AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



it was possible for the farmers to "work up a 

 quitting," as it was called, 1 and thus defraud the 

 landlord or the succeeding tenant. Not being 

 properly regulated the "compensation" often em- 

 braced "large payments for imaginary improve- 

 ments and alleged operations, which, even if they 

 had ever been performed would be more injurious 

 than beneficial." 2 



But while the custom of tenant-right was very 

 imperfect in its operations in some parts of Eng- 

 land, the principle on which it was based was 

 sound, and in time it was to be embodied in the 

 laws of the land. The custom of tenant-right 

 struck at the very heart of the tenant problem. 

 It guaranteed to the tenant just returns for his 

 investments, without involving the many disad- 

 vantages of the long-period lease. The experi- 

 ence of the landlords and tenants of Lincoln- 

 shire had already proved that where the system 

 was properly regulated the custom of tenant-right 

 was satisfactory in practise as well as sound in 

 principle. 



In 1850, a bill was introduced into Parliament 

 which aimed at the embodiment of this custom 

 of tenant-right into a law. It \vas entitled "A 

 Bill for the Improvement of the Relation between 

 Landlord and Tenant in England and Wales." 

 Its purpose, as stated in the preamble, was to 



English Agriculture in 1850 and 1851, p. 119. 

 2 Ibid., p. 119. 



312 



