Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/202

 190 F. KEATINGE capital may become divided. In peasant agriculture the joint-stock principle can afford no help, and any expectation that individual or co-operative effort can- effectively succeed in nearalising the effect produced from generation to generation by the law of the land is, I fear, doomed to ineviterble disappointment. It would be easy to propose drastic measures for the reconstitution of holdings, conceived on the lines that have been fonnd succ/ssfnl in other cormtries, involving some measure of expropriation and compulsory restripment; but it is certain that such a proposal would be considered as an outrage to Hindu senthnent and would meet with strong opposition. The land- holders, large and small, are, however,. fully aware of the extreme inconvenience' caused existing conditions, gladly welcome any w, ithout introducing present if a nan and I believe measare which the element of owns five acres and has five to them that they offered a remedy compulsion. At by the would sons son, the law compels him to give one acre to each though he may be well aware that such. an arange- ment is quite unsuitable and uneconomic. In other words the law makes a will for a man which, if he made it for himself, would cause him to be considered, and rightly considered, the landholder shall be tyranny it he and all a fool. enabled concerned My proposal is to escape from wish i, I that this have accordingly prepared a bill  to enable holders of land to constitute economic holdings, and I append as Appendix IIIa brie[ statement o[ "objects and teas OHS", I may be argued that comparatively Jew landholders would be in a position or would care to avail them- selves of this provision, This may be so at first, but in the case of holders of self-acquired land over which  Owing to re..kons of spee it h proved impossible to print th draft bill with this IraPer. It appeared in the oflicil print circulated prior to tho meeting.-- [Ed.]