Our British Landlords

A correspondent of The New York World has been at pains to obtain some facts in reference to the investment of British capital in the United States. The facts will be a surprise to niany. The ownership of land is so great that it amounts to a system of genuine absentee landlordism. The managers of Britisb interests are usually very reticent about their business, but it is estimated that not less than half a million acres of land are owned in Kansas alone by subjecta of Great Britiain. One - Williain Scully, of London - owns 80,000 acres of choice land in Kansas. He rents this to farmers, and reproduces here the features of English landlordism pure and simple. The same Scully possesses 100,000 acres of the best farming lands in Illinois. He draws f rom the United States an income of $200,000 a year, erery cent of which is spent in England. His tenants are foreigners like hiuiself. In Arkansas absentee British landlords own $5,000,000 worth of property. In Texas there are 4,000,000 acres of land belonging to absentee and alien Britons. These men do not become citizens and do not want to. On the whole, tliey have a conteuipt for America and Americans. Britisli gold has also purchased 2,000,000 acres of orange and timber lands in Florida. Almost the only landlord who has even made a pretense of visiting his possessions is his grace the Duke of Sutherland, who spent part of last winter in Florida. He has 425,000 acres of land in the state. One Canadian land company owns more than a million acres in Mississippi. ast eyndicates and land and investment companies have usually taken the place of individual owners. In the Yazco delta, Miss., an English syndicate has bought a million acres of timber lands and is shipping lumber to Europe. The rough estímate made by the correspondent rnakes it apparent that in the Union there are 30,000,000 acres of land owned by aliens, who only care to get all the money tliey can out of the country. In California someof the property rights have been acquired by rank fraud. The amount of foreign capital in mines and manufactures can only be estimated by the hundred million. The Coates' and Clark's thread factories are worth $4,000,000. The New York board of health rports that during the first quarter of the year there were fifty-seven suicides in the city. Two-thirds of the people were foreign born. Of the whole number only thirteen were women. In 1881 a law was passed in the state punishing attempts at suicide with imprisonment for two years and by a fine not exceeding $1,000. Since the lavr was passed the number of suicides has measurably decreased, the report of the health board declares. It is hard to see, however, how fine and imprisonment could have any terrors to the person who is desperate enough to wish to take his own life. The Nationalist party begins to attract some attüiition in New England. lts principies seem to represent a mild forui of state socialism. The party organ is a recently established magazine called The Nationalist. To the party belong many distinguished literary people, of whom at least it may be said that their hearts are in the right place. Their headquarters are Boston, of course. In Swedcn is a law compelling all citizens to provide for their oíd age by inBuring their lives. A state insurance organization ia provided. This is state socialism, pure and simple. A lawyer in Breslau, Germany, haa been investigating the lodging question, and fiiids that the smaller people's incoiue is, the more proportionally they Day lor tent. . ,.