A SCHEME OF LAND SETTLEMENT.
MO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")
S IR,—I crave the courtesy of your columns in the interests of the millions of heroes to whom we owe so much to give a brief outline of the scheme I have evolved for placing them on the land as owners. Surely it is the barest justice to give a share of the land to those who have fought so ably for it. The desire for the land is there; it is the inborn heritage of the free-born Briton. Why then does the Government refuse to promise an adequate scheme of Land Settlement for England, Scotland, and Wales when it is perfectly aware that such a promise would raise. the highest hopes and prove exceedingly popular? The excuse of expense is not tenable, as the scheme, outlined in the pamphlet which I have published under the auspices of the British Empire Land Settlement League, does not entail any expenditure by the Treasury nor does it require any increased taxation. Briefly the scheme is this.
The establishment of a Land Bank with the object of financing
intending purchasers of land by making advances on mortgage. The mortgage will he paid off in fifteen yearly instalments instead of rent, and at the end of that period the land belongs absolutely to the purchaser. The reduction of costs in land transactions would be immense, and professional and expert assistance would be at the disposal of the purchaser at reasonable rates. The bonds would be purchasable in the form of bearer coupons, and would be interchangeable with the Colonies and Ireland, so that branches of the Land Bank would be established there and in the various Dominions, and bonds purchased there would be valid for the acquiring of land in England, and Vice versii. This scheme has been pronounced absolutely sound by the highest financial experts in the country, and as the shares of the Bank would be put on the. market the whole nation would have a chance of becoming shareholders in their own country. If the Government can be induced to adopt this scheme, and will give an assurance to the men at the front that something is being done, they will be sustained in the hardships they undergo by. the consciousness that they at last have a stake in the land they are defending.—
I am, Sir, &c., A. W. Braox, Captain.
British Empire Land Settlement League, General Buildings, Aldwgch, W.C. 2.
[The establishment of a Land Bank has been advocated by us in the past. Every form of credit must be made easily accessible to the small farmer. But we hope there will be no overlapping of organizations. That is a sure way to give the farmer less credit than he might fairly receive. The reformed Agricultural Organization Society is, we imagine, preparing to deal with credit. —En. Spectator.]
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