the small
farms and holdings are owned by their cultivators
we have no means of knowing ; it is believed the
number is very small, and is being gradually re-
duced. In lieu we have an admitted tendency to
substitute for ownership the relation of landlord
and tenant. How far then does this relationship
satisfy the economic conditions for the best culti-
vation of the soil, and what are its effects upon the
various classes of the community "?
The ideal of the English system of large pro-
prietors and of tenants hiring the land they farm
in lieu of owning it, is where the landlord, being
a capitalist, is able to relieve the tenant of all ex-
penditure of a permanent character, and to leave
him the full employment of his capital in his trade
of farming, in stocking and cultivating the land.
This ideal involves a considerable expenditure on
the part of the landlord, in building farm-houses
and farm-buildings, in draining and other per-
manent improvements, and in building labourers'
cottages. If these functions are performed by the
landlord, if he has the capital to expend and does
FREEDOM OF LAND. 209
what is recognised as a duty, nothing can be better R su it8 of
from the economic point of view than the condi- ' e in*
tion of the property and the relation of landlord,
tenant, and labourer.
The farms in such a case are parcelled out in the
size which is most suitable to the full development of
the soil ; the necessary capital of a permanent cha-
racter is expended by the landlord ; the capital of
the tenant is set free to stock and cultivate the
farm to the best advantage ; the tenant, in order
to pay full rent upon the capital laid out, must
exert himself to the best of his efforts ; if he prove
a slovenly farmer, the landlord gets rid of him.
The labourers' cottages are built with due regard
to the requirements of the property. Some of them
are attached to the farm for the convenience of
the tenant, who wishes for full control of those
labourers who are most necessary to him ; others
are retained in possession of the landlord, that too
much power over the labourers may not be vested
in the farmer. The labourers themselves are stimu-
lated to work by the certainty that they will lose
their homes if negligent and idle.
From an economic point of view, then, the agri-
cultural machine in which the landlord, former, and
labourer play their respective parts, and the land,
capital, and wages have their share in the produce,
works to the best advantage. That there are many
such cases no one can deny. That many landlords
most fully recognise their duties, and act fully up
p
210 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of to the highest ideal, cannot be doubted. Many,
theSystem .
in indeed, pinch themselves m other expenditure in
England.
order to perform their duty ; and few there are
who would not do it if they could.
If all estates were maintained up to this ideal,
there would be little to say against the system
from the economic point of view ; though even
then there might be something to allege in
favour of more distributed ownership, and more
independence of individuals, especially of the
labourers, than is consistent with such an ideal
system.
The whole system, however, depends upon the
owner of the property being able to provide the
capital for permanent improvements, such as
buildings, drainage, and labourers' cottages. If this
capital be not forthcoming the system breaks
down at its central point, on which the economic
success of the whole system hinges. If the land-
lord cannot provide the necessary capital for these
permanent improvements, no one else will do so.
The farming tenant cannot be expected to do
so upon any length of lease which is ordinarily
given to him, and still less can the labourer be
expected to build or improve his cottage.
It has already been shown that it is of the
essence of such family arrangements known as
settlements and entails that they lead to encum-
brances. The land goes to the eldest son, per-
haps free from charge in the first instance ; the
FREEDOM OF LAND. 211
personalty is divided among the other members Results of
T . . the System
of the family. In the next generation, however, in
the land must be charged for the benefit of other
members of the family.
It is also well recognised that the owner of a landed
estate cannot do full justice to it, unless he is able
to draw upon other property for its improvement.
Sir Robert Peel used to say that every landowner
ought to have at least as much property in consols
or other securities, if he wished to do his best by
the land. The meaning of this is, that there is a
constant drain upon the landlord for fresh outlay
for improvements or for the maintenance of pre-
vious improvements, if the machine is to be well
worked.
What, however, is the condition in this respect
of the average landowner ? How many of them
have other means in this proportion to their land ?
How many are unencumbered as regards their
family estates ? How many of them are able
to do their duty by the land ?
It is certain that the greater number of them
are utterly unable to perform their duties. They
are the ostensible and temporary owners of family
estates, for the most part already heavily charged
with debts, or with charges for other members of
the family, and wholly unable to expend further
sums in draining and improving, still less in build-
ing cottages, which at best give but a poor return
on the outlay.
P 2
212 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of Most of them are in this false position, that
in as tenants for life only of their property they
England. -i i
cannot expend capital on their estates without
subjecting the money thus spent to the same
entail as the estates themselves. The limited
owners thus have the alternative before them
either of neglecting their properties, or of spending
money upon them which they would otherwise
intend for their younger children, to the ulti-
mate benefit of their eldest sons, who are already
entitled to the estates. If such persons were
absolute owners of their property, and without
other means of improvement, they would probably
be induced to sell outlying parts of the pro-
perty, and invest the proceeds in draining and
improving the main portion of the estate. They
would gain in income by doing so. The invest-
ment in land, we are told, produces an average of
only two per cent. ; the produce of a sale if spent on
drainage would entitle the owner to raise his rents
so as to pay five per cent, or more on the outlay.
But he is tenant for life only, and he can only
sell with the consent of trustees and reversioners,
to re-invest in other land, or to pay off mortgages.
Is it possible to conceive a system better calcu-
lated to prevent capital finding its way to the
land ? That it has this result can scarcely be
doubted. This is what Mr. Caird said a few years
ago on the subject in his Agricultural Survey of
England : " Much of the land of England, a far
FREEDOM OF LAND. 213
greater proportion of it than is generally believed, Results of
..I, f A f t'f * i. -i theS y stem
is in the possession of tenants tor liie, so heavily m
. England.
burthened with settlement encumbrances that they
have not the means of improving the land which
they are obliged to hold. It would be a waste of
time to dilate on the public and private disadvan-
tages thus occasioned, for they are acknowledged
by all who have studied the subject."
A Committee of the House of Lords in 1873
upon the improvement of land, reported, that what
had already been accomplished in the way of drain-
age and other improvements was " only a fraction
of what still remained to be done."
Mr. Bailey Denton stated before this Commit-
tee, as the result of his calculations, that out of
20,000,000 acres of land requiring drainage in
England and Ireland, only 3,000,000 had as yet
been drained. Mr. Caird, before the same Com-
mittee, speaking not only of drainage, but of all
kinds of improvements, estimated that only one-
fifth of what required to be done was accomplished.
The improvements thus spoken of are of a re-
munerative kind ; improvements such as drainage
and farm-buildings are generally paid for by an
increase of rent fully compensating for the outlay.
Unfortunately, however, the building of labourers'
cottages by landlords is a most unremunerative
expenditure. It seldom returns more than two
per cent, on the outlay, very often less. If,
therefore, we find the outlay of capital for
214 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of remunerative improvements very much in arrear,
the System . . .
in it is only too certain that it will be far worse in
England.
the case of cottages.
The Report of the Royal Commission of 1869,
as to the condition of women and children em-
ployed in agriculture, contains the most full
information on this subject. The evidence was
collected by Assistant Commissioners who visited
every part of the rural districts of England, and
who are unanimous in their testimony.
Mr. Fraser, now Bishop of Manchester, who
visited Norfolk, Essex, Gloucestershire, and Sus-
sex, describes the cottages in one district as
" miserable ; " in a second as " deplorable ; " in a
third as "detestable;" in a fourth as "a disgrace
to a Christian community." He says that " even
where adequate in quality, they are inadequate in
quantity ; and some rich landowner, * lord of all
he surveys/ having exercised his lordship by evict-
ing so much of his population as were an eyesore,
or were likely to become a burthen to him still
employing their labour, but holding himself irre-
sponsible for their domicile has, by a most imper-
fect system of compensation, built a limited number
of ornamental roomy cottages, which he fills with
his own immediate dependents. Out of the 300
parishes which I visited I can only remember two
where the cottage accommodation appeared to be
both admirable in quality and sufficient in quan-
tity. The majority of the cottages that exist in
FREEDOM OF LAND. 215
rural parishes are deficient in almost every requi- Results of
site that should constitute a home for a Christian te m*
family in a civilised community. It is impossible,"
he adds, " to exaggerate the ill-effects of such a
state of things in every respect physical, social,
economical, moral, intellectual. Physically a ruin-
ous ill-drained cottage, { cribbed, cabin'd, confined/
and overcrowded, generates any amount of disease
fevers of every type, catarrh, rheumatism as
well as intensifies to the utmost that tendency
to scrofula and phthisis, which, from their fre-
quent intermarriages and their low diet, abounds
so largely among the poor. Economically, the
imperfect distribution of cottages deprives the
farmer of a large proportion of his effective la-
bour power ; when he gets his man, he gets him
more or less enfeebled by the distance he has to
travel to his work. The moral consequences are
fearful to contemplate. Modesty must be an un-
known virtue, decency an imaginable thing, where
in one small chamber two, and sometimes three,
generations are herded promiscuously, and where
the whole atmosphere is sensual, and human nature
is degraded into something below the level of the
swine. It is a hideous picture, and the picture is
drawn from the life."
As to the deficiency of cottages, he mentions
the parish of Spixworth, where "there are only
three cottages to 1,200 acres, there might well
be twenty-five ; at Waterdon only two cottages to
216 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of 750 acres, fifteen would be no excessive supply;
the System
in at Markshall only five to 830 acres, at the usual
England .
Essex rate there should be 25. At Buckenham
Tofts there are only two resident labourers on 650
acres ; at Didlington no more on 1,850 acres. At
Sedgeford the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have an
estate of 2,000 acres without a single cottage, and
in this parish we hear of ten and eleven persons
sleeping in a single room. At Titchwell, Magdalene
College, Oxford, the chief owner and lord of the
manor, has not a single cottage. At White Colne,
in Essex, the chief landowner has not one either."
" Instances," he adds, " of this kind could be accu-
mulated ad iiifinitum."
The Bishop recognised that a great deal had
been done of late years, especially by the largest
landowners. Unfortunately, however, the remedy
did not rest with the wealthiest landowners. Many
cottages belonged to proprietors too indigent to have
any money to spare for their improvement ; some
to absentee and embarrassed landowners ; some
to mortgagees. Mr. Portman, another Assistant
Commissioner, who reported upon Cambridgeshire
and Yorkshire, says, " The opinion appeared to be
universal that the bad state of the cottages and the
overcrowding of the sleeping-rooms is the root of
the demoralization of both sexes." He states
that " one of the principal causes is ' absenteeism/
under which I include not merely non-residence of
the owner in the county where his estate is situated,
FKEEDOM OF LAND. 217
but that which is equally bad, viz., non-attention Results of
. . /> the System
to the outlying portions of that estate. On many in
England.
occasions when, being struck by the poor state of
the dwellings, I have inquired who is the owner,
I have been told he is some one living perhaps
in the county, but rarely, if ever, visiting the
village or taking any heed as to the condition of
the people." Of one very large property he re-
ports, " The tenements are wretched ; although the
rents paid are small, the whole repairs have to be
done by the cottagers, and so the rents become in
fact very high ; and as one of them told me, ' The
landlord does not care if they all tumble down.'
On other portions of this estate there was a great
want of cottages, many having been pulled down
and scarcely a new one built." Of another parish
in Wales he says, " No Irish property can present
more wretched consequences of absenteeism than
this. The only consideration the parish receives
from the owners of property is the regular collec-
tion of rents." The statement of Mr. Portman as to
absenteeism is important as confirming what has
been already stated as to the number of parishes
without resident landowners.
Mr. Edward Stanhope, now Under-Secretary of
the India Office, reports also as to the general bad
state of cottages, though making many exceptions,
especially in Lincolnshire, the county where it may
be observed small peasant owners most abound.
Of Leicestershire he says, " The cottages must be
218 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Kesuitsof described as generally bad." He adds, " There is
theSystem i- T i i i /-N
in a strong ieelmg in Lincolnshire that Government
England.
should give assistance in providing cottages for the
labouring class, and especially on entailed estates."
Mr. Culley, another of the Assistant Commissioners,
says, " There constantly arises to me, and, I doubt,
not, to my colleagues, the feeling that in speaking
of that state of the cottages, I am exhibiting a dark
picture, as if it was the fault of a class, many of
whom are powerless to change it, and few of whom
are answerable for it."
" What has led to the state of the labourers'
dwellings being such as to justify me in speaking
of it as a national disgrace ? And why are so
many landowners now powerless to deal with it ?
If I were to answer these questions, judging
from the history of the estates I have visited, I
would answer at once the encouragement given
by law to the creation of limited interests in land,
and the power of entailing burthened estates.
What can the poor life-tenant, especially if his
estates be burthened, do towards providing good
cottages for his labourers ? Nine times out of ten
he strives to do his duty, and suffers fully as
much as the ill-housed labourers on his estates.
The unhappy propensity to create limited in-
terests, and entailed and burthened estates, tells
hardest against the small properties, while if the
owner lives as all the world expects him to live,
there is no margin left for estate improvement,
FREEDOM OF LAND. 219
especially cottage improvement. Even the large Results of
estates, by the time all is done for which farm m
tenants most loudly call, unless burthens be light
or the owner unusually self-denying, there is very
little left to expend in the expensive luxury of
cottage building. The case of small estates, how-
ever, is the worst, and in spite of the supposed
protection of the law of entail, they are being
swallowed up by their larger neighbours, or passing
into the hands of men whose sole means are not
invested in land."
Mr. Portman says upon the same subject, " I
would venture to suggest, for your consideration,
whether it is not expedient that legislation should
take place in such a direction, as to bring into the
market those tracts of encumbered land, enabling
those who have capital to acquire such lands if they
desire to do so, and conferring a boon on those
who now possess them by giving them money to
spend on such an amount of territory as they wish
to concentrate round their homes, while at the time
the curse of poverty and misery will be removed from
these districts whence all the profit is drawn and to
which none returns. Bad cottages would, I think,
then become more rare ; a portion at least of the
profits would be spent on the spot, a more con-
tented race of farmers and of labourers would be
found, and the education of the people, now
flagging for want of funds, would progress. Some
may say that this question of the dwellings of the
220 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of poor in agricultural districts is a passing question
theSystem
in of the hour, and that it is not really so great an
evil as is represented. I would answer, Go into the
country and see for yourself. Use your common
sense, and call to mind the effect of absenteeism on
Ireland ; and say whether or not in those portions
of England where poverty and misery arising from
the same cause meet you at every step, there is not
urgent reason for dealing with the evils now exist-
ing by some legislative enactment, which shall put
an end to a state of apathy and indifference in
many holders of encumbered estates, and open
the doors for the spending of capital on lands by
those who are able, in the place of those who are
now unable, to do so."
It is only fair to add, that it is not only
upon entailed properties that cottages are bad.
Some of the worst cases are to be found on land
which has been bought by speculators, and whole
rows of cottages have been built of the most flimsy
material with insufficient accommodation, without
gardens, and which are let at exorbitant rents.
Most of these cases have arisen in what are called
open parishes, adjoining those close parishes where,
before the alteration of the law which threw the
burthen of the support of the poor upon the whole
Union, it was the interest of landowners to neglect
to provide cottages, or to pull down existing cot-
tages, in order to avoid giving to the labourers a
claim for settlement, which would throw the cost
FREEDOM OF LAND. 221
of maintaining them, when paupers, upon such Results of
. the System
parishes. in
England.
