662 keport— 1878. 



on the land to do it even if lie wished. If the landlord were to provide the 

 buildings which are needed on the small farms, the general value of his estate 

 would not be increased ; for the land would not be rendered more directly produc- 

 tive, and he would obtain no return for his outlay. The tenant builds because a 

 house is as necessary to him as clothes or food ; it adds to his health and comfort, 

 and in proportion to his comfort and ease is the strength and wealth of the nation 

 increased. The expenditure by tenants on small farms often exceeds the value of 

 the fee-simple. Improvements and reclamation on small farms is necessarily done 

 little by little. A record of such improvements cannot be kept by farmers, and to 

 file them under the sixth section of the Land Act is impracticable. The Land Act 

 (section 4) implies that after the lapse of an uncertain time the improvements 

 made by the tenant sboidd become landlord's property. This is contrary to the 

 natural dictates of justice. The Land Act places no limit to the rent that may 

 be demanded of a tenant. In revaluation of estates the value of the tenant's im- 

 provements cannot be satisfactorily eliminated, and the occupier is always liable to 

 a rent placed on his own improvements. Great complaints and discontent exist on 

 this ground — not without reason, as appears from the evidence of the senior judge 

 of the Landed Estates Court. This liability to continually increasing rents checks 

 improvements, and operates as an uncertain and capricious tax on the tenants' 

 capital. No law can fix or limit rents without committing an injustice, and if 

 such a law were passed it might be evaded. The scheme recommended in 1866 

 by Mr. Bright is the only economical solution of the land question. The partial 

 trial it has had has been most satisfactory ; its extension has been recommended by 

 a Select Committee of the House of Commons ; and accompanied by a simple system 

 of land transfer, the best results may be expected from a scheme such as this. 



2. The Creation of a Public Commission to purchase Land for Resale to 

 Occupiers in Ireland. By Francis Nolan. 



3. Suggestions for a Bill to regulate Sales of Property. 

 By James H. Monahan, Q.C. 



There is no legal topic more closely connected with economic science than sales 

 of property. Certainly, there is no other single legal subject where the materials 

 for rational legislation are more rich and abundant, nor where a systematic arrange- 

 ment of these materials is more urgently needed ; for the great work of reducing 

 our chaotic co?-pus juris to order. The Judicature Acts constitute a stride in advance 

 towards this desirable achievement. The introduction and reception of Sir J. F. 

 Stephens' Criminal Code is also a most important step gained. And the debate 

 and the division on Mr. Potter's Real Estate and Intestacy Bill is also encouraging 

 to those who desire the substitution of rational and intelligible rules for the sur- 

 vival of feudalism, still permitted to continue to exist in our law. The introduc- 

 tion of Sir J. F. Stephens' Bill has naturally evoked the usual objections from those 

 who do not believe in codification ; but I should think that most honest litigants 

 who have had practical experience of protracted litigation will be inclined to 

 believe Mr. Carlyle when he says — " Unfortunate mortals do want to have their 

 bits of lawsuits settled and have on trial found even the ignorant Code Napoleon a 

 mighty benefit in comparison with none." And we have again heard recently, as 

 we have often heard before, that " you can codify rules, but it is impossible to 

 codify principles." One asks, naturally, what then is meant by " a principle," 

 when it is said that " you cannot codify principles ? " If the expression " a legal 

 principle " means anything intelligible, surely a legal principle can be stated in 

 plain English, and nothing more is wanted to fit a legal principle for its proper- 

 place in a code. In truth, the statement of a legal principle is no more than a 

 compendious description of a general characteristic of the conduct of persons who 

 act in conformity with legal rules. And there is certainly no insuperable difficulty 

 in the way of shaping such descriptions, once legal rules are known. 



