§ Bill, as amended, considered.
§
(Deduction in first class for want of repair, &c.)
A. In the ascertainment of the amount of the tenant's compensation in respect of an improvement of the first class, there shall be taken into account, in reduction thereof, any sum reasonably necessary to he expended for the purpose of putting the same into tenantable repair or good condition.
§ Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill.
§
(Exclusion of compensation in third class after exhausting crop.)
B. The tenant shall not he entitled to compensation in respect of an improvement of the third class, where, after the execution thereof, there has been taken from the portion of the holding on which the same was executed, a crop of corn, potatoes, hay, or seed, or any other exhausting crop.
§ SIR THOMAS ACLANDsaid, that the object of the Bill seemed to be to enable limited owners to charge their estates and to put them under stringent regulations for doing so. He thought the Amendments should have been placed on the Paper earlier.
§ MR. T. CAVEthought that the hon. Baronet had misconceived the object of the Bill.
§ MR. HUNTexpressed his regret that the Amendments had not been placed on the Paper sooner. The fault was his, and he was exceedingly sorry for it, but the delay arose from his being deeply engaged with other public business. This provision was for the protection of the incoming tenant, but it was also partially for the benefit of the outgoing tenant.
§ Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill.
§ MR. HUNTmoved the following Clauses:—
(Exclusion of compensation for consumption of cake, &c. in certain cases)C. The tenant shall not he entitled to compensation in respect of an improvement of the third class, consisting in the consumption of cake or other feeding stuff, where under the custom of the country or an agreement he is entitled to and claims payment from the landlord or incoming tenant in respect of the additional value given by that consumption to the 590 manure left on the holding at the determination of the tenancy.
§
After Clause 18, insert the following Clauses:—
(Requisition for appointment of umpire by Inclosure Commissioners, &c.)
D. Provided that, where two referees are appointed, an umpire may be appointed as follows:
(1.) If either party, on appointing a referee, requires, by notice in writing to the other, that the umpire shall be appointed by the Inclosure Commissioners for England and Wales, then the umpire, and any successor to him, shall be appointed, on the application of either party, by those Commissioners:
(2.) In every other case, if either party, on appointing a referee, requires, by notice in writing to the other, that the umpire shall be appointed by the County Court, then unless the other party dissents, by notice in writing, therefrom, the umpire, and any successor to him, shall, on the application of either party, be so appointed, and, in case of such dissent, the umpire, and any successor to him, shall be appointed, on the application of either party, by the Inclosure Commissioners for England and "Wales.
§
(Exercise of powers of county court.)
E. The powers of the county court under this Act, relative to the appointment of a referee or umpire, shall be exerciseable by the judge of the court having jurisdiction, whether he is without or within his district, and may, by consent of the parties, be exercised by the registrar of the court.
§ Clauses agreed to, and added to the Bill.
§ MR. NEWDEGATEmoved the following clause:—
§
(Manure made on the holdings.)
The manure made in the stables, sheds, and foldyards from the last year's produce of the holding shall be the property of the tenant, but shall not, after notice to quit has been given, be removed from the holding or sold without the consent of the landlord or his agent in writing. The value of any portion of such manure, which may not at the determination of the tenancy have been applied to the land in the due course of husbandry, shall be estimated by the referees or the umpire, and shall form part of the compensation to be awarded to the tenant.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause be read a second time."
§ COLONEL EGERTON LEIGHthought this was a very valuable clause.
§ MR. ASSHETONthought the effect of the clause would be to put a premium upon bad farming.
MR. GOLDSMIDconsidered that no bad results would follow from the adoption of the clause. It merely carried out what was already the custom in Kent, and answered well there; but he thought they were trying to do by this Bill that 591 which was impossible—namely, provide for all the varying circumstances of different soils and principles of farming.
§ MR. HUNTapproved the principle of the clause in an agricultural point of view; but as it would operate in many eases as an interference with custom, he thought it should not be introduced without full discussion, and many Members interested in the question were not present.
§ MR. LEEMANthought that the fold-yard manure ought to follow the same fate as the chemical manure upon an estate. He was sorry the clause had not been accepted, though the whole of the Bill was purely permissive and would not be brought into operation.
§ MR. KNATCHBULL - HUGESSENthought that the latter part of the clause—providing that the tenant should be paid for the value of manure in his yard, whilst for manure on the land he would only be paid according to the value which the referees might find to have been already added to the land—would be an inducement to bad farming, as a tenant would be tempted to keep the manure in the farmyard in order to be paid for it.
