Freehold Land Societies Part 1

Freehold Land Societies.

by J. Ewing Ritchie.

The Freehold Land Movement is the great fact of the age. We propose to consider it in its origin, its present position as a means of investment for the middle and working-cla.s.ses, and in its political and social and moral bearings. We propose to tell what it has done, and what it seeks to do. Born of a working-man, it especially aims at the elevation of working-men. It comes to them, and offers them independence, wealth, and political power. Conceived in a provincial town, its ramifications now extend through the land. It demands no mean place in the consideration of the influences now at work for realising a future brighter and better than the past. The philosopher, the political economist, and the philanthropist must alike, then, deem it worthy of serious regard. On the part of a people, the absence of recklessness and waste is a great good; but the formation of industrial and economical habits is a still greater good. From such plain, unpoetical traits of national character are born the arts and the graces, and all that is civilised and refined in life. A rich people is not less virtuous, and is certainly far happier, than a poor one. Therefore we say, let the Freehold Movement have wide support, for it is a schoolmaster, teaching the path leading the people of this country to wealth, and to the power and independence which wealth alone can give. Thus much by way of introduction. That our readers may fully understand the subject, we shall begin at the beginning, and explain.

I.-THE CONSt.i.tUTION OF A FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETY.

Some time back the _Times_ asked scornfully, as Pilate of old did concerning truth, what was a Freehold Land Society. We reply, viewed in a business light, it is simply a society for the purchase of land. It involves two commercial principles well understood-that purchasers should buy in the cheapest market, and that societies can do what individuals cannot. Till the movement originated, the purchaser of a small plot of ground had to pay in lawyer's expenses connected with the purchase frequently as much as he paid for the plot itself. A society buys a large piece of ground. They make roads through it; they drain it; they turn it into valuable building-land; they thus raise its value; and they divide it amongst their members, not at the price at which each allotment is worth, but at the price which each allotment has cost. Being also registered under the Friendly Societies Act, the conveyance costs the purchaser generally from 25s. to 30s.; and thus a plot worth 50 is often put into the fortunate allottee's hands for half that sum. Of course, different societies have different rules, but they all aim at the same end, and effect that end in pretty nearly a similar manner. Thus a member generally, if he subscribes for a share of 30, pays a s.h.i.+lling a-week, and a trifling sum a-quarter for expenses. With the money thus raised an estate is purchased. It is then cut up into allotments, and balloted for. If the subscriber has paid up, he, of course, takes the land, and there is an end of the matter. If he has not, the society gives him his allotment, but saddled with a mortgage. In some societies the members are served by rotation, and "first come" are "first served."

The more generally-adopted plan, however, is division by ballot. There has been some doubt as to the legality of the ballot; the Conservative Society have taken the opinion of eminent counsel upon this matter, and their opinion is, that the ballot is perfectly legal. The rotation societies offer no inducements to new members to join them; so division by ballot has come to be almost the universal rule. In the National, for instance, there was a ballot daily for all subscribers of three months'

standing. This has recently been altered. A ballot takes place every day, to which all are eligible whose subscriptions are paid up. If you join the National, you may go to the ballot immediately.

As the National is the largest of the existing Freehold Land Societies-last year its receipts being 190,070-we will briefly allude to its prospectus as a still further ill.u.s.tration of what a Freehold Land Society is. The especial objects of this Society are described as "to facilitate the acquisition of freehold land, and the erection of houses thereon; to enable such of its members as are eligible to obtain the county franchise, and to afford to all of them a secure and profitable investment for money." In the National, all the expenses are defrayed out of a common fund; consequently, there are no extra charges, and the net profits, after payment of interest on subscriptions in advance and on completed shares, are annually divided amongst the holders of uncompleted shares. In this way last year the National divided 3,161. 19s. 3d., and the directors credited each unadvanced share with profit at the rate of 10. 16s. 8d. per cent. per annum. We only add, as a still further explanation of the societies in general, that they are all conducted on the most perfectly democratic principles. Vote by ballot and universal suffrage are the rule with them. The members elect their own officers.

