Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. The Land Laws of Finland
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agreements for continuous work in one place. In 1895
the “unattached” population of Finland, as these families
are called who have no fixed home, was more than a
third of the total, having nearly doubled since 1877.
They are especially numerous in the north and east,
forming in some parishes as much as seven-tenths of
the population. This, of course, creates a certain
danger. It takes time to accommodate the habits
of a population to new places and new circumstances.
A large number of workmen do not at all desire any
settled home, because they have to move about
according to the locality of their work. This is the
case not only with such workmen as navvies, but with
part of the men who are engaged in Finland’s great
business, the lumber trade. Here, as in the United
States and other countries where this trade is
conducted on a large scale, there must necessarily be a
number of workmen who at certain times of the year
live out in the woods in temporary huts. Besides, in
order to settle down successfully on the land, a certain
amount of capacity and also of money is necessary,
even if the settlers become torp-holders and not
proprietors. It was regarded as an advance when the
torp system was introduced from Western Finland into
certain eastern parts, where many of the peasant
proprietors are not as advanced as those who rent land
in the western districts and pay their rent in labour.
These, also, in order to make the best use of their
holdings, must possess a certain capacity and capital.
It is always desirable to remove obstacles in the
way of dividing up the land. Such obstacles in the
past have been mainly fiscal; the subdivision of the
peasant farms, for instance, would have jeopardised
the ability of the peasants to pay taxes. Since 1864
several laws have been passed to facilitate this
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