114 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCICLLANEOUS 



and estalilisliiug dul}' qualified applicants as landholders on the new hold- 

 ings thus formed. TheN' are enjoined to give reasonable consideration 

 to objections stated by the landlord to any applicant, and, other things 

 being equal, thej^ are to give a preference to applicants preferred by him. 

 The assistance provided by the Board towards the estabUshment of 

 new holdings is given in two ways. Access roads and water supply, where 

 necessary, are provided without charge to the landholder. The work thus 

 undertaken does not become the property of either the landlord or the 

 tenant, in the sense that neither will the landlord be able to demand rent 

 for them nor the tenant compensation. Loans are made to new holders 

 for buildings and for fencing. Building loans are repayable by instalments 

 over a period of 50 years, at the rate of £ 4 per annum for each £ 100 bor- 

 rowed. This includes repayment of principal, payment of interest on out- 

 standing principal, and payment of premium for fire insurance; the nominal 

 rate of interest charged is 3% per cent. Fencing loans are repayable in a 

 period not exceeding seven years. The Act does not provide for the making 

 of loans for the purpose of stocking holdings. 



§ 10. Enlargement of existing holdings. 



The facilities provided by the Act of 1886 for the enlargement of holdings 

 b}' Compulsory Order have been greatly extended by the Act of 1911. A sin- 

 gle landholder may now obtain an enlargement of his holding, whereas under 

 the earlier Act it was necessary for a least five crofters to make joint applic- 

 ation, and most of the restrictions on the kind of land which might be tak- 

 en for this purpose have been removed. The procedure in siich cases is, 

 on the whole, much the same as that described above. The Board are, 

 however, precluded from entertaining applications for enlargement except 

 in cases where the landholder has previously made application to the land- 

 lord without effect. The Act does not provide for the enlargement of the 

 holding of a statutory small tenant by Compulsory Order. Additional land 

 may, however, be obtained by a tenant of this class as a new- holding, to be 

 occupied by him on the landholder's tenure, while retaining his existing 

 holding as a statutory small tenant. 



§ II. The scottlsh l.a.nd court. 



The Land Court consists of five members appointed b> the Crown on 

 the reccmmendation of the Secretary for »Scotland. The present Chairman 

 of the Court had been since 1908 Chairman of the Crofters Commission. As 

 in the case of the Commission, one of the members must be able to speak 

 the Gaelic language. 



The Court have full power to hear and determine all matters of law 

 and of fact for the pur^xises of the Small Landholders Acts. On questions 