In all the societies, also, provision is made for casualties, such as sickness or death. In case of death, the subscriber's widow or heirs take his place. If he be unable, from sickness or poverty, to continue his subscription, he is not fined, but is allowed to wait for better times. If he wishes his money back, he can have it returned, with a slight reduction for the working expenses of the Society. Juniors may be members. Actually these societies so far practically admit woman's rights as to offer to the ladies the same desirable investments they offer to the sterner s.e.x. In short, the Freehold Land Movement appeals to all ranks and conditions of the community. It may be said of a Freehold Land Society what has often been said of the London Tavern, that it is open to all-who can pay.

II. ORIGIN AND PRESENT POSITION OF THE MOVEMENT.

Primarily the movement was political, and was established for the purpose of giving the people of this country the political power which they at present lack. Originally the forty-s.h.i.+lling freehold was established to put down universal suffrage. As a part and parcel of the British const.i.tution it has been religiously preserved to the present time, and threatens to be an excellent subst.i.tute for what it was originally intended to destroy. During the Anti-Corn-Law agitation Mr. Cobden had put the free-traders up to the idea of purchasing forty-s.h.i.+lling freeholds, but it was reserved to Mr. James Taylor, of Birmingham, to give to the idea of Mr. Cobden a universality of which the latter never dreamed; Mr. Taylor had been a purchaser of land more than once, and with the purchase he got an abstract, a legal doc.u.ment, which when he came to understand it, showed him that he had paid to the vendor much more than it cost him. The idea then struck him that as the wholesale price of land was much greater than the retail, if the working men could be got to subscribe together a large sum for the purchase of land, they could thus have, at a wholesale price, a stake in the country and a vote, and when the general election came and excitement was created, Mr. Taylor felt that the time for action was arrived. Accordingly, when he went to tender his vote, he said to a friend who accompanied him, "here's a lot of fellows, and all that they can do is to grin and yawn when I go in to poll; I have a strong notion that I can get them into the booth." This friend said, "How?" The answer was, "Meet me to night in the Temperance Hotel." That same evening Mr. Taylor and his friend drew up an advertis.e.m.e.nt, stating that "it is expedient that a Freehold Land Society be formed for the purpose of obtaining freehold property at a most reasonable cost to, and to get country votes for, the working men."

Simultaneously with the advertis.e.m.e.nt in the local paper appeared a leader from the editor, recognising the immense importance of the movement thus commenced. Thus pledged to go on, Mr. Taylor threw his heart and soul into the cause. Within a week a committee was formed, and the support of the princ.i.p.al men in the town secured. December, 1849 is the legal date of the Freehold Land Movement, although the Birmingham Society had been in existence nearly two years previous. In that month the rules of the society were certified, and the glorious idea of Mr.

Taylor had a legal habitation and a name. At the end of the first year the Birmingham society reported that it had established six independent societies, in which more than two thousand members had subscribed for three thousand shares; that in Birmingham alone the subscriptions amounted to 500 per month, and that it had already given allotments to nearly two hundred of its members. Before the termination of the second year a great conference was held in Birmingham in order to organise a plan of general union and co-operation amongst the various societies.

Delegates from all parts of the country were present. In Birmingham it appeared 13,000 had been subscribed and four estates purchased, two thousand five hundred shares being taken up by one thousand eight hundred subscribers. Wolverhampton, Leicester, Stourbridge, had all co-operated zealously in the movement. Nor was the metropolis behind. The National had started with seven hundred and fifty members subscribing for one thousand five hundred shares, and already had 1,900 paid up. In Marylebone eight hundred shares had been taken since the previous July.

This conference was attended by Messrs. Cobden, Bright, G. Thompson, Scholefield, Ba.s.s, and Sir Joshua Walmsley. This conference, of course, attracted the notice of the press. The coldly, critical _Spectator_ termed it a "middle-cla.s.s movement." _Tait_ so far forgot himself as to characterise it as "political swindling." The _Times_ said the working-cla.s.ses were being deluded by it. For once the _Standard_ agreed with the _Times_ and said ditto. However the conference did its work, and started the _Freeholder_, which appeared on the 1st of January, 1850.

