136 AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION 



other resources. It is capital advanced, and when 

 repayment at a reasonable rate has been made, either in 

 instalments by specific agreement, or in a rent increased, 

 or maintained to cover the necessary amount, the trans- 

 action should be treated as wound up and done with, 

 and it is wholly inadmissible to go on adding cumula- 

 tively, one upon the other, all these repaid outlays, and 

 treat the immense sum, thus fictitiously piled up, as a 

 permanent investment, to secure a fair commercial 

 interest on which rents ought to be kept at some 

 fictitious level, even when it is obvious that the greatest 

 part of this accumulation of outlays has long since been 

 paid off and cancelled. 



The injustice to which these fallacious contentions 

 naturally lead is obvious. It is still more striking 

 when we consider the amount of evidence that where 

 tenants have directly contributed their own capital to 

 the permanent improvement of the landlords' property 

 they have no security whatever, and are unable to 

 obtain for their outlay any repayment from the landlord, 

 either by instalments of interest and sinking fund, or 

 by allowances out of rent, unless they have been able 

 to make beforehand an agreement to cover their 

 expenditure.^ 



Thus Mr Stuart says that, on the Duke of Fife's 

 property, the tenants have executed permanent im- 

 provements very generally. He has built his own 

 steading, steam mill, and done fencing, dyking, etc., 

 and has got nearly as much value in the farm as the 

 landlord has. Mr Stuart estimates the annual value 

 of his permanent improvements at ;^8o a year, and states 

 that, unless he pays less than half his present rent, he is 

 losing the whole of this annual value of his improvements. 



Mr Hutchinson, who erected buildings on his farm 

 before the Act and without an agreement, and if he 

 left would be handing over about ^2000 to his landlord 

 in the buildings, is clearly now paying and not receiving 

 interest on his own expenditure. 



' Rovvlandson, 17,574 i Pringle, Beds, Hunts, Northaats, pp. 59, etc., 

 J. Stratton, 6623, etc. 



