lords, such contracts being permitted by the State
and enforced by the local authorities and by custom and public opinion;
that is to say, the breach by a peasant would reduce him to starvation,
as no one would supply him with the necessaries of life. As nearly as we
have been able to ascertain, about one-third of the whole peasantry are
owners of their holdings without hypothecation, are doing well, and
buying up additional land; about the same proportion are in possession
of their holdings, but find it necessary to pledge their labour for one
year, or perhaps a somewhat longer period, whilst the remaining third
are practically serfs on their own farms.[60]

[Footnote 59: For exact particulars of peasant tenure see Appendix IV.]

[Footnote 60: Comparing this statement with the fact that the
'obligations rurales' were almost extinguished in 1880, it is clear that
the embarrassed and idle peasants must be only small holders. The
information was given to us by the gentleman best acquainted with the
history and effect of the land emancipation.]

IV.

Now as to the boyards, or old landed aristocracy. There are many wealthy
landowners, and those who manage their own estates are the most
prosperous. A large proportion, however, contract with sub-tenants to
farm the land for a fixed sum (_fermage_). Amongst these many are poor
and involved. When we were at Bucarest the 'Credit Foncier' held titles
of land to the extent of fifty millions of francs, and that probably
represented about one-third of the whole known mortgages of the country.
Since about 1870, when the rate of wages began to rise in consequence of
the formation of railways and the resulting increase in the demand for
labour, a momentous change has taken place. Improvidence and _fermage_
have sounded the knell of the old landed gentry. Their estates have in
many cases been bought up by the _fermiers_, their sub-tenants; the
peasantry have purchased considerable quantities of land in addition to
that allotted them by the State, and merchants and traders have also
obtained possession of a portion by purchase, thus laying the foundation
of an influential middle class, which at the present time can hardly be
said to exist in the country. The consequences of this change cannot
fail to be the development of agriculture, provident landowners, and the
general prosperity of the entire nation.

We hesitate somewhat to draw any further comparisons between the past
land r