4 The Agricultural Holdings (^England) Act, 1883. 
working of the previous enactment.* This was no small gain ; 
nor is it all, for, as will hereafter appear, the later statute con- 
tinues, in whole or in part, several substantial provisions in the 
Act of 1875, together with the procedure clauses and much of 
its machinery, a tribute to its authors and draftsman which 
alone show that their labour has not been wasted. 
Arrangement and Application of the new Act. 
Its short title is " The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 
1883 " (§ 63). According to the modern practice of so drafting 
Bills as to leave the smallest possible opening for discussion or 
objection, the new Act, like the old one, opens without any 
preamble. A recital of the general object which Parliament 
desired to promote was never omitted from the older statutes, 
and was often full and even diffuse. It served as a guide to 
judges in determining a doubtful point of construction, but no 
such light is afforded them here. For convenient reference, the 
Act is divided into three Parts : the first relating to compensa- 
tion for improvements and the procedure for recovering it ; the 
second confined to changes made in the law of distress; 
the third comprising various general provisions. It will be con- 
venient in this notice not to follow the sections in their exact 
numerical order, but to consider together those which are 
related. 
Commencement of Act. — For certain purposes, as we shall 
presently find, the Act is retrospective. Subject to this limita- 
tion, it came into force, as already stated, on January 1, 1884 
(§ 63), on and after which date the Act of 1875 and the 
amending Act of 1876 before mentioned were repealed (§ 62). 
This appeal does not affect (a) any proceedings pending under 
the Act of 1875 ; {¥) any right to compensation for improve- 
ments to which that Act applies if they were executed before 
January 1, 1884; or (c) if they were executed after th.at date 
under a tenancy, parol or otherwise, current on January 1, 1884 ; 
{d) any right in respect of fixtures affixed to a holding before 
January 1, 1884 (§ 62). In other words, rights which have 
accrued to any tenant under the Act of 1875 are not touched by 
the new law. They must be enforced, of course, in the manner 
specified by that Act. 
* The Duke of Richmond ami Gordoi), who upon this question speaks with a 
double authority, is of opinion that the Act of 1875 went as fur as public opinion 
at that time was prepared to sanction, and tliat the Act of 1883 could not have 
passed but for the example sot in 1875. — Speech at Chichester, December 5tli, 
1883. 
