378 COMPULSORY POWERS 



Besides which we might include several petitions 

 where the reason given for failure was that the 

 Committee decided that the petition was not made 

 on * reasonable grounds' i.e., the petitioners could 

 not point to any available land. 



It is further argued in favour of compulsion that 

 its moral effect would be valuable, and would 

 probably lead to a satisfactory arrangement with- 

 out actual recourse to compulsion. 



This has been proved to be the case in respect of 

 the compulsory powers allowed to Parish Councils 

 for the acquisition of land for allotments by the 

 Local Government Act of 1894. 



Many landowners are willing to arrange for the 

 creation of small holdings on their estates, but are 

 prevented from doing so by the opposition they 

 meet from their larger tenants, who threaten to 

 give up the whole farm if any part is taken from 

 them. 



I grant that there is a large amount of land 

 continually in the market. If it is not, however, 

 at the exact time or place of petitions, the matter 

 drops ; and later, if any comes into the market, no 

 fresh petition is sent in if a previous one has been 

 a failure. Also, if a public authority has to buy in 

 the open market the value is enhanced, owing to 

 the necessary publicity in holding local inquiries. 



If compulsory powers were used, the value would 

 be fixed by arbitration. 



Again, cases are known where, even when land 

 is to be let iri a neighbourhood, and the Local 



