Property and Inheritance. 
brought extensive changes. In the following pages 
it is proposed to examine the most significant of 
these, and to discuss the political problem to which 
it has given rise. 
The Main Facts About Property. 
The main facts about property in this country 
are revealed by the returns made for the purposes 
of Estate Duty. All estates of £100 value are liable 
to the Duty; and, although this limit excludes a 
certain amount of small property, and there is 
doubtless some under-valuation and other evasion 
above the limit, the returns give us a representative 
picture of the way property is distributed and the 
forms that it takes. 
The last return is for the year ending March 31, 
1921. In that year 97,400 estates, with an aggregate 
gross value of £431,000,000, were returned for Estate 
Duty purposes. Of these 92,000, or 94% per cent., 
under £10,000, accounted for rather less than a third 
of the aggregate; 5,000, or 5 per cent. between 
£10,000 and £80,000, accounted for rather more than 
a third of the aggregate; and 480, or } per cent., 
over £80,000, accounted for the remaining third. 
Of the £431,000,000, Government, Municipal, and 
Joint Stock securities represented 44.8 per cent., 
house property and business premises 15.8 per cent.. 
and land 8.6 per cent. 
Stock Exchange securities were the largest 
element in all estates of more than £5,000; house 
property and business premises in estates between 
£100 net and £5,000, and cash in the small estates 
of less than £500 gross value. 
The return brings out clearly two important facts, 
the inequality of distribution of property, and the 
preponderance of Stock Exchange securities among