The Census of 1861 showed that in the previous
ten years, in 821 English parishes, a decrease of
houses was accompanied by an increase of popu-
lation. The last census shows that this action has
been stayed by the Union Chargeability Act, but
there was nothing in the Act to undo the mischief
which had already been effected.
Other bad cases are not rare, where cottages
have been built upon patches of land cribbed from
the waste of a manor, or roadside waste, and
which the labouring occupiers claim as their own ;
these, however, are hardly fair cases of individual
ownership.
Let it not also be said that all landowners are
to blame for this state of things. Nothing could
be more unfair. If they were absolute owners of
their property, with power to sell or to charge
their properties as they might wish, there would
indeed be ground for complaint if such a state of
things were allowed to remain unredressed. But
the system under which the great bulk of them
hold their properties as mere nominal owners
without real power over them, is devised with the
certain result that it can never be their interest
to expend money on cottages, and rarely in their
power to do so.
Many efforts have been made by Parliament to
find a remedy for these evils, short of interfering
222 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of with entails or simplifying the transfer of land.
the System /
in The tenant for life (the limited owner, as he is
England.
very significantly called) had originally no power
to bind his successor, either by leases or by charges
on the property for its improvement. Parliament,
however, has interfered to give him these powers,
subject to the approval of public bodies, who are
to have regard to the interests of the reversioner.
Short leases for agricultural purposes can now be
given by tenants for life. Longer leases can be
given with the consent of the Court of Chancery.
Charges can be made on the entailed property for
certain improvements with the consent of the
Inclosure Commissioners. The charge, however,
must be made in such a way as to repay the prin-
cipal by instalments in varying terms of years
according to the nature of the improvement. The
result is that drainage generally involves an annual
charge of 7| per cent, on the outlay, as much or
more than the tenant will pay in the shape of
increased rent. The building of cottages involves
an annual charge which averages three times the
amount of the rent which can usually be obtained
for them. Sales may also be effected upon applica-
tions to the courts of law, where there are no powers
for this purpose contained in the settlement ; but
the consent of tenants for life and of reversioners
must be obtained ; the proceeds must be expended
in paying off mortgages or in buying other land
to be settled in the same manner, and can never be
FREEDOM OF LAND. 223
expended in agricultural improvements, however Results of
necessary. These, however, are mere palliatives, e in
and not remedies. They have failed to effect any sub-
stantial result. They tend to substitute for the real
owner of the "property a Government department, a
State inspector, or a judicial tribunal ; they entail
troublesome and expensive applications to courts
of law and Government officials ; they involve
friction and delay. From their very nature they are
destined to failure. The system, however, which
needs such remedies stands condemned by their
proposal, and, as the late Mr. Wren Hoskyns well
said, " Wherever a series of supplementary devices
is needed to meet a law at variance with the time,
it indicates the undercurrent of another law strug-
gling against worn-out barriers that will not long
withstand it."
What is this other law, struggling against the
worn-out system, which has thus signally failed to
meet the demands of the country and the claims of
the land for the outlay of capital ? It is freedom
of sale, the alienability of land, the free commerce
of land ; the principle that land shall be owned by
those who can give full title for it, and who can
either borrow for improvements or sell what they
cannot improve ; the principle that land shall
belong to the present generation and not to an
unborn generation ; that landowners shall be full
masters of their own property, and not be obliged
to obtain the consent of the unborn for improve-
224 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of ments or sale, through the medium of courts of law
the System
in and Government omces.
It must be here freely admitted, that some of the
largest properties are exceptions to this general
condemnation, both in respect of farm improve-
ments, farm buildings, and labourers' cottages.
Such properties as those of the Dukes of Bedford,
Devonshire, and Northumberland, and others that
could be named, are models of all that conscientious
and intelligent landowners should aim at. It is
obvious that as there is a limit to the possible
personal expenditure of families with such great
fortunes, the margin which is left for improvement
of their properties must be greater in proportion
than on smaller estates ; it will generally be found
also that these very great landed properties are
supported by great incomes from other sources,
such as house property or minerals. It is often
argued from such examples, that the larger pro-
perties are, the better prospect there is of capital
being expended on the land by their owners ; and
hence a conclusion that it is well to encourage the
creation of large properties and to regard with in-
difference the disappearance of smaller properties.
. The argument, however, is a dangerous one ; the
logical conclusion of it is, that it might be well to
merge all large proprietors into one still greater
proprietor, namely, the State itself. If the State
were sole and supreme landlord, it might spend all
the rent in local improvements, in farm buildings
FREEDOM OF LAND. 225
and cottages ; and in such a case the whole of the Results of
. i i i /> the System
rent would remain on the land from which it is in
due. This is obviously a reductio ad absurdum,
but it suggests to us the necessity for bearing
in mind the principle on which alone private
property in land exists and can be defended.
If the English system fails in bringing to the
land the capital which is so essential for its develop-
ment, or for building cottages so necessary for the
accommodation, comfort, aad even decency of the
labourer, what is its effect upon the labouring class ?
The failure to spend capital on the land to them
means low wages ; low wages and bad cottages
combined means a poverty-stricken life, which tells
upon the whole existence of the labourers.
It may be confidently said that the agricultural
labourers are divorced from any permanent interest,
however small, in the land, or even in the villages
in which they live. With rare exceptions, it is
impossible for them to become possessed of a plot
of land or even of a cottage. The sense of property
therefore never comes home to them.
Can we wonder, then, at the thriftless, hopeless,
and aimless condition into which so large a pro-
portion of them have drifted ? The effect of the
English system upon them may be best judged by
the results in those counties in the south where it
has been longest in existence, where it is carried
out most fully, and where it is undisturbed by the
growth of any adjoining industries ; such counties
Q
226 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of as Sussex and Dorsetshire. Who can be satisfied
in with the condition of the agricultural labourers in
these districts ? or who can suggest any remedy
consistent with the ideal of the present system ?
What hope for advancement is there in their
own country ? what prospect of rising from the
lowest steps of the ladder to the higher ? An
impassable barrier separates the labourer from the
farming class immediately above him, and a still
wider gulf from the owner of land who crowns
the social edifice. What wonder, then, that the
labourers should be thriftless and without energy ;
that education only induces the best of them to
leave the country districts for other employments,
and that by a process of natural selection the
average of those who remain is being gradually
deteriorated ?
This condition is not the result of a harsh Poor
Law, nor of the want of charity. The Poor Law
is in most agricultural districts administered with
benevolence, and probably there is no other coun-
try where local endowments for the distribution
of doles and charities, and where private charities,
are so numerous and liberal. It is, however,
confidently stated that in those parishes where
charity is most frequent, where there are most
endowments for the distribution of doles, where
the clergy and squires, actuated by the best
intentions, are most active in private charities,
there the condition of the labourer is the most
FREEDOM OF LAND. 227
depressed, and the least satisfactory ; and there Results of
also is least thrift, and least energy for self-help e "'
and independence ; in too many of such parishes
excessive charity has succeeded in undermining the
self-help, thrift, and independence of the labourers,
and has encouraged wastefulness and intemperance.
What then appears to be most needed in the
agricultural districts of England is an element of
independence, which can only be attained by the
sense of property ; and of all the means of giving
this sense of property and this feeling of indepen-
dence, the ownership of land, even though limited
in extent, and the ownership of a house and home,
with its garden, would be the most powerful and
effective.
In what has been thus said, it is by no means
intended to convey the expectation, promise, or even
the hope, that England, under an altered system
of law, will become a country of yeoman farmers
or of peasant proprietors. In the main, and for
such a period as any legislator can prospectively
look forward to, it would be impossible to realize
either of these subjects. England will certainly
continue to be, as it has been in the past, a
country in which there will be many large
properties. Even if all landowners should have
secured to them the full power to dispose of their
property as they think fit among their children, it
may be confidently expected that the great bulk of
them will continue to leave the main portion to
228 FREEDOM OF LAND.
Results of their eldest sons ; and it will be long before any
in custom of a different kind grows up in a country
England.
so essentially conservative. What we may look
forward to is, a considerable increase in the number
of landed proprietors of all classes, and especially
of small owners. Without aiming at a system of
ownership such as we see in France, and other
countries organized on the same plan, it is not
beyond reason to expect that some nearer approach
may be made to the system which prevails in
Germany, where, as already explained, although
there are many large proprietors, there are also
many small owners, where there is a large class of
yeomen farmers, and where a very large proportion
of the agricultural labourers are also owners of
small holdings, varying from half an acre to five or
six acres. Of the effect of this distributed owner-
ship and this interest in the soil upon the labouring
class generally, there cannot be doubt to any one
who reads the reports from the countries where
this prevails.
It is not too much to say that if landowners,
who are unable to do justice to their properties,
were empowered to sell, and should avail themselves
of this power, in respect only of a small portion of
their properties, a very great change might soon be
effected in the state of landownership in England
and Ireland, and the landowners themselves would
be the first to benefit.
FREEDOM OF LAND. 229
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.
If then the arguments already adduced have any General
i -i c i Conclu-
weignt in them, the conclusions from them and the si
objects to be aimed at will not be doubtful.
These are, that the distribution of ownership of
land is such that it is held in amounts far beyond
the average means of its holders to perform their
duties according to the ideal of the English system,
in the outlay of capital on it and the building of
cottages ; and that the most is not being made of
the land as an incentive to individual exertion and
as the most powerful agent for the promotion of
individual industry and thrift.
It has also been shown, from experience drawn
from every part of the world, equally from Europe
as from countries of Anglo-Saxon descent, that
land is not necessarily the luxury only of the rich,
and that if it should be placed within the reach of
other classes, and the means be given of dealing
with it in a simple and expeditious manner, it will
become the luxury of a much wider class, and
indeed of all classes proportionate to their means.
The same experience has also been gathered from
recent experiments in Ireland. It has been shown
that while in every part of the civilized world
efforts have been made successfully to free land
from the obstructions and impediments of an
obsolete feudal system, to withdraw the sanction
230 FREEDOM OF LAND.
General of Law to its accumulation in few hands, and to
Conclu- .
sions. place it, as far as is consistent with the rights of
property, within the reach of all classes, and to
promote its ownership by the many rather than
the few, in this country little or nothing has been
done in this direction ; all the influence of the State
and of society has been in favour of the concentra-
tion of land in few hands, our laws of tenure sanc-
tion and assist this, the system of transfer fosters it.
It has been shown that as a result we have a state
of landownership such as is almost unique in the
civilized world.
The objects to be aimed at by any legislation are
not novel or destructive ; they are not opposed to
the rights of property, but in support of them ;
they savour not of communism or socialism, but are
on the lines of individualism ; they seek to make
the best of individual property, for all its functions,
and in all its actions on the social system ; they
are such as other countries have pursued with
success ; they claim that the State has some control
over its own destinies, some voice in the disposi-
tion of its area, and that society is not necessarily
the sport of an economic law favouring only accu-
mulation, which, however we may disapprove it,
we are powerless to resist. The objects then to
aim at, are a wider distribution of landed property,
to the extent that it shall in the main be held
by those who have the means of performing their
duties, and that it shall be brought within the
FREEDOM OF LAND. 231
reach of all classes of the community according to General
Conclu-
their means.
The means by which these objects may be at-
tained may be summed up under the following
heads :
1. The withdrawal of the State sanction to the
accumulation of land by the law of primogeniture.
2. The limitation of family settlements to the
extent of prohibiting entails in the manner in-
vented by Sir Orlando Bridgeman, by which pro-
perty can be settled upon unborn persons, and a
family law of primogeniture secured.
3. The requirement that there shall be for every
property some person or persons who shall have
full power of dealing with the property by sale
or otherwise.
4. The assimilation of the law relating to land
and other property, and the simplification of the
law relating to land tenure, so that its transfer
may become simple and inexpensive.
5. The withdrawal of all State influence and
sanction in favour of accumulation of land, and
the exercise of it in future in favour of a numerous
proprietary of land, consistently with the full
recognition of existing rights.
It can easily be shown that these measures hang
together ; and that the pivot of them all is the
abolition of primogeniture.
(1.) By the abolition of primogeniture is meant
the removal of the State sanction to an arrange-
232 FREEDOM OF LAND.
General ment by which, in the absence of a will, pro-
Conclu-
sions. perty in land descends to the eldest son oi the
intestate to the exclusion of the other children,
a law which seldom operates without producing
injustice. It is not contemplated that the pro-
perty shall be eompulsorily divided among the
children against the will of the parent. The free-
dom of willing would be retained and preserved ;
and any interference with it would, it is believed,
be alien to the feelings of the great majority of
Englishmen. It is only possible in France and
other countries because, as already shown, the cus-
tom of equal division of property is so universal and
so entwined in the feelings of the people, that it
is scarcely possible for them to conceive an unequal
distribution, and because public opinion considers
that a parent who does not provide for all his
children according to his means is neglectful of his
parental duty. Where such is the public opinion
compulsory division by law is possible ; but that
is very far from being the opinion of Englishmen
in the existing social conditions of England, where
historical and family traditions so largely affect the
opinions and habits, not only of the wealthy, but of
all classes, that it would be absurd to expect either
that a custom of equal distribution would speedily
grow up, or that a law compelling it would be
acceptable. An historic family has to be main-
tained, an ancient residence in and about which
the traditions of a family have centred has to be
FREEDOM OF LAND. 233
preserved, the political institution of the peerage General
has to be regarded ; these and many other causes
will long sustain and probably justify the custom
of making a difference in favour of eldest sons in
many families ; though possibly not to the extent
which is now often the case.
(2.) When it shall be determined that the law
itself will not sanction or invite inequality, it
will follow almost as a matter of course, that
it must be forbidden to individuals to make a
family law of succession different from that of
the State. Freedom of willing will be permitted,
and every person will be allowed to make what
distinction he thinks right among his children or
relatives, but he will not be permitted to transmit
these distinctions to another unborn generation.
If freedom of willing is conceded to him, he must
not in his turn deprive the next generation of the
same privilege. The freedom of willing is a part
of the paternal authority, and no parent should be
deprived of this power by an antecedent generation.
(3.) The last principle being decided on, the next
one becomes easy of accomplishment. The distinc-
tion in favour of an unborn person being cut off
and prohibited, it follows that the present genera-
tion must have more power over the property,
and the power of sale is one of the first and most
important attributes of property.
(4.) The two last principles are indispensable to
the next, that of simplifying the transfer of land.
234 FREEDOM OF LAND.
General The main difficulty in the transfer of land arises
Conclu-
sions, out of the complications due to the law of settle-
ment or entail ; so long as these exist, and so long
as ownership may be divided between the present
and the future, between the living and the unborn,
it is impossible to expect or to hope for sim-
plicity of title. Even the late Lord St. Leonards
has said that " no young State ought ever to be
entangled in the complication of our law of real
property."
Why then, it may be asked, should any old
State maintain and preserve these entanglements ?
They are retained only because they are necessary
for our present system of family settlements. It
will be easy enough to get rid of these difficulties
if we come to the conclusion that these entails
are injurious equally to those who are the objects
of them, and to the community.
(5.) But not less important than all these is it
that the general influence of the State shall no
longer be used in the direction of the accumulation
of land. It is unnecessary to suggest the subjects
where an opposite influence might be used, and
where it will be possible for a very different policy
to be pursued by Parliament than has hitherto
been done.
