SOCIO‐ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF LAND REFORM IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

N the 20th century, capitalist countries experienced two major up~urges I of land reform : One in years immediately following World War I and the other in the period from the termination of World War 11 up to the present day. It occurred in East European countries in the former period, and in. the latter period, in Asian, Middle, and Near Eastern countries and in some parts of Europe. With respect to the problem of the development of less-developed countries, which has been taken up by both camps of East and West as a part of their world policies, the enforcement of land reform is regarded as one of the fundamental conditions for it. Consequently, in the family of free nations recognition of the importance of carrying out land reform has led to many researches and recommendations being made on this problem by the United Nations ~nd various institutes. For instance, in the United Nations report, Measures for the Economic Development of Underdeveloped Countries, prepared by five specialists, including Prof. T. W. Schultz, reference was made to the importance of land reform for underdeveloped countries, as follows. First, regarding the need for securing tenure, it states, Private enterprise will not yield its best results unless legal and social institutions are such that the private initiator secures the fruit of his own effort. Of the many spheres where this is lelevant, the most important sphere which is widely neglected in underdeveloped countries is the contract between the cultivator and his landlord. Tenancy legislation should protect the tenant against arbitrary disturbance, giving him secure tenure so long as he practises good husbandry. And it should protect his right to compensation, upon termination of the tenancy, for any unexhausted improvements which he has effected.I Regarding the necessity of land reform, or need for abolishing in Yarying degrees landholding in huge estates, it continues : In many underdeteloped countries, the cultivators of the soil are exploited mercilessly by a landlord class which performs no useful social function. This class