A second conference was held at Birmingham in November, 1850. The report, as usual, was encouraging. Eighty societies, many of them with branches, were reported as existing. The number of members was thirty thousand subscribing for forty thousand shares. The amount of paid-up contributions was 170,000. A third conference was held in London in November, 1851. The report then stated there were one hundred societies with forty-five thousand members subscribing for sixty-five thousand shares. One hundred and fifty estates had been purchased, twelve thousand allotments made, 400,000 had actually been received, and two millions of pounds sterling was actually being subscribed for. At the fourth conference, held in 1852, it appeared still greater progress had been made. One hundred and thirty societies, with eighty-five thousand members subscribing for a hundred and twenty thousand shares, were in existence, three hundred and ten estates had been purchased, nineteen thousand five hundred allotments had been made, and 790,000 had been received. Estimating the shares at the average of 30 per share, the total amount subscribed for was three millions six hundred thousand pounds. Such, then, is the movement at the present time. It has been obscured by no cloud. Its progress has been unchecked. No disappointment has r.e.t.a.r.ded its onward way. Forward to victory has been its march. All cla.s.ses and sects have railed round it. For churchmen there exists a Church of England Society. The Conservatives have formed a large and flouris.h.i.+ng society for the manufacture of Conservative votes. The movement sneered at, derided, misrepresented, declared unconst.i.tutional, a swindle like a celebrated land scheme popular with the Chartists, has now come to be admitted by all as the greatest fact of the age: to aid it, grave and reverend churchmen, statesmen of all shades of political options, combine; even coronetted lords now rejoice to lend it their sanction, and the weight of their ill.u.s.trious names. Truly the mustard seed has branched out into a giant oak. A little leaven has leavened the whole lump.

III.-OF ITS FOUNDER.

We must tell our readers something of the founder of this movement.

James Taylor, junior, of Birmingham, deserves a pa.s.sing notice at our hands. He was born in that town in 1814, and is consequently now in the prime of his life, rather young considering the greatness he has already achieved. His father is a tradesman of the same town, where he has acquired a limited competency by his honest industry, and where he still carries on business for the benefit of the younger branches of his family. Like all other Birmingham boys James was put to work at an early age, and became an apprentice in one of the fancy trades for which Birmingham is so well known. There his industrious habits soon acquired for him the approbation of his master, who gave up Taylor his indentures in consequence of his retiring from business before the latter was of age. About this time Taylor, earning good wages, and not having the fear of Malthus before his eyes, got married, and lived happily till troubles came and the demon of strong drink cast its fatal spell upon his domestic hearth. After years of utter misery and degradation Taylor, in a happy hour for himself and society, signed the Temperance pledge, and became a new man, and to the pledge, fortunately, he remained faithful, in spite of ridicule and reproach from the boon companions with whom he had thoughtlessly squandered so much of happiness, and health, and money, and time. No temptation ever led him back. Nor was he satisfied with his own reform alone. He was anxious that others should be rescued from degradation as he had already been. For this purpose he identified himself with the Temperance cause, and was Honorary Secretary to the Birmingham Temperance Society till he became the Apostle of the Freehold Land Movement. Since then his life and labours have become public. No man has worked harder than Mr. Taylor. Our readers would be astonished if they knew the number of miles Mr. Taylor travels, and of public meetings he attends in the course of the year connected with the movement; sometimes the exertion has been too great, and his health has given way for a time. Those who have heard him once will never forget him. Those who have not heard him, if such there be, have indeed a treat in store. With but few or no advent.i.tious aids-without even "little Latin and less Greek"-an una.s.suming plain working man, in spite of all this, so fascinating is his unadorned eloquence that no one can listen to him without admiring his earnestness and moral worth-without feeling that England has no worthier son than the originator of the Freehold Land Movement-without feeling that time alone can tell what he has done for the political, and social, and moral emanc.i.p.ation of her toiling race.

We may also add here that Mr. Taylor has been at times a contributor to the press as well as a platform orator-that he has been twice married-that he resides at Temperance Cottage, Birmingham, in the enjoyment of a domestic felicity which we trust will attend him to a green old age. It may be said of Taylor what has been said of many infinitely less useful men, that-

"He is a man, take him for all in all, We ne'er shall look upon his like again."