§ MR. MONKregretted that the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Hunt) should have opposed the clause on the ground of the absence of Members interested in the question, for ample notice had been given by his hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire upon this subject.
§ SIR THOMAS ACLANDsaid, it was a matter of common practice in various counties to pay the outgoing tenant for the farmyard manures, and he had done that himself.
§ Question put.
§ The House divided:—Ayes 44; Noes 67: Majority 23.
§ MR. NEWDEGATEmoved the following clause:—
(If tenant commit waste, or improperly cultivate, the judge of the county court may direct landlord to enter on the farm.)If, after notice to quit has been given, complaint be made and proved to the satisfaction of the judge of the county court that a tenant is committing waste or is neglecting the proper cultivation of the farm, the judge may direct the landlord to enter upon the farm in such manner as may he necessary to prevent such waste, or to carry on the cultivation of the farm; and the expense of such entry and of 592 such cultivation by the landlord may be recovered as rent in arrear, or may be computed as compensation due to the landlord by the referees or the umpire.
§ The clause was rendered the more necessary in consequence of the change of notice from six to twelve months. By this clause a landlord would have a more simple and speedy way of obtaining possession than by the present law, so as to prevent waste, especially in the case where a tenant died shortly after Lady Day, when the executors, who had no desire to continue the occupancy, would have to remain in possession two years. He also proposed that waste after notice should be recoverable as arrears of rent. The yearly notice was advantageous to the tenant in getting rid of his stock and enabling him to look out for another farm, but there was extreme danger to the landlord of waste.
§ Clause brought up, and read the first time.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause be read a second time."
MR. GOLDSMIDobjected to the clause as being extremely unfair to the tenant. The landlord's rights were sufficiently protected by Clause 15, and a litigious landlord would, under the proposed clause, be constantly harassing his tenants.
§ MR. KNIGHTsupported the clause on the ground that without it the tenant might—if leaving his farm in an ill-humour with his landlord—do an enormous damage to the land for which the landlord could exact no compensation.
§ MR. RODWELLsuggested that such an extreme contingency as that alluded to was already provided for in Clause 15. He regarded the clause proposed as being unworkable.
THE ATTORNEY GENERALsaid, that the Government could not assent to the clause, because they did not think that it could be worked.
§ COLONEL EGERTON LEIGHthought the clause would be unfair to the tenant and worrying to the landlord, and he should therefore oppose it.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
§ Clause withdrawn.
§ MR. ALFRED MARTENmoved the following clause:—
§
(Service of notice.)
Any notice under this Act may be served
593
upon the person to whom the notice is to be given, either personally or by leaving it for him at his usual or last known place of abode in England, or by sending it through the post in a registered letter addressed to him at such place of abode; and any notice, if sent by post as aforesaid, shall be deemed to have been served at the time when the letter containing the same would be delivered in the ordinary course of post, and in proving such service it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter containing the notice was properly addressed and posted.
§ He added that many notices were at present so served.
§ MR. MELDONhoped that the clause would not be agreed to, because it would change the whole law as to the service of notices to quit.
§ SIR HENRY JAMESdid not see why the service of notices to quit should be altered.
§ MR. GREGORYobserved, that many important notices were now served through the post, and no inconvenience had arisen from this.
§ MR. JACKSONalso thought that this mode of service worked very well.
§ Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill.
§ MR. ALFRED MARTENmoved the following Clause:—
§
(Fixtures.)
Where after the commencement of this Act a tenant affixes to his holding any engine, machinery, or other fixture for which he shall not under the provisions of this Act or otherwise be entitled to or receive compensation, and which shall not be so affixed in pursuance of some obligation in that behalf or instead of some fixture belonging to the landlord, then such engine, machinery, or other fixture shall be the property of and be removable by the tenant: Provided as follows:—
§ The object of the clause was to change the law, the Courts having ruled that trade fixtures belonged to a tenant, but agricultural fixtures to the landlord. To meet the wish of the Government he added a special provision relating to steam engines, for the erection of which the landlord's consent must be first obtained to entitle the tenant to the benefit of the clause.
§ MR. GREGORYagreed with the new clause so far as regarded machinery, but he objected to the words "other fixtures," because their legal acceptance was very indefinite.
§ MR. MELDONprotested against such an alteration of the law of the land. There ought to be some definition of the word "fixtures."
THE ATTORNEY GENERALwas of opinion that if the clause was restricted to machinery, it would go a very little way towards removing the inequality which existed between the farmer and the trader.
§ MR. HENLEYthought it desirable that there should be some restriction as to the place where any machinery should be fixed, otherwise it might be erected just before the landlord's windows.
