530 



TJic Couiitrv Gcittlcma)is jMagarJiie 



on one farm than another. Hence it is, that a scale 

 of repayment, to be just to an in-coming as \vell as to 

 an out-going tenant, should be adjusted according to 

 circumstances fairly considered by those qualified and 

 having opportunity to judge of the merits of individual 

 cases — not in Ijlind obedience to an Act of Parliament, 

 or at the dictation of an arbitrary local custom, but on 

 the authority of a clear, specific agreement, entered 

 into between the contracting parties. Even under a 

 lease, it would be better to admit the principle of 

 compensation at the end, than that the land should be 

 exhausted to the verge of what the conditions per- 

 mit, in order to recoup the outlay incurred by the 

 tenant. 



SrMMARY. 



It is .scarcely possible to bring within the limits of 

 a single lecture all that could or should be said on a 

 subject like that ^^•ith which I have imperfectly at- 

 tempted to deal. I have endeavoured to prove that 

 the relation of landlord and tenant should rest on a 

 more secure and business-like foundation than a 

 tenancy at M'iU ; and have stated that where proper 

 security offered for its investment, capital would be 

 attracted to the soil in greater abundance than under 

 present arrangements is found to lie the case. I have 

 argued that the preferential claims of the landlord are 

 inimical to the procuring of capital for temporary pur- 

 poses, and that they are one reason why so much land 

 is held at high rents by men deficient in capital. By 

 an example I have illustrated the working of this 

 abnormal relationship, and exhibited what the result 

 is under normal circumstances. I have proclaimed 

 my conviction that easy rents are not alone the 

 criterion of the value of land, and said that in some in- 

 stancej it were a wise policy to raise them. By a 



case from my own observation it has been shewn thai 

 time is required to bring about desired results under 

 the best management, and hence have deduced that a 

 lease to be really useful should not be too short, and 

 include in its provisions the principle of compensation 

 for unexhausted improvements and manures at the 

 end. The relation of the labourer's condition to 

 tenure has been laid before you from different 

 points of view, and it has been shewn that he 

 fares best under )3rogressive farming. It has been 

 pointed out that really good stock management is in- 

 compatible without security of tenure. I have un- 

 hesitatingly stated that Parliamentary interference in 

 matters of business of a private description is unneces- 

 sary and likely to prove unjust in some instances, and 

 that arbitrary local customs are equally to be guarded 

 .against, and now leave the subject for your verdict. 

 The question is one in which not only owners, occu- 

 piers, and labourers, but the entire community have a 

 deep interest. The finances of the United Kingdom 

 are largely affected by the result of our harvests. In 

 a national point of view, then it is important that the 

 soil should be let out and cultivated on those prin- 

 ciples, knowledge and experience point to as calculated 

 to produce the maximum yield. We cannot multiply 

 our acres, but it is possible to increase the produce 

 obtained from them. The welfare of millions not en- 

 gaged in agriculture is affected by the barriers to the 

 free application of capital and science to cultivating the 

 land. Let them be swept away in the tide of progress, 

 and by acting up to the highest standard of practical 

 and scientific knowledge, ensure the prosperity of the 

 agriculturist, and promote the material welfare of the 

 people dependent indirectly on him. And then sing 

 with the poet, " Be gracious heaven, for now labori- 

 ous man has done his part." 



