The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1879-10-10
The British Land Question.

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The people of Great Britain are in no
end of panic on the subject of Ameri-
can competition, and are willing to be-
ieve any cock-and-bull story told them
in regard to our amazing resources.
Thus the London Times has been badly
hoaxed by letter sent to it from Chi
cago describing the miraculous growth
Of that city and the boundless fertile ter
ritory tributary to it. This letter ex-
plains that Chicago has SOC, 900 inhabi-
tants; that it's population doubles every
five years, and that it is the commercial
capital of State which is larger than all
England, with ninety percent. of its soil
arabic, and 1 200, 900 square miles un-
touched by the plow. A contemporary
that is disposed to laugh at the stubborn
insularity of the Britishers, says that this
Chicago writer might have doubled his
figures without fear of contradiction at
the Office of the terror. stricken Times.
He might have said with equal probable
ity that Chicago doubled fortnightly.
He would have been believed (hardly),
and her Majesty's ministers would have
gone down to the Houses of Parliament
prepared to appoint commissions of in
quiry and answer serious questions
in the notice paper" Neverthe-
less this panic will be likely to
result in benefit to Great Britain,
for the outcome of it will be
a thorough overhauling of the land ques-
ton, and probably very important re-
forms in the system of rent and land
tenure. Mr.. John Bright struck the
keynote of public opinion on this sub
ject when he said in Parliament that
there were other causes besides fertile
lands in the United States and cheap
transportation on the Atlantic to make
the position of the British farmers intol- :
erable. 'eThere are farmers in America,
as you know" he said, "who have no
rent, no tithes, no poor-rate. You have
all these. Your laws as they now are
would make the laborer's condition per-
pressed it, 'They till the land who own
the land they till This is the great
difference between the land and it's culti-
walton in America and the land and its
cultivation in this country" He sug
gested, without directly saying it, that if
a commission which was proposed on the
subject did it's work it would point out
the necessity of relieving the land OF
rent, and that done, "a time will come
when you will have homes of comfort
and independence throughout the land
of England, which will attest forever the
wisdom and blessedness of the new pol
icy you have adopted"
The commission which has been ap-
pointed will be forced to deal with the
question of whether reduction OF rents
is not imperative, and also whether a
change is not needed in the tenure of
land. The Times publishes the balance :
sheet of farm of 600 acres of alInvlal
river loan, of high fertility and in the
best condition. For three years the
has been $17 700, exclusive of the farm
er's family expenses, and the annual in
come only $4,000, thus showing an an
nual deficit Of $17OO. OF the outlay
$3.50 was for taxes and $500 for rent.
This is too heavy burden. 1t is paid
by the workers for the support Of those
who do not work. It is levied upon the
wages of the day laborer for the main
tenance of the landed aristocracy and
gentry, and the aggregate rent roll OF
Great Britain to day for farming lands
alone is $3.50, ,O00, 900. The rentals of
coal and iron lands and upon city lands
is fully as great The Marquis of Butte
receives million and half every year
from rents The Duke of Westminster,
who owns the finest part of the "west
end" of London, gets still more. Not
one person in thousand lives in
his own fee-simple house. They pay
rent, sometimes at four or five re-
moves, but in the end the tribute goes
to some surviving heir of a manorial fee,
.sgiven" by the King of England to sub
iect or favorite for some personal favor
long since absolete. The land in Eng
land has seldom been earned or bought
by its proprietor, yet he claims and re-
ceives all the advantages and increase
in value which the toll of others has in
cidently given to his estate. Thus, the
merchants and traders of London, by
long generations spent in toll, have
given value to the estate of the Gros-
venors, from which the Duke of West
minister derives his princely fortune; yet,
whenever lease falls in, the Duke
raises the rent on those tradesmen and
merchants to the utmost farthing that
the property will bear, as if they, not he,
were the obliged party. This system is
too unequal and too burdensome to re-
main as it is much longer. This was
fully recognized by John Stuart Mill,
ten years ago, and he predicted that the
next revolution in English social arrange
ments would be attended with q COM
plete overthrow Of the present land sys-
tem.-BaltinsO7e San.