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 was 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 



s English Agriculture in 1850 and 1851, p. 119. 

 2 Ibid., p. 119. 



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