





LEASE. AUe,orl*<sii,Um*iinaeelledademi*e<deu>i*io,) 

 It u uai^Mn *M tJut Less* is from the Latin " UcaUo ; " but as the 

 verb wfcka eTpaod* to UM noun Lease U Let, it *eein< Out the 

 U Ln i< tlM noun which corresponds to the wb U-t. The verb 

 U is aku. o UM French Ui**er." tad UM German - Ussen." 



H*whoU*a^c*Uedth*Ue*or,and he to whom Und M let u 



There are wriouB legal definition* of m lease. A lease has been 

 (ssnswd to be oonv*yanc* of land* or tenement! from lessor to levee 

 lor life, for year*, or at will, generally in consideration of a rent or 

 other annual recompense to b* (wid by the lessee to the lessor. The 

 reservation of a rant u not essential in a lease; but payment of rent is 

 now tiM chief condition on which lands an let. 



To conelituta a lea.-, it u Decenary that the land* miut be let fur a 

 lea* time than the period for which the lessor has an interest in the 

 If a man parti with all hi* interact in the Und* or 



I conveyance' is an assignment, and not a lease. The 

 rststion that is created by a lease between the lessor and the lessee is 

 usually expressed by the phrase landlord and tenant. The lessor has 



rwerwoo in the land* which are demised, that is, after the expiration 

 of the leas* the Und reverts to him. The lessor, by virtue of this 

 reversion, seignory, or lord's title, has the power of distraining on the 

 land fur the rent which i* agreed on, and for the services which may 

 he due by the terms of the lease ; and fealty is always due to the 

 lessor. The ordinary lease is that for a term of years, by which lease 

 a rent, generally payable in money, at stated times, is reserved to the 

 lessor. These Mated times are usually quarterly periods. 



The words used in a lease for the purpose of conveying that interest 

 in the Unds which constitutes a term of years are " demise, grant, and 

 to farm let." These words are derived from the law-Latin expressions 

 " denusi, concessi, et ad firmam tradidi. " The word " firnia," farm, is 

 said to signify originally " provisions," and " to farm let " does not 

 properly signify to let to be farmed, in the modern sense of the term, 

 bat to U-t on the condition of a certain rent being paid in form, that is, 

 in provisiuns. If this explanation is correct, a " former " is one who 

 had the use of lands on condition of paying a " farm " or rent in 

 provisions, such as corn and beasta. But the word " form " now 

 'fl**'*-* the Unds which a man hires to cultivate upon the payment of 



rent 



The interest which a man acquires in land by a lease for years is a 

 term of years, or an estate for years. The word lease is used in 

 y^"""" language also to signify the estate or interest which the lessee 

 acquire* by the lease ; but the word lease signifies properly the con- 

 tract or conveyance by which the lesntn acquires tile interest in the 



The words " demise," Ac., above mentioned, are the proper words to 

 constitute a limsr for years : but any words are sufficient, which clearly 

 show " the intent of the parties that the one shall divest himself of tin: 

 possession (of the land), and the other come into it for a determinate 

 time." When the written contract was not intended to be a lease, 

 bat an agreement for a future lease, it was often difficult to 

 determine whether the contract were not 10 expressed as to make it a 



At common Uw, it was necessary for the lessor to enter on the 

 lands in order to make the lease complete, and no writing was neces- 

 sary. But the Statute of Frauds CM Car. II. c. 8, 1 1) enacted, that 

 all lisies. estate*, interests, of freehold or terms of years, created by 

 livery and sewn only, or by parol, and not put in writing and signed 

 by the parties so making the same or their agents thereunto lawfully 

 aotborued by writing, shall have the force and effect of leases or 

 estates at will only, except leases not exceeding the term of three 

 vears from the making thereof, upon which the rent reserved to tin- 

 landlord during such terra shall aniuunt to two-thirds at the least of 

 the full sod improved value of the thing demised. The Act 8 ft it 

 Viet. c. 110, enact* that a lease required by Uw to be in writing 

 made after Oct 1, 1845. shall be void in Uw unless made by deed. 



The word " Uods," which refers to the subject matter of a lease, 



. i what is upon the lands, as houses and other buil.lnik'". 



though houses and buildings are generally mentioned specifically in 



The Uw of leases comprehends a great number of rake, which may 

 be eorri>leUj reduced to the following general heads : 



1 The things which may be subjects of leaflet. 



Z. 1h* psrsons who may grant leases, and their powers to grant 



3. The form of leases, and the legal construction of the agreements 

 



The *isiBln*tli of these subjects belongs to treatises on Law. The 

 articU Us*** sad Terms of Year*,' in Bacon'* ' Abridgment/ u gene- 

 rally islanaU to as a good compendium of the Uw. A lease may 

 contain any agrrwoMOts that are UwfuL The object of the present 

 rbeit i* to consider what sgreemeiits farming-lasses should contain 

 or should not contain, in order that the lease may be most beneficial 

 to the landlord sod the tenant, and by consequence to the public 

 f*MraJ>y. 



