The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17

power TO destroy tho Flemish weaving industry
and thereby leave England for time wi.hou'
a rival Is a curious example oil inc IRONY
Of history. A century later another nNa'
France, came through religious persecution 10
tho assistance OF Englsnds manufactures
so continuous and so great was tho out
how OF Frenchmen 10 England that II IL com
putcd that between 1910 and 1890 no fewer thnn
10000 settled in England tho majority Of whom
were silk workers. To Huguenot refugees, Eng
gland owes the manufacture OF san CLOTH the
secrets Of tapestry and improvements In the hat
trade, In paper making watch making, clock
making, and kindred mechanical arts. Tho
stimulus to English manufacture given by alien
immigration at the end OF the seventeenth century
was not so vast In amount a. that impaired by
the introduction OF machinery a century later'
But II certainly was considerable
VII.
We have seen that the system Of enclosures and
conversion Of titled land into pasture land which
followed the Black Death went on for century
and half until IL caused alarm in Parliament and
until statutes were passed 70 check II and 10 en-
courage arabic farming. In the end. this legisla-
ton, combined with the fact that the new sheep
farms soon met the demand for wool while agri-
cultural labor. itsclf became less difcult to get
brought the enclosure movement to a standstill.
When, in the seventeenth century, point OF rest
reached, II appeared that. although much
land had been enclosed, still moro remained in
open Geld AT the beginning OF the eighteenth
century. threc-ffths OF the cultivated land in Eng
land was titled in this way. Even at tho
accession Of George III, the open-aeld sys-
tenn existed In half the parishes OF Eng
land. II had long been evident however
that the open field system must DO got rid
OF If improved farming was TO be made possible
George lis reign 27o prvat acts for enclosure
in So years To obtain private act, the consent
Of the lord Of the manor the tithe-owner and four
hfths OF the commoners was required From
l700. the process Of enclosure went on apaco In
the first thirty-seven years Of George HIS reign.
the number Of private acts rose 10 1882, while
from 1897 to 1920, there wero 1927, we'll as
general Enclosure act In 1901 Unlike the en-
closures OF the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
which had been. In the main, enclosures for sheep
farming, and which were designed TO throw agr-
cultural laborers out Of work. these enclosures
for better system Of arabic farming. Nevertho-
less, under tho combined effects OF tho expense
Of enclosure and the decay OF domestic by-indus-
tries, such as household weaving and filling,
many small farmers failed so that the enclosures
OF the eighteenth century brought about in many
cases the Same result tho earlier enclosures
namely, the dispossession Of great number OF
new manufacturing towns. and became artisans,
but the larger number sank into tho condition
OF agricultural laborers working under tho new
large farmers into whose hands tho enclosed land
passed. Tho future lay with the largo farmer;
he possessed more intelligence moro power OF look
Ing ahead, more capital, and, therefore moro pow
er OF initiative He was better fitted TO succeed
under the speculative conditions that had begun
to prevail when. as a consequence Of the growth
OF population, England had ceased TO become a
grainexporting country, and was beginning TO
rely upon foreign sources for some part OF her
supply The ultimate outcome OF the agrarian
revolution has been the modern triple division OF
landlord, farmer and laborer. where the first is
often absent and sometimes inconsderate through
his want of local knowledge. and the third who
does the hard manual work no longer rcaps a
proportionate return from the soil but is paid q
wage whether his work is thorough or perfume
tory. The change that took place in agriculture
was similar TO the change that took place in man
ufactures Old conditions gave place TO the mod
ern ones with which arc familiar Just a.
domestic manufacture was overthrown by tho
growth Of factories. SO small farming yielded 10
capitalist farming. The results, however were
not the same When protection disappeared and
free trade took its place the manufacturers found
themselves relieved OF restriction and were able
to compete on still more favorable terms for the
worlds trade; for time they had no serious
rival The fate Of the landowners was different
They had been helped by the eighteenth century
plan Of making England a graineIporting coun
try. and, even when such exports had become
impossible and a limited import had been allowed
under high duty they still relied on the artificial
advantage in English markets which the duty
gave them. As however, this advantage was
artificial, their prosperity proved artificial also.
NJ. W. H.