CH. V.

PROSPERITY OF SWITZERLAND.

171

acquired that position expects to be able by a constant exercise of thrift and prudence to consolidate and improve his property, or even to extend it. In these circumstances, where exertion is surely rewarded by the acquirement of property, it is not wonderful that it is excessive and much beyond an Englishman's carefully-meted standard. In the one country the manner of the reward is everything, and in the other the amount of the reward is everything: that is to say, that the acquisition of land in the one case is regarded as greatly more valuable than a mere money payment, whereas in the other case the money payment is all that is obtained and is never felt to be enough; in the one case, the reward tends to induce a greater economy, and, therefore, to give a greater value to everything acquired; in the other, the acquisition of high wages tends to induce a greater lavishness and wastefulness, and whatever is gained is considered to be only a part of that to which the individual was entitled, and he is still dissatisfied, and if possible the acquisition of higher wages tends to make him more reckless than before. In Switzerland a natural outlet is provided for the savings of the working classes, for everyone can purchase and possess land. In Britain and Ireland few can do so, and the earnings that may be in excess of those necessary to provide the mere necessaries of existence are too apt, in want of such a natural outlet, to be squandered, for there is no prospect of ordinary workmen ever being able to acquire property in land.

We have in a previous chapter discussed the present condition of the people in Russia, and we have seen that, with reference to the cultivation of the soil in that country, the commune owns the land, and the result is that there is no adequate development of individual energy, and, therefore, no improvement in agricultural

But in course of

practice, resources, or production. time the peasantry will have paid off the redemption dues; the State will then no longer bind its people together communistically, for its present object in maintaining such a tie, namely, guaranteeing the payment of these dues, will have been by that time accomplished. The principle of the healthiness and success of individual freedom of action will then be recognised, the communes will no longer maintain their authority, and a progress based on a free and unrestricted trade in land will be the result. Even now by special arrangements made by the communes themselves, where some of the principal individuals composing them feel the advantage of freedom of labour, there is occasionally a foothold whereby the energy of the peasantry is gaining some advantage over the indolence of their old masters; but everywhere at present that portion of the Commune, which consists of the laziest and most dissolute, has the power to call in any too enterprising members whether at home or abroad. There is thus nothing to prevent the selfishness of the majority of the Commune interfering with the rewards of individual freedom and success. And this selfishness may be and is frequently exercised ignorantly and viciously; and when the primary difficulty of one member separating himself from his commune and advancing along a path of his own is considered, it is apparent enough that the amount of progress possible at the present time is small, and that amount when realised is all the more likely, when it is exercised under such restraint, to breed dissatisfaction and discontent. The amount of liberty to be gained by strong exertion is just enough to incline the individual to feel that it is, after all, too little to repay him, and, therefore, it is not likely that there will be, with even a considerable desire after it, any great development and experience of it; the dull

CH. V.

THE UNITED STATES.

173

and stagnant round of communistic life and labour will be preferred by the great masses who have always been accustomed to it.

There is just one other country which may engage our attention in this connection, but it is a great one, namely, the United States of America, and we may reckon that the countries newly populated by Europeans, such as Australia and New Zealand, have adopted similar principles with regard to the disposition of the land. In the United States there are no land laws established by which the soil is made to fall gradually into the hands of a few great families as in Great Britain; there are generally no restrictions upon its sale, its inheritance, or its application. The system of occupation is generally that of small proprietors. The proprietors are thriving, and their numbers are increasing, while that of tenants is decreasing. The idea which permeates the people is that of the advisability of universal proprietorship, and the feeling against anything approaching to landlordism is pronounced. There is as yet plenty of cheap land, and it is expected that every provident man will possess some of it. Those in towns may have their own plot if nothing else. The plot may be small, but it will possess a comfortable house on it. This may be only a step towards a larger ownership. Those who immigrate to the towns instead of to the country from Europe, depend on town work for employment and success, and we have seen that of all countries Ireland supplies by much the greater proportion of such immigrants. But towns depend on capital for their prosperity, and capital in the United States is still very dear because it is very scarce. The source of it is largely British. In the country land is cheap, and where a good market exists within a reasonable distance, it soon becomes valuable. The produce then bears a value relatively much greater

to the fee countries.

simple of the land than it does in other The cultivator gains every year a greater and greater advantage as the population round him increases in numbers and in wealth. Now when the cultivator is the proprietor, the increase in the value of the produce goes to enrich the proprietor, and the result is that capital soon begins to be held largely by the cultivators. The great inducement to exertion which arises from the knowledge that the road to wealth is thus not difficult, enables the country to thrive under circumstances which might be otherwise disadvantageous. No doubt a great amount of discontent exists, and some workmen have emigrated lately from New York to New South Wales; but, without entering upon the reasons for such an unfortunate condition of affairs as exists at present, it may be pointed out that there are two great evils that undoubtedly go far to produce such mischief; the one being the disproportionate rate at which circulating capital or money in hand is expended on permanent works, whereby the capital is fixed or the money is sunk, which is doubtless a principal cause why the whole people have become temporarily impoverished; the other evil referred to being the artificial restriction of commerce and diversion of industry which flow from the maintenance of the system of prohibitory duties levied upon the importation of goods from foreign countries.

Now, it is not intended to enlarge upon the operation of these causes in this chapter, which is devoted to ascertaining the condition of the population with respect to the occupation and cultivation of the land. It is probably necessary, however, to indicate here that the appearances of dissatisfaction and even the manifestations of disorder and violence that have lately been noticed in America may proceed from far other causes than those

CH. V.

MARYLAND.

175

belonging to the rural economy of the country, and it may even be said that the general dispersion of property which is the result of its being so easily obtained and so successfully held is the best safeguard against these manifestations proceeding beyond a certain limited area, or attacking in any serious way the fabric of the State.

What may be the policy which induces the government of the State of Maryland to restrict the right to property in land within their boundary to native-born Americans and to exclude aliens, it is difficult to say, but certain it is that the price of the land would undoubtedly be raised were that restriction removed, for the 5,500,000 that are natives of other countries, being about oneseventh of the whole population, are necessarily excluded from being competitors in its purchase. The result is (or was in 1873) that there are plenty of good farms and land in the market that have no purchasers, and yet Englishmen who land at Baltimore (in the State) every year with money looking for farms, being aliens, pass on to Virginia, where they are free to possess them. This appears indeed to be a restriction on free trade in land of the most unfortunate kind, which it would be difficult to justify upon ordinary grounds. In this State of Maryland the produce of a well-cultivated farm may be more valuable in one year than the land itself, and the profit may approach very nearly to that value. Thus a case in point is mentioned by Consul Donohoe reporting from Baltimore, in January, 1874. Dr. Thomas H. Crane, about 1867, purchased a farm of 60 acres, at a cost of 50 dollars per acre. The land was all arable, He cultivated it with fruit,

but run down or exhausted.

cereals.

namely, peaches, grapes, strawberries, pears, and some The produce in 1873 brought 3,198 dollars 50 cents, the expenses were 303 dollars, and the net pro