The Oskaloosa herald., 1913-10-02

ed together, have filed their report "
| At the suggestion of the thirty-fifth
general assembly of the state of Iowa,
and by appointment of Governor
| Clarke, we gave much time during our
recent visit to Great Britain and Ire
| land, to the study Of agricultural con-
lditions, 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 better rural life, and
that might Arrest the waste of soil fer
tility which has been characteristic oil
our methods OF farming ever since the
settlement of the state, and. we might
add, ever since the foundation OF our
republic.
| We were from the very first greatly
impressed by the high character of the
I 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 still deeper impress
sion upon us when we discovered that
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
iprised by the fact that land of similar
quality sold, when sold at all, at as low
iprices as prevail in the state of Iowa;
and by the further fact that the income
! of the land lords from their estate is
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 special
crops, both rents and prices are great
| deal higher.
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
of the tenant, and particularly of the
land itself, as well as the interests OF
the landlord. 1t also led us to inquire
into the practical administration OF
these laws.
The subject became at once matter
Iof absorbing interest, in the study oil
which we spared no reasonable eX
ipense or time. We adopted the meth
cd of first getting in touch with the
agricultural colleges and experiment
stations. We ascertained through theiI
professors the names of typical farm
lers, and especially of tenant farmers
land then invited them to dine with us
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 various
stock shows which we attended we
came in contact with both landlords
and tenants. In these ways and by
visiting representative tenants in theil
of all classes of both landlords anc
tenants.
Landlords and Land Laws.
We might remark here that both II
England. Scotland and Wales, there
are two distinct classes of landlords
One of those inheritance traces bacl
TO feudal times, whose ancestors ac
cepted rent in lieu of military service
and who have retained to a greater o
less degree a sense of responsibility!
for the welfare of the land. They tak'
genuine pride in their estates, ant
spend much money of their income II
promoting the welfare OF the estate
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 securing
that social recognition which In tina
Icountry comes through large holding