[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—Allaw me to congratulate
you on your leader, " Mr. Baldwin and His Task," and on the passage " and most important of all, turn the artisans of this country from men with high wages but with no stake in the community hit:) owners." Here lies the real solution of most of our social and economic woes. There is nothing like ownership to convert the extremist of this or that variety of " ism " into a good citizen. The peasant proprietor has saved France. Ilere in Jersey we attribute much of our prosperity to that admirable system of land tenure based upon " to continue de Normndie,\' by which real estate is divided among all the children—the eldest son having an extra share in the paternal mansion or cottage and one field. The climate of Jersey is, of course, a factor, but it is due to its system of tenure and the continuous subdivision of the land and the facility with which it is sold (there can be no flaw in titles, since all transfers, mortgages and charges have to be registered in the Royal Court) that Jersey land is so highly farmed, that the farm buildings are kept in such admirable repair, that taxation is wondrously low, and that, in spite of a disastrous agricultural year, the wealth and prosperity of the island is probably unparalleled, at any rate in Europe.
Your second article on Unemployment contains a passage singularly cognate to this agricultural problem, " We must not forget that speculation, though it has a bad name, is the spark that fires the engines of commerce. We need the right kind of speculator." The most usual—by far the commonest —form of speculation is Agriculture. For the farmer is en- tirely at the mercy of the season and of the market. Give the farmer reasonable security and stable prices, with every facility for acquiring his holding, and the land question will right itself.—I am, Sir, &c.,
IL G. Mineirouse. Wellington Road, Jersey.
[It must not be forgotten, however, that the Channel Islands are still free of British Income Tax.--Ea. Spectator.1
Previous page
