COMPENSATION FOR THE SITTING TENANT 2 11 



lord, including the full remaining value of the tenant's 

 improvements. 



If the full market value is charged, the incoming tenant 

 ought in no case to make any such payment at all, and 

 when the incoming tenant is the old tenant renewing 

 his tenancy, it will be only a repetition of the wrong 

 sought to be remedied for him to make such a payment, 

 and he will rightly retain his compensation as a set-off 

 to the rackrent. 



If, on the other hand, the rent is reduced so as to 

 leave a fair margin for the remaining value of the im- 

 provements, no question arises, as the sitting tenant will 

 have received his compensation in the rent. 



Furthermore, it is obvious that the question would 

 never arise where only the minimum of compensation 

 could be claimed for fertilisers and acts of husbandry. 

 The proposal would only come into play in cases where 

 the tenant has a very heavy investment of his capital in 

 his holding, either in the way of more permanent im- 

 provements, or in high continuous farming bringing 

 about the maximum of fertility, where in fact the tenant 

 would be in a position to make a very considerable 

 claim, if he was quitting his holding. 



In such cases, at present, the landlord is able to exact 

 a rackrent, because his tenant fears that his loss by 

 realising in bad times would eat away any possible 

 compensation, and therefore is willing to make any 

 sacrifice to remain and make what he can out of his 

 investment. 



It is, of course, plain that unless there is some power, 

 judicial or otherwise, to fix a fair rent, a landlord who is 

 determined to act unjustly might, even with this pro- 

 posal made statutory, effect his purpose by raising the 

 rent so as to more than cover the compensation. But, in 

 practice, the remedy suggested by Sir James Caird 

 would in general lead to an amicable settlement, by 

 placing the tenant in a more advantageous position to 

 bargain, and removing the perilous insecurity in which he 

 now stands to a great extent. 



The natural and just procedure would be to 



