144 
Supplementary  Memoranda  to  the  Report  of 
IV. — Supplementary  Memoranda  to  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Com- 
mission on  Agriculture  by  certain  of  the  Commissioners. 
Prefatory  Note.* 
The  conclusions  arrived  at  by  the  Royal  Commission  on 
Agriculture  were,  as  a matter  of  history,  recorded  in  our  last 
Publication : in  like  manner,  and  in  continuation,  the  Council 
has  now  sanctioned  the  publication  of  the  “ Supplementary 
Memoranda.”  As  a matter  of  historical  record,  the  Council 
exceptionally  publishes  controversial  views,  which,  according 
to  the  best  traditions  f of  the  Society,  would  otherwise  be  cer- 
tainly excluded.  The  prolific  and  harmonious  union  of  “ Prac- 
tice with  Science  ” has,  happily,  produced  an  infinite  variety  of 
unmistakably  kindred  agricultural  subjects,  clamorously  and 
exclusively  demanding  all  our  care,  energy,  and  space.  Nor  is 
a wise  and  time-honoured  limitation  to  be  at  any  time  regretted, 
because,  busily  operating  altogether  without  our  sphere,  there 
are  other  and  special  organisations  which  advantageously  camp 
upon  and  fully  depasture  the  whole  of  the  vast  unfenced  domain 
that  may  be  aptly  described  as  the  all-important,  yet  unsettled, 
shifting,  debatable  ground  of  current  politics. 
1. — By  Lord  Vernon. 
I regret  to  be  unable  to  concur  with  my  colleagues  in  that  portion  of 
the  Report  which  refers  to  the  question  of  compensation  for  exhausted 
improvements. 
On  this  subject  I have  deemed  it  right  to  express  my  independent  opinion. 
This,  with  an  outline  of  the  mode  in  which  it  might,  in  my  judgment,  he 
carried  into  effect,  I have  now  the  honour  to  submit. 
1.  The  principle  of  compensating 'outgoing  tenants  for  the  unexhausted 
value  of  improvements  which  they  have  made  on  their  farms  appears  to  be 
accepted  by  all  witnesses  who  have  been  examined  on  the  subject,  partly  on 
the  ground  of  fairness  towards  the  tenant,  but  partly  also  on  the  broader 
ground  that  unless  such  compensation  is  secured  to  him  the  maximum 
fertility  of  the  soil  of  the  country  cannot  be  uninterruptedly  maintained. 
2.  Whilst,  however,  all  the  witnesses  agreed  on  the  principle  of  compensa- 
tion to  outgoing  tenants  for  unexhausted  improvements,  they  differed  in  their 
opinions  as  to  the  mode  in  which  it  should  be  secured.  Some  contended  that 
the  obligation  to  compensate  them  should  be  made  absolutely  compulsory  by 
legislation,  but  others  expressed  the  opinion  that  liberty  of  action  between 
landlord  and  tenant  should  not  be  interfered  with.} 
3.  1 concur  in  the  opinion  of  several  witnesses  of  wide  experience,  who 
urge  that,  while  due  regard  should  be  had  to  the  interest  of  the  outgoing 
* By  Earl  Cathcart,  Chairman  of  the  Journal  Committee, 
j-  ‘Journal,’  New  Series,  1874,  vol.  x.  p.  529. 
} 56,892  (T.  Rigby).  33,025-26  (J.  Coleman).  33,375-77  (J.  Bowen  Jones). 
36,554  (J.  C.  Shepherd).  4247  (E.  P.  Squarey).  47,012-17,  47,151-56  (W.  C. 
Little).  47,588-92  (R.  C.  B.  Clough).  48,375-77  (S.  Miller). 
