1. The Land Lawe 2. Mr. Cobden on the Land Question 3. Howlett. J. H, Fallacies on Land and Land Laws 4. Beal, James, Free Trade in Land 5. Morgan. GC, Land Saw Reform in England. THE LAND LAWS. THE approach of a general election makes it desirable to review the LAND LAWs, the reform of which should now come to the front. The Scotch law of AGRICULTURAL HYPOTHEC and the English and Irish law of DISTRESS claim immediate notice. They are alike wrong in principle, though some of their incidents differ. Their injustice and cruelty to individuals have been often exposed. But their indirect effects, and the scale on which they operate, have not yet been generally recognised. An illustration may help to make this better understood. If a law were made to give to every banker priority over other creditors, for all advances which he might make to enable men to deal in some particular commodity, there would obviously be a rush of speculators to the banks. Men with little to lose, would be ready to operate in that commodity, if they could get it so easily. The bankers would make good profits out of needy men, the community bearing the risks. Bankers could not be expected to be quite as cautious as usual in their dealings with such men, and they would not need to be. But would there not be inflated competition for the favoured commodity? Would the market for it be in a natural state? Wonld there be anything like certainty or stability in its market value? Would not the legitimate trader be driven to the wall? And is it possible that the disturbance, arising from this artificial law, should not affect and prejudice other trades? The proposer of such a law would be thought a lunatic. But |