The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-09-14
tho engineer ofnoors should fall 10 supply
abundant material toward making up the
next River and Harbor bill.
Land Growing Cheap per In Great Britain.

in the marked decline Of landed property In
England. Tho falling of OF tho prices OBJ
tainable for largo estates has been going on
for some years. but 1t has now reached such
impressive proportions as TO compel univer-
sal attention. The causes of the phenom-
enon arc by no means solely economical. but
may, to q largo extent, DO found In wide-
spread conviction that the time when social
consideration and political influence were
primarily associated with tho ownership of
land Is nearly over.
1t Is truo that the English agricultural In
terest has OF late been passing through Q So
we're and protracted period Of depression,
and that tenants have been unable to pay the
customary rents, and have In turn been
forced to pinch tho farm hands in their en-
ploy. But there have been like periods dur
Ing the present century when production
was abnormally curtalcd. or when the
profits OF farming, owing to foreign compe-
tition, wore signally reduced, yet although
the effect OF such circumstances would
BIO to temporarily lower tho incomes OF land
owners, 1t did not materially impair the SELL
Ing price Of their estates. Indeed, II decade
be compared with decade, 1t will DO noticed
that whatever might have been tho fuctua-
tions OF the crops. desirable piece OF landed
property could almost always be sold. up to
ten years ago, at q handsome advance upon
the purchase money. Thus, even from o
commercial point OF view, landlord could
afford to bear temporary scaling Of rents
In tho assurance that this loss would be
moro than Offset by tho unearned Increment
accruing on tho sale OF his estate
This curious state Of things was due to the
fact that, until quite recently, tho demand
for landed estates In England has greatly
exceeded tho supply. This excess In turn
was owing to the mixed motives which have
prompted this species Of investment. A man
who had acquired large fortune In trade
would DO tempted to put much Of 1t In land.
not because he hoped for returns comparable
with those given by his business or by rail-
way bonds-he never expected to receive
more than three per cent. interest In rent
but because In this way he could most surely
and expeditiously surmount social barriers
and acquire position OF Importance and
dignity. His passport to social recognition
lay In the fact that he could render sub
stantial equivalent, since by his influence
over his own tenants, and over the trades
men In the nelghboring borough. he could
sensibly assist the county aristocracy to
maintain political preponderance. There
was, In fact, tacit bargain into which q
wealthy merchant was eager to enter, al
though the county magnates who adopted
him received guild pro quo.
Now, on the other hand, and for the first
time In century. the supply Of landed prop
erty Is exceeding the demand, and the result,
OF course, Is an unexampled decline in value.
Tho descendants Of old county families are no
longer willing to endure the contraction OF
their incomes caused by succession of bad
harvests, because they no longer look for
ward with confidence to prosperous reac-
tion, and because they have begun to enter
tain serious misgivlngs touching the per-
manence OF those political privileges which
In England have added power and social lus-
tire to landownership. But tho grave doubts
which mako embarrassed county families
willing to sell have made the afluent trades.
man reluctant to buy. He sees, as we'll as
they do, that even series OF plentiful har-
vests may not lnure to tho profit OF the land
lord, for the English farmer will infallbly
demand. and that not tardly, that the State
shall assure to him as liberal treatment as
that already guaranteed to Irish tenants.
He will insist upon an English Land act,
m English Land Commission, and adjudi-
| Gated rents. Under such changed relations
1t will be no longer possible to cxtort from
an English farmer in good years enough to
make up for the losses incurred In bad.
There are other and no less potent consid-
erations by which investment In landed
property Is now discouraged. Nothing is
more unmlstakabo in the aspect OF English
nplitica than tho cnnaiv animation pft ba
power hitherto possessed by tho territorial
ollgarchy. Its stronghold, the House Of
Lords, Is indisputably doomed to drastic
transformation. II not to absolute suppress
| sion. The extension OF household suffrage to
the counties must In tho end weaken tho In
fuence Of landowners. and a final blow will
be dealt them by the total or partial disiran-
chisement Of small boroughs, which is insep-
| arabic from any scheme OF redistribution.
In word. tho day Is drawing near-and
preparations to forestall 1t are already max
| ing by Intelligent observers when tho own
ership OF land In England will involve No
moro political ascendancy, and no more So
cial prestige, than this mode OF investing
capital carries with 1t in the United States.
Ultimately, when prices shall have adjusted
| themselves to the new order. tho price of
farming land will bear the normal ratio to
the average returns from 1t but In tho course
OF the process most Of the vast tracts now
reserved for pleasure or gamo preservation
| will be thrown upon the market to be hence
forth applied to purposes Of food production.
The Electoral Campaign In Germany.
Tho German empire. as well as the United
States, will BIO the scene OF unusual political
activity for some time to come. At the up
| preaching election for the Reichstag, Prince
BISMARCK will make ono more determined
attempt to gain q working majority, while
his opponents, upon their part, seem dis
posed to waive minor differences in a con-
ccr,ed effort to defeat his purpose. II he
wins, the Chancellor may find himself at
last In position to carry out his plans for