The fear that the granting of equal rights to the Jews may deprive the
peasant of his land, is perfectly groundless. There are many other
means whereby the tiller of the soil may be assured the possession of
a portion of land. In the West we have systems such as that of the
homestead, based on the inalienability of the family property (_bien
de famille_). Such systems may be traced back as far as the Middle
Ages. The mediaeval law forbids the taking away from the peasant, even
for arrearage, of his agricultural implements and the cattle necessary
for his labour,--not to speak of his land, which, however, it would be
impossible to take away, since it is the suzerain that is its rightful
owner. The indivisibility of the family estate, which only a short
time ago was recognised by the Appellatory Division of our Senate,
with reference to the Western Section, was achieving the same results
because for the sale of such property the agreement of all the members
of the family was required.
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