14 



to A B for 2501. ; it cannot make an atom of difference to him 

 whether he pays 501. of this rent as ground-rent to the ground 

 landlord, or pays the whole rent to the landlord, who himself 

 satisfies the claim of the owner of the soil. Other objections 

 possess greater weight. But the Act of 1836, by which the tithe 

 was commuted and apportioned, has been for half a century 

 treated as a final settlement of the question. Land has been 

 bought and sold and tithes have changed hands upon this under- 

 Btanding. It is perilous to tamper with the security of property. 

 But, subject to this general caution, it may remove misconceiJ- 

 tions if some of these objections are examined. 



It is said, for instance, that titheowners are better ofE under 

 the rent-charge than they would be if they continued to take 

 tithes in kind. Such a comparison is difiicnlt to institute ; it is, 

 in fact, impossible, because it is inconceivable that modern 

 notions of property could coexist with the practice of taking 

 tithes in kind. Men often talk as if corn was the only produce 

 which affects the question. But in all cases in which the pro- 

 visions of the Act were not superseded by voluntary agreements 

 the method adopted took into consideration the gross value of 

 tithes in kind of the produce of meadow, pasture, and arable 

 land, of the tenth pig, the tenth cock of hay, the tenth 

 pail of milk, the tenth fleece, the tenth egg, the tenth calf, the 

 tenth lamb, as well as the tenth sheaf of wheat, barley, or oats. 

 The average annual value of all tithes paid in kind during a 

 period of seven years was ascertained, and the amount, subject 

 to certain deductions within a specified margin, was taken as 

 the sum to be paid as a permanent composition on the lands of 

 the parish. The sum thus ascertained and fixed was then 

 commuted into a corn rent. The sum was divided into three 

 equal parts, and respectively apportioned to wheat, barley, and 

 oats at the prices per imperial bushel of 7s. Ojd. for wheat, 

 3s. Hid. for barley, and 2s. 9d. for oats. The quantity of corn 

 was fixed by the purchasing power of the sum which was the 

 ascertained annual value of the produce in kind ; the money 

 henceforth to be paid by way of rent-charge varied with the 

 value of the fixed quantity of wheat, barley, and oats. The 

 result of this system is that, in order to compare the relative 

 positions of titheowners in 1836 and in 1886, it is not sufficient 

 to ascertain the different values of corn, but the present value 

 of all produce in kind on which tithe was then payable must bo 

 estimated. Farmers often claim that the corn rent was fixed at 

 Protection, not at Free-trade, prices ; but it is obvious that at 

 the prices of to-day the purchasing power would be increased, 

 and the fixed quantity of corn apportioned to the land would be 

 larger. Similarly it is complained that the tail corn is not now 

 taken into account in estimating the septennial averages. But 



