Farmland near Kelling Heath in Norfolk. Cobden was by trade a mill owner, but his family background was in farming, and he retained a keen interest in the affairs of farmers throughout his career. His opposition to the protectionist Corn Laws, which he managed to get repealed in 1846, was that they protected landowners, not family farmers, farm labourers or everyday consumers, for whom income was low and food was scarce. In this letter, he likened the English system of mega-farms employing armies of day-labourers to a kind of feudalism, and called for as many farmers as possible to own their land, and to be allowed bequeath it to their children.
Introduction
In 1864, Richard Cobden MP published an open letter arguing that small-holdings owned by the farmer, with the absolute right of inheritance, were the best guarantee of public morality and national prosperity. He began with the claim of public morality, arguing that the Government’s policy of super-farms was a step back towards feudalism, and a blow to aspiration.
“All ancient legislators, especially Moses, grounded the success of their ordinances concerning virtue, justness, and morality upon securing hereditary estates, or, at least, landed property, to the greatest possible number of citizens.” — Niebuhr.*
In France, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, the Channel Islands, and in the United States the land is, as a rule, the property of those who cultivate it. The same state of things prevails more or less, or is being rapidly developed, in Italy, Spain, Russia,* Hungary, and other countries. England is the only great country where feudalism still rules the destinies of the land, and where the owners of the soil are constantly diminishing in number.
Now, looking at the moral aspect of the question alone, nobody will deny the advantages which the possession of landed property must confer upon a man or a body of men — that it imparts a higher sense of independence and security, greater self respect, and supplies stronger motives for industry, frugality, and forethought than any other kind of property.* Barthold Georg Niebuhr (1776-1831) was a Danish-German statesman, banker and historian who is regarded as one of the fathers of modern historiography, especially concerning ancient Rome.
* Three years earlier, in 1861, Emperor Alexander II had abolished serfdom in Russia, and was embarking on just such as reform as Cobden wanted to see in England.
Précis
Richard Cobden raised the alarm over the rapid decrease in family-owned small-holdings, as large agricultural concerns took them over. Our Continental neighbours, he said, preferred small-holdings. Moreover, English politicians constantly urged virtues of responsibility and thrift on the public, and what better way to foster them was there, than to entrust farmers with their own plot of land? (58 / 60 words)
Richard Cobden raised the alarm over the rapid decrease in family-owned small-holdings, as large agricultural concerns took them over. Our Continental neighbours, he said, preferred small-holdings. Moreover, English politicians constantly urged virtues of responsibility and thrift on the public, and what better way to foster them was there, than to entrust farmers with their own plot of land?
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, if, or, since, unless, until, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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