The action taken under the Bright clauses in
Ireland has already shown how it is possible with
the unanimous consent of all parties to make a
most important move in the direction of giving
FREEDOM OF LAND. 235
active assistance for the conversion of tenancies into General
ownerships. This particular method may not be si
applicable to England ; but an altered public opinion
on the subject may justify other measures ; and it
need hardly be pointed out that the land held
in mortmain in England and Wales amounts to
1,300,000 acres, of which no less than 500,000
belong to charities.
As a preliminary, however, to any action, it is
necessary that public opinion should pronounce
itself strongly on the broad question, whether it is
satisfied with the present condition of landowner-
ship in this country. Public opinion may even
without a change of law produce considerable effect.
It may induce not a few of those who have hitherto
considered that the interests of a rural district are
best concerned where all the land in a parish or dis-
trict is concentrated in one hand, to change their
opinion, and to- hold that as a matter of safety to
the owners of property generally, as well as in the
interest of all classes around them, it will be wise
to favour the multiplication of landowners, and to
give facilities for the creation of small owners of
all classes rather than continually to reduce them.
Such public opinion can, however, only be formed
by a full and free discussion of the subject.
Does the land of this country produce what may
reasonably be expected of it by a proper outlay
of capital and labour on it ? Does it act to its
full extent as a stimulus to industry, thrift, and
236 FREEDOM OF LAND.
General prudence ? Is it a stable and satisfactory state of
sions. society where land is, or is considered to be, only
the luxury of the rich ? Is it not expedient that
land should be brought within the reach of all
classes, even at the risk of losing something of its
value as an article of luxury ?
It has been attempted to answer these questions
by arguments and illustrations drawn from the
history and experience of this and other countries.
It is believed that the result of all this experience
is that a country is happiest, and its economical,
social, and political condition most sound, where
there is a numerous and varied proprietary of its
land, and where no class is divorced from the soil.
This state of things, it is believed, will and can only
result where the trade in land is free ; that is, where
the transfer of land is simple and uncostly, where
all dealings in it are reduced to their simplest form,
where each successive generation has full and un-
restricted dominion over it, where the State gives
no sanction or facilities to an accumulation of land
for successive generations, and where the laws give
equal facility for its dispersion as for its acquisition.
Under such conditions, when artificial stimulus is
removed, free competition will have its full effect,
and will on the one hand prevent the undue sub-
division of land, and on the other its too great
aggregation.
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
BY
SIR DAVID WEDDERBUKN, BART., M.P.
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
THE relations between Great Britain and one of Anew
r point of
her most important Colonies are at present in a departure
in our
state of severe tension, and Englishmen of both Colonial
policy.
the great political parties are fully persuaded by
the course of events in South Africa that we have
reached a new point of departure in our Colonial
policy. "We cannot in future allow ourselves to be
dragged into costly and disastrous wars with
African barbarians by the Government of the Cape
Colony, over whose action we exercise no control,
just as we cannot permit our treaty obligations
towards the United States to be overridden, and
our friendly relations to be imperilled, by an Act
of the Legislature of Newfoundland.
These Colonies are in the enjoyment of
" responsible " Government, but they seem to have
never yet realised their own responsibility, although
in South Africa that realisation seems now likely
to be effected after a very tragic fashion, and the
Colonists may find that their unaided strength
is not adequate to the struggle which their rash-
ness has provoked in Basutoland.
240 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
When the Transvaal Territory was annexed it
was asserted that the Native inhabitants desired
protection against the Boers, while the Boers
in their turn required protection against the
Natives, and that all alike were prepared to
welcome the British flag. Unfortunately British
protection is so little appreciated by the Natives,
that the most powerful tribes within our territory
are in open revolt, and it is only too probable
that the Boers may make common cause with
the Natives against us.
The Home For the calamities which have recently occurred
ment not and are still impending in South Africa the Home
to blame. Government is not primarily to blame. As happened
so often in the early history of our Indian Empire,
the most decisive steps, for good or ill, were taken
by local officers without waiting for authority from
home. There was no electric cable between Europe
and South Africa until a few months ago ; but now
the telegraph has rendered it impossible for the
future that England should find herself committed,
without her own knowledge, to the destruction of a
native kingdom or the annexation of an independent
republic.
riuctua- The Colonial policy of British statesmen has
tion of , .
British from time to time undergone remarkable fluctua-
Colonial
policy. tions. There was an early period when Colonists
were regarded as mere dependents, to be governed
for the exclusive benefit of the Mother- country, and
to be taxed without their own consent, their duty
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 241
being to take home manufactures, whether they
wanted them or not, to send all their saleable produce
into the home market, and to receive upon their
shores the offscourings of the criminal population.
This was the Spanish theory of Colonial obligations,
and when it was rudely dispelled by the American
war of Independence, the policy afterwards adopted
by the British Government erred in the opposite
extreme. The Colonists were allowed to enjoy
the chief privileges of self-government, and were
relieved of its most serious burdens ; costly arma-
ments being maintained at the charge of the British
exchequer for the protection of the Colonies against
all dangers, real or imaginary. This state of affairs
could not be permanent : it was justly stigmatized
as tending to make the Colonies a useless burden
on the Mother-country, and even to produce, rather
than to prevent, the risk of Colonial wars. Again
a change took place, and those statesmen w r ho with-
drew the garrisons of imperial troops from the
Australasian and North American Colonies were at
first accused of wilfully promoting the disruption
of the empire. But what have been the actual
results ? On our side the loss of a few healthy and
agreeable military stations may be set off against
a considerable reduction in the army estimates,
as well as in the loss of men by desertion. On
their side the Colonists have cheerfully recognised
the obligation of prosperous, self-governing com-
munities to provide for their own defence, and have
242 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
made the important discovery that the presence of
standing armies is not conducive to the maintenance
of peace. In particular the white people of New
Zealand have found, since the departure of the
red-coats, that it is possible to settle without
fighting their disputes with their Maori neighbours,
and the two races are now living side by side on
terms of political equality.
Success of If it were possible to carry out in other quarters
the policy * *
carried out O f the globe the policy which has proved so suc-
iu North
America ce ssful in North America, in Australia, and in
and else-
where. New Zealand, the prospects of the British Colonial
Empire would indeed be bright. In those fortunate
countries the Colonists are exempt alike from
vexatious interference and enfeebling protection
on the part of the Mother-country. They feel
themselves to be a source of strength, instead of
a burden, to their countrymen at home, and they
cherish a proud loyalty for the British crown and
flag, urging only the sentimental grievance that
people in the old country do not take sufficient
interest in Colonial affairs. Especially of Austra-
lasia can it truly be said that in the great islands
of the Southern Ocean a Young England has arisen,
cherishing for Old England the affection of a
daughter, not the jealousy of a rival. A mighty
nation has been already founded a nation looking
to England as a model in politics, in art, in
literature, even in sports, living our life,
thinking our thoughts, reading our books, and
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY, 243
gradually transforming, as far as nature will permit,
the new world at the antipodes into the likeness of
the old home-land. It is difficult to imagine any
cause or pretext for severing a union based thus on
mutual esteem, and imposing upon neither party
any galling burden or restraint. The connection
with the old country acts most beneficially in
binding together Colonies whose jealousy of each
other might otherwise result in actual hostilities,
and which are, but for this common bond, as
completely independent of each other as are the
various republics of Spanish America. Gradually
these Colonies, which display in the early stages of
their career so strong a tendency towards separatism
and home rule, may be brought into closer relation-
ship with each other through their common regard
for the Mother-country, and may come to appre-
ciate the advantages of a federal union over a
system of hostile tariffs and inter-colonial rivalry.
Sir James Mackintosh has enunciated in terse sir James
Mackin-
language his own system of Colonial policy : " A tosh's
system oi
full and efficient protection from all foreign in- " Colonial
policy."
nuence ; full permission to conduct the whole of
their own internal affairs ; compelling them to pay
all the reasonable expenses of their own govern-
ment, and giving them at the same time a perfect
control over the expenditure of the money ; and
imposing no restrictions of any kind upon the
industry or traffic of the people." These maxims
were stated in a speech delivered in the House
R 2
244 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
of Commons, in 1828, on the civil government of
Canada, and it may be fairly asserted that in ac-
cordance with them the Colonial policy of Great
Britain has since that date been conducted, while
the British Colonial Empire has attained its
existing prosperity and grandeur.
The words of Sir James Mackintosh, when
uttered, were especially applicable to our North
American colonies, whose condition and circum-
stances he contrasts thus favourably with those
of all other known countries : " Exempt at once
from the slavery of the West and the castes of
the East, exempt from the embarrassments of
that great continent which we have chosen as a
penal settlement, exempt from all the artificial
distinctions of the Old World and many of the
evils of the New." Australia is now no longer
a penal settlement ; and New Zealand has sprung
recently into political existence, giving to the
maxims above quoted a far wider application at
the present time than they had when enunciated
in 1828.
General During the half-century which has elapsed
acceptance
by the since that distinguished Liberal, Sir James Mac-
Liberal
party of kintosh, enunciated his principles of Colonial
Mackin-
tosh's policy, they have found general acceptance with
P les - the Liberal party, under whose auspices the British
Empire has been administered during the greater
part of that period. It is hardly too much to say,
that any marked departure from these principles
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 245
has invariably resulted in serious difficulty, al-
though the bitter lessons of the American war
of independence have been well enough laid to
heart to prevent the recurrence of any complete
disaster.
Perhaps the most difficult question has been -JJJ most
to determine how far the interference of the <i uestion -
Mother-country is necessary or desirable, in order
to protect the Colonies "from all foreign influence."
The phrase employed by Sir J. Mackintosh appears
indeed to be too comprehensive, seeing that " all
foreign influence" need not be mischievous, and
that in many instances the Colonies are now quite
capable of affording themselves " a full and efficient
protection." Occasionally we have had differences
with various European Powers and with the
United States of America, when the interests, real
or supposed, of our Colonies have been concerned,
and where Great Powers are implicated we are
bound to take care that our Colonial fellow-
countrymen get fair play. On the other hand,
Imperial intervention is frequently unnecessary,
and even mischievous, when the Colonists are in-
volved in disputes with barbarian neighbours,
whether within or without their own territorial
limits. In such disputes there is great reason to
fear that the consciousness of having overwhelming
strength at their back has rendered the Colonial
authorities far less reasonable and just than they
would otherwise have been.
246 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
h ., e . The Colonial policy of Lord Beaconsfield's
Colonial J
theBea f Government was in marked opposition to that
consfieid wn i cn wag advocated by Sir James Mackintosh.
Govern- >
ment. ^ Q Colonists were not encouraged to develop
their internal resources by peaceful industry, and
to expend their revenues upon improvements
within their own borders, such as new countries
most urgently require. They were rather en-
couraged in aggressions upon the territory of their
neighbours, although possessing far more territory
than they could fully occupy, while all the naval
and military resources of the empire were devoted
to the conquest and annexation of new countries.
During Lord Beaconsfield's tenure of power the
Fiji Islands were annexed, Cyprus was occupied,
and a large portion of Afghanistan was seized ;
but it was in South Africa that the most extensive
additions to the empire were made, and it is
difficult as yet to say exactly how many new
subjects, or how much territory, may have there
been acquired. In round numbers, however, the
British Empire now extends over nine millions
of square miles, and contains 300,000,000 in-
habitants, surpassing even the Eussian Empire
in area, and rivalling even the Chinese in popu-
lation. If increased extent, rather than increased
prosperity and power, be the great desideratum
for the empire, then the policy lately in fashion
has been eminently successful. None, however,
of these recent acquisitions seem likely to become
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 247
true self-supporting colonies, and they must re-
main for a long period, if not permanently, a
drag upon the resources of the home-country.
As regards Cyprus, it will hardly be disputed
that this island can never become a British Colony
in the true sense of the term. Intended originally
to be made, like Gibraltar and Malta, " a strong
place of arms," Cyprus has been already, to all
intents and purposes, evacuated by the British
troops. It possesses no natural harbours ; it is
denuded of timber ; and it is liable, like the
neighbouring coasts of Syria and Cilicia, to be
scourged at particular seasons with a wasting and
deadly fever. In course of time, if the country
were completely under British rule, and if a large
amount of British money were spent upon its
improvement, Cyprus would doubtless regain a
portion of the prosperity which it enjoyed before
it fell into the power of the Ottomans ; but to
England it will never be anything but an en-
cumbrance. Neither the method by which Cyprus
was obtained, nor the tenure by which it is held,
under the suzerainete of the Sultan, can be re-
garded as satisfactory, and the only apparent reason
for keeping it is the difficulty of finding any one
to take it off our hands. With regard to Fiji, on
the other hand, it may be hoped that this new
dependency will prosper, founded as it has been
under favourable auspices, in close proximity to the
great self-governing colonies of Australia. The Home
248 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
Government, however, must be prepared for strong
pressure on the part of the colonists, who will
certainly urge further annexations in New Guinea
and throughout Polynesia. No risk of invasion
by savage neighbours can well be alleged in these
cases, but there is of course the " christianising
and civilising mission " to be carried out a mission
which always in Australasia has resulted in the
gradual extinction of the native races. Not a few
of the most eager annexationists will also probably
be found to have speculated on the rise in value of
landed property, which the hoisting of the British
flag is certain to produce,
important i n considering any proposed annexation of
considera-
tion, territory, it is most important to realise the fact
that Englishmen resident on the spot are almost
all interested personally in promoting annexation.
On the frontier of every new country are to be
found many enterprising and energetic individuals,
with little to lose and much to gain by the
results of a "forward" policy. These pioneers of
civilisation are eager for employment, and quite
ready to fight ; so that the expenditure of imperial
funds on a colonial frontier is always popular, either
in peace or war.
India. It is impossible to omit India altogether in
considering the colonial policy of Great Britain,
for India is a country occupied and governed by
Englishmen ; it is a " Crown Colony " upon an
enormous scale, and may be classed along with
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 249
Ceylon, Hong Kong, or Jamaica, however greatly
it may exceed them in size and importance. To
these so- called Crown Colonies the maxims of Sir
James Mackintosh do not apply in their entirety,
and in the case of India their application has
been very partial and unfair, particularly of late
years. India has no "permission to conduct her
own internal affairs ; " she has no " control over
the expenditure of money" by her own govern-
ment, although she is " compelled to pay all such
expenditure," whether "reasonable" or not. As
for " protection from all foreign influence," India
has been repeatedly involved in trouble beyond
her own frontiers upon quarrels with which she
had no direct concern, and disputes in which she
had no voice. She has contributed men and money
to wars in China, in Abyssinia, in Afghanistan
wars into which she has been dragged by Imperial,
not by Indian, statecraft.
