The sun., 1919-05-11
RENT QUESTION is
AS ANCIENT AS MAN
Lithuania, Oldest Republic IN
Europe, Has Solved Land
Problem.

Next to the ownership of women a.,
herds Of cattle, landhold1ng So probahly
the Oldest form Of private property h
the world. From the outset Il v,s
bound to be one OF the most important
forms OF private property, for no malta
how plentiful land might DO, Il wa,
nevertheless always at the basis Of hu-
man life. Nomadio tribes needed gra,,nr
land for their herds. and wars for The
possession Of fertile, VOL watered Ter.
ritory are recorded az early as human
history can be traced.
When agriculture became an imps,.
tant means Of obtaining a livelihood, TIA
importance Of landholding increased,
and since agriculture tended TO stabilize
life. fixing desirable plains and valleys
as the permanent abs OF large tribss
iandholding began to be regulated BY
methods other than the primitive one Of
stake what you can get and hold on to
what you can" In this manner rent
Is born, for as soon as the possession OF
land is recognized and protected by So
ciety, anyone wishing to use parcel OF
land already in the hands of another
must be prepared to pay a market price
for its use. What the market price IL
depends on the conditions of the time
and the place, in the same way as the
price for any service is paid IN the
prevailing coin and quantity
The Oldest form Of rent 10 probably
the payment OF work for protection,
Some arrangement had to be made by
the owners of small parcels to protect
them against mo aggression OF their
more powerful neighbours or against the
invasion Of foreign tribes. In such cases
they turned naturally to their weather
tribesmen. and promised to contribute
- hnf,
them in return for the desired protection
Money being quite unknown at this
early date, the payment took the form
of work and farm products, 20 which
might be added the promise OF military
service.
The power thus granted tended to BE-
come centralized the commoner going
to the lord, the latter to the overload
and so on. Ultimately. too. the original
nature of the bargain Is lost sight OF
and the lords of various degrees become
In various measures owners OF the land
they are defending. From that time
on the actual occupant OF the land PAYS
rent. That is, instead of paying for the
protection of the land he pays for the
use of the land. How this occurred IN
Lithuania. the oldest European republic
now seeking independence and recogni-
ton, and how conditions were changed
by the present government, makes an
interesting story.
The Lithuanian nobility took title to
the land in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries, when the country was being
attacked from all sides and some sort
OF defence had to be organized. From
that time until the nineteenth century
the peasantry were practically landless
but In 1864 each peasant was made
owner OF the parcel OF land he was ac-
tually cultivating. AS far as this dis
tribution went, 1t made Lithuania
country of prosperous farmers Who
could afford to educate their children
and give them a good start in life.
But some elements Of the population
still remained with insufficient land or
no land at all. This condition was
remedied by the present Lithuanian
Government. who gave the landless class
all the land belonging TO the state and
the land abandoned by the Russian al
sentee landlords. Thus Lithuania 10
now once more the farming community
1t was before its partition by Russia ard
Prussia, and IL waiting only for reoog
milton and free trading opportunities
with the outside world before II takes rs
place as a prosperous commonwealth.
Llthuania presents her solution of the
land problem as an additional basis for
recognition.