◆¹ We need not, however, dwell upon such details longer: for there are few people who conceive even a redistribution like this to be possible; and there would probably be fewer still who would run the risk of attempting it, if they realised how limited would be the utmost results of it to themselves. My only reason for dealing with these schemes at all is that, ◆² whilst they are felt to be impossible as soon as they are considered closely, they are yet the schemes which invariably suggest themselves to the mind when first the idea of any great social change is presented to it; and a knowledge of their theoretical results, though it offers no indication of what may actually be attainable, will sober our thoughts, and at the same time stimulate them, by putting a distinct and business-like limit to what is conceivable.
◆1 But there are certain parts of the national income the redistribution of which has been actually advocated, i.e.: (1) the rent of the land; (2) the interest of the National Debt; (3) the sums spent on the Monarchy.
◆2 We will consider what the nation would gain by confiscating the above.
◆3 Absurd ideas as to the amount of the landed rental of the country.
◆¹ And for this reason, before I proceed further, I shall ask the reader to consider a few more theoretical estimates. The popular agitator, and those whose opinions are influenced by him, do not propose to seize upon all property; they content themselves with proposing to appropriate certain parts of it. The parts generally fixed upon are as follows:—First and foremost comes the landed rental[9] of the country—the incomes of the iniquitous landlords. Second comes the interest on the National Debt; third, the profits of the railway companies; and last, the sum that goes to support the Monarchy. All these annual sums have been proposed as subjects of confiscation, though the process may generally be disguised under other names. ◆² Let us take each of these separately, and see what the community at large would gain by the appropriation of each. And we will begin with the income of the landlords; for not only is this the property which is most frequently attacked, but it is the one from the division of which the largest results are expected. ◆³ It is indeed part of the creed of a certain type of politician that, if the income of the landlords could be only divided amongst the people, all poverty would be abolished, and the great problem solved.
◆1 The popular conception of the wealth of the larger landlords.
◆¹ In the minds of most of our extreme reformers, excepting a few Socialists, the income of the landlords figures as something limitless; and the landlords themselves as the representatives of all luxury. It is not difficult to account for this. To any one who studies the aspect of any of our rural landscapes, with a mind at all occupied with the problem of the redistribution of wealth, the things that will strike his eye most and remain uppermost in his mind, are the houses and parks and woods belonging to the large landlords. Small houses and cottages, though he might see a hundred of them in a three-miles’ drive, he would hardly notice; but if in going from York to London he caught glimpses of twelve large castles, he would think that the whole of the Great Northern Railway was lined with them. And from impressions derived thus two beliefs have arisen—first that the word “landlord” is synonymous with “large landlord”; and secondly that large landlords own most of the wealth of the kingdom. But ideas like these, when we come to test them by facts, are found to be ludicrous in their falsehood. If we take the entire rental derived from land, and compare it with the profits derived from trade and capital, we shall find that, so far as mere money is concerned, the land offers the most insignificant, instead of the most important question[10] that could engage us. Of the income of the nation, the entire rental of the land does not amount to more than one-thirteenth; and during the last ten years it has fallen about thirteen per cent. The community could not possibly get more than all of it; and if all of it were divided in the proportions we have already contemplated, it would give each man about twopence a day and each woman about three half-pence.[11]
◆1 The landed aristocracy are not the chief rent-receivers.
◆2 A multitude of small proprietors receive twice as much in rent as the entire landed aristocracy.
◆3 The entire rental of the landed aristocracy is so small that its confiscation would benefit no one.