344 TITHES 



large expenditure of capital in order to recover the ground which 

 had been lost during a long period of disaster forced the question to 

 the front. In 1836 the difficulty was solved. Peel in 1835 had 

 proposed the voluntary commutation of tithe. Lord John Russell, 

 adopting in his Bill the machinery which Peel had sketched, made 

 commutation compulsory. When once this point was decided, 

 party considerations were for the moment subordinated : Whig 

 and Tory loyally co-operated to frame a workable scheme. The 

 aim of legislators was to commute tithe of produce in kind for a 

 variable money payment charged on the land, to make the commuted 

 sum fluctuate with the purchasing power of money, to preserve the 

 existing relations between the values of tithable produce and the 

 cost of living. It never attempted to fix the payment, once and for 

 all, at the sum which represented the value that tithe then possessed. 

 On the contrary, it converted tithes into a corn-rent, fluctuating in 

 value according to the septennial average of the prices of wheat, 

 barley and oats. 



The first step was to determine the value of the tithes ; the second 

 to adjust the purchasing power of the money payment at which 

 they were commuted. 



Within a limited time tithe-owners and tithe-payers of any 

 parish might agree upon the total sum to be paid in lieu of tithes. 

 This agreement was first to receive the assent of the patron ; 

 secondly, to be communicated to the bishop ; and, thirdly, to be 

 approved and ratified by the Commissioners. If no agreement was 

 arrived at, a local enquiry was held on the spot by the Commissioners 

 or their assistants, who estimated the value of the tithe, taking as 

 their basis the actual receipts of the tithe-owner during the preceding 

 seven years ; framed their draft award ; deposited it for the in- 

 spection of interested parties ; and, finally, confirmed their award, 

 which from that time was binding upon tithe-owners and tithe- 

 payers. 



The mode in which the purchasing power of money was intended 

 to be preserved was as follows. The average of the gross annual 

 value of the actual receipts of the tithe-owner was ascertained in 

 money for the seven preceding years. The net annual value, 

 arrived at by deducting all just expenses, was taken as the permanent 

 commutation of the great and small tithes of the parish. This net 

 sum was divided into three equal parts, and the average value for 

 the seven years ending with 1835 was taken for wheat, barley and 