This feeling has become common wherever Mr. Taylor has been known. From far and near have reached him testimonials of respect and esteem. At an early stage of its existence the Wolverhampton Society acknowledged its sense of Mr. Taylor's services by presenting him with a valuable gold watch; and at the last Annual Conference of the friends of the Movement, held in December, 1852, it was unanimously resolved that "as it appeared that various sums of money have been from time to time subscribed with a view of offering some suitable recognition of the valuable and disinterested services of Mr. James Taylor, it is desirable that a committee be appointed to suggest the most suitable testimonial to that gentleman, and to take such steps as may seem to them most desirable in furtherance of the object." In pursuance of this resolution a committee was formed to receive subscriptions, of which Mr. Scholefield, M.P. for Birmingham, is Treasurer. This committee consists of most of the gentlemen connected with the London societies, and it is to be hoped that they are giving the subject the importance it really deserves. A prophet should be honoured in his own age and country. In their lifetime the world's benefactors should reap their reward.

Having thus explained the nature of Freehold Land Societies, and detailed their rise and progress and present position, we propose to consider their effects. For this purpose we shall examine the Movement as offering

IV.-AN INVESTMENT FOR THE MIDDLE AND WORKING CLa.s.sES.

This, of course, is the princ.i.p.al point of view. By their merits as investments alone must Freehold Land Societies stand or fall. If they pay, they will flourish; if they do not, they cannot exist, whatever may be the social, and moral, and political arguments advanced in their favour. Now, let us just see what means of investment are within the reach of the Working man. There is the savings bank-not always safe, as recent examples have shown, and offering so small a rate of interest as to be but little inducement to the cla.s.ses to whom it appeals, to save.

Then there are the benefit societies, which hold out such fine promises, which thus have won a support to which they have no claim, and have excited hopes which they can never realise. Of two thousand of these societies, the accounts of which were submitted to one gentleman in Liverpool a few years ago, _all_ were insolvent. Much of the money belonging to them is wasted in drink, in foolish show and mummery; but the societies are based upon wrong principles, and can never become right. Two radical defects taint them all-the contributions have been much too small in proportion to the proposed benefits, and an almost indiscriminate regard to diversities in age has caused persons differing as widely as from eighteen to thirty-five, forty, forty-five, and even fifty years of age, to be admitted upon equal, or nearly equal, terms.

One of the chief of these friendly societies is that known as the Manchester Unity. In 1848 there was an inquiry into the subject before the House of Lords, when it was stated by Mr. Neison, the eminent actuary, "that it would take _three millions of money_ to bring the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows out of their present difficulties; and if they went on at their present rates of contribution, no less than _ten millions_ would be required to fulfil all their engagements." So much for friendly societies, which are, indeed, a delusion and a snare, and have always failed when the hour of trial has come. What the savings banks are we have already seen; yet, actually, till the Freehold Land Movement originated, these were the only investments within the reach of the working man. A Select Committee of the House of Commons has twice reported "that the great change in the social position of mult.i.tudes, arising from the growth of large towns and crowded districts, renders it more necessary that corresponding changes in the law should take place, both to improve their condition and contentment, and to give additional facilities to investments of the capital which their industry and enterprise are constantly creating and augmenting;" and "that they doubt not ultimate benefit will ensue from any measures which the Legislature may be enabled to devise for simplifying the operation of the law and unfettering the energies of trade." But at present nothing has been done, and the Laws of Partners.h.i.+p fetter the working man who would usefully employ what little capital he has. Clearly, then, the Freehold Land Movement offers him an eligible means of investment. Land cannot run away. So long as England exists, it will always be worth its price.

Nay, it will become more valuable every year, for by no effort of human ingenuity can it be increased.

At Birmingham several of the allotments have realised premiums as high as 20 or 30. On the East Moulsey estate of the Westminster Society allotments, costing 23, have been let at a chief rent of 3 and 3. 10s.

per annum. The Ross Society, in one of its annual reports, stated that, out of thirty allotments made by the Society during the past year, ten exchanged hands at premiums varying from 3. 10s. to 5., and ten working men each received 10 premium. At Ledbury several allotments, costing 25 each had realised premiums of 15 each. On the Stoke Newington estate, belonging to the National, premiums of 30 and even of 40 have been realised. At the Gospel Oak estate, belonging to the St. Pancras Society, allotments which cost 20 each have been let off on building leases of 50s. per annum each. Greater sums have been made-but we would rather understate than overstate our case.

We have inspected returns from one hundred and twenty societies, and in every case the allotments have realised a handsome premium. Yet, in the face of all this, articles have recently appeared in _Chambers's Journal_ and the _Edinburgh Review_, deprecating these societies as investments.

