But no governments have ever let things alone which they ought not to have meddled with ; and agriculture has been subject perhaps to more restrictions than any other branch of industry. The interference with agricultural industry lies deeper than at first sight appears. Land is an essential element of a state : it is the basis on which the structure is raised. Now the political constitution of every country is intimately connected with the nature of the landed property ; and if we would really trace the history of any nation from the earliest records to the present time, we must begin with the fundamental notions of the law of pro perty in land. In this country for instance it is easily shown that the present mode in which land is held and occupied is the result of those feudal principles which were established, or confirmed and ex tended by the Norman conquest of Eng land. The various modes in which land is held by the owner and occupied by the cid ti-, ator, the modes in which it may be alienated or transmitted by will or by descent, the burdens to which it is liable either on any change of owner or in any other way, are all important elements in estimating the degree of freedom which agriculture enjoys. The political consti tution of a country also materially deter mines whether the land shall be cultivated in large or in small portions, whether owned by a numerous body or owned by a few ; there may also be positive laws which affect the power of squiring land or dis posing of it; and these circumstances mate rially affect the freedom of agriculture and its condition. The political constitutions of countries, so far as we know them, have not oeen the result of design. We of the present generation find something trans mitted to us which our predecessors have been labouring to amend or deteriorate; they in like manner received it from their predecessors ; but the beginning ot ' the series we cannot ascend to. Still every existing generation can do some thing towards altering that which has been transmitted to it; and every act of legislation which interferes with the mode in which land is acquired or enjoyed materially affects the condition of agri culture. No sufficient reason has ever yet been shown why a man should not, as a general rule, acquire as much land as he can, and dispose of it as he pleases either during his lifetime or at his death. Without discussing the question, whether a man ought to be permitted to give his land to the church or a corporate body, or to determine for generations to come what persons or class of persons shall en joy his land, it may be laid down as a safe rule that there are limits within which a man's power over his property in land ought to be circumscribed. But such limits should not in any way limit the productive use that can be made of the land ; the object of fixing such limits, whatever they may be, is to prevent any large amount of land from being with drawn permanently out of the market. In a rich country, where great fortunes are acquired by commerce and manufac turing industry, there are always men who wish to invest money in land, and it is for the public interest that there should be opportunities of making such investments.
The tenure of land in any country may be unfavourable to the improvement of its agriculture. If the object is to encourage agriculture in the only way in which a State can profitably encourage it, all restrictions that arise from the peculiar tenure of land should be removed. But the mode in which land is held may have a political character, and this may be an obstacle to the giving to agriculture that freedom which is necessary for its im provement. It might be considered that in this country it would be politically useful to forbid those large accumulations of land in the hands of individuals, a con dition which is accompanied with a dimi nution in the number of small land owners. But if it were wise in some
points of view to enact a law that should limit the quantity of land that a man may hold, it would be very unwise in other points of view ; and such a law would also easily be evaded. The Agrarian laws of Rome only applied to the Public Lend, but among other matters they limited the amount of such land that a man could occupy and use. These laws were continually evaded. But besides this, an injury was done to agriculture, that is, the amount of useful produce was diminished by preventing large capitalists from occupying as much of the land as they pleased, subject to the rent which was due to the State. The specious object of the Agrarian laws was to give small cultivators the use or ownership of a portion of the public land, and thus to rear up a body of independent free agriculturists ; for the larger farms were cultivated by slaves. Though these laws were not an interfer ence with private property, as the term is properly understood, they interfered with the profitable employment of capital ; and they failed in accomplishing their pro fessed object. Some instances are given under the article Allotments of the gra dual decrease of small farms in England and their consolidation into large farms, a process which will certainly take place in all countries where there is no positive obstacle, whenever capital is become abundant. [AGRARIAN Lsws.1 The political constitution of a State may therefore encourage or discourage agri culture: and laws may be from time to time enacted which shall have the same effect. Such laws have sometimes an ob ject purely political, that is to say, a law may be passed which shall have a direct object, not agricultural, and yet it shall in directly affect agriculture. Any institution or law which in any way either prevents large masses of land from being owned or cultivated by individuals, or which re sults in a great subdivision of land among owners and occupiers, has an indirect effect on agriculture. Those who cul tivate on a small scale cannot enter into the market in competition with those who cultivate on a large scale. [ALLOTMENTS.] A State which consists solely of small .andowners must be a feeble political body, and the amount of surplus produce which can be raised will be small. Such a community, if it has not the resources of foreign commerce, will in seasons of scarcity run the risk of famine. The most profitable size of farms depends on a variety of considerations, but whatever it may be, the profitable measure will be practically determined in a country where land can be freely bought or hired, and where capital and labour are abundant. In such a country, and where there is a consi derable extent and variety of surface, it is probable that circumstances will produce farms of every size from the smallest unprofitable holdings to the largest farms which can be managed with profit.
Where land is hired by the cultivator, it is an essential condition to good agri culture that there should be farms to hire whichpermit and require the employ ment of large capitals. It is also neces sary that he who hires the land shall be able to secure the use of it for a period long enough to induce him to cultivate it in the best way, and to make those im provements the fruit of which cannot be reaped all at once. It is a last and equally important condition that he should not be restrained in his mode of cultivation. Small farms, short leases, and conditions which prescribe or limit the mode of cul tivation, will infallibly produce bad agri culture.