In thus treating India we have not acted up
to the lofty standard of policy usually professed
in dealing with our dependencies. We cannot,
indeed, at present give to the natives of India a
"perfect control over their own internal and
financial affairs," although considerable reforms in
that direction might even now be effected. While
India, however, is compelled to pay all her own
expenses, it is only fair to her, and to her rulers,
that those who are responsible for Indian finance
should have the direction of Indian policy, and
250 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
that Indian tax-payers should never have burdens
cast upon them with the view of enhancing British
prestige abroad, or of conciliating British electors
at home. But after all India stands entirely
separate from our other dependencies, and cannot
well be included in a general scheme of British
Colonial policy,
increase of Within the last few years, while a "forward"
responsi-
bilities, policy has been in favour, we, the people of Great
Britain, have had our actual responsibilities alarm-
ingly increased, and obligations have been incurred
on our behalf of such a nature that they cannot
well be repudiated with honour, although the bur-
den of attempting to fulfil them may become
altogether intolerable. Our position is that of an
embarrassed landowner, unable to do justice to his
vast estates, because of his multifarious liabilities,
yet grasping at every parcel of land within his
reach, and mortgaging deeper and deeper his
ancestral property in order to provide the purchase
money.
In Asia we have indefinite obligations connected
with the Anglo-Turkish convention, while the
*' strong, friendly, and independent Afghanistan "
has been " shattered like an earthen pipkin " (to
use Lord Lytton's own words) into fragments which
prove very awkward indeed to handle. In Africa
also a well-established native dynasty has been
destroyed, and Zululand has been reduced to a
condition of anarchy which can hardly fail to
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 251
result in ultimate annexation, while additional
territory, involving fresh risks of collision with
the natives, is even now in course of acquisition
upon various parts of the western coast.
Surely the time has come for the people of Great The time
* come lor
Britain to speak out distinctly, and to say that
they will do their best to manage the possessions
they hold already, but that British blood and P lainl y-
treasure shall no longer be poured out like water
in order that white adventurers may speculate
successfully in land purchases, and may obtain
greater facilities for selling rum to the blacks, or
even in order that Christian missionaries may be
protected from the consequences of their own rash-
ness in playing the part of rulers and belligerents.
It is indeed certain that a large proportion of
our conquests and annexations would never have
been made, if the British nation, or even the
British Government, had been fairly consulted in
the matter. Again and again we have found our-
selves involved in a course of action contrary
alike to our notions of justice and of expediency,
through the rash precipitancy, or even the deliberate
disobedience, of officials whose distance from head-
quarters has enabled them to defy control, until
irremediable errors have been committed.
The most serious error recently committed in The most
^i-i TI i i i* * serious
Colonial policy has been the annexation of the error.
Transvaal Territory, an act for which it would be
difficult, if not impossible, to find any precedent
252 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
in the long history of British conquest and colonisa-
tion. We have often conquered during war the
territories of other civilised nations, and have
retained them after peace was concluded ; we have
often also seized and annexed the lands of trouble-
some barbarian neighbours, being sometimes driven
to take such a course as a simple measure of self-
defence. We have never before, in time of peace,
appropriated forcibly the territory of an independent
civilised community. The rights frequently denied to
heathens with dark faces have hitherto been recog-
nisedin the caseof white men, professing the Christian
religion, and speaking a language kindred to our own.
The Boers The Boers of the Transvaal are not mere savages :
Transvaal, their forefathers were Dutch Calvinists and French
Huguenots, who carried into South Africa the
sturdy courage and love of independence which
characterised them in Europe. Unwilling to
live under foreign rule, they have already twice
abandoned their settlements, and plunged boldly
into the wilderness beyond the ever-advancing
British frontier. Now for the third time they have
been overtaken, and the territory which they have
occupied and colonized is declared to be British.
The motive for this high-handed proceeding on
the part of the English Cabinet appears to have
been the vain hope of promoting a federation of all
the European settlements in South Africa, similar
to that of the British Colonies in North America.
There certainly was no lack of unprofitable territory,
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 253
of native troubles, or of financial responsibilities
in South Africa before the Transvaal was annexed,
and all these are now largely increased, so far
as the Colonial Office is concerned, without any
apparent compensation.
It may be readily conceded that the position of
Great Britain is strengthened, and her dignity is to
enhanced, by the development of free communities
under her flag, cherishing her institutions, although of the 10 '
not sharing her burdens. But neither strength
nor dignity can be derived from the compulsory
subjection of the South African Boerr, whose
territory is to us valueless, and with whom we
need not have any cause of quarrel whatever.
Possibly they may offer no serious armed resistance
to overwhelming force ; they may even " trek "
once more towards the north, leaving to our army
of occupation the lands which they have acquired
by the usual rough methods of frontier pioneers
in a barbarous country. If they depart, a
" damnosa hsereditas " will be left to us ; if they
remain, even passive disaffection on their part will
be a formidable matter for the British Government,
and they will have the active sympathy of their
numerous Dutch kindred within the Cape Colony
itself. Happily the blunder committed in the
annexation of the Transvaal Republic is not yet
irreparable ; it has caused as yet no bloodshed, 1 and
1 Since the above has been in type this has unhappily
ceased to be true.
254 BRITISH COLONIA.L POLICY.
what has 'been destroyed by the stroke of a pen may
be restored by the same agency. A certain amount
of magnanimity is required to acknowledge in a
practical manner that an injustice has been done,
but after all we may fairly claim to be a mag-
nanimous nation, and have repeatedly proved
ourselves capable of similiar acts of restitution.
On the tomb of William the Taciturn, at Delft in
Holland, hangs a wreath of immortelles dedicated by
the Dutch " South African Republics" to the great
Prince of Orange. One of these Republics has now
lost the independence so dear to all Dutchmen, and
our old allies of the Netherlands would thoroughly
appreciate the justice and magnanimity which the
restoration of that independence involves,
import- In considering the question as to how far the
insularity British Colonies would be a help or a hindrance
and geo- .
graphical to Great Britain in the event of a struggle with
position.
any first-class Power, the most important point
seems to be their geographical position and their
degree of insularity. The British Empire is
essentially insular, or at least peninsular, and con-
tinental possessions can only be a source of
weakness. Happily we possess little continental
territory (as distinguished from peninsular], except
in America, where our frontier for thousands of
miles is conterminous with that of a very powerful
neighbour, against whom it is absolutely indefensible.
Elsewhere the ocean or the desert separates our
territory from that of all our rivals, and upon the
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 255
ocean we are still supreme ; even in India the
natural boundaries of the great peninsula are
marked with singular clearness, and the highest
mountain * range in the world separates it from
the rest of Asia. Australia is a continent in
point of size, but an island in position. Africa
remains, however, the hopeless land upon which
European civilisation can make no permanent im-
pression, where white men can never be more
than conquerors and masters among a vastly pre-
ponderating multitude of coloured races, where
slavery, mutato nomine, exists in reality, demoral-
izing the white master no less than the black bonds-
man. Difficulties may from time to time arise in
any one of the numerous and extensive colonies of
Great Britain, but the prospect in general is full
of hope, and the mother country finds herself
gradually relieved of burdens and responsibilities
as her Colonial offspring becomes stronger and
more independent. But South Africa is an " enfant
terrible " in every sense of the word, and is likely
in the immediate future to cause more trouble than
all the others together.
In most of our self-governing Colonies the native Disappear-
ance of
population has either disappeared entirely, or has native po-
become peaceably merged in a preponderating mass ^ most of
our Colo-
of European descent ; so that the Australian Blacks, nies -
the Eed Indians of North America, and even the
Maoris of New Zealand, have ceased to impede the
spread of free representative institutions. Even in
256 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
India itself, where we rule over a vast subject
population, the worst features of modern " im-
perialism " do not manifest themselves readily
among a docile race, with an ancient civilisation,
and long accustomed to subjection.
South It is far otherwise where, as in South Africa, a
exception, few conquering white men find themselves sur-
rounded by swarms of natives, warlike and un-
civilised, incapable of self-government according to
European notions, dangerous as independent neigh-
bours, and still more dangerous as disaffected
subjects. The conquerors are rendered cruel by
their own fear of the conquered, slavery in some
form or other inevitably results, and the develop-
ment of a prosperous free community is rendered
well-nigh impossible. In the " Dark Continent "
of Africa the natives do not recede before the white
man, and the extent of country peopled with
warlike savages is almost boundless ; each new
conquest or annexation brings us face to face with
fresh complications, of which it is impossible to see
the end.
The In all our African possessions the British settlers
British . _ _ 1 . . p i
settlers in are a mere handful, and it seems as n that country
South .
Africa a can never become an important field ior European
mere
handful, emigration. It would indeed be well for England,
if her territory at the Cape of Good Hope were
limited, as at Gibraltar, Aden, or Singapore, to a
coaling station, a fortress, and a free port.
During the last few years the military cost
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 257
of our Colonial Empire has varied but little g^ n f al our
in amount : the annual sum has been about Em P lre -
2,000,000?., one-half of which has been expended
upon the four great military and naval stations,
Gibraltar, Malta, Bermuda, and Hong Kong, and
cannot fairly be regarded as Colonial expenditure.
The free Colonies of Australia and New Zealand
now demand no military outlay whatever from
the British exchequer ; and the same may be said
of North America, with the single exception of
Halifax in Nova Scotia. The military expenses
for the West India Islands are not heavy, and
tend to diminish. In short, the only true Colonies,
which involve serious charges for military purposes
upon the Imperial treasury are those in South
Africa, and there the evil has greatly increased of
late years. The Australian Colonies are disposed
to squander their own money in fortifications and
defences against a purely visionary foe, and we
may admire their public spirit and patriotism
while deprecating their needless extravagance.
The same may be said as to the Dominion of
Canada, with this addition, that warlike demon-
strations against the United States tend to create
a real danger, which would not otherwise exist.
In Australia and America the colonists hre perhaps
pugnacious, but they are not aggressive, and, like
our own Volunteers, they might take for their
motto, " Defence, not Defiance." Difference of
circumstances produces an entirely different policy
s
258 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
in Africa, where wars of aggression are never end-
ing, although each in turn is described as being
necessary to maintain the very existence of the
British settlements in that unfortunate country.
Confedera- The new panacea for African troubles is Con-
tionthe
new federation, and we have been assured that it
panacea. . . . .
overrides in importance every other consideration.
Doctrinaire statesmen may point to North America
with triumph, and may ask : Why should not we
carry out in another continent with success a
similar scheme of confederation? The answer is
simple enough : None of the conditions favourable
to confederation exist in South Africa. Here is
no group of free self-governing communities,
acknowledging the same sovereign and the same
flag, undisturbed by barbarian subjects or neigh-
bours, and interested mainly for fiscal reasons in
promoting a union. In South Africa there is
only one British dependency enjoying responsible
government, viz., the Cape Colony proper, with a
population at the census of 1875 amounting to
720,000, less than one-third of whom are whites.
The dependencies of the Cape Colony, all annexed
within the last fifteen years, include British Kaf-
fraria, Basutoland, Griqualand East, Griqualand
West, and the Transvaal, with a population equal to
that of the Colony proper, and almost entirely black,
with the exception of the Boers. Then there is Natal,
a British colony, with a population of 325,000, less
than 23,000 of whom are of European descent.
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 259
Lastly comes the independent Dutch republic, or
Orange Free State. Thus there are only three
communities, which can possibly confederate at
present, and the Orange Free State, over which we
have no legal control whatever, is one of them-
In the other two countries, which are under the
British flag, there are more than a million of in-
habitants, but only one quarter of these are of
European descent, and of that quarter of a million
the majority are not British, but are of Dutch,
French, or German origin. In other words, the
English settlers are a mere handful among a
numerous population of alien whites and a far
more numerous population of blacks, even with-
in our own territory, while beyond those limits
stretches a vast continent, more or less densely peo-
pled with blacks, over which continent the red
line of British dominion tends to advance with
alarming rapidity. Confederation under such
conditions is an absurdity, and can mean nothing
more than the assumption by the Cape colonists
of a task far beyond their powers, viz., that of
administering unaided a territory which threatens
to rival India in extent, if not in population.
Such an undertaking can only result in disas- Dis-
astrous
trous failure, if attempted by a feeble and divided failure a
certain
Colony under the form of free institutions ; it result -
will test the wisdom and experience of the Home
Government, backed by the whole power of the
British Empire.
s 2
200 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
-^ * ne authority of the mother country be with-
drawal of drawn from South Africa, it is only too probable
Smother that the result will be the establishment of a slave-
a ry ' holding oligarchy, in whose constitution and laws
slavery will be the essential principle, although the
name will not appear. In the Southern States
of the American Union the Federal authority alone
prevents the negroes from being to all intents and
purposes re-enslaved. Coloured persons in various
parts of the world are " apprenticed," or " held to
labour" as coolies, although it is illegal to sell
them as slaves ; while in South Africa black women
and children are " given out," and slavery exists
under thinly disguised forms. The question now
is whether the people of Great Britain are pre-
pared to hand over the territories and the tribes con-
quered by them and at their cost, to be ruled by
the handful of white men at the Cape, in Natal,
and in the Transvaal. The responsibilities incurred
by conquest and annexation cannot be so easily
shuffled off, and in England, as in Eome of old,
there will be "always news from Africa."
The The African race in both hemispheres seem s
African
race the destined to be the grand difficulty of the European,
grand diffi-
culty of and the condition of affairs in the late Slave
the Euro-
pea 11 - States of the American Union presents a strong
analogy to that which prevails at the Cape.
Confederation in the latter case will be as difficult
a scheme as " Eeconstruction " in the former, and
" Reconstruction " has recently been described by a
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 261
powerful American writer as " A Fool's Errand."
" Slavery as a formal state of society was at an
end ; as a force, a power, a moral element, it
was just as active as before. Its conscious evils
were obliterated ; its unconscious ones existed
in the dwarfed and twisted natures which had
been subjected for generations to its influences,
master and slave alike. As a form of society
it could be abolished by proclamation and enact-
ment ; as a moral entity it was indestructible
as the souls on \vhich it has left its mark."
It is true that the blacks of South Africa have The South
not been bought and sold like chattels within blacks in
the posi-
the memory of the present generation, nor are tiou of
serfs.
they liable to the lash of the task-master as a
legalised punishment ; but they are in the posi-
tion of serfs, and they can truly say, like their
brethren in the old Slave States, " Niggers never
can have a white man's chance here."
" The remedy is one that must be applied from The
remedy.
the outside. The South will never purge itself
of the evils which affect it. Its intellect, its
pride, its wealth, in short, its power, is all
arrayed against even the slow and tedious de-
velopment which time and semi-barbarism would
bring. Hour by hour, the chains will be riveted
closer. Look at the history of slavery in our.
land. See how the law-makers, the courts,
public sentiment, and all the power of the land
grew year by year more harsh and oppressive
262 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
on the slave and his congener, the ' free person
of colour,' in all the Slave States. In direct
conflict with all the predictions of statesmen,
the thumb-screws of oppression were given a new
and sharper turn with every passing year. The
vestiges of liberty and .right were shred away
by legislative enactment, and the loopholes of
mercy closed by judicial construction, until only
the black gulf of hopeless servitude remained.
The " The remedy is not from within. The minority
from with- knows its power, and the majority realizes its
from weakness so keenly as to render that impossible.
That which has made ' bulldozing ' possible renders
progress impossible. It must be from without.
The remedy for darkness is light ; for ignorance,
knowledge ; for wrong, righteousness. . Let the
nation undo the evil it has permitted and en-
couraged. Let it educate those whom it made
ignorant, and protect those whom it made
weak." 1
If the Mother Country were to make over
the destinies of the vast coloured population in
the British African Colonies to the tender mercies
of the white colonists, the result would probably
be much the same as if the freedmen of the former
American Slave States were left, unprotected by
the Republicans of the North, to settle their
pqlitical status with their former masters in the
South. The responsible Government conferred
1 " A Fool's Errand," by One of the Fools.
