Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-23
LARGE LAND HOLDING
Cause Of Emigration From
States of Europe.
A GRANT TO FAVORITE
ORIGINATED THE VAST ESTATES
IN THAT CONTINENT.
Effect on the People in Southern Italy
and Hungary, Also in
Russia.
special Correspondence of The Star.

| however, in that European nations are now
devoting enormous sums of the public funds
| to the undong of conditions arising from
| the ownership of land in large estates.
| America has always been looked upon as
| the one country which had adopted a
! method of distributing virgin country
among individuals which would prevent the
building up of vast holdings. which in turn
| create u tenantry dependent class Of
| farmers and give rise to many other eco
nornic evils
OF course. in Europe the large land hold
Ing originated in the grant gwen to some
royal favorfte. and almost the entire sur
face of the principal countries of Europe
was originally so aDDortioned. Conditions
of population and industrial development
are widely contrasted in Europe and the
United States but the rapid growth OF
population and phenomenal industrial de-
velopment of habitable areas in the latter
country bespeaks IL time in the not very
distant future when the land tenure ques-
ton VIII become almost acute, as it Is now
in Europe.
When the lands of Europe passed into
individual ownership they were practically
WilderneSSeS of even less promising de-
scription than those which have become
the great ranches of the western states.
There Is little temptation for a great land
! owner TO dispose of his property in small
parcels, and the ownership of land in large
quantities carries with it a certain feudal
authority which has been dear to the heart
of man in all ages. The question of tim
Der supply is also involved in this Land
ownership question, and many of the older
nations have spent time. energy and enor-
nous sums of money in creating new for
ests TO take the place of those which had
passed into private and selfish domain or
had been wilIfully destroyed to suit private
rather than public convenience.
The Irish Land Purchase Act.
The Irish land purchase act is the most
notable attempt in the united kingdom to
correct the mistakes of older times. and
there is considerable discussion as to
whether similar act should not be ap-
piled to the great estates of England and
Scotland, we'll as Ireland. The woes of
ireland are a story familiar to American
ears, aud the woes of the English farmer
and the army of the English unemployed
nave been graphically told during the
past season. Theoretically, at least all the
ground in the united kingdom should pro-
duce prCftably and supply employment for
all the people, but the holding of great es-
tates, most of them lying idle, but for thu
cultivation necessary to render them beau
tiful, or. at least partially self-supporting.
makes the situation most complicated and
difficult of government administration.
From these land conditions arise nearly
all of the great political problems in
England For so long a time have the
people of England been without land that
1t is now difficult to bring them back to
| 1t, even when opportunity is offered.
d
the land in the united Kingdom was in
small holdings. owned occupied and Gull
| tivated by those who lived upon it. there
would be little reason to talk of England
as country whose power was declining.
There would be no questions arising be-
tween tenant and owner, no lack of en-
ployment. and far less dependence upon
foreign supplies of food stuffs.
To say that such condition is ideal
but impossible of achievement, is to ig
more the revolution which has taken
place within a few hours journey of the
English coast, and among a people less
resourceful and more intelligent or
Industrious. In Holland, Belgium and
Denmark and in some parts of the Ger
man empire as we'll can be seen the
suits of a subdivision of land among the
people within recent years. In almost in
credibly short time 1t has brought free
dom from many of the complications of
modern industrial life and has built up
prosperous, SeIf-rel1ant and enormously
wealthy communities where each indi-
vidual is Independent and yet not in
dependent to be a menace to his fell
low men.
In South Africa England has recently ac-
quired millions of acres of virgin territory,
and it has been the. task of English states
men to lay down the rules for its segrega-
ton to private ownership Some attempt
has been made to introduce the homestead
idea into these plans for the building up
of new country, but in many of the regu-
lations can be found perpetuation of the
principe OF the tease WHICH Is So utcplJ
planted in the minds of the governing or
land-owning class of England. The ex-
ploltation of large tracts by a single indi-
ViduaI of wealth is welcomed the same of
yore.
Southern Italy and Hungary.
Southern Italy and Hungary furnish re-
markable examples of the ruin which can
come to fertile countries of large popula-
ton through maladministration of the land
The emigration from southern Italy, of
which the United States secures by far the
largest part, is primarily due to the condi-
lions arising from the ownership of all the
land by few families. The line of least
resistance for the owner of the land is to
escape taxation by cultivating no more of
his domain than is necessary to keep up
his income. The line of least resistance
for the peasant is to go to the United
States as soon as he can earn the price of a
Storage ticket or has that amount sent to
hiIp by friends or relatives who have gone
before.
These people who leave the rural districts
of Italy would presumably prove useful in
the new world as agricultural laborers. but
this is not the case. The character of the
work they did in their native land and the
primitive methods employed make them al
useless on an American farm as any labor
which might be secured from the cities
This is the reason why an Italian emigrant
JOINS city colony, an Industrial or a min
ing community arriving in the United
States. and is seldom found Offering his
services on an American farm
In Hungary twelve men said to own
one-sixth of all the land, and while eco
nomic conditions not utterly bad as
in southern Italy, they are sufficiently bur-
densome TO drive 100000 peasants from that
country to the United States each succeed
ing year. Conditions of land ownership and
tenantry are not bad in Austria. hence
the emigration of the peasantry is reduced
to the minimum. Emigration from Austria
is large. but is chiefly confined to Galicia.
and from among the Hebrews, for the I'M
fortunate Hebrew is welcome more in
Austria than he is elsewhere in continental
Europe.
Political reasons are assigned as the prin-
cpal cause for the large emigration from
Russia. That this population movement is
the result of persecution and enforced mill
tary service is largely true, but at the bot
tom OF it all again lies the land question
The small landholder is at disadvantage,
and here, as in many other places, the Jew
canrtot own the ground. no matter how
much of the earth he may own from a
financial point of view.
Emigration From Germany Has Sub
cd aI