, 1873-10-26
Thirty-one millions Of People Practically
II, y" "HoWors of Wood and DraWors
Of Wator" for q Fow
Aristocrats.
Soyen Hundred and Thirty Million Dol.
lars Annually Extorted from tho
Nation in tho Shape Of
Ground.Rents.
How tho Bravo Britons Cr'nge Bosoro Tho o.
soendants Of Their Norman
conqaososs.
Special Correspondence qS 71.s Chicago Tribune.

Special Correspondents qf Ths Chicago Tribune
LoNpoN, Oct. q, 1879.
Great Britain is c1nimed by its orators writors,
and pub1icists, to be free country, and Its In
habitantB free people. A newspaper can hard
1y he oponed without finding this assertion Or
BONO al1usion to 1t; and, from its continual it.
eration, it haB como to bo beloved by most Of
The popu1aoo. In ono aenso the claim Is true:
Slavery does not e1ist; scrflom Ia abolished.
Tho Feudal systom Of the Middle Ages has 80
far been modified and nn,oliorated that most
Eng1lahmon think It has wholly passed away. It
s certain TINT thoro is nothing Of 1t visible which
resembles the late syHtom Of chattol-slavory
which dlsgracod and cursed tho American Union.
But, for all that. Great Britain Is not Jrcs
country, In tho American senBe Of tho word,
which also embraces the torn equal. 1t iB by no
neans
"PnEE AND EQUAL" COUNTRY.
Tho orAtors aud domagoguos, In addressing
maBs-ncotings Of tho people, neyor call them
"free aud equal fellow-citizcns." They never
point to the equality Of rights aud tho political
equality OF ono man with another, OF tho poor
est with the richest, Of tho humblest with tho
proudest. What the American considers self
evident proposition, that an mon aro born froe
and equal, is regarded hero aa o "so1f-ey1dont"
de1usion or piece Of iusufforablo ogotism. Tho
whole structure Of English society il basod on
the idoa Of inequality OF rights and privileges.
There is nn equality Of Justice profoascd to DO
administered in courts Of law for tho adjust
ment Of disputes among parties ltigant md for
the punishment Of crime. aud 1t ia claimed in
general terms that all men are equal before this
judicial tribunal and I chiefly attribute to tho
prima faolo or theoretical equality Of men In tho
tko ne Hr:4
masses In their gross inequality Of political
rights, and astounding deprivation Of proprietor
Bhip in tho land.
An American would hardly foel like boasting
Of tho freedom Of his country, much less Of tho
equality of Its citizops If few thousand FAM
lies owned in feo simple
EVERY ACRE OF LAND
- between tho shores Of the pacinc and Atlantic,
md moro especially II tho real estate Of tho
whole nation WAS entai1ed by Inv aud UonBtit1-
lion on tho oldest ma1o heirs OF the land-monop-
olists md it those persons held u monopoly also
Of Ill "lorly" titles, and furthermore Ind conati-
tuted themselves tho Senate Of tho United statos
and claimod an equality Of Legislative power with
she Houso Of Representatives elected by the
who1o people, md had usurpod to thomselvos
the powers and functions Of the Bupromo Court
Of the United States. And il, to add tho deep
est insult to tho greatest injury, this privileged
class Of lnnd-mouopolists should "grab" all
the bcBt~paying Federal, State, and County Of
6eeB, clutch all tho commissions In the army and
navy and all the largest salaries in tho Church
and confer them on their younger Sous And poor
relations, how could an American call country
which endured such practicoa and abuses FREQ
country II would require
Az AMAZING BTRETOn or EFFNoNTEnY
to look q man OF philosophical turn OF mind
in the lace, and toll him that such q country was
land of liberty, and its citizens woro free
people. And yet this is my daily experience. I
am grayely and boastingly assurod that this
Island Of Groat britain is populated by free
people that thoy arc governed by free institu-
tiona, and enjoy perfect liberty and indopend-
once. WhercaB, aR matter Of cold fact, every
mothers son Of them. who ia not an actual pail
per, In receipt OF indoor or outdoor parish-re-
lief, ia d tonant of u hereditary, foroordainod
landlord, aud does not own land enough In
which to DO buried when ho dies.
1t iB startling truth that the pooplo OF Groat
Britain and ireland, numbering more than
$1,000 900 Of whites, of tho proud and self willed
Anglo-Haxon raco,
ARE LANnLEss TENANTS,
tilling the soil by permission, upon the payment
Of oneroua rent. They own not al aero Ut tho
land Of their birth and of tho country Of thoir
ancestors. What ia truo Of tho farms is true Of
claim tho propriotorship Of every lot under oyory
mans dwelling or place Of business in every city
and ylllago in tho '.Throo Kingdoms" !" aud exact
seml-snnual rent therefor with tho punctuality
only make it the moro astonishing. Here is THU
mighty City OF London, tho Capital Of the Brit
iah Empire, numbering moro than G00,0 fami-
lies, each requiring a domicile, and containing
certainly 6Oo,o0o buildings but ovory ono Of
tic horeditaHTy lords Il tho land.
and what III thus true Of mighty Lo1l-
don Do A.. Ill.,, IL also . aud anl equally true
alasgow, Ma,choatar, iii brmiingi'an @ u Edinburgh
Dublin, Belfast, bristol, Newcastle, LeedH, Shelf
field, and OF the thousand Hn,aElor citios towua
and vlllages; oil tho Inhabitants thereof pay
tribute TO tho .hytlra-llondol Caesar. And tLis
univorsal roNtRl IL not moro nominal sum or
tribe, exactod for fornas aake or to maintain q
good old oustom' or.roncrable usage; but oil tho
contrary, IL
THE HI0Rsr AMOUNT
tho landlord cab wiring ont OF tho tonant tho
utmoRt, on pain Of eviction, tho tonant can pay,
Whore thoro arc long leasoa. in tho cities, tho
ground-ront is not, OF COURSE, 80 opprossyely
felt by the tenants as In the country, whoro tho
carefully estimated upon the probable profits Of
the land as known by long past experience.
hAye not boon ablo to find ati aecurato report OF
tho aggregate OF ronts annually paid BY tho
BRITISH nation to the descendants Of their French
conquerors but, from tho best information
can got, 1t il something like tho following
sums,
England and Walos, annual rent paid $3.50 900 900
Scotland, annual rent paid.... b9 guV, ,9oo
ireland, annual rent paid. ............. ,000
Total annual rent. $780, ooo, ,o00
Bear In mind, this enormous sum Ia paid
IN HOLIu GOLD,
md not in deprecated groonbaoka.
Tkeaa renta are distributed among about
80 600 landlords In tho tbreo Kingdoms, which
gives al average to each Of Sl4, 900, gold. But
IN O(l1 oS tI1a 1nrgoBt OWuelH receive uQro than