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 263
upon the Cape Colony unfortunately restricts
the effective intervention of the Colonial Office
to the territories lying beyond the present
boundaries of that Colony.
In the meantime we must beware of extending The area of
nominal
the area of nominal self-government by bestowing ^tf-
absolute power upon a small minority of whites*** 11 *.
should not
over a subject black population. The experiment
of a representative Government under such con-
ditions failed in Jamaica, and, warned by this
failure, we can now see that the independence
of the few implies the subjection of the many,
and that even the nominal enfranchisement of
the ignorant blacks does not enable them efficiently
to protect themselves. In Barbados and in Natal
the problem of constitutional reform is rendered
well-nigh insoluble, and the Transvaal question
is complicated by the same difficulty.
H. E. Captain Strahan, C.M.G., Governor of the
Windward Islands, in the address with which he
opened the Legislative session in Barbados, on
the 12th of December, 1877, uses these words:
" The late unhappy disturbances have attracted
public attention very strongly to the question
whether the constitution of Barbados requires
amendment, either by extending the franchise or
by establishing that direct protection by the Crown
of the unrepresented classes which takes the place
of representation, and which is afforded by the
constitution of a Crown Colony."
264 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
He further speaks of the Barbados constitution
as " conferring singularly independent powers up-
on a small minority of the people," but protests
against the idea of any large extension of the
franchise among the negro population.
Sir Garnet Sir Garnet Wolseley, on the 13th of February,
*\Vol scl 6V
on a "re- 1880, in a despatch to Sir Michael Hicks-Beach,
*V.l J *
Government the Secretary of State for the Colonies, writes from
for Natal. , i i
Pietermantzburg, Natal, on the subject of creating
a " responsible " Government in that Colony, an
address praying for such a form of Government
having been forwarded to Her Majesty from the
Legislative Council of Natal. He uses these
words : " In a colony where the voters or, in
other words, the grown-up males of European
descent are only about 4,100, any attempt to
create a constitution on such a very narrow basis,
in imitation of that which we possess in England,
would be as futile as it would be dangerous. The
whole white population of Natal does not amount
to 22,300 souls, while the Kaffir population is said
to be nearly 400,000. You will remark that under
the proposed constitution it is not intended that
the natives should have any voice in public affairs,
or that they should be directly represented in
either of the two Councils. To give over the
government of this Colony into the hands of the
very small number of white people in it would, in
my opinion, be as unjust to the large number of
natives living within its borders, as it would be
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 265
dangerous to the peace of South Africa. I believe
that one of the principal and earliest products of
responsible Government in Natal would be an
endeavour, in one way or another, to set up little
by little the compulsory relation of master and
servant, employer and employed, between the white
population and the black ; and I can foresee the
gravest and most disastrous consequences as the
almost certain outcome of any such attempt, were
it permitted by the Mother Country." Sir Garnet
Wolseley goes on to mention, " The white man who
hungers for the possession of farms beyond the
existing boundary of the Colony," and to describe
the native policy, which finds favour with the
colonists of Natal, as " a policy of annexation and
of interference in native affairs beyond their own
borders, a policy of which war sooner or later must
be the result." And he adds : " To the colonists
war means the spreading amongst them of millions
of money drawn from the English treasury ; and
the crime of bringing about a native war does
not so clearly appear to the Natal colonist, who
thinks he may rely always upon the aid of British
battalions to save him from the adverse conse-
quences of a conflict which he may have himself
provoked."
What Sir G. Wolseley says of Natal is true of
all Colonies existing under similar conditions, and
the practice (loudly denounced when attributed
to the Dutch Boers) of " indenturing " natives,
266 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
especially women, for long periods of compulsory
service, has already called forth remonstrances
from the Home Government, addressed to the
authorities of the Cape Colony. In South Africa
every native war results in confiscation of native
lands, with the virtual reduction to servitude of
the natives themselves. Thus the frontier farmers
obtain land and labour at the same time, while
responsibilities and burdens are cast upon the Home
Government and the British taxpayer. Such has
been the course of events hitherto ; but it may be
hoped that a change has recently taken place, and
that the Basuto war, now raging in South Africa,
may teach a salutary lesson to all concerned.
Decline of The recent transfer of Cyprus from the con-
portance of trol of the Foreign to that of the Colonial Office
Colonial is apparently a prudent proceeding. The latter
Depart-
ment. Department of State has declined greatly in
relative importance to the other first-class Depart-
ments, as one Colony after another has been eman-
cipated from the control of the Mother Country
and entrusted with powers of self-government.
In fact, the Colonial Office has ceased to be a first-
class Department, and the population under its im-
mediate jurisdiction is now comparatively small.
While the India Office is responsible, according
to the most recent census, for a population of
191,000,000 in British India, besides 48,000,000
in the Protected Native States, the Colonial Office
has, in round numbers, 5,000,000 subjects, besides
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 267
1,000,000, whose position of partial subordination
may be compared with that of the Indian Feu-
datories.
But although the Colonial Department is insig- Successful
adminis-
nificant in magnitude when contrasted with India, tration
of the
it is far more successful in its administration, if Colonial
Depart-
financial prosperity may be taken as an evidence ment -
of success. Except in the case of military and
naval stations, maintained for the advantage,
real or supposed, of the empire generally, the
colonies impose no burden of any consequence
upon the British exchequer, and those countries
which are under the jurisdiction of the Colonial
Office can exhibit a most satisfactory balance-
sheet, with annual surplus and insignificant debt.
It is, indeed, otherwise with the free constitu-
tional colonies ; but for their finance the Home
Government is in no sense responsible.
Grants in aid are still made from the civil
estimates for salaries of governors, and other
special purposes, but they are small in amount,
and are gradually diminishing ; so that the British
Colonial Empire is really self-supporting, as
regards all civil and internal administration.
The British Colonies are divisible into three The
Colonies
distinct classes. First, Crown Colonies, where divisible
into three
legislation and administration are alike under classes.
First class.
the control of the Home Government, by whom
all public officers are appointed. Not one of
these Crown Colonies is of first-class importance
268 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
(India of course being excepted), and some of
them are merely military garrisons, naval stations,
or trading settlements. The most populous are
Ceylon, Jamaica, Mauritius, the Gold Coast, and
the Straits Settlements ; and their aggregate popu-
lation amounts, including Cyprus, to considerably
more than four millions and a half.
Second Secondly, Colonies where Representative In-
C1US3.
stitutwns exist, and where the Crown exercises
only a veto on legislation, but the Home Govern-
ment has retained the control of the executive,
and the appointment of public officers. Such
Colonies are Natal, Western Australia, Barbados,
Malta, Leeward Islands, Bahamas, Bermudas,
and British Guiana. The population of the
" Representative " Colonies is somewhat greater
than one million.
Third The third class includes all the most im-
class.
portant Colonies, those enjoying Responsible
Government. Over these the Home Government
possesses no control beyond the appointment
of a constitutional Governor as representative
of the British Crown, and a veto upon legislation
very rarely exercised. In this category are New-
foundland, the Dominion of Canada, the Cape
of Good Hope, New Zealand, Tasmania, and
the four principal Colonies of the Australian
continent. Their population amounts, accord-
ing to the latest returns, to seven millions and
a half, nearly all of whom, except in the Cape
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 269
Colony and its dependencies, are of European
race ; whereas, in the other two classes of colony,
the white inhabitants form a minority quite in-
significant in numbers. The Colonial Office, there-
fore, exercises complete control over 5,000,000,
partial control over 1,000,000, and merely nominal
control over 7,500,000, the total being 13,500,000
persons. The different classes of Colonies differ
greatly as to their financial position. The con-
stitutional Colonies have fallen into errors natural
to young and prosperous communities, and have
failed to profit either by the example of the Mother
Country, or by that of the United States. They
alienate the public lands with reckless rapidity,
they hamper trade with protective tariffs, and they
raise loans for the " development of the country,"
while they disburse as ordinary revenue, rather than
as capital, the produce of the public land sales.
Great Britain has adopted a free trade policy, Great
J ' Britain's
by virtue of which she has acquired enormous fre , e trade
policy,
wealth ; but she makes no serious effort to no "- ..
reduction
reduce her national debt, even in times of ^ national
debt.
peace and prosperity, leaving it as a perma-
nent burden to future generations, for whose
supposed benefit so much of it has been
contracted, but who will certainly find it a
disastrous inheritance, and will probably have
enough to do in meeting the obligations and
liabilities arising in their own times.
The United States, on the other hand, have
270 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
The hitherto favoured protection of home industries
United
states, its a policy which, in their case, has proved less
protective
policy, but mischievous than usual, on account of their vast
rapid dis-
charge of territory and the varied resources existing within
national
liabilities, their own limits. The Americans are increasing
rapidly in numbers and in wealth ; they might
fairly argue that their descendants will be better
able than they are to bear the burdens incurred
in the great civil war which put an end to slavery,
but they do not favour this indefinite postpone-
ment of national liabilities, and are paying off
at the cost of the present generation the debt
which this generation has incurred.
Principal Our principal Colonies are falling into the double
Colonies
felling into error of hampering their commerce and post-
error, poning their liabilities ; they accept alike the
American policy of protection and the British
policy of indebtedness, reducing both ad absurdum.
Each colony maintains a hostile tariff, not only
against the Mother Country, but against its
Colonial neighbours ; so that Australia, with a
population smaller than that of single American
States, has half-a-dozen distinct fiscal systems,
framed in a spirit of mutual jealousy, and
seriously impeding the commercial development
of the country.
TheAus- The six Australian colonies (including Tasmania)
tralian
Colonies, are rapidly outstripping the Old Country in the
matter of indebtedness. The oldest of them had
not a single British settler a century ago ; their
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 271
aggregate population in 1878 was -a little over
two millions, while their aggregate public debt
was 45,000,000?. New Zealand, with a population
(including Maoris) of less than half a million, had
in 1878 a public debt of 22,608,311?., and New
Zealand has not yet existed forty years as a
separate colony. The annual expenditure of
these colonies continues to exceed their income ;
and the consequent increase of indebtedness is
not the worst feature of the case, for a large
proportion of the revenue is derived from land
sales a source of supply liable to exhaustion in
all colonies, and in certain colonies already almost
exhausted.
Thus in 1877 the gross amount of public revenue
for the Australasian Colonies was 17,800,000?., of
that amount rather less than one-third being
raised by actual taxation. In 1878 the "ordi-
nary" expenditure of New Zealand, in a time of
profound peace, exceeded the revenue by nearly
200,000?. while the expenditure out of " loans
for public works" was 1,786,992?.
New Zealand has a great future before her,
but that future has been gravely compromised
by a reckless financial policy, which has already
expended a large portion of her splendid patri-
mony, the public lands, and has saddled the com-
munity with a public debt just twice as heavy
per head as that of the United Kingdom.
In fact, the most promising of all our Colonies,
272 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
The most on account of natural advantages, is now, in pro-
promising f . .
Colony portion to population, the most heavily indebted
the most
heavily country in the world. The "net indebtedness"
indebted.
of the Colony, including the old Provincial
Government loans, has been stated by the
Agent-General for New Zealand as amounting on
the 30th June, 1879, to 21,513,3032. 145. 5d.
Mature, Ten millions sterling of this money have been
and extent expended on railways constructed and in course
of expendi-
ture, of construction, and five millions upon other public
'works, including roads, harbours, lighthouses, and
telegraphs. Upon immigration 3,770,0002. have
been spent, and 1,470,0002. upon the purchase
of native lands. All of these are doubtless ob-
jects involving a certain outlay, which, if made
judiciously, will prove beneficial in the future,
and which need not have been made entirely out
of current revenue. But, in estimating the finan-
cial extravagance which has piled up so large a
debt in so short a time, it must be borne in mind
that an additional sum of 10,763,5772. has been
spent by the Colony of New Zealand, being the
amount realised from public lands granted and sold
down to the end of 1878. Now this large sum,
amounting to one-half of the entire public debt,
ought surely to have been regarded as capital, and
not as current income ; it ought to have been
applied either to the reduction of the permanent
debt, or it should have been set apart for special
contingencies ; but nothing of the sort has been
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 273
done. The annual charge for interest of debt and
sinking fund is stated in 1879 at 1,200,000/., but
the total sinking fund accrued at that date has been
only 1,709,000., reducing the net indebtedness to
twenty- one and a half millions sterling, as above
mentioned. For the last ten years the revenue of
New Zealand has been divided into " consolidated "
and " land " revenue, the former having increased
gradually and steadily during that period from one
million to more than two millions and a half, while
the annual revenue from sales of land has fluctuated
between 208,OOOZ. and 1,586,500/.
This highest figure was reached in 1877 78, Crease of
permanent
and it is noticeable that from various causes the debt -
land revenue has in the following year shown a
falling off to the amount of nearly one-half. It is
somewhat difficult to reconcile the details of the
statistics furnished by the Agent-General for New
Zealand with those given in the Statistical Abstract
recently laid before Parliament, but it is clear
enough that, while the land revenue has been
spent from year to year, the public permanent
debt has been trebled since 1869.
Hitherto no check has been placed upon such cheek
r r upon
reckless extravagance by the pressure of direct ex * va ~
taxation, but this will not be the case in future,
and a heavy tax upon property has been im-
posed within the last few months. It may be
hoped that the effect of this impost will be to
open the eyes of the New Zealand people, and
T
274 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
to bring about economy and retrenchment. Their
Agent-General boasts that their public works are
not constructed for the present population only,
but for many times the number. Whence are
these multitudes to come ? The country wants
European immigrants, but its great distance from
Europe places it at a woeful disadvantage com-
pared with America as a field for emigration. If,
in addition to this disadvantage, New Zealand is to
be handicapped with heavy taxation, even the
present scanty stream of immigration will be
turned away from her shores, and she will have
to depend solely upon the natural increase of her
existing population. Meanwhile the evil done is
by no means irreparable : the public credit of New
Zealand is still justly high ; the larger portion of
the lands of the colony is still unalienated, while
the railways constitute a really valuable property,
already producing, at least in the Middle Island,
a net return of three per cent, upon the cost.
Analogy The peculiarities which characterise the finance
/
New Zea- of New Zealand are found also in that of Victoria
land and
Victoria, to a considerable extent. If the five years from
1873 74 to 1877 78 be considered, the revenue
is found to vary between four millions sterling and
four millions and three-quarters, while the ex-
penditure for each year, except 1876 77, con-
siderably exceeds the revenue. Out of this re-
venue only a portion, far less than the moiety, is
raised by taxation.
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 275
In 1877 78 out of four and a half millions ster-
ling one million seven hundred thousand, or 38 per
cent., resulted from taxation, almost entirely from
customs, although a land tax was then imposed for
the first time. In that year 756, OOO/. was realised
from land sales, 1,2 02, 00 Ql. from rail ways, 239,000/.
from posts and telegraphs, besides large sums from
rent of Crown lands, water supply, fines, forfeitures,
&c. All these sources of income are steady, some of
them are increasing, and all, except land sales, may
be regarded as legitimate revenue. From other
Australian Colonies reports of budget statements
reach us, showing that financial difficulties are now
seriously felt, and it is a very hopeful sign that
recourse is being generally made to direct taxation.