The chief subjects of leases are bouse* and buildings of all kinds, 

 cultivable lands, and mines. Many persons who hsve not the complete 

 ownership of houses and Unds are enabled to grant leases under par- 

 ticular powers ; and then art many statute* under which |... 



classes of persons are enabled or restrained a* to the granting of leases 

 such as bishops, deans and chapters, and others. 



The kind of leases of which we shall treat hare are fanning 

 MOI, which are granted by persons who have full power to grant 

 them on such terms as they please. The particular form of Mich 

 leases, as already intimated, is a matter that belongs to the subject 

 of public economy, and it is almost beyond the province uf direct 

 leguUtion. 



At present a great part of the land in England and Wales is held 

 by large proprietors, and the number of laud-owners who cultivate 

 their own estates U comparatively small. In many parts of the king- 

 dom the number of small land-owners who cultivate their own farms 

 has certainly been decreasing for some centuries, and they are pro- 

 bably fewer now than in some former periods of our history. In 

 England the great sub-division of land has been prevented by the 

 form of government and the habits and feelings of those who have 

 had the chief political power : and the great increase of wealth that 

 has arisen out of the manufacturing and commercial industry of the 

 country boa tended to prevent the subdivision of land and not to 

 increase it. Those who acquire great wealth in England by manu- 

 factures and commerce generally lay out a large part of it in the pur- 

 chase of land ; for the ownership of Und is that which ennbles a man 

 to found a family and to perpetuate it, to obtain social respect and 

 consideration, and also political weight in the administration of public 

 affairs. It facilitates his election to the House of Commons, and if he 

 plays his part well, it may introduce him in due time to the House of 

 Lords, and place him among the nobility of England. 



Those who cannot acquire land enough to give them political weight, 

 are still anxious to acquire land as a means uf social distincti* 

 as a permanent investment which must continually rise in 

 Thus there is a constant competition among the rich for the acqui- 

 sition of land, which raises its price above iti simple commercial value ; 

 .and a man of moderate means does not find it easy to purchase laml in 

 small quantities and on such terms as will enable him to obtain a 

 proper remuneration for the cultivation of it. 



The great mass of the cultivators in England are now tenant 

 farmers, who hold their land either by leases for years or by such agree- 

 ments as amount to a tenancy from year to year only ; and there is the 

 like kind of competition among them to obtain land upon lease, that 

 there is among the wealthy to obtain laud by purchase. The con- 

 sequence is that more rent is oftt-u paid for land than it is worth : a 

 consequence of the limited amount of laud and of the number of com- 

 petitors for it. This circumstance, however, combined with others, 

 enables the landlord to impose conditions which are unfavourable to 

 the tenant and to agriculture, and finally to himself. 



Several things ore essential to the good cultivation of land, whether 

 it is held by lease or is the property of the cultivator. These essentials 

 are, a knowledge of the best modes of husbandry, adequate capital, 

 and a market in which the farmer may freely buy and sell all that ho 

 wants. Now, in the present state of agriculture in this country, not 

 one of these three conditions exists in the degree which is necessary 

 to ensure good cultivation. The greater part of the land in England, 

 as already observed, is cultivated under leases or a tenancy from 

 year to year: ami the covenants in the leases are often such as to 

 be an insuperable obstacle to good agriculture. The condition then 

 of the tenant farmer, as determined by his lease, ia that which we 

 have to consider. 



Many landholders have several objects in view in letting their 

 lands besides the getting of rent. One uf these objects U to main- 

 tain their political weight by commanding the votes of their tenantry; 

 and this is mainly effected by not granting them leases of their lands 

 for determinate i>erioJ, such as seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years ; 

 but by making them very nearly tenants at will, or liable to quit at 

 six months' notice. He who ili-]H>nd for lu's subsistence on having a 

 piece of land to cultivate, out of which he may be turned on a short 

 notice, will not be an independent voter. Nor can tlie landlord expect 

 to have a good tenant win, will improve liix land and a political tool at 

 the some time. The uncertainty of the tenure will prevent a man of 

 skill and capital from investing his money upon so uncertain a return. 

 There may be many cases in which the personal charactei of the laud- 

 lord U a sufficient guarantee to the tenant that be will not i 

 turbed in the possession of the Und, even where he has no proper 

 lease, so long as he cultivates it fairly and pays his rent. 



Hut the most intelligent landlords themselves admit that the only 

 proper tenure of the tenant is that of a lease for a determinate ) 

 anil it is on this condition nlone, as a general rule, that a landlord can 

 get men of capital and skill to cultivate his land. It has been luain- 

 I ')' arguments which are unanswerable, that if lands were let to 

 farmer tenants on leases for a determinate number of years, and on 

 conditions which should not interfere with the land being cultivated 

 in the beat mode, there would be a great amount of Irish capital 

 applied to the cultivation of the land, with all the improvements of 

 modern husbandry. It is contrary to experience and to all reason to 

 suppose that a good former will apply his skill and capital to improve- 

 ment of another man's property, unless he has the security that he will 

 be remunerated. 



The improvements which would follow from a good system of 

 teasing, would be the abolition <>f thr evils which now cxict in conw.-- 



