New-York tribune., 1907-01-17

Since the futile attempt OF the English agr-
cultural laborers. headed by Joseph Arch In
tie early iVs' TO organize themselves into a
,-ade union. Mr.. Jesse Ceilings has been con-
,,nuously and prominently associated with tho
movement in and out of Parliament FOR such q
sweeping change in the English land system as
shall secure that agricultural land In England
and Scotland shall be in the possession of oc
cupying cultivators. Since about 1885 he has
heen almost equally we'll known on this side If
the Atlantic for his part in the publication Of
the unauthorized Radical programme of 1881
.nd for his advocacy in the House Of Conn
mons of changes in the land system which for
some years were agitated for under the cry of
~Three acres and a cow" Mr. Ceilings is tyni
cal OF the class of English merchants and man.
ufacturers who. having made a competency AT
q fairly early age. retire from business and de-
vote themselves to municipal or national pol
tics. He able to put business cares aside
as far back as 1879. Even while engaged in
business he had been active in the municipal
politics Of Birmingham. and had served term
as Mayor. He went into the House of Com
mons in 1880 and for twenty-seven years he
has devoted himself almost exclusively to the
movement for land reform. His devotion to
this subject, and the persistence with which he
has pushed his studies into the history of the
English land system. are shown by his book
on Land Reform. and the plea which he makes
in il for occupying ownership. peasant pro-
prietary and agricultural education. 1t is true
that the volume is issued in the interest of the
propaganda with which since about 1870 the
arthor has been closely identified Books In
the interest Of any propaganda-social, political
or economic-must always be read with caution.
But there are few OF the faults of propa sanda
literature in this book; for il has been COM
piled with such care. and tho author has shown
such unstinted industry in going to first hand
authorities, citing his authorities in almost
every page. that his work could be read with
profit by any member of the old feudal eristoc-
racy, no matter how strongly he might. 'fn the
interest of his order he opposed to the schemes
Of reform for which Mr.. Ceilings has long
worked.
To American students of English economy
the book will make appeal stronger than
that Of any previous work the English land
system, and the appeal is all the stronger be-
cause it is made neither by a lawyer nor by an
estate agent. The book is obviously intended
for popular reading. This character was es-
sential if ii were 10 help the TO which Mr..
Ceilings has been long committed. Still,
while popular in character and written in
style which holds attention. it is scholarly in its
presentation Of the story of the gradual thrust
ing out OF the yeomen and leborers from the
land systematic system under which large
part of the land is in the hands of a compara-
lively few territorial magnates. with the farm
ers renters without real security OF tenure.
and with the laborers all hired men at wages
which barely keep them alive. and with no hope
Of bettering their position or possessing them
selves of even as much as half an acre which
they can regard their own. The only fault
that be found with Mr.. Colings's method OF
handling the enormous mass of material that
he has SO industriously collected is that he has
COMPILED no photography. AS has been indi-
Gated he quotes his authorities In footnotes;
but bTbliography would have added much 10
the value Of the work and enhanced its useful
ness as book Of reference.
Mr.. Congss study of the English land sys-
TEN begins with the Norman period, and he re-
counts with much enlightening detail the story
Of every peasant uprising from that OF Wat
Tyler in 1881. 10 that OF which Joseph Arch
was the leader. The authors sympathies are
Enthusiastically with all these leaders Of agrarian
revolt He himself is of peasant ancestry and
no nan who really knows rural England-the
England Of 7e midIands and the home counties
and The u will De disposed TO withhold his
sympathy from the men and women Of these
agricultural regions who o-sre the product OF the
land system which has slowly developed since
feudalism was first established in England. Mr..
ColIingss remedy for these conditions is legisla
tion such as will make IT possible for English
farmers 10 own outright the land they cultivate,
Hnd for laboring TO possess sufficient land
10 put them in the position OF peasant proprie-
tors. He Of course, does not advocate confsca-
tfon. His scheme contemplates the use Of the
credit Of the government for buying out the
landlords. He does not advocate compulsory
purchase He is convinced that many OF the
great landlords would be willing TO SELL but In
handling this part of the case he entirely over
looks the fact that in England land has pleas
ure and social value, as well as an economic
value. Every commoner who becomes peer
every commoner who is hoping to be made a
peer and almost every man on whom par
onetcy is conferred is in the market for land.
He is not eager TO buy land as an investment
There are other investments open 10. men OF
wealth which give much better returns than
land But It is essential that peer or a baronet
should be an estated man. Land IN large guam
titles is necessary to the founding OF a family
There can he little stability and but a weak
guarantee for a family of the peerage or the
hsrone+~v ,,nless IL is backed by landed possess
eions which can be entailed: that 1t comes
about in England that the land has another
than an economic value. The English social sys-
TEN as at present constituted. is based upon
The nossession OF land and this fact STANDS IN
the zsv Of any system OF general cultiVaehs
ownership
Since 1886 when the Liberal party dlVIoeo oIi
Home Rule many of the men who oeiore tha'
time had been associated with Mr.. Coillnss III
his movement for land reform have been IN the
opposite political camp They are 1oiio"e
Of Sir Henry Campbell Zimmerman. whhe "t'
Jesse Ceilings is Of the party led by MT oei