Financial reform and retrenchment are probably not
far distant, when self-governing communities, whose
public income has been hitherto derived from land
sales and protective import duties, begin to feel the
pinch of direct taxes.
At present the Australians are inclined to boast Australian
of their large revenues, and the Victorian Year- to ixmst of
Book for 1878 79, para. 160, says, "Not one revenues,
country (in the world) raises so much per head as
any of the Colonies on the Australian continent, or
as New Zealand." The very next paragraph, how-
ever, shows that in the case of Victoria the pro-
portion of revenue raised by taxation is only 38 per
cent., while it is rather less than one-third of the
total revenue for all the Australasian Colonies.
T 2
276 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
indebted- The Dominion of Canada has not displayed quite so
ness of
Canada, serious a case of youthful extravagance as have the
Australasian Colonies. The total " net liabilities "
and the
Cape. o f ftiQ Dominion and Provincial Governments was
in 1878 just under 30,000,000?. for a population
of less than four millions. This gives a degree of
public indebtedness per head of population cor-
responding closely to that of the United States, and
considerably less than half that of the United
Kingdom. Canada has never been burdened with
the costs of a great civil war, but it is a significant
fact that whereas the receipts annually exceed the
expenditure by a very large sum in the United
States, and the public debt diminishes steadily, the
Dominion debt displays an opposite tendency, and
in 1878 the expenditure exceeded the revenue by
235,000?., besides a sum of 1,386,916?. expended
from " Loans on Public Works." Newfoundland
has held aloof from the rest of British North
America, and is quite independent of the Dominion.
Her public debt is as yet small, but here as else-
where the tendency is to increase, the deficit in
1878 being 27,000?. on a total -expenditure of less
than a quarter of a million sterling. The only
other important self-governing Colony is that of
the Cape, where the public debt is growing rapidly,
having increased between 1870 and 1878 from
little more than one million to nearly seven millions
sterling, a sufficiently alarming figure for a country
where the white population does not yet equal a
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 277
quarter of a million ; but this debt must be largely
increased by the wars in which the Colony is now
engaged.
A good example of financial economy is given by A g d -
the Orange Free State, which declares a very small
debt, and a surplus of annual revenue over ex-
penditure. In this respect the little Dutch
Eepublic stands alone among the numerous self-
governing communities founded by European
settlers beyond the limits of Europe.
But, while the " Responsible " Colonies are thus Satis-
factory-
plunging headlong into debt, and mortgaging their
future prosperity, the two other classes display a
far more satisfactory balance-sheet, notwithstanding Jamaica -
the large staff of salaried officials which they
usually maintain. The Governor of Jamaica has
recently called attention to the flourishing finances
of that important island, where debt has been
largely reduced of late years, without any increase
in taxation, and where the amount of revenue in
1878 was 539,000?., exceeding the expenditure by
35,000?., so that Jamaica is now almost free from
public debt.
Barbados stands in a still more satisfactory posi- Barbados.
tion, as in 1878 the public debt was only 25,000?.,
and the revenue for the year exceeded the expen-
diture by 7,000?. Trinidad in 1878 shows a debt
not much greater than half the annual revenue,
which is very largely in excess of the expenditure.
In the Leeward Islands the revenues exceed the
278 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
expenditure, and the public debt is inconsiderable.
In the Bahamas and the Bermudas a fair equi-
librium seems to be maintained between incom-
ings and outgoings ; while Tobago returns almost
precisely the same figures for revenue as for
expenditure.
Thus the British possessions in the West Indies
Indies*
set an excellent example in finance to the more
independent and progressive Colonies, arid it is
gratifying to find that these comparatively humble
dependencies are now so well administered as to
be able to pay their own way, and to meet all
their liabilities with ease. The same holds good
of the Crown Colonies in other parts of the world :
except such as are mere garrisons, none are a
burden on the British taxpayers, and, except the
great Indian empire, none are bowed down beneath
a weight of debt.
Ceylon. Ceylon in 1878 was practically free from debt,
and the revenue exceeded the expenditure by
95,000?. Mauritius had then a debt of 700,000?,
less by 90,000?. than the revenue for that year,
which also exceeded the annual expenditure by
55,000?. Of the other dependencies of the British
Crown, viz. Hong Kong, Straits Settlements,
Labuan, Guiana, it may be said that they are all
solvent and prosperous in their fiscal affairs.
Malta and Malta and Gibraltar are able to defray without
Gibraltar.
difficulty all necessary expenses of civil govern-
ment. Heligoland has a small annual surplus,
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 279
and a trifling debt. Even such settlements as
British Honduras, the Falkland Islands, and St.
Helena contrive to pay their own way fairly well ;
while the West African Settlements, the Gold
Coast Colony, and Lagos are prosperous financially,
notwithstanding their insalubrious climate.
The financial prosperity of the British Crown Financial
prosperity
Colonies is thus in marked contrast to the indebted of Crown
Colonies
condition of civilised communities in general, not ^ marked
contrast to
excepting some of the wealthiest and most power- civilized
communi-
ful European empires (with which it is useless to ties in ,
general.
compare them), while Switzerland alone can dis-
play an equally favourable balance sheet. If,
however, they contrast favourably in this respect
with British Constitutional Colonies, much more
favourable is the contrast as regards most of the
independent communities which have arisen from
the ruins of the Spanish American Empire : the
Argentine Eepublic, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Para-
guay, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Central America
vie with each other in deficit and debt.
Altogether the result of an inquiry into the
financial condition of the British Colonies and
their pecuniary relations to the Mother Country
is by no means unsatisfactory, always excepting
India, and perhaps South Africa.
The aggregate revenue of the British Dominions Aggregate
is, by the latest returns, upwards of 160,000,000?. British
-n Domin-
One-half of this enormous sum is raised in Europe, ions.
and one-third in Asia, Of the remaining sixth
280 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
nearly two-thirds are raised in Australasia, leaving
only one twenty-fifth of the total for America and
one-fiftieth for Africa.
Relative If the relative importance of the British pos-
import-
. sessions in the five divisions of the globe be
of British
posses- estimated by their respective incomes, then, taking
one hundred as the total, Europe is represented
by fifty, Asia by thirty-three, Australasia by
eleven, America by four, and Africa by two. If
population, or area, be taken as the standard of
comparison, very different results are obtained.
As regards population their order of magnitude
is- Asia, Europe, America, Australasia ; and as
regards area, it is America, Australasia, Asia,
Europe. In both respects Africa is now quite
indeterminate.
A oHtlciaifs ^ e canno ^ ^ e * mucn upon our guard against
ou^uard ^^ ^ ass ^ politicians who believe that the
agamst. strength and resources of the British empire
necessarily increase with its territorial extension,
and who regard all conquests or annexations of
rival nations as affording just cause for alarm.
They appear to think that every barbarous country,
and especially every island, all over the globe,
belongs, or ought to belong, to England. If a
rumour gets abroad that the Americans propose to
purchase a naval station near Honolulu, or that
a couple of German war- vessels have been lying for
a considerable time at the Samoa group of islands,
these " patriots " are frantic with jealousy, lest
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.' 281
another Great Power should do once what England
has done over and over again, and should attempt
to share the British monopoly in civilizing aboriginals
off the face of the earth. It is true that, when
a country inhabited by savages has once been
invaded by white settlers, the only chance of
protection for the natives is under the flag of
a civilized Power, and in their choice of evils the
British flag is probably the least ; but our hands
are already too full, and we cannot do justice to
our vast possessions. If other great nations are
willing to undertake a share in the task of
civilizing Africa or Asia, a far-sighted policy
dictates ready acquiescence on our part in what
is merely the imposition of a burden on the
shoulders of a possible rival. Thanks to her
naval supremacy, England has already secured
all the best available territory for colonization,
and that which remains unappropriated is not
very likely to " pay."
When the French undertook the expedition that Jealousy
finally resulted in the conquest and annexation at foreign
of Algiers, great jealousy and alarm were excited in mdannex-
, ations ar
this country, and many persons actually believed ground-
less.
that British interests would suffer, if a stable,
civilized Government were substituted in North
Africa for chronic piracy and misrule. France was
then the "bete noire," or bugbear, of so-called
British patriots, who are now able to perceive
what the French tax-payer has long ago discovered
282 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
that Algeria has profited more than France by
the hoisting of the tricolor upon the shores of Africa.
At the present day Eussia is exhausting her im-
perfectly developed resources in subjugating the
wild hordes of Central Asia, and again it is
imagined that British interests are menaced, and
that all Russian action is directed by hostility
to England. Surely these patriots, who regard the
strength and prosperity of neighbouring nations as
necessarily disastrous to themselves must rejoice
when that strength is expended, and that prosperity
is diminished in carrying out the " mission " of
subduing barbarians and unbelievers. Enlightened
selfishness should prompt Englishmen not to
restrain suspected rivals from distant conquests,
but rather to encourage them in squandering their
forces over the surface of the globe. Experience
has taught us in many wars, that remote
colonies and possessions are a serious encum-
brance to a belligerent of inferior maritime force,
and in particular it has been proved again and
again, that all islands occupied by the rivals of
Great Britain are simply hostages placed in the
hands of that Power which so long has ruled
the seas. During the wars waged with other
European nations by England, since the destruc-
tion of the Spanish Armada inaugurated her naval
supremacy, the enemy's settlements and garrisons,
isolated and cut off from reinforcement, have
invariably fallen one after another into British
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 283
hands. The Dutch in particular were almost every-
where explorers and pioneers to the British, and
the names of New Holland, New Zealand, and Van
Diemen's Land sufficiently indicate that Australasia,
as well as South Africa and Ceylon, would have
been Dutch, if England had not finally triumphed
over Holland, her determined maritime rival. The
ocean does not separate outlying possessions from
a mother-country that has undisputed command of
the waves. The Mediterranean bound together the
widely- scattered provinces of the Roman Empire,
in the centre of which lay the city of Eome. The
British Isles lie in the centre of the land surface of
the globe, and are united to remote dependencies
by the same salt waves that part them from neigh-
bouring rivals. After Rome had vanquished
Carthage, her only maritime rival, she flourished for
many centuries, having none to make her afraid ;
but Italy is not an island, or Rome might have
continued, like Venice amidst the lagoons, to defy
the barbarians for many centuries more.
The Roman poet might well lament that the sound
of Italian wars was audible alike to Medes and to
Africans, and might ask what fields were not
enriched with Latin blood
" Qui gurges aut quse flumina lugubris
Jgnara belli ? Quod mare Daunise
Non decoloravere ctedes ?
Qme caret ora cruore nostro 1 " l
1 Horatii Flacci Carminnm, lib. ii., Ode i.
284 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
In a yet wider sense the question has been
asked
" Sons of the Ocean Isle !
Where sleep your mighty dead ? "
And the answer is :
" Wave may not foam, nor wild wind sweep,
Where rest not England's dead."
The sea, whose shores have been enriched with
English blood, spreads far beyond the Pillars
of Hercules, and the existence of our vast em-
pire is due to our command of that grand high-
way of nations, far more than to any superiority
over other races, either as conquerors or as
colonists. Not without reason is the British navy
popular, giving, as it does, security at home and
empire abroad, without menacing liberty or un-
duly burdening the exchequer.
Value of At the present period no portion of the empire,
except India, would be seriously imperilled, if we
did not possess any regular army at all, and if
the defence of the whole were entrusted to a
powerful navy, with a well-organized local militia
in each colony, as well as in the United Kingdom.
Even India, it must be remembered, was conquered
from the seaboard, and our maritime supremacy
alone enabled us there to crush our French rivals.
Without that supremacy we could hardly hold
the country for a year, while with the sea open to
our transport vessels, and India garrisoned by a
localised European force, no enemy exists that
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 285
need alarm the most timid of patriots. For us
the " gates of India " are on the Suez Canal, and
Egypt is the only land, beyond the limits of India
proper, the possession of which would strengthen
our Eastern Empire.
The case of Great Britain is indeed without a The case
of Great
parallel in history : her empire stretches over Britain un.
paralleled.
"regions Caesar never knew," and her colonies
have never been rivalled in extent by those of
any nation except Spain. The "red line" of
British dominion continues to encroach upon all
other colours over the map of the globe, including
ever more and more territory, until it seems as
if the empire must crumble away from its own
weight and want of cohesion. Unlike Eome,
England is -surrounded by many independent
nations, several of them surpassing her in military
power, although she might almost cope singly with
the united naval forces of all. If all England's
vast empire were in truth a " Greater Britain, 1 '
contributing willingly in men and money to the
maintenance of English rule, then indeed she
might defy the world in arms ; but, as Mr. Glad-
stone has most truly said, her rule has to be
maintained " with the strength that lies within
the narrow limits of these shores." The self-
governing Colonies of British origin have ceased
to be a burden : they pay their own way, and
might even become a support in any time of dire
emergency ; but they contribute neither to the
286 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
imperial forces nor to the imperial exchequer.
India has paid her own way hitherto ; but
the first grant in aid has already been made to
her by England, in the form of a loan without
interest.
Heavy The remainder of the empire, including all the
responsi-
bilities. African possessions, must be regarded as entailing
heavy responsibilities upon the people of the
United Kingdom, without adding to the strength
necessary for discharging those responsibilities. To
acquire more possessions of this nature, whether in
Zululand, in Afghanistan, or in Asia Minor, simply
means casting fresh burdens, military and financial,
not upon the empire at large, but upon the
33,000,000 inhabitants of Great Britain and
Ireland, who bear bravely the load already on
their shoulders, but certainly feel that they have
got about as much as they can well carry. Practice
in carrying weights doubtless develops strength
up to a certain point, but there is a limit even
for the strongest, and that limit we seem now
to have reached ; but still, such is the energy of
the race, that there are Englishmen who continue
to cry out for more dusky subjects, more barren
territories, more wars, and more debts !
A large \\T e possess already the most extensive empire
propor-
tion of the that has ever existed on this globe, and a large
empire an
unpeopled proportion of this is still an unpeopled waste,
requiring capital and labour to develop its splendid
resources, and to support millions where now
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 287
only thousands are found. There is an ample
field for all our national energy within our
own existing borders, and the Englishman who
advocates the wider extension of those borders,
far from the sea our own element, into the
heart of Africa or Asia, is no true friend to
his country.
It has been stated that our imperial burdens are
borne by the inhabitants of the United Kingdom ;
but at the present time this statement is hardly
correct, for Ireland is now an additional burden on
the military strength of the empire, and, until
Ireland is pacified by just legislation, England
has only Scotland to assist her in sustaining " the
too vast orb of her fate."
Yet statesmen like Sir Bartle Frere continue to Necessity
TT- f r British
advocate the retention 01 Kandahar, and the electors
T- to s
extension of a British protectorate over the whole out.
of South Africa, and, unless British electors and
taxpayers speak out strongly against such a policy
of " force, folly, and fraud," they will find them-
selves saddled with ever more and more useless
and costly possessions. In her future competition
with other nations Great Britain is already handi-
capped quite seriously enough with her enormous
public debt, from which encumbering weight her
most formidable rival is rapidly shaking herself
free. Is there no lesson to be learnt by us from
the policy of civilised nations at the present day,
as well as from that of Rome or Spain in the past ?
