the  Royal  Commission  on  Agriculture, 
151 
proposed  in  the  Report  appears  to  me  to  be  inadequate.  It  is  proposed  to 
make  the  English  Agricultural  Holdings  Act  compulsory  where  compensation 
is  not  otherwise  provided  for,  with  the  qualification  that  no  compensation 
should  be  paid  by  an  incoming  tenant,  except  for  outlays  which  are  of  value 
to  him  in  the  future  cultivation  of  the  farm,  and  that  the  compensation  clauses 
should  depend  upon  the  additional  value  given  to  the  holding.  The  Agricul- 
tural Holdings  Act  has  admitted  a principle,  but  the  allowances  arranged  for 
by  it  are  inadequate,  and  do  not  embrace  increased  fertility  and  value  arising 
from  the  skilful  and  thorough  cultivation  of  the  land,  and  by  its  being  kept 
in  high  condition.  Most  buildings  are  good  for  50  years,  while  by  the  Act 
20  only  are  allowed.  Most  drainage  works  are  good  for  30  years,  and  20  only 
are  allowed.  Most  manures  are  good  for  longer  periods  than  the  Agricultural 
Holdings  Act  allows,  and  some  are  not  allowed  for  at  all ; while  high  cultiva- 
tion, cleanness,  and  condition  of  the  soil  are  ignored. 
The  compensation  to  be  paid  for  improvements  is  naturally  a charge  upon 
the  landlord’s  interest,  and  ought  not  to  be  a burden  upon  the  capital  of  the 
incoming  tenant,  the  landlord  obtains  an  article  of  enhanced  value  and  will 
recoup  himself  by  the  increased  rent  which  an  incoming  tenant  will  be 
willing  to  pay  for  the  ameliorated  condition  and  increased  fertility  of  the 
subject  he  hires. 
The  Agricultural  Holdings  Act  is  deficient  in  securing  to  the  landlord  the 
dilapidations  that  the  tenant  has  caused  to  his  property,  and  is  justly  entitled 
to  compensation  for  the  same  on  the  same  principle  and  mode  as  the  outgoing 
tenant  is  allowed  for  his  ameliorations. 
Compensation  for  ameliorated  condition  being  admitted,  the  Report  should, 
in  my  opinion,  have  recommended  a course  by  which  values  should  be 
assessed.  The  natural  course  seems  to  me  to  be  by  arbitration,  with  a referee 
appointed  by  the  Government  in  each  district  to  act  as  oversman  in  case  of  the 
arbiters  differing  in  opinion,  such  referee  to  be  a practical  agriculturist  engaged 
in  farming;  or,  the  appointment  of  a referee  might  be  placed  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Enclosure  Commissioners. 
In  concluding  this  subject,  1 may  refer  to  the  following  authorities : — 
The  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Gordon,  in  moving  the  Agricultural  Holdings 
Act  on  14th  April,  1876,  said,  “ The  Government  have  thought  that  a measure 
should  be  brought  in  to  secure  the  tenant  the  capital  he  has  invested  in  the  soil, 
and  give  the  tenant  that  protection  to  which  he  is  entitled  ; on  the  other  hand, 
it  does  not  invade  the  rights  of  the  landlord,  which  in  this  country  have 
always  been  held  sacred.” 
The  Earl  of  Beaconsfieid,  upon  the  same  occasion,  characterised  the  measure 
“As  protecting  the  tenant’s  investments  in  the  soil  by  placing  him  in  a juster 
position,  and  inducing  him  to  apply  capital  to  the  soil,  an  application  which 
it  is  in  the  interest  of  all  classes  to  encourage.” 
When  moving  for  the  appointment  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Agriculture 
in  1879,  his  Lordship  also  used  the  following  remarkable  words : “ I would  be 
deeply  disappointed  if  one  result  of  the  labours  of  the  Royal  Commission  is 
not  to  afford  the  tenant  the  most  complete  and  absolute  security  for  the  capital 
he  has  invested  in  the  cultivation  of  the  land.”  Mr.  Gladstone  said  at  Leeds 
in  1881,  “ It  is  of  capital  and  immediate  importance  for  the  farmers  to  see  that 
effectual  and  not  abortive  measures  are  taken  to  secure  the  whole  interest  of 
the  tenant,  not  a part  of  that  interest,  but  the  whole  interest  in  his  improve- 
ments, and  his  interest,  as  the  law  may  define  it,  in  his  tenure.” 
2.  With  reference  to  the  subject  of  rent,  ample  evidence  has  been  given 
before  the  Commission  on  this  most  important  subject,  its  increase  during  the 
last  25  years,  and  the  great  losses  that  tenant  farmers  have  sustained  thereby. 
The  Report  does  not  sufficiently  deal  with  this  increase  as  an  important  factor 
in  the  agricultural  depression,  and  one  which  has  helped  to  bring  about  the 
