204 LAND TENURE 



The passing of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, which 

 resulted in many owners selling part or the whole of their 

 estates, had been the means of disturbing hundreds of tenants, 

 and had created a feeling of insecurity among all. 



These various factors aroused a deeper feeling of appre- 

 hension among farmers than anything else that has occurred 

 in recent years. The question of disturbance was before the 

 Council on four occasions in 1911. In February a resolu- 

 tion was carried with one dissentient (reiterating previous- 

 resolutions of February, 1904, and December, 1906) 

 approving Mr. Jesse Collings' Land Purchase Bill. A 

 further resolution on disturbance was adjourned sine 

 die on 2nd May, in view of the appointment of a 

 Departmental Committee by the President of the Board of 

 Agriculture, to inquire into the position of sitting tenants in 

 England and Wales on the occasion of any change in the 

 ownership of their holdings, whether by reason of the death 

 of their landlord or otherwise, and to consider whether any 

 legislation on the subject is desirable. The Chairman of the 

 Chamber (Lord Clinton), Mr. Trustram Eve, and Mr. Abel 

 H. Smith were among the members of the Committee, and 

 Mr. Samuel Kidner and Mr. R. G. Patterson were deputed 

 as witnesses to give evidence on behalf of the Council. 



This Committee reported early in 1912. The result of their 

 deliberations was disappointing, though probably not sur- 

 prising in view of its composition. There were nearly as many 

 reports as members of the Committee. The Majority Report 

 was inconclusive and was studded with qualifications, which, 

 though giving evidence of the skill of its official members- 

 and officers, did little towards solving the problem of dis- 

 turbed tenant farmers. 



This report came before the Council on 7th May, 1912, 

 when it was agreed with some five or six dissentients : 



" That this Council, while unable to accept the recommend- 

 ations of the Departmental Committee as in any sense solving 

 the difficulties created by the breaking up of agricultural estates, 

 is yet of opinion that certain of them might in some degree 

 alleviate the position. 



" This Council is opposed to State ownership of land, and with 