288 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
notable ^ wo no ^ a ^^ e examples are before us Germany and
examples. ^ Q United States of America. Both of these
nations doubtless have a great future before them,
but which of them is pursuing the policy best
calculated to raise it to the foremost place ?
Germany annexes valuable provinces, contracts
powerful alliances, increases her army, and takes
upon herself to become the arbiter of Europe. The
Americans leave other nations to manage their own
affairs, reduce their military expenditure to the
lowest possible figure, and direct their indomitable
energy to the reduction of their public liabilities
and to the development of their internal resources.
They abstain, in spite of great provocation, from
farther encroachment upon Mexico ; they decline
to be tempted even by so glittering a bait as
Cuba, the " Pearl of the Antilles ; " they refuse to
become an " imperial " race ruling over subject
nationalities, or to burden themselves with out-
lying possessions, easy to attack, and difficult to
defend. They have their reward : they are indeed
a mighty nation, compact and self-governing, free
from burdens and liabilities, strong in their position,
their wealth, their numbers, and their energy,
without an unwilling subject or a foreign enemy,
at once the most powerful and the most peaceable
nation on the face of the earth. Are we to follow
their example, or that of Germany ? Are we to
thrust ourselves into every European quarrel, as
well as to carry fire and sword through Africa and
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 289
Asia 1 ? Are we to increase continually our public
debt, as well as the number of our discontented
subjects and unprofitable possessions ? The in-
dustrial Commonwealth is clearly outstripping
the military Empire in all that makes life worth
having, and German emigrants are pouring into
America by hundreds of thousands. England has,
like America, a secure position, immense territories,
and free institutions ; let her compete in the rivalry
of peace and progress, rather than in that of
spoliation and conquest.
The " forward " Colonial policy, of which Sir The re-
J suits of a
Bartle Frere is the chief apostle, has had a fair fair trial
of the
trial, and it has brought upon us, in Zululand and in " fo \-,,
ward
Afghanistan, the two most serious military reverses P olic y-
ever sustained by the British arms in battle with
a barbarian foe. These defeats have indeed been
" avenged," but there is little glory or satisfaction
to be gained in the punishment of men, whose
crime is to have fought bravely and successfully
in defence of their native land against unprovoked
invasion.
Of the wars that have arisen, and are likely to impossible
to see the
arise, out of this disastrous policy it is impossible end of
now to foresee the end. even if the present Liberal arisin g
out of this
Government should display a greater readiness policy,
than they have hitherto done to break the con-
tinuity of disaster, by dismissing all the agents
whose conduct produced the original mischief,
and employing men in sympathy with a policy of
u
290 BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY.
peace and conciliation, such men as Sir Henry
Bulwer, late Governor of Natal.
Duty of If the Liberals really believe that rash and un-
just acts have been committed by their predecessors
in office, why can they not make manifest their
belief by deeds as well as by words ? How can
those who condemn the seizure of the Transvaal
against the will of its inhabitants treat the Boers
as rebels for attempting to resist annexation ? Is
it impossible, or absurd, for a great nation to
acknowledge a blunder, and make restitution for
a wrong ? If Liberal Ministers content them-
selves with censuring, instead of altering, the
Colonial policy of the Conservatives, they will
have themselves only to thank, when they reap
the fruits of that policy.
Scope for Even within the limits of its present jurisdiction
the energy
of Colonial the Colonial Office may find scope for considerable
Office.
energy. The Crown Colonies are financially pros-
perous, but important reforms are lacking in
many, if not all of them, and it is possible that
in some cases administrative economy has been
carried too far. From Ceylon come eager demands
- for railway extension and for ecclesiastical dis-
establishment and disendowment. From Malta
there is a cry for representative reform ; from
Cyprus and Honduras there are petitions for
important constitutional amendments.
Din-future ^ ur future Colonial policy must be to reform the
institutions and develop the resources of those
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. 291
countries for whose administration we are really
responsible ; to divest ourselves of all liability for
the action of those Colonies over whose govern-
ment we exercise no power of control ; and, above
all, to put an end to the system of " filibustering"
by officials, traders, or missionaries under shelter
of the British flag.
DAVID WEDDERBURN.
THE END.
LONDON I
R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR,
BREAD STREET HILL.
BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.
February, 1 8 So.
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8 M ACHILLA N'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
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HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 9
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io MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
Freeman continued.
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12 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
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HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 13
Green. continued.
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14 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
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HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 15
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16 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
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'HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 17
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1879 ; with Notes on the Present State and Ancient History of the
Nile Valley, and some account of the various ways of making the
voyage out and home. By the Rev. W. J. LorriE. With
Illustrations. Crown Svo. IOJ. fxl.
" We prophesy that Mr. Lof tie's little book -will accompany many
travellers on the Nile in the coming winters." TIMES.
1 8 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
Lubbock. ADDRESSES, POLITICAL AND EDUCA-
TIONAL. By Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart, M.P., D.C.L.,
F.R.S. 8vo. Ss. 6d.
Macdonell. FRANCE SINCE THE FIRST EMPIRE. By
JAMES MACDONELL. Edited with Preface by his Wife. Crown
8vo. 6s.
Macarthur. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, By MARGARET
MACARTHUR. Being the Third Volume of the Historical Course
for Schools, Edited by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L. Second
Edition. i8mo. 2s.
" It is an excellent summary, unimpeachable as to facts, and putting
them in the clearest and most impartial light attainable." GUARDIAN.
" No previous History oj Scotland of the same bulk is anything like so
trustworthy, or deserves to be so extensively used as a text-book" GLOBE.
Macmillan (Rev. Hugh). For other Works by same Author,
see THEOLOGICAL and SCIENTIFIC CATALOGUES.
HOLIDAYS ON HIGH LANDS ; or, Rambles and Incidents in
search of Alpine Plants. Second Edition, revised and enlarged.
Globe 8vo. cloth. 6s.
" Botanical knowledge is blended with a love of nature, a pious en-
thusiasm, and a rich felicity of diction not to be met with in any works
of kindred character, if we except those of Hugh Miller." TELEGRAPH.
Macready. MACREADY'S REMINISCENCES AND SE-
LECTIONS FROM HIS DIARIES AND LETTERS. Edited
by Sir F. POLLOCK, Bart., one of his Executors. With Four
Portraits engraved by JEENS. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown
8vo. TS. 6d.
" As a careful and for the most part just estimate of the stage during
a very brilliant period, the attraction of these volumes can scarcely be
surpassed. .... Readers who have no special interest in theatrical
matters, but enjoy miscellaneous gossip, will be allured from page to page,
attracted by familiar names and bv observations upon popular actors and
authors. " SPECTATOR.
Mahaffy. Works by the Rev. J. P. MAHAFFY, M.A., Fellow of
Trinity College, Dublin :
SOCIAL LIFE IN GREECE FROM HOMER TO MENAN-
DER. Third Edition, revised and enlarged, with a new chapter
on Greek Art. Crown 8vo. gs.
" It should be in the hands of all who desire thoroughly to understand
and to enjoy Greek literature, and to get an intelligent idea of the old Greek
life, political, social, and religious.'" GUARDIAN.
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 19
M ahaffy continued.
RAMBLES AND STUDIES IN GREECE. With Illustrations.
Crown Svo. los. 6J. New and enlarged Edition, with Map and
Illustrations.
"A singularly instructive and agreeable -volume." ATHENAEUM.
" Maori." SPORT AND WORK ON THE NEPAUL FRON-
TIER ; or, Twelve Years' Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo
Planter. By "MAORI." With Illustrations. 8vo. 14?.
"Every day's adventures, with all the joys and perils of the chase, are
told as only a keen and cunning sportsman can tell them." STANDARD.
Margary. THE JOURNEY OF AUGUSTUS RAYMOND
MARGARY FROM SHANGHAE TO BHAMO AND BACK
TO MANWYNE. From his Journals and Letters, with a brief
Biographical Preface, a concluding chapter by Sir RUTHERFORD
ALCOCK, K.C.B., and a Steel Portrait engraved by JEENS, and
Map. Svo. ioj. 6</.
" There is a manliness, a cheerful spirit, an inherent vigour which
was never overcome by sickness or debility, a tact which conquered ihn
prejudices of a strange and suspicious population, a quiet self-reliance,
always combined with deep religious feeling, unalloyed by either priggish-
ness, cant, or superstition, that ought to commend this volume to readers
sitting quietly at home who feel any pride in the high estimation accorded
to men of their race at Yarkand or at Khiva, in the heart of Africa, or
on the shores of Lake Seri-kul." SATURDAY REVIEW.
Markham. NORTHWARD HO ! By Captain ALBERT H.
MARKHAM, R.N., Author of "The Great Frozen Sea," &c.
Including a Narrative of Captain Phipps's Expedition, by a Mid-
shipman. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. icw. 6J.
" Captain Markham 's interesting volume has the advantage of being
written by a man who is practically conversant with the sttbjcct." PALI.
MALL GAZETTE.
Martin. THE HISTORY OF LLOYD'S, AND OF MARINE
INSURANCE IN GREAT BRITAIN. With an Appendix
containing Statistics relating to Marine Insurance. By FREDERICK
MARTIN, Author of " The Statesman's Year Book." Svo. 14^.
Martineau. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 18521875.
By HARRIET MARTINEAU. With Additional Sketches, and Auto-
biographical Sketch. Fifth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s.
Masson (David). For other Works by same Author, see PHILO-
SOPHICAL and BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUES.
20 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
Masson (David.). continued.
CHATTERTON : A Story of the Year 1770. By DAVID MASSON,
LL. D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh. Crown 8vo. $s.
THE THREE DEVILS : Luther's, Goethe's, and Milton's ; and
other Essays. Crown 8vo. 5.?.
WORDSWORTH, SHELLEY, AND KEATS; and other
Essays. Crown 8vo. 5.?.
Mathews. LIFE OF CHARLES j. MATHEWS, Chiefly
Autobiographical. With Selections from his Correspondence and
Speeches. Edited by CHARLES DICKENS.
" Om of the pleasantest and must readable books of the season. From
first to last thesi two volumes are alive with the inimitable artist and
comedian. . . . The whole book is fM of life, vigour, and wit, and even
throtigh some of the gloomy episodes of volume two, will repay most careful
study. So complete, so varied a picture of a mans life is rarely to be met
with" STANDARD.
Maurice. THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS ; AND OTHER
LECTURES. By the REV. F. D. MAURICE. Edited with Pre-
face, by THOMAS HUGHES, Q.C. Crown 8vo. IO.T. 6d.
Mayor (J. E. B.) WORKS edited by JOHN E. B. MAYOR,
M. A. , Kennedy Professor of Latin at Cambridge :
CAMBRIDGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Part IL
Autobiography of Matthew Robinson. Fcap. 8vo. $s. 6d.
LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL. By his SON. Fcap. 8vo. 3J-. 6d.
Melbourne. MEMOIRS OF THE RT. HON. WILLIAM,
SECOND VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. By W. M. TORRENS,
M.P. With Portrait after Sir. T. Lawrence. Second Edition.
2 Vols. 8vo. 32^.
" As might be expected, he has produced a book which will command
and reward attention. It contains a great deal of valuable matter and
a great deal of animated, elegant writing." QUARTERLY REVIEW.
Mendelssohn. LETTERS AND RECOLLECTIONS. By
FERDINAND HILLER. Translated by M. E. VON GLEHN. With
Portrait from a Drawing by KARL MILLER, never before pub-
lished. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6d.
" This is a very interesting addition to our knowledge of the great
German composer. It reveals him to us under a new light, as the warm-
hearted comrade, the musician whose soul was in his work, and the home-
loving, domestic man." STANDARD.
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 21
Merewether. BY SEA AND BY LAND. Being a Trip
through Egypt, India, Ceylon, Australia, New Zealand, and
America all Round the World. By HENRY ALWORTH MERE-
WETHER, one of Her Majesty's Counsel. Crown 8vo. 8j. &/.
Michael Angelo Buonarotti ; Sculptor, Fainter, Architect.
The Story of his Life and Labours. By C. C. BLACK, M.A.
Illustrated by 20 Permanent Photographs. Royal 8vo. cloth
elegant, 31.5-. 6d.
" The story of Michael Angelo s life remains interesting whatever be the
manner of telling it, and supported as it is by this beautiful series of photo-
graphs, the "volume musf take rank among the most splendid of Christmas
books, fitted to serve and to outlive the season" PALL MALL GAZETTE.
Michelet A SUMMARY OF MODERN HISTORY. Trans-
lated from the French of M. MICHELET, and continued to the
present time by M. C. M. SIMPSON. Globe 8vo. 4f. 6a.
Milton. LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. Narrated in connection
with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time.
By DAVID MASSON, M.A., LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and
English Literature in the University of Edinburgh. With Portraits.
Vol. I. i8j. Vol. II., 16381643. 8vo. i6s. Vol. III.
1643 1649. 8vo. i8j. Vols. IV. and V. 16491660. 32J.
Vol. VI. With Portrait. 2is. [Index Volume in preparation.
This work is not only a Biography, but also a continuous Political, Eccle-
siastical, and Literary History of England through Milton 1 s whole time.
Mitford (A. B.) TALES OF OLD JAPAN. By A. B.
MITFORD, Second Secretary to the Bntish Legation in Japan.
With upwards of 30 Illustrations, drawn and cut on Wood by
Japanese Artists. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s.
" These very original volumes will always be interesting as memorials
of a most exceptional society, while regarded simply as tales, they are
sparkling, sensational, and dramatic." PALL MALL GAZETTE.
Monteiro. ANGOLA AND THE RIVER CONGO. By
JOACHIM MONTEIRO. With numerous Illustrations from Sketches
taken on the spot, and a Map. Two Vols. crown 8vo, 2ls.
Morison. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAINT BERNARD,
Abbot of Clairvaux. By JAMES COTTER MORISON, M.A. New
Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s.
Moseley. NOTES BY A NATURALIST ON THE CHAL-
LENGER : being an Account of various Observations made
during the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger, Round the World,
22 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
in 1872-76. By H. N. MOSELEY, F.R.S., Member of the
Scientific Staff of the Challenger. 8vo. with Maps, Coloured Plates,
and Woodcuts. 2ls.
" This is certainly the most interesting and suggestive book, descriptive
of a naturalist's travels, which has been published since Mr. Darwin's
'Journal of Researches' appeared, more than forty years ago." NATURE.
" We cannot point to any book of travels in our day more vivid in its
powers of description, more varied in its subject matter, or more attractive
to tvery educated reader." SATURDAY REVIEW.
Murray. ROUND ABOUT FRANCE. By E. C. GRENVILLE
MURRAY. Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6d.
" These short essays are a perfect mine of information as to the present
condition and future prospects of political parties in France. . . . It is
at once extremely interesting and exceptionally instructive on a subject on
which few English people are well informed.'" SCOTSMAN.
Napier. MACVEY NAPIER'S SELECTED CORRE-
SPONDENCE. Edited by his Son, MACVEY NAPIER. 8vo. 14*.
