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<pre>
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Freehold Land Societies, by J. Ewing Ritchie
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Freehold Land Societies
Their History, Present Position, and Claims
Author: J. Ewing Ritchie
Release Date: June 14, 2010 [eBook #32807]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETIES***
</pre>
<p>Transcribed from the 1853 William Tweedie pamphlet by David
Price, email ccx074@pglaf. Many thanks to Birmingham
Central Library, England, for allowing their copy to be used for
this transcription.</p>
<h1>FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETIES:<br />
<span class="smcap">their history</span>,<br />
<span class="smcap">present position</span>, <span
class="smcap">and claims</span>.</h1>
<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center">J. EWING RITCHIE.</p>
<div class="gapmediumline"> </div>
<blockquote><p>“The laws of this country recognise nothing
more sacred than the Forty-shilling Freehold Franchise; and a
vote for the county obtained by these means is both
constitutional and laudable.”—<span
class="smcap">Lord Chief-Justice Tindal</span>.</p>
<p>“What he had heard from hon. members told him nothing
more than this, that the working population could easily, under
the old system, acquire the right of voting; and that every man
who owned forty shillings a-year could entitle himself to
vote. Were they to be told that the people of England were
so degraded, so besotted, so dead to all sense of their true
interests, that they could make no efforts to possess themselves
of the franchise?”—<span class="smcap">Mr.
Disraeli</span>.</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="gapmediumline"> </div>
<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br />
WILLIAM TWEEDIE, 337, STRAND.</p>
<div class="gapshortline"> </div>
<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">price
twopence</span>.</p>
<h2><!-- page 2--><a name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
2</span>ADVERTISEMENT.</h2>
<p>The following pages are reprinted from the “<span
class="smcap">Weekly News and Chronicle</span>”—the
only Paper that aims to be the organ of the Freehold Land
Movement. They are now published in the hope that they may
win for that movement a wider support and a heartier sympathy
than it has already secured. It is a child—it will be
a giant ere long.</p>
<p>3, Clifford’s Inn.<br />
April 1853.</p>
<h2><!-- page 3--><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
3</span>FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETIES:<br />
<span class="smcap">their history</span>, <span
class="smcap">present position</span>, <span class="smcap">and
claims</span>.</h2>
<p>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-classes, 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.</p>
<h3><!-- page 4--><a name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
4</span>I.—THE CONSTITUTION OF A FREEHOLD LAND
SOCIETY.</h3>
<p>Some time back the <i>Times</i> 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 shilling 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 <!-- page 5--><a name="page5"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 5</span>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.</p>
<p>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 illustration 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 sex. In short, the
Freehold Land Movement appeals to all <!-- page 6--><a
name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>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.</p>
<h3>II. ORIGIN AND PRESENT POSITION OF THE MOVEMENT.</h3>
<p>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-shilling freehold was established to put down universal
suffrage. As a part and parcel of the British constitution
it has been religiously preserved to the present time, and
threatens to be an excellent substitute 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-shilling 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 document, 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 advertisement, 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 <!-- page 7--><a name="page7"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 7</span>get country votes for, the working
men.” Simultaneously with the advertisement 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 principal 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, Bass, and Sir Joshua
Walmsley. This conference, of course, attracted the notice
of the press. The coldly, critical <i>Spectator</i> termed
it a “middle-class movement.” <i>Tait</i> so
far forgot himself as to characterise it as “political
swindling.” The <i>Times</i> said the working-classes
were being deluded by <!-- page 8--><a name="page8"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 8</span>it. For once the <i>Standard</i>
agreed with the <i>Times</i> and said ditto. However the
conference did its work, and started the <i>Freeholder</i>, 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 retarded its onward
way. Forward to victory has been its march. All
classes and sects have railed round it. For churchmen there
exists a Church of England Society. The Conservatives have
formed a large and flourishing society for the manufacture of
Conservative votes. The movement sneered at, derided,
misrepresented, declared unconstitutional, 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 <!-- page
9--><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>rejoice
to lend it their sanction, and the weight of their illustrious
names. Truly the mustard seed has branched out into a giant
oak. A little leaven has leavened the whole lump.</p>
<h3>III.—OF ITS FOUNDER.</h3>
<p>We must tell our readers something of the founder of this
movement. James Taylor, junior, of Birmingham, deserves a
passing 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 <!-- page 10--><a name="page10"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 10</span>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
adventitious aids—without even “little Latin and less
Greek”—an unassuming 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 emancipation 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—</p>
<blockquote><p>“He is a man, take him for all in all,<br />
We ne’er shall look upon his like again.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>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 <!-- page
11--><a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>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.</p>
<p>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</p>
<h3>IV.—AN INVESTMENT FOR THE MIDDLE AND WORKING
CLASSES.</h3>
<p>This, of course, is the principal 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 classes 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, <i>all</i> 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 <!-- page 12--><a
name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>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 <i>three millions of money</i> 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 <i>ten millions</i> 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 multitudes, 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 Partnership 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.</p>
<p>At Birmingham several of the allotments have <!-- page 13--><a
name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>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.</p>
<p>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 <i>Chambers’s Journal</i> and the
<i>Edinburgh Review</i>, deprecating these societies as
investments. The Edinburgh Reviewer
says:—“Notwithstanding this rapid popularity however;
notwithstanding, also, the high authorities which have pronounced
in their behalf, we cannot look upon these associations 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, <!-- page
14--><a name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>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, multitudinous
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 shilling 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.</p>
<h3>V.—MOVEMENT CONSIDERED POLITICALLY.</h3>
<p>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 Warwickshire; 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
<!-- page 15--><a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
15</span>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 Middlesex,
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 Middlesex, 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
Middlesex. 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 pass 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 Hertfordshire for ever safe. It is
in the power of any two hundred persons desirous of a good
investment to do so at once. Essex, the home of Sir J.