The Edinburgh Reviewer says:-"Notwithstanding this rapid popularity however; notwithstanding, also, the high authorities which have p.r.o.nounced in their behalf, we cannot look upon these a.s.sociations with unmixed favour; and we shall be surprised if any long time elapses without well-grounded disappointment and discontent arising among their members. However it may be desirable for a peasant or an artisan to be possessor of the garden which he cultivates, and of the house he dwells in-however clear and great the gain to him in this case-it is by no means equally certain that he can derive any adequate pecuniary advantages from the possession of a plot of ground which is too far from his daily work for him either to erect a dwelling on it, or to cultivate it as an allotment, and which, from its diminutive size, he will find it very difficult for him to let for any sufficient remuneration. In many cases a barren site will be his only reward for 50 of savings; and however he may value this in times of excitement, it will, in three elections out of four, be of little real interest or moment to him." Of course we do not affirm that a badly-conducted society will pay in spite of mismanagement.

We believe it will do nothing of the kind, and that discontent will arise; but facts show that the reviewer is wrong; that the allotments cost less than he supposes; that thus they offer a better return for his money than the allottee can get in any other way. Numerous as these societies are, mult.i.tudinous as are their members, extensive as have been their dealings-no one yet has found fault with them as a means of investment. Indeed, every day they have come to be more and more regarded in this light alone. Where, we ask, can a man make more by his s.h.i.+lling a-week than by putting it in a Freehold Land Society? This is the question which every man should ask himself; and if he does this, we can await with satisfaction the result. It is easy to imagine difficulties, but we turn to the testimony of facts. That is unanimously in its favour. The present time is void of all political interest.

There are no great struggles, and no great hopes and aims. England seems satisfied with coalitions. Yet this precisely is the time when the Freehold Land Movement finds most favour with the public. The reason is obvious. The times are good. The public has money to invest, and the public finds no such desirable investments as those offered by the Movement; hence it is the societies flourish; hence it is they gain the hearty support of all who can only spare a little, but who would put a little by against a rainy day.

V.-MOVEMENT CONSIDERED POLITICALLY.

But we may be told, politically the movement has been a failure. Our answer is, it has been nothing of the kind. It is true, and we state the fact more in sorrow than in anger, that Messrs. Newdegate and Spooner still represent North Warwicks.h.i.+re; but it is also clear that whilst at the election previous to the last Mr. Spooner had, in the Birmingham district, a majority of 196, at the last election, in consequence of the operation of the Freehold Land Societies of that district, he was actually in a minority of 395. But let us look nearer home. At the recent election for Middles.e.x, Bernal Osborne was returned, after a severe struggle, by a majority of 195. Now, when we recollect that the National alone has purchased 152 acres in Middles.e.x, and that each acre is capable, on an average, on subdivision, of making five votes-when we also remember that the remaining London societies have purchased between them another hundred acres in the same county-it is impossible not to feel, even supposing all the allotments have not been taken up, that out of the 250 acres thus cut up into allotments came the majority which returned Bernal Osborne as the champion of Liberalism and Free Trade. We repeat, it is impossible not to feel that if it had not been for the Freehold Land Societies, to the disgrace and shame of the county, Lord Maidstone would have misrepresented Middles.e.x. Then we remember that Mr.

Locke King was but 400 ahead of Mr. Antrobus at the Surrey election last summer-we must also feel that that gentleman has some reason for thankfulness to Freehold Land Societies. If we pa.s.s to Herts, we shall feel that it sadly failed in its duty by returning three pledged Protectionists; but when we recollect that the National has purchased 300 acres in that county, we cannot but be persuaded that there is "a good time coming" for our friend Mr. Lattimore and the Herts Reformers. At the last election, the lowest of the Protectionist candidates-the quondam Reformer, Sir Bulwer Lytton-had 2,190 votes: the highest of the Liberals had 2,043. It is thus as clear as anything can be that a very little effort will make Hertfords.h.i.+re for ever safe. It is in the power of any two hundred persons desirous of a good investment to do so at once.

Ess.e.x, the home of Sir J. Tyrrel and the delight of W. B., we regret to write, is not so easily liberalised. North Ess.e.x at present is impregnable. Its squires, as Barry Cornwall ironically writes,

"With brains made clear By the irresistible strength of beer,"

are beyond salvation: there is no hope for this generation of them. But South Ess.e.x is not so hopelessly lost to the people's cause. It is true that last summer it did unseat Sir E. N. Buxton, and return Sir W. B.

