property; and that, if English labourers no longer regarded it as hopeless to get possession of a small farm, they might possibly develop, like their fellows in other countries, the qualifications for cultivating it efficiently.

Part III.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE ENGLISH LAND SYSTEM.

CHAPTER I.

The Peculiar Burdens and Privileges of Landed Property in England.

THE incidence of Taxation, as affecting the agricultural interest, has long been a favourite battle-ground of political and financial controversy. It is alleged, on the one hand, that land, and especially agricultural land, has been unjustly relieved from its fair share of the national burdens by the paramount influence of the landlord party in the State; and, moreover, that if emancipated from the disabilities which now oppress the soil, it could well bear an additional charge of several millions. It is alleged, on the other hand, that landlords and farm-tenants are far more highly taxed upon their real incomes than other members of the upper and middle classes, and that charges now exclusively thrown upon land ought to be spread over other forms of property. In the discussion of such questions a remarkable confusion of thought may often be detected, and the economical issue is apt to be obscured by the introduction of perfectly irrelevant considerations. For instance, it is one thing to show that in the Middle Ages, when the possession of land was the sole foundation of civil rights as well as the grand

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source of wealth, the whole pressure of Imperial and local taxation rested upon land; it is another thing to show that a similar principle should be maintained in the present day, when incomes derived from personalty are sevenfold greater than incomes derived from land, and a landless capitalist may outweigh a duke in political influence. Again, it does not follow that because a past generation of landowners may have selfishly abused their power by undertaxing themselves, their sins are to be visited on their descendants in the form of excessive rates, whether or not it be for the interest of the nation at large. Equally absurd were it to personify "the land," as if it could possibly be the subject of any claims or liabilities apart from those of the persons connected with it, as owners, farmers, labourers, or otherwise; and as if a rational statesman could possibly entertain sentiments of tenderness or hostility towards Real Property in itself, as distinct from personalty, or towards agricultural land, as distinct from house property. Taxes are paid, not by property, but by persons in respect of property. If it so happened that all the members of a State derived their incomes, however unequal in amount, from land, or trade, or professional industry, or all together in equal proportions, there could be no inequality in laying taxation exclusively on one of these sources. might be more convenient to take the money out of one pocket than out of another, but, as between classes or individuals, it could make no difference which pocket might be selected.

It

Nor can much light be thrown upon the best modes of adjusting taxation between various kinds

FALLACIES CONCERNING TAXATION OF LAND. 243

of property, by proving that landowners are now contributing more or less to Imperial or local taxation than when they purchased or inherited their estates. Every man who purchases or inherits an estate takes it for better or worse, and it would be just as reasonable to mulct him of the additional value which may be imparted to it by a possible reduction of rates, as to guarantee him against a possible increase of rates. At the same time, any sudden or violent disturbance in the distribution of taxation between different classes of society would inevitably cause great hardship to individuals, as well as a general sense of insecurity; and, from this point of view, it is highly important to distinguish between taxes of old standing and those of recent origin. When land has been inherited or purchased subject to certain taxes, its owner is virtually trustee for the locality or the State of a rent-charge sufficient to satisfy this liability. When new taxes are imposed, he may fairly ask why other classes should not contribute equally with himself. Bearing these distinctions in mind, let us consider simply whether the agricultural interest is actually taxed more heavily, for Imperial or local purposes, than other sections of the community; and, if so, how far this inequality is to be justified by sound reasons of financial policy.

It is scarcely contended by those who condemn the "peculiar burdens" on landed property, that it bears, on the whole, a disproportionate share of Imperial taxation; but it is often stated, and still more often implies, that both Tithes and Land-tax form an integral part of this share. If this notion be true at all, it is true only in a sense which has no bearing on the present inquiry.

Tithes represent a reservation from the landed rental of the country made a thousand years ago for ecclesiastical purposes. Such a reservation might have been made by an equivalent allotment of land in every parish, and its character is in no degree altered by the fact of its having been made out of the produce, and not out of the soil itself. Formerly the tenant was the paymaster, and since the amount payable fluctuated year by year, he was led to imagine that tithes were an addition to his rent. Now the landlord pays tithes, in the form of a rent-charge, but they do not, therefore, come, in reality, out of the landlord's pocket, or constitute a deduction, by way of tax, from the income of the landed interest. On the contrary, tithe-owners are themselves members of the landed interest and partners with the landlords, many of them, indeed, being laymen, and holding their own lands tithe-free. If there be any grievance in respect of tithes, it is certainly not that modern landlords are too heavily charged for the benefit of the Church, but rather that, under the Act for the commutation of tithes, passed in the reign of William IV., the Church has received far less than its due. The reason of this is that, whereas a tithe was formerly a tenth of the gross produce, and far more than a tenth of the rent, in the case of arable land, it is now assessed yearly by reference to septennial averages of agricultural prices, without regard to any increase of gross produce or of rental upon the valuation fixed in 1836. "Up to that time," says Mr. Caird, "the income of the Church increased with the increased value yielded by the land, the original object, that the Church should progress in