Agricultural Leases and Land Tenure 



171 



ing of land unsuited to the exigencies of our 

 day. We want a more commercial spirit 

 infused into the transaction. We will as- 

 sume that a landlord has found, as he be- 

 lieves, a suitable tenant, and the seeker of 

 land has found both a good farm and a reput- 

 ably good landlord. And let me here re- 

 mark that, under a system such as I would 

 advocate, great caution is required in the 

 selection of a suitable tenant. When the 

 conditions of a lease or agreement are under 

 consideration between them, it should be the 

 endeavour of the landlord, or his agent on 

 his behalf, to let the land on principles of 

 the strictest equity, bearing in mind that it 

 is for a livelihood that the tenant may be as- 

 sumed to have become the hirer of the 

 land. He should impose no antiquated or 

 trivial stipulations or burdens, such as are 

 sometimes handed down in farm agreements 

 from father to son, but which, to an en- 

 lightened and trustworthy tenant, become 

 irksome and oppressive, but should leave the 

 tenant as free and unfettered as possible. 

 All cropping clauses should be abandoned,, 

 the only stipulation being that the land be 

 kept clean and in good condition. If a land- 

 lord rides over his estates, and takes note of 

 the crops on his various farms, it will be a 

 good criterion (though by no means an absolute 

 indication) of how the land is being farmed ; 

 or, if not able to form a judgment for him- 

 self, there are generally those in his employ- 

 ment who are quite competent to advise 

 a proprietor of how his land is being culti- 

 vated. But in the event of a divergence of 

 opinion as to management, or other dis- 

 putes, it should be arranged to have it set- 

 tled by arbitration, the arbitrators to be 

 mutually agreed upon, with an umpire if so 

 arranged. This is a better mode of dealing 

 with such differences of opinion, than by 

 leaving it to the decision of an agent or 

 middle man, who is frequently incapable of 

 coming to an impartial judgment, and, 

 though capable, might naturally be supposed 

 to adopt the landlord's views of the matter in 

 hand. The tenant, again, should be careful 

 not to sign any clauses which he has any 

 hesitation as to his power or intention to 



fulfil. It is bad management to run any 

 such risk, or to lay himself open to penalties, 

 trusting to " chance " or to its " all coming 

 right in the end." In the next place a 

 tenant must assure himself that he is abso- 

 lutely and without reservation, politically free. 

 But I now pass on to another topic, which 

 is one of very great interest to farmers. If 

 the proprietor of an estate is a sporting man, 

 I cannot conscientiously advocate the prin- 

 ciple that he should, under any agreement 

 whatever, be deprived of the right and plea- 

 sure of sporting over that estate, although 

 some have argued to the contrary. But I 

 do not conceive that this society would 

 give its sanction or approbation to 

 any such arbitrary arrangement. But 

 in such cases where a tenant has not 

 the right of shooting (and if the landlord 

 does not reserve the shooting for himself 

 then I must affirm that his tenants should 

 have priority of claim, even though they paid 

 a trifling acknowledgment for the privilege, 

 for I cannot admit the justice of preserving 

 game in order to let it to a stranger, for the 

 emolument of the landlord at the expense of 

 the tenant) — but in cases where the landlord 

 reserves the shooting for himself, it would 

 not only be a graceful act but often a con- 

 ciliatory one, if at times the tenants were 

 invited for a day over the stubbles or in the 

 covers. It should not be forgotten that both 

 winged and ground game are maintained 

 entirely by the cultivator of the soil. The 

 destruction of rabbits, by whatever means, 

 should be a sine qua iion with a tenant, and 

 hares should be kept within strict limits. 

 There is, however, now a prospect of some 

 relief for farmers in the matter of game. 

 The Game-laws Select Committee of the 

 House of Commons are at present sitting 

 and taking voluminous evidence, and it is to 

 be anticipated it will operate benefically to 

 agriculture. 



A LEASE AND TENANT-RIGHT. 



If land must in the future be brought to 

 the maximum of cultivation, and the require- 

 ments of generations yet to come are to be 

 satisfied, there can be no doubt that many 