The TIMES says : '// is replete with useful material for the bio-
graphers of many distinguished writers of the generation which is passing
away. Since reading it we understand several noteworthy men, and
Brougham in particular, far better than we did before. " "ft would be
useless to attempt within our present limits to give any adequate idea of the
abundance of interesting passages which meet us in the letters of Macaulay,
Brougham, Carlyle, Jeffrey, Senior, and many other well-known writers.
Especially piquant are Jeffrey's periodical criticisms on the contents of
the Review which he had formerly edited." PALL MALL GAZETTE.
Napoleon. THE HISTORY OF NAPOLEON i. By p.
LANFREY. A Translation with the sanction of the Author.
4 vols. 8vo. Vols. I. II. and III. price 12s. each. Vol. IV.
With Index. 6s.
The PALL MALL GAZETTE says it is " one of the most striking
pieces of historical composition of which France has to boast, " and the
SATURDAY REVIEW calls it ' ' an excellent translation of a work on every
ground deserving to be translated. It is unquestionably and immeasurably
the best that has been produced. It is injact the only work to which we
can turn for an accurate and trustworthy narrative of that extraordinary
career. . . . The book is the best and indeed the only trustworthy history
of Napoleon which has been written."
Nichol. TABLES OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE AND
HISTORY, A.D. 2001876. ByJ. NICHOL, LL.D., Professor
of English Language and Literature, Glasgow. 4to. 6s. 6d.
TABLES OF ANCIENT LITERATURE AND HISTORY,
B.C. 1500 A.D. 200. By the same Author. 4to. $s. 6d.
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 23
Nordenskiold's Arctic Voyages, 1858-79. with
Maps and numerous Illustrations. 8vo. l6s.
" A volume of great interest and much scientific -value." NATURE.
Oliphant (Mrs.). THE MAKERS OF FLORENCE : Dante
Giotto, Savonarola, and their City. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. With
numerous Illustrations from drawings by Professor DELAMOTTE,
and portrait of Savonarola, engraved by JEENS. Second Edition.
Medium 8vo. Cloth extra. 2is.
" We are grateful to Mrs. Oliphant for her eloquent and beautiful
sketches of Dante, Fra Angelica, and Savonarola. They are picturesque,
full of life, and rich in detail, and they are charmingly illustrated by the
art of the engraver" SPECTATOR,
Oliphant. THE DUKE AND THE SCHOLAR ; and other
Essays. By T. L. KINGTON OLIPHANT. 8vo. 7-f. 6d.
1 ' This volume contains one of the most beautiful biographical essays ive
have seen since Macaulay's days." STANDARD.
Otte. SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY. By E. C. OTTE. With
Maps. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s.
Owens College Essays and Addresses. By PRO-
FESSORS AND LECTURERS OF OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER.
Published in Commemoration of the Opening of the New College
Buildings, October 7th, 1873. 8vo. 141-.
Palgrave (R. F. D.) THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ;
Illustrations of its History and Practice. By REGINALD F. D.
PALGRAVE, Clerk Assistant of the House of Commons. New
and Revised Edition. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
Palgrave (Sir F.) HISTORY OF NORMANDY AND
OF ENGLAND. By Sir FRANCIS PALGRAVE, Deputy Keeper
of Her Majesty's Public Records. Completing the History to the
Death of William Rufus. 4 Vols. 8vo. 4/. 4*.
Palgrave (W. G.) A NARRATIVE OF A YEAR'S
TOURNEY THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN
ARABIA, 1862-3. By WILLIAM GIFFORD PALGRAVE, late of
the Eighth Regiment Bombay N. I. Sixth Edition. With Maps,
Plans, and Portrait of Author, engraved on steel by Jeens. Crown
8vo. dr.
"He has not only written one of the best books on the Arabs and one
of the best books on Arabia, but he has done so in a manner that must
command the respect no less than the admiration of his fellow-country-
men" FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW.
24 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
Palgrave. continued.
ESSAYS ON EASTERN QUESTIONS. By W. GIFFORD
PALGRAVE. 8vo. los. 6d.
" These essays are full of anecdote and interest. The book is decidedly
a valuable addition to the stock of literature on which men must
base their opinion of the difficult social and political problems sug-
gested by the designs of Russia, the capacity of Mahometans for
sovereignty ', and the good government and retention of India. 1 '
SATURDAY REVIEW.
DUTCH GUIANA. With Maps and Plans. 8vo. gs.
' ' His pages are nearly exhaustive as far as facts and statistics go,
while they are lightened by graphic social sketches as -well as sparkling
descriptions of scenery." SATURDAY REVIEW.
Patteson, LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOHN COLERIDGE
PATTESON, D. D., Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands.
By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE, Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe."
With Portraits after RICHMOND and from Photograph, engraved by
JEENS. With Map. Fifth Edition. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. \2s.
" Miss Yongfs -work is in one respect a model biography. It is made
up almost entirely of Patteson' s own letters. Aware that he had left his
home once and for all, his correspondence took the form of a diary, and
as we read on we come to know the man, and to love him almost as if we
had seen him." ATHENAEUM. "Such a life, with its grand lessons of
unselfishness, is a blessing and an honour to the age in which it is lived ;
the biography cannot be studied without pleasure and profit, and indeed
we should think little of the man who did not rise from the study of it
better and wiser. Neither the Church nor the nation which p reduces
such sons need ever despair of its future." SATURDAY REVIEW.
Pauli. PICTURES OF OLD ENGLAND. By Dr. REINHOLD
PAULI. Translated, with the approval of the Author, by E. C.
OTTE. Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s.
Payne. A HISTORY OF EUROPEAN COLONIES. By
E. J. PAYNE, M.A. With Maps. i8mo. 4?. 6d.
The TIMES says: " We have seldom met with a historian capable of
forming a more comprehensive, far-seeing, and unprejudiced estimate of
events and peoples, and we can commend this little work as one certain to
prove of the highest interest to all thoughtful readers"
Persia. EASTERN PERSIA. An Account of the Journeys of
the Persian Boundary Commission, 1870-1-2. Vol. I. The Geo-
graphy, with Narratives by Majors ST. JOHN, LOVETT, and EUAN
SMITH, and an Introduction by Major-General Sir FREDERIC
GOLDSMID, C.B., K. C.S.I., British Commissioner and Arbitrator.
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 25
With Maps and Illustrations. Vol. II. The Zoology and Geology.
By W. T. BLANFORD, A.R.S.M., F.R.S. With Coloured Illus-
trations. Two Vols. 8vo. 42^.
" The volumes largely increase our store of information about
countries with which Englishmen ought to be familiar
They throw into the shade all that hitherto has appeared in our tongue
respecting the local features of Persia, its scenery, its resources, even its
social condition. They contain also abundant evidence of English
endurance, daring, and spirit." TIMES.
Prichard. THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. From
1859 to 1868. The First Ten Years of Administration under the
Crown. By I. T. PRICHARD, Barrister-at-Law. Two Vols.
Demy 8vo. With Map. 2U.
Raphael. RAPHAEL OF URBINO AND HIS FATHER
GIOVANNI SANTI. By J. D. PASSAVANT, formerly Director
of the Museum at Frankfort. With Twenty Permanent Photo-
graphs. Royal 8vo. Handsomely bound. 3U. (td.
The SATURDAY REVIEW says of them, " We have seen not a /eiu
elegant specimens of Mr. Woodbury's new process, but we have seen
none that equal these. "
Reynolds. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS AS A PORTRAIT
PAINTER. AN ESSAY. By J. CHURTON COLLINS, B.A.
Balliol College, Oxford. Illustrated by a Series of Portraits of
distinguished Beauties of the Court of George III. ; reproduced
in Autotype from Proof Impressions of the celebrated Engravings,
by VALENTINE GREEN, THOMAS WATSON, F. R. SMITH, E.
FISHER, and others. Folio half-morocco. $ $s.
Rogers (James E. Thorold). HISTORICAL GLEAN-
INGS : A Series of Sketches. Montague, Walpole, Adam Smith,
Cobbett. By Prof. ROGERS. Crown 8vo. 4*. 6J. Second Series.
Wiklif, Laud, Wilkes, and Home Tooke. Crown 8vo. 6s.
Routledge. CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF POPULAR
PROGRESS IN ENGLAND, chiefly in Relation to the Freedom
of the Press and Trial by Jury, 16601820. With application to
later years. By J. ROUTLEDGE. 8vo. i6j.
" The volume abounds in facts and information, almost always useful
and often curious" TIMES.
Rumford. COUNT RUMFORD'S COMPLETE WORKS,
with Memoir, and Notices of his Daughter. By GEORGE ELLIS.
Five Vols. 8vo. 4/. 14*. &/.
2 6 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN
Seeley (Professor). LECTURES AND ESSAYS. By
J. R. SEELEY, M.A. Professor of Modern History in the
University of Cambridge. 8vo. lOj. 6d.
CONTENTS: Roman Imperialism: I. The Great Roman Revohi-
tion; 2. The Proximate Cause of the Fall of the Roman Empire;
The Later Empire. Milton's Political Opinions Milton's Poetry
Elementary Principles in Art Liberal Education in Univer situs
English in Schools The Church as a Teacher of Morality The
Teaching of Politics : an Inaugural Lecture delivered at Cambridge.
Shelburne. LIFE OF WILLIAM, EARL OF SHELBURNE,
AFTERWARDS FIRST MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE.
With Extracts from his Papers and Correspondence. By Lord
EDMOND FITZMAURICE. In Three Vols. 8vo. Vol. I. 1737
1766, \2s. ; Vol. II. 17661776, izs. ; Vol. III. 1776 1805. i6s.
"Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice has succeeded in placing before us a
wealth of new matter, -which, while casting valuable and much-needed
light on several obscure passages in the political history of a hundred
years ago, has enabled us for the first time to form a clear and consistent
idea of his amestor." SPECTATOR.
Sime. HISTORY OF GERMANY. By JAMES SIME, M.A.
i8mo. 3J. Being Vol. V. of the Historical Course for Schools.
Edited by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L.
' ' This is a remarkably clear and impressive History of Germany. "
STANDARD.
Squier. PERU : INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL AND EX-
PLORATION IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. By E. G.
SQUIER, M.A., F.S.A., late U.S. Commissioner to Peru. With
300 Illustrations. Second Edition. 8vo. zis.
The TIMES says : " No more solid and trustworthy contribution haa
been made to an accurate knowledge of what are among the most wonderful
ruins in the world. The work is really what its title implies. While of
the greatest importance as a contribution to Pet uvian archeology, it is also a
thoroughly entertaining and instructive narrative of travel. Not the least
important featuremustbeconsideredthenumerouswellcxeculedillustrations"
Strangford. EGYPTIAN SHRINES AND SYRIAN SEPUL-
CHRES, including a Visit to Palmyra. By EMILY A. BEAUFORT
(Viscountess Strangford), Author of "The Eastern Shores of
the Adriatic." New Edition. Crown 8vo. "js. 6d.
Tait. AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY, based upon
Green's " Short History of the English People." By C. W. A.
TAIT, M.A., Assistant Master, Clifton College. Crown 8vo.
HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 27
Tait. CATHARINE AND CRAUFURD TAIT, WIFE AND
SON OF ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, ARCHBISHOP OF
CANTERBURY : a Memoir, Edited, at the request of the Arch-
bishop, by the Rev. W. BENHAM, B.D., Vicar of Margate, and
One of the Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral. With Two
Portraits engraved by JEENS. Crown 8vo. 12s. 6d.
" The volume can scarcely fail to be read widely and with deep interest.
. . . It is difficult to ptit it down when once taken in hand, still more
difficult to get through it withcntt emotion. . . . We commend the volume
to those who knew Catharine and Craufurd Tait as one which will bring
back to their minds recollections of their characters as true as the recollec-
tions of the faces brought back by the two excellent portraits which adorn
the book ; while to those who knew them not, we commend 1 it as containing
the record of tivo noble Christian lives, which it will be a pleasure to
them to contemplate and an advantage to emulate." TIMES.
Thomas. THE LIFE OF JOHN THOMAS, Surgeon of the
"Earl of Oxford" East Indiaman, and First Baptist Missionary to
Bengal. By C. B. LEWIS, Baptist Missionary. 8vo. lor. 64.
Thompson. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By EDITH THOMP-
SON. Being Vol. II. of the Historical Course for Schools, Edited
by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L. New Edition, revised and
enlarged, with Maps. i8mo. 2s. 6d.
" Freedom from prejudice, simplicity of style, and accuracy of state-
ment, are the characteristics of this volume. It is a trustworthy text-book,
and likely to be generally serviceable in schools." PALL MALL GAZETTE.
" In its great accuracy and correctness of detail it stands far ahead of the
general run of school manuals. Its arrangement, too, is clear, and its
style simple and straightforward." SATURDAY REVIEW.
Todhunter. THE CONFLICT OF STUDIES ; AND
OTHER ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH
EDUCATION. By ISAAC TODHUNTER, M.A., F.R.S., late
Fellow and Principal Mathematical Lecturer 01 St. John's College,
Cambridge. 8vo. lor. 6d.
Trench (Archbishop). For other Works by the same Author,
see THEOLOGICAL and BELLES LETTRES CATALOGUES, and
page 30 of this Catalogue.
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN GERMANY, and other Lectures
on the Thirty Years' War. Second Edition, revised and enlarged .
Fcap. 8vo. 4J.*
PLUTARCH, HIS LIFE, HIS LIVES, AND HIS MORALS.
Five Lectures. Second Edition, enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 3*. 6d.
LECTURES ON MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY. Being
the substance of Lectures delivered in Queen's College, London.
Second Edition, revised. Svo. izr.
28 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORK'S /A
Trench (Maria). THE LIFE OF ST. TERESA. By MARIA
TRENCH. With Portrait engraved by JEENS. Crown 8vo, cloth
extra. 8s. 6d.
" A book of rare interest." JOHN BULL.
Trench (Mrs. R.) REMAINS OF THE LATE MRS.
RICHARD TRENCH. Being Selections from her Journals,
Letters, and other Papers. Edited by ARCHBISHOP TRENCH.
New and Cheaper Issue, with Portrait. 8vo. 6s.
Trollope. A HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
FLORF:NCE FROM THE EARLIEST INDEPENDENCE
OF THE COMMUNE TO THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC
IN 1831. By T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE. 4 Vols. 8vo. Halt
morocco. 2ls.
Uppingham by the Sea. A NARRATIVE OF THE
YEAR AT BORTH. By J. H. S. Crown 8vo. &. 6d.
Victor Emmanuel II., First King of Italy HIS
LIFE. By G. S. GODKIN. 2 vols., crown Svo. \6s.
"An extremely clear and interesting history of one o/ the most
important changes of later times." EXAMINER.
Wallace. THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: the Land of the
Orang Utan and the Bird of Paradise. By ALFRED RUSSEL
WALLACE. A Narrative of Travel with Studies of Man and
Nature. With Maps and numerous Illustrations. Sixth Edition.
Crown Svo. *js. 6d.
4 ' The result is a vivid picture of tropical life, which may be read -with
unflagging interest, and a sufficient account of his scientific conclusions to
stimulate our appetite -without wearying us by detail. In short, we may
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'HISTORY BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC, 29
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Helfenstein (James). A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR
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40 MACMILLAWS CATALOGUE OF
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