Tyrrel and the delight of W. B., we regret to write, is not so
easily liberalised. North Essex at present is
impregnable. Its squires, as Barry Cornwall ironically
writes,</p>
<blockquote><p> “With
brains made clear<br />
By the irresistible strength of beer,”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><!-- page 16--><a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
16</span>are beyond salvation: there is no hope for this
generation of them. But South Essex 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 Essex
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
emancipate them; they can emancipate themselves. For
instance, the National will put any person desirous of the same
in possession of a county qualification for North or South Essex,
East or West Kent, Hertfordshire, West Sussex, North Hants, North
Lancashire, or Middlesex. 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 <i>quid pro quo</i>;
he will have placed his money in that best of all banks, the
land, and will have become one of that important class 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 class legislation and
injustice prevail, it will be because the people were not true to
themselves—<!-- page 17--><a name="page17"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 17</span>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 masses 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 emancipation of all who have the wit,
and will, and worth to win the franchise for themselves.</p>
<h3>VI. THE MORAL AND SOCIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE
MOVEMENT.</h3>
<p>Anything offering a man inducement to save must be attended
with beneficial results. As society is constituted, a
spendthrift is a nuisance and a curse; the charge hitherto
against the working classes 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
shore, 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
glass of grog, for <!-- page 18--><a name="page18"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 18</span>which they had previously paid
£5 each; one hard-hearted captain having refused leave to a
sailor to go on shore, 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 classes 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—</p>
<blockquote><p>“Man who man would be<br />
Must rule the empire of himself.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such a man will infuse fresh blood into the
constituency. 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 <!-- page 19--><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
19</span>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 2½
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
glass of ale they swallow a portion of land. From
calculations which have been made, it appears that the average
price of land is 5½d. 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 <i>Freeholder</i> 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’ Institution, gaining all
the information they can.” Thus, then, the Freehold
Movement is creating everywhere a great moral revolution.
It <!-- page 20--><a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
20</span>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.</p>
<h3>VII.—HINTS FOR THE FORMATION OF FREEHOLD LAND
SOCIETIES.</h3>
<p>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
associations 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
<!-- page 21--><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
21</span>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. The same can be said of the Conservative and other
larger societies. Local societies have, however, this in
their favour. The managers are well known men.
Confidence is felt in them; they appeal to local sympathies, and
they will have local support.</p>
<h3>VIII.—A LIST OF EXISTING SOCIETIES.</h3>
<p>It has been suggested that we give a list of the societies at
present in operation. We do so here, though aware that the
list is necessarily very imperfect. The <i>Freeholder</i>
aimed to give a list, but it never could give a correct
one. We see Mr. Brooks in his Building Societies Directory
has also made a similar attempt, and in an equally unsuccessful
manner. The societies are so numerous that it is impossible
to do more than chronicle the existence of the more active
ones. These are:—1. The Arundel, 38, Arundel-street,
Strand; Manager, Mr. J. Carpenter. 2. The Birkbeck,
Mechanics’ Institution, Southampton-buildings,
Chancery-lane; Secretary, Mr. F. Ravenscroft. 3. The
British, 3, Ivy-lane; Secretary, Mr. H. Brooks. 4. The
Britannia; Secretary, Mr. D. W. Ruffy, 1a, Great George-street,
New-road. 4. The Church of England, 22, John-street,
Adelphi; Secretary, Mr. Campbell. 5. The Conservative, 33,
Norfolk-street, Strand; Secretary, Mr. Gruneisen. 6. The
Chelsea, Cheyne-row. 7. The Finsbury,
Featherstone-buildings; Secretary, Mr. Scott. 8. The Home
Counties, Chatham-place, Blackfriars-bridge; <!-- page 22--><a
name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>Secretary,
Mr. Knight. 9. The Lambeth, 90 Blackman-street, Borough;
Secretary, Mr. W. Banks. 10. London District, 10,
Leadenhall-street; Secretary, Mr. F. Redfern. 11. The
London and Suburban; Secretary, Mr. Weale. 12. The
Metropolitan, 24, East-cheap; Secretary, Mr. D. R. White.