Smijth by a majority of 600; but the National has purchased 242 acres in that county, and out of that number can create 1,210 electors.

Evidently, then, there is hope for Ess.e.x yet. But we need not continue this scrutiny. The people have placed within their hands the very privilege they so much desire. They need not wait for Government to emanc.i.p.ate them; they can emanc.i.p.ate themselves. For instance, the National will put any person desirous of the same in possession of a county qualification for North or South Ess.e.x, East or West Kent, Hertfords.h.i.+re, West Suss.e.x, North Hants, North Lancas.h.i.+re, or Middles.e.x.

If, as some of the knowing ones maintain, we shall soon have a general election, of course the sooner one is put on the register the better. If not, the purchaser can take no harm: he will have his _quid pro quo_; he will have placed his money in that best of all banks, the land, and will have become one of that important cla.s.s appealed to on certain occasions as the "Electors of the United Kingdom." Heaven helps those who help themselves. Instead of the people waiting for Government to extend the franchise, they can boldly help themselves. No man deserves the electoral privilege who cannot purchase it by his own industry and self-denial. At the present time, when provisions are cheap, when work is abundant, when wages are high and labour scarce, there is not a man in our streets who may not win the franchise if he has the will. Half the men who brawled in low pot-houses, while their wives and children were starving, over their beer, for the Charter, and nothing but the Charter, if they had stopped at home, and worked and saved their money, might, by this time, have realised the manhood suffrage of which they so idly dreamed; and if, at the next election, the men of progress are beaten, and the friends of cla.s.s legislation and injustice prevail, it will be because the people were not true to themselves-because they had not enough of self-denial, enough of earnestness and independence, to avail themselves of the advantages offered by the Freehold Land Movement, and thus to have a representation that shall be real, and not a sham. By means of the Freehold Land Movement, every county in England may be won.

To the very natural suggestion that that is a game that two can play at, the answer is very obvious. In such a contest numbers will tell. A qualification that may be had for 30 will fall into very different hands to what it would were its price 1,000. For one aristocratic voter thus made, the people will have ten. An appeal to the ma.s.ses can have but one result. Human nature must be changed before it can be otherwise. Be this as it may, the political result is undoubtedly good-the emanc.i.p.ation of all who have the wit, and will, and worth to win the franchise for themselves.

VI. THE MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE MOVEMENT.

Anything offering a man inducement to save must be attended with beneficial results. As society is const.i.tuted, a spendthrift is a nuisance and a curse; the charge hitherto against the working cla.s.ses of this country has been, that they have been reckless and improvident-that they are beggars one day and spendthrifts the next-that the money gained with such difficulty is squandered away with a wicked wastefulness, such as can be paralleled in no other part of the world. The English lower orders have always been thus improvident. During the late war the sailors, when on sh.o.r.e, would resort to every absurdity to get rid of their money. Colonel Landman tells us of one who had just received prize money to the amount of 500, and, being allowed only one week in which to get rid of it, had, to do so more effectually, hired a carriage and four for himself, another for his hat, and another for his cudgel, in which style he travelled to London. A common sight at Plymouth was that of sailors sitting on the ground breaking watches to pieces for a gla.s.s of grog, for which they had previously paid 5 each; one hard-hearted captain having refused leave to a sailor to go on sh.o.r.e, the man, in the bitterness of his disappointment, filled a pint pot with guineas and threw them overboard, as he could not immediately derive enjoyment from their use. It is true a great change has been effected in this respect, and society has reaped the benefit. A man who saves money is not a drain upon his friend; is not a dissipated man; costs society less, and does more for it than another man. The self-imposed taxation of the working cla.s.ses has been set down by Mr. Porter at fifty millions a-year. In reality it is much more: there is loss of time-there is sickness induced by intemperance-there are the gaols, and police-stations, and police, which would be much less expensive were the intemperance of the country less. Thus, if you change a nation of spendthrifts into a nation of economical men, you bring about a great and glorious result. Such a nation never can be poor. It will always have capital, and capital is the fund out of which labour is maintained, out of which the arts that humanise and bless mankind spring-out of which the soft humanities of life arise. Thus, then, the Freehold Land Movement is attended with great moral and social good. Viewed politically, also, it must be considered to have had the same result. It is something to have made a man an independent voter-to have made him feel that he has won his political rights for himself-that he has no need to cringe and beg-to have taught him that-

"Man who man would be Must rule the empire of himself."

