The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-08
COUNTESS URGES
MOBILES To Give
UP THEIR LANDS
Lady Warwick Wants Eng
lish to Follow Example Of
Russian Nobility.

London, May s.-The Countess of
warwick, owner Of $4,000 acres, has
issued a stirring appeal to the landed
ar1stocracy of Great Britain to follow
the example of the Russian Grand
Dukes and turn over all their feudaI
properties to the State.
I'VE must CO." she says. "The aris-
tocracy of England, in it's position of
hereditary land owners, must go.
The country rings with suggestions
Tor the betterment Of the conditions
under which land is cultivated, but as
I sell things, the suggestions are in NO
instance drastic enough. .zsa 5.5-s-s
1.-THE only cure for the present evils
seems to me to be State ownership,
the abolition of all private properly
In the earth that was given to all Of
us in common
There are two classes of large land
icwners in England, the aristocracy and
the plutocracy.
LAS class, the aristocracy have
beeen good landlords within limits, but
the limits are very marked, because
they have always been a narrow-raind-
ed body. The average chatelaine
who plays the part Of Lady BountifuI
Is to me an abomination, because her
philanthropy is SO closely associated
with dogmatic religion, personal pride
and party politics.
have. known estates where the
| tenants are expected to belong to the
Church of England, and non-conforn,-
lists are barred or prosecuted RADICAL
Ism Is likewise suspect. Farmers. la
oorers and small village tradesmen
have been ruined or exiled from the
the place of their birth because their
opinions are contrary to those of their
landlord. Men and women on such
estates must rule their lives to order
think as they are told to think.
ts IL our arfstocracy possessed the
overwhelming wisdom necessary to
| their role as supreme dictators, all
would be well, but cannot reckon
In their ranks more than six whose
claims would bear momentary consid-
| Grafton.
AS for the plutocrats, the men who
have bought lands and titles in the
open market-and the one is nearly
as readily purchased ~ the other
they have not the old feudal tradition
OF the aristocracy. n ey have been
accustomed to make business ventures
pay; they demand IS per cent. oFs4l1eir
NSA~~J e~AAN NAlRl0t Gil dSclIt~ WHO Will
see that they get it. The landlord
| OF this class is bad landlord.
For the betterment of social con-
ditfons in England a supreme sacri-
fee is required. It is no more than
justice that the men who have offered
their lives in this war for Britain
should have the freedom OF Britain
| for their reward. It is no justice that
| calls men tosfghts for the Hand and
leaves it in the hands of a fraction of
those who fought
ITO men it is Impossible that in the
future His Grace or My Lord should
own square miles Of the mother earth
for which Tom died and Dick was
sore wounded and Harry fought I'M
scathed.
1.-THE country has great needs. If
it is to remain solvent, the united
work of one and all is necessary. The
old feudal landlord will be an AHA
chronism, the new money-spun land
lord an abomination. Only the State
can own the land in trust for those
who can make it productive.
We who are in the high places in
England should retire from them in
the real halo of remuneration, and our
act of sacrifice would be better me-
mortal than the best OF us could hays
hoped to GAIN 4 - 3i@ s s9A' = rs