13. The Marylebone, Great Portland-street; Secretary, Mr. J. W.
Knight. 14. The Middle Class, Peele’s Coffee House,
Fleet-street; Secretary, Mr. W. Peacock. 15. The National,
14, Moorgate-street; Secretary, Mr. Whittingham. 16. The
North London, British School Room, Denmark-terrace, Pentonville;
Secretary, Mr. Bernard. 17. The St. Pancras; Secretary, Mr.
Spring. 18. The Union. 19. The Westminster, 4,
Beaufort-buildings, Strand; Secretary, Mr. G. Hugget. Most
of these societies are in full operation, and have purchased
valuable estates. The probable number of Freehold Land
Societies in the country is 130. In some parts societies
have not flourished, in consequence of their being confounded
with O’Connor’s Land Scheme; in others, more
especially in the North, there has been an utter impossibility in
the way of getting freehold property; in others, the management
has been languid, and the societies have decayed. But the
number is, we believe, that which we have stated; or at any rate
is as near the truth as it is possible for us to be.</p>
<h3>IX.—CONCLUSION.</h3>
<p>We have thus gone through our self-appointed task. We
have considered the Freehold Land Movement in its origin and
effects. We have shown them to be good. We have shown
the movement itself to be well worthy the support of every
philanthropic man. It has now grown, and become
strong. It is now doing what Parliament dare not, providing
for the political emancipation of the people. It has put
the franchise in the hands of honest men. It has given a
new character to political agitation. It has shown how,
without resorting to intimidation, or without the frantic appeal
of the demagogue, the working men of England may enfranchise
themselves. Parliament <!-- page 23--><a
name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>may refuse to
legislate on the matter—one Reform Bill after another may
be prepared, and then thrown by—one party combination after
another may be driven from the Treasury benches, but the movement
is gradually working its way, which is to reform Parliament, to
put down W. B. and his man Frail—to root out the
demoralisation of which St. Albans is a type, and to give to the
people a perfect representation in the peopled house. It is
time the present state of things was altered. For this
purpose, the Freehold Land Movement exists.</p>
<p>We thus make our appeal to the friends of political
progress. We aim at the advocacy of the movement which has
for its end what you profess to desire. That movement we
believe destined to be the salvation of our country, and we ask
you to rally round it. It is true Free-trade is not in
danger, but Parliamentary Reform is. A large party headed
by Lord Derby take their stand by the Bill of ’31, and
maintain that concession has reached its limits—that class
legislation is still to prevail—that the people are still
to be ignored—that inside the constitution are still to be
the privileged few, and outside of it the unprivileged
many. Against this mockery we ask England’s manhood
to protest—not by crowded assemblies or inflammatory
harangues, but in the constitutional manner pointed out by
Freehold Land Societies. We want not voices but
votes. In the House of Commons, the thoughts that breathe
and words that burn avail not, but votes are omnipotent. No
member can disregard or despise his constituents; their will to
him must be law.</p>
<p>But we stop not here. We seek a still wider
support. The Freehold Land Movement has done wonders, it
has removed the reproach cast upon the working man, that he is
reckless and improvident. It has shown that he can save
when a proper object is offered. In a speech a year or two
since, in the House of Commons, by Mr. Sotheron, M.P. for
Wiltshire, it was stated that the total number of friendly
societies was not less than 33,232, and the aggregate of the
members which they included amounted to 3,032,000. The
annual revenue <!-- page 24--><a name="page24"></a><span
class="pagenum">p. 24</span>of these societies was
£4,980,000, and the accumulated capital from the savings of
these poor persons was no less a sum than
£11,360,000. Faulty as most of these societies were,
so desirous of saving was the working man, that he had actually
entrusted them with the enormous sum we have just named. If
these things were done by Friendly Societies, what will not be
done when the advantages of Freehold Land Societies are well and
widely understood? At this time there is much maudlin
sympathy expressed on behalf of the working classes. They
need it not. They are stout enough and strong enough to
take care of themselves. The Freehold Land Movement has
given them an investment, and they have become saving men.
