The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1913-10-02

| At the suggestion of the thirty-fiftl
general assembly of the state OF Iowa
and by appointment OF Governor
| Clarke, we gave much time during oul
recent visit to Great Britain and Ire
| land. to the study Of agricultural con
ditions, in the hope that we might find
methods or customs or laws which
might safely be adopted under Iowa
conditions. that would lead to better
farming and a better rural life, ant
| that might Arrest the waste OF soil fer
| tility which has been characteristic o.
Our methods of farming ever since the
settlement OF the state, and we nigh
add, ever since the foundation of oul
republic.
! We were from the very first greatly
impressed by the high character of the
/ farming as conducted in the three
Kingdoms, and by the superior type Of
/ the live stock also. We were struck
by the entire absence of what Is
known to us as WORKOUT land, and
by the thoroughness of the cultivation
This fact made a still deeper impress
sion upon us when we discovered that
in Scotland about nine-tenths of the
land is cultivated by tenants. We
were impressed by the utter absence
of the one-year lease, and by the length
of the leases, in Scotland from four
| teen to nineteen years. We were al
so impressed by the almost entire alb
isence on the part OF tenants of what
we know as land hunger.
We were both impressed and sur
prlsed by the fact that land Of similar
quality sold, when sold at all, at as low
lprices as prevail in the state OF Iowa;
and by the further fact that the income
of the land lords from their estate IL
quite as low per acre as that received
| in Iowa, and in many cases lower. al
though in exceptional cases, where
lands are especially adapted to specia
crops, both rents and prices are great
deal higher.
| 1 his led us at once to inquire into
the causes. and particularly into the
Legislation which the experience of the
centuries has led the British govern
ment to adopt, protecting the Interests
lof the tenant, and particularly of the
! land itself, as well as the interests o.
the landlord. 1t also led us to inquire
into the practical administration o.
/ these laws.
The subject became at once matter
of absorbing interest, in the study o.
which we spared no reasonable eN
Ipense or time. We adopted the meth
cd of first getting in touch with the
agricultural colleges and experiment
stations. We ascertained through theil
professors the names of typical farm
ers, and especially of tenant farmers
and then invited them to dine with III
at our hotel and discuss freely the
character of the laws under which
they were operating, and the difficult
les, II any, in the way of their prac
teal administration. At the variou!
stock shows which we attended We
came in contact with both Landlords
and tenants. In these ways and b!
visiting representative tenants in thei
homes we were able to get the view'
of all classes of both landlords anC
tenants.
Landlords and Land Laws.
We might remark here that both II
England, Scotland and Wales, ther'
are two distinct classes of landlords
One of those inheritance traces bacl
TO feudal times. whose ancestors &C
!cepted rent in lieu of military service
and who have retained to a greater o
less degree sense of responsible,
for the welfare OF the land. They TAX
genuine pride in their estates. ant
spend much money of their income II
promoting the welfare of the estat
and also of the tenants. The othe
class of landlords are those who hav
grown rich through mining, manufaC
turing or speculation, and who
through the misfortune Of some of tn
older landlords, have been able to bu
estates, for the purpose OF securin
that social recognition which In tina
lcountry comes through large holding