580 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. 



pulsory, by the Commissioners taking the business into their own hands, and set- 

 tling it. Parties are allowed till the 1st of October, 1838, to enter into volun- 

 tary agreements ; after that date the compulsory system commences, but Com- 

 missioners have discretionary power to suspend their proceedings, if there be a 

 prospect of a voluntary agreement. 



Basis nf Commutatio7i. — The parties in at^oh/nfanj agreejnent may settle the 

 commutation as they please, if the interests of all are consulted, and the Com- 

 missioners approve. In that case the agreement is binding. In a conqndsory 

 settlement the Commissioners are to calculate the value of the tithes of each 

 parish by their average money-value (after making all due allowance for ex- 

 penses of marketing, &c., where tithes have been taken in kind) for the seven 

 years preceding Christmas, 1835. 



How a voluntary agreement may be effected. — Any one or more of the land- 

 owners or tithe-owners, whose interest is not less than one-fourth of the value of 

 the parish tithes {i. e. titheable lands or great and small tithes), may call a 

 parochial meeting of land-owners and tithe-owners within the limits of the parish. 

 Notice to be given twenty-one days before meeting. The persons present at the 

 meeting must possess an interest not less than two-thirds of the titheable lands, 

 and two-thirds of the great and small tithes. Their expenses must be borne by 

 themselves. If, on electing a chairman, it is ascertained that the parties pre- 

 sent, either as owners or agents, have not the required interest, they may, not- 

 withstanding, execute a provisional agreement, which shall be binding, if the 

 required number of interested parties assent within six months. The meeting 

 may be adjourned, of which notice is to be given. The business of this meeting 

 is to ascertain and agree upon the amount of rent-charge to be fixed on the 

 entire parish in lieu of the tithe. Of course, both tithe-owner and tithe-payer 

 must be consenting and satisfied parties in this arrangement. But the dividing 

 of this entire amount, assigning each party his due share of the incumbrance, is 

 a business of the tithe-payer, with which the tithe-owner is not to interfere. The 

 consent of the patron must be given to commutation of ecclesiastical tithe, and 

 the bishop's approbation is required. "When everything is settled, the agree- 

 ment is submitted to the Commissioners, who ascertain if all is right {i. e. no 

 collusion or fraud, no valid objection from parties complaining or dissenting. 

 Sec), and they then confirm or amend the agreement as they shall see fit. 



*,),* There are a number of minute particulars iu the Act respecting the appointment 

 ofvaluers forthe purposeof apportioninjr the rent-charge, afterthe meeting hasagreedon 

 the amoiuit of the tithe to he commuted ; the amount of tlie assistance which the Com- 

 missioners may afford to a voluntary settlement, by sending to the meeting, on the 

 ajjplication of the parish authorities, forms of agreement, and also in any Commissioner 

 or Assistant Commissioner being at liberty to be present at the meeting, to give his 

 advice ; appointment of umpire to settle differences between valuers ; their plans of 

 operation, X:c. &;c. There are also provisions for enabling the tithe-payer to alter or 

 shift the amount of apportionment at an]' future time. This, of course, dof s not affect 

 the total amount of rent-charge, which must still be paid by the parish, whatever altera- 

 tion may be made in the payments of particular lands or individuals. 



Dissent from voluntary agreement. — After the total sum to be paid in lieu of 

 tithe has been agreed upon, and the apportionment in fragments to be pai 1 by 

 individual parties declared, any one who conceives that he is unjustly appor- 

 tioned may appeal to the Commissioners, at a meeting to be held in the parish 

 for the purpose of hearing objections. The apportionment on particular lands 

 may also be altered at the request of the owner. 



*,5..* Various powers are given by the Act to the Commissioners for settling disputed 

 claims. 



Voluntary settlement begun but not comiileted, — If a voluntary agreement 

 has been made as to the amount of rent-charge to be paid in lieu of tithe, but 

 nothing has been done in the way of voluntarily apportioning the amount to be 

 paid by each party, the Commissioners may interfere after si.x months, and 

 make a compulsory apportionment. 



%..* The Commissioners, when (after 1st October, 1838) they make a compuhory award 

 of the total amount to be commuted, can permit a voluntary apportioumeut of it, if the 

 parties afi;ree. 



Hoiv the Tithe is to be commuted into a Rent-Charge, and to he x>aid. — The 