Such a man will infuse fresh blood into the const.i.tuency. He will not give a vote like a browbeaten tradesman or a dependent tenant-farmer.

His landlord will not be able to drive him to the polling-booth like a sheep. On the contrary, he will go there erect and free-a man, and not a slave. In every point of view, indeed, the benefits of the movement are immense. In the neighbourhood of all our large towns estates are being built on, where the members of the different societies living on their own freeholds enjoy the blessings of pure air, and light, and water, of which otherwise they would have been deprived. In Birmingham the mortality amongst children has been already lessened 2 per cent. in consequence of this very fact. If it be true that we cannot get the healthy mind without the healthy body, this is something gained; but when we further remember that the money thus profitably invested would most of it have been squandered in reckless enjoyment-in body and soul destroying drink-it is clear nothing more need be said. It was calculated that out of 25,000 received by the Birmingham Society, 20,000 have been saved from those sinks of poison, the dram-shop and the beer-house. Mr. James Taylor tells us, "Our working men are beginning to ponder the often-quoted saying that every time they swallow a gla.s.s of ale they swallow a portion of land. From calculations which have been made, it appears that the average price of land is 5d. per yard, and therefore every time a man drinks a quart of ale he engulphs at the same time a yard of solid earth." Nor is Mr. Taylor alone in his testimony. A correspondent of the _Freeholder_ at Leominster stated, that instead of money being spent in drink it was devoted to the society there. In a late report of the Committee of the Coventry Society we read that "one of the most pleasing results of the society's operations is the improved moral habits of many of its members." The North and East Riding Society also reported "The society's operations produce the best effects on the habits of its poorer members by encouraging them to save money from the public house." Similar testimony was also borne by the Newcastle Committee, and at Darlington we learn that the society has been the means of converting many of its members into steady members of society, and instead of finding them at the ale-bench, wrote a correspondent, a few months since, "you may now see them at our Mechanics' Inst.i.tution, gaining all the information they can." Thus, then, the Freehold Movement is creating everywhere a great moral revolution. It teaches the drunkard to be sober and the spendthrift to save. It comes to man in his degradation and strikes away the chain and sets him free. To the cause of Temperance it has been a most invaluable ally. For the money saved from the public-house it has been the most suitable investment. No wonder, then, that most of the leading men connected with the movement are also connected with the Temperance societies, or that it originated with them. It was born in a Temperance Hotel. Its founder was the Secretary of a Temperance society. Did the Temperance societies effect no other good, for this one fact alone would they deserve lasting honour in the land.

VII.-HINTS FOR THE FORMATION OF FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETIES.

There are many counties yet to which the movement has not extended. For the sake of those who may wish to extend it to them, we state that the first step to be taken is to procure a copy of the rules of some society already in operation. For this purpose, the Birmingham, the National and the Westminster Societies' rules, which have been prepared with care, and under the management of practical men, should be procured. They are virtually the same as the rules of an ordinary building society, and are certified by Mr. Tidd Pratt. The next step is the appointment of trustees, directors, solicitor and secretary. This is very important.

The greater part of the failures which take place in working men's a.s.sociations arise from the incapacity or dishonesty of the directors or their officers. Men of character and substance should be chosen for trustees, and for directors men experienced in business, of persevering habits, and of unquestionable integrity. The solicitor and secretary ought to be favourably disposed to the objects of the society. The offices for business ought in no case to be connected either with a public-house or a Temperance coffee-house. Eating and drinking are bad adjuncts to business. As every society must incur expenses, it is not desirable to form societies in small towns or villages, but to connect them with a large society. The National, for instance, has agents to receive subscriptions in every part of the country. Indeed, many of the local societies have become merged in it. In consequence of its excellent business arrangements, and of its immense capital it can do what local societies cannot. Already the Herts and Beds Society, the Bristol Society and the Cardiff Society, have become incorporated with it, and the arrangement has been found satisfactory to all parties concerned, the National having the power to purchase an estate, when a local society with its limited funds would be utterly unable to do so.