THE ISLE OF AXHOLME.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE erscraion.-] SIR,—I am much interested in your article on the peasant- proprietors in the Isle of Axholme, chiefly because it fell to my lot a fortnight ago to pay a visit to that remarkable spot, during which I made extended inquiries into the present con- dition of the people who till the soil there. It is clear, from the admissions one hears freely made on all hands, that these thrifty and industrious people have of late years suffered grievous losses, and are now in a state of depression equal to what is found in any other of our arable districts. It is now also clear that the present season's crops are not going to do much, if anything,
towards relieving the strain. Many of the small owners depend, or have been in the habit of depending, on early potatoes as 'a crop, and on making a good price for them. Some time ago. indeed, 3s. a peck were realised ; this year, is. is the average price. It is obvious that a drop of two-thirds in the value of a crop makes a striking disparity in the returns. One man told me that his crop of early potatoeta this year, on a quarter of an acre of land, has realised only 25s.; while the rent of the plot, the tithe, rates, labour, seed, manure, dx., had cost him 51s. The crop was clearly a poor one, but that was only "neigh- bours' fare."
The cheapening and simplification of deeds relating to the transfer and mortgaging of land would be a great boon to these small owners, for under the present state of things the smaller the property, the greater is the proportionate cost of convey- ancing. Your suggestion, too, of a co-operative system of advancing money to the small owners, who have now to fly to moitgagees for advances, is one which, if carried out intelli- gently, would bring great relief to numbers of deserving people. if ever legislation were needed to aid a struggling people, it is clearly needed in Axholme, and chiefly in the way of making the transfer of real property a simple and inexpensive process.. This done, and your suggestion of a better system of money- borrowing carried out, it is not to be doubted that the condition of the small owners would be greatly improved.
As to fluctuations in the value of land, these are matters over which no one has, or can have, any control, and men who invest the small sums of hard-earned capital they have saved in a commodity which is liable to change its value must be content to accept the risk. This they would the more freely do, if land were relieved from its present disabilities ; if, for instance, they could realise their real property with, or nearly with, the ease and facility they can now realise a horse or a pig. Meantime, the lawyers' hands are full of work, in one way or another, and mortgagees find a good deal of depreciated property thrown on their hands.—I am, Sir, &c.,
J. P. SHELDON, Special Commissioner for Land.
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