Chapter 31

THE EMANCIPATED PEASANTRY

The Effects of Liberty--Difficulty of Obtaining Accurate Information--Pessimist Testimony of the Proprietors--Vague Replies of the Peasants--My Conclusions in 1877--Necessity of Revising Them--My Investigations Renewed in 1903--Recent Researches by Native Political Economists--Peasant Impoverishment Universally Recognised--Various Explanations Suggested--Demoralisation of the Common People--Peasant Self-government--Communal System of Land Tenure--Heavy Taxation--Disruption of Peasant Families--Natural Increase of Population--Remedies Proposed--Migration--Reclamation of Waste Land--Land-purchase by Peasantry--Manufacturing Industry--Improvement of Agricultural Methods--Indications of Progress.