340 AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION 



of those who mentioned the matter to me would 

 prefer to go on as they are." 



"There is nothing in this report except what I have 

 heard." 



" Many tenants, and they appear to be good tenants, feel 

 that in these present times .... there is far more 

 Uability to differences and disputes than there used 

 to be, and that there ought to be some way of pro- 

 tecting the sitting tenant from the differences of 

 opinion." 



Mr Pringle then goes on to quote from his note-books 

 what had been said to him by a number of tenant farmers, 

 substantially of the same tenour as his report and his 

 evidence, premising that the whole of these communica- 

 tions were made confidentially and that the tenants might 

 object to their names being given. 



The whole of these extracts from his note-books were 

 taken from interviews with farmers in Bedfordshire. 



In my opinion, the idea of arbitration, not definitely 

 worked out in a Parliamentary Bill, but in the rough, 

 practical form which would commend itself to men who, in 

 his words, want a peaceful and easy machinery for insuring 

 "continuous enjoyment at a fair rent," not by litigation, 

 but by a reference to a local agricultural expert, in whom 

 all parties could place perfect confidence, could not be 

 stated more simply and fairly than in Mr Pringle's report 

 and evidence. 



But this suggestion is not attempted to be discussed on 

 its merits by the Majority Report. The only answer to it 

 is a quotation from the evidence given before the Commis- 

 sion by two of Mr Pringle's witnesses, ?iot from Bedfordshire 

 but from Northamptonshire. 



Important replies of both these witnesses are withheld 

 which bear materially on the proposals and the reasons 

 given for it. 



In reply to the question " Is there any strong opinion in 

 Northamptonshire in favour of having official arbitrators to 

 whom you would refer all these questions — a sort of land 

 court ? " — (Mr Nunneley.) " I do not think there is any 

 strong feeling in favour of it. / think among tenant farmers 

 there would be rather a prepondera^ice in favour of it^ 



Mr Britten, who has been nearly forty years on the same 

 farm and under the same landlord, stated that if he had 