The money that would formerly have been spent in the public-house
has given many a man a freehold and a stake in the country, such
as even a revising barrister must admit. The present system
of revision of votes by barristers is bad. Members of
Freehold Land Societies have been much wronged in
consequence. One worthy disfranchised several claimants
last summer, on the ground that the forty-shilling franchise, in
all cases, should cost £50. It ought to be in the
power of no man to arrive at such a decision. The question
should be left to a jury—not to a barrister, eager of
promotion, and for that purpose desirous to please the powers
that be. But still a man may thus obtain wealth and a
vote. And the man thus taught self-denial and providence
will not be contented with remaining merely a freeholder; he
cannot make himself that without becoming intellectually and
morally a better man. He will be a better father of a
family, a better citizen, better in his public and private
life. Workmen of England, Ireland and Wales, we call upon
you to rally round the Freehold Land Societies. They exist
for your benefit alone. They will give you all that you
require—desirable investments for your savings—habits
of economy and political influence. You have no need to
cringe and beg. All that you want, you have it in your
power to obtain. Never was there a more favourable time for
you to avail yourselves of <!-- page 25--><a
name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>the Freehold
Land Societies now springing up in your midst. You have now
money you can put by. When the Corn Laws cursed the land,
it would have been mockery to have asked you to do so then.
Now the case is altered, and you must each one of you seek to
elevate yourselves. As Mr. Cobden aptly remarked, half the
money annually spent in gin would give the people the entire
county representation, and thus also provide desirable
investments for the money that you are morally bound to lay by
against a rainy day. The man who refuses to make provision
for the future cannot expect to prosper. Not to do so when
a man can is a folly and a crime. Now then is the time to
support the Freehold Land Societies. Thus when sickness or
old age or bad times come, you will have something you can call
your own. Habits of economy will thus grow and strengthen,
and the reward will be sure. Of all luxuries, that of
independence is the sweetest, and that these societies put within
your reach. Their failure is impossible. They are the
societies for the age: they will parcel out the English ground
amongst English men: their triumph will be the emancipation of
the working man from the misery and wrongs and degradation of the
past.</p>
<p>We appeal also to men who aim at the moral reformation of our
race—who care little about politics—who believe that
in a world of knaves it is difficult to get a good government at
all, and we claim their support. The mission of the
Freehold Land Movement is the same with theirs. The
philanthropist labouring to remove the degradation, which compels
to a life little better than that of the beasts that perish, men
made in the image of their Maker—the advocate of Temperance
aiming at the destruction of a vice which has slain its
thousands, and which, like a destroying pestilence, still walks
the land—the Christian seeking to permeate our age with a
living faith—all these we claim as co-workers. The
movement, besides its direct bearings, tends to bring about the
results they desire. Not merely has political emancipation
been the result of the movement—moral emancipation has
invariably followed in its train.</p>
<p><!-- page 26--><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
26</span>We thus make our appeal for the support of the cause
which is yet in its infancy, and which has a thousand trophies
yet in store. Peacefully does it conduct the people to
power, and give practical utterance to the spirit of the
age. The doom of whatever keeps man in subjection to
another has long been sealed. The proud patrician of
Imperial Rome—the feudal baron of the Middle Ages, have
passed away. Even Oxford abandons the faith at one time it
armed to defend, and no longer acknowledges the</p>
<blockquote><p>“Right divine of kings to govern
wrong.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Onward to victory is the people’s march. The
decree has gone forth, they must be free. For this
consummation we have ever hoped and striven. From the
contentions of party we have ever turned to advocate whatever
gives to the people moral dignity and political power; to others
we leave the cause of the privileged classes—the advocacy
of existing wrongs—the preservation of existing
abuses. We plead the cause of the unenfranchised, but of
the unenfranchised who have faith and energy and self-denial
enough to win the franchise for themselves. We conjure them
to bestir themselves, to give their support to the Freehold Land
Movement, to quit themselves like men. We need at the
polling booths independent voters, not men who can be bullied or
bribed—to make such is our aim, for such England needs,
aye, and needs more than ever now.</p>
<div class="gapspace"> </div>
<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">the
end</span>.</p>
<div class="gapspace"> </div>
<div class="gapmediumline"> </div>
<p style="text-align: center">Woodfall and Kinder, Printers,
Angel-court, Skinner-street.</p>
<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETIES***</p>
<pre>
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