A second system which has been known as the "Land Rent System" is
somewhat different. Under this system a man rents a lot from the owner
of the property and proceeds to erect his own house upon the land. He
then owns the house but not the land upon which it is located. Usually
he rents from the proprietor from month to month or from year to year
and has no definite lease of the land, and there is nothing to prevent
the owner from raising the rental price or from demanding the house of
the renter whenever he feels so inclined. As a matter of fact, it
frequently happens that the land is rented to householders at fifty
cents or a dollar monthly for the purpose of building houses, and within
a short time after the completion of the house the owner of the land
advances the price of rent, so that the house owner finds himself unable
to meet the increased cost. He then has no choice except to move out and
leave his house, together with the amount of work and invested money
which it represents, or to sell the house to another person. Usually the
house is sold to the owner of the land himself, who thus comes into
possession, at a very reduced price, of a house which he, in turn,
rents to another individual. This system is extremely unfortunate for
the renter and should be abolished by the passing of legislation which
would require the granting of a lease for a certain definite period to
every person who builds upon land owned by another.
A modification of this system is frequently found in the cases where
employees build their houses upon the land which belongs to the
plantation. In many cases the employer does his utmost to make the life
of his tenants as pleasant as possible, granting them garden plots and
trying to make them permanent employees by offering them certain
advantages. In many cases, however, the employer maintains a company
store and requires his employees to purchase all their provisions from
the store, thus making a double profit from them, and frequently
charging them higher prices than they would have to pay elsewhere. In
other cases the employer guarantees the credit of his workmen at a given
local store, and on pay day he turns over to the local storekeeper the
amount due the workmen and the storekeeper deducts from this the amount
which is owing him for provisions and hands over to the workmen what may
be left. As the average countryman has little idea of business and is
lacking in knowledge of how to keep accurate accounts, and, moreover,
since a credit system always tends to extravagance, it frequently
happens that the workman is never entirely out of debt. There is a law
approved in 1908 which makes it unlawful "for any corporation, company,
firm or person engaged in any trade or business, whether directly or
indirectly, to issue, sell, give or deliver to any person employed by
such corporation, company, firm or person, payments of wages to such
laborers, or as an advance for labor not due, in any script, token,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account