§ MR. NEWDEGATEwas in favour of the clause, because it was recommended by the Report of the Committee of 1848, but he felt the force of the objection of the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Henley).
§ MR. HUNTthen moved to omit the 4th proviso to the effect that the tenant, if required, should give security to the landlord for making good any damage to any building occasioned by the removal of any fixture.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, agreed to, and added to the Bill.
§ MR. HUNTmoved in Clause 4, page 2, line 8, after "tenancy," to insert, as a new paragraph— 595
'Absolute owner' means the owner or person capable of disposing, by appointment or otherwise, of the fee simple or whole interest of or in freehold, copyhold, or leasehold land, although his interest is encumbered or charged to any extent.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clause 7 (Amount of tenant's compensation for first and second class).
§ MR. GREGORYmoved, in page 3, line 24, to leave out—
But so that where the landlord was not, at the time of the consent given to the execution of the improvement, absolute owner of the holding for his own benefit.His object was to simplify the proceedings before the referees with regard to the legal title of the owner to the property.
§ Question proposed, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Bill?"
THE ATTORNEY GENERALsaid, that the effect of the Amendment would be to restrict the extent to which a tenant could go in the way of improvements of the first class. A check which was necessary on limited owners was not required in the case of absolute ownrs.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONdid not see that at the stage which they had now reached they required this letting value at all. As far as could be understood it had been introduced for the protection of the remainderman; but the remainderman had no interest in the amount of compensation. As an Amendment to the Amendment of the hon. Member for East Sussex, he begged to move the omission of the words limiting the amount of compensation to the addition made to the letting value.
§
Amendment proposed to the said proposed Amendment, to add to the words proposed to be left out—
The amount of the compensation shall not exceed a capital sum fairly representing the addition which the improvement as far as it continues unexhausted at the determination of the tenancy then makes to the letting value of the holding."—(The Marquess of Hartington.)
§ Question proposed, "That those words be added to the said proposed Amendment."
§ MR. HUNTobserved, that the noble Lord had said that the remainderman had no interest in the amount of compensation, but only on the amount of charge. The amount of charge must depend on the 596 amount of compensation. He thought the proper course would be to dispose of the original Amendment first.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONwas of opinion that the Committee would thereby be placed in a false position.
MR. GOLDSMIDhoped the Committee would see its way to adopt the Amendment of his hon. Friend (Mr. Gregory).
§ MR. MELDONhoped, under all the circumstances, that the Committee would not pass this clause.
§ SIR HENRY JAMEStrusted that the Amendment suggested by his noble Friend would be accepted.
§ MR. RODWELL, as author of the clause, defended it, and left it in the hands of the Government, who had adopted it.
§ MR. GREGORYsaid, he could not consent to accept the Amendment of the noble Lord (the Marquess of Hartington).
§ MR. JACKSONsaid, the same principle ought to be employed between the landlord and tenant as between the real owner and the remainderman.
§ MR. KNIGHTsaid, that subject had discussed three times before, and a compromise had been come to in regard to it, which ought not to be disturbed. He hoped the noble Marquess would not press his Amendment.
§ SIR THOMAS ACLANDhoped the House would adopt the view of his hon. Friend near him (Mr. Jackson), who placed the question so clearly before them.
§ Question put.
§ The House divided:—Ayes 57; Noes 105: Majority 48.
§ MR. GREGORYthen withdrew his Amendment, remarking that the Bill, as it stood, was very favourable for members of his profession.
§ MR. HUNTsaid, he proposed to take rather an unusual course, but he thought the clause should be properly divided into two. He therefore proposed that the clause Clause 7 should end at line 30, after the word "holding."
§ Amendment proposed, to divide Clause 7 into two Clauses, the first Clause to terminate at the word "holding," in line 30.—(Mr. Hunt.)
§ Question, "That Clause 7 be so divided," put, and agreed to.
§ Clause agreed to.
597§ Clause 11 (Restrictions as to third class).
§ MR. HUNTmoved in page 4, line 11, to leave out "ascertaining," and insert "the ascertainment of."
MR. GOLDSMIDdesired to know why it was proposed to restore the word "ascertainment" which was struck out in Committee, and which it was admitted by the Prime Minister was not good English.
§ MR. HUNTsaid, that with the word "ascertaining" the clause did not read grammatically. They had consulted high literary authorities, and they found that the word "ascertainment" was a perfectly good English word.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clause 14 (Tenants compensation for breach of Covenant).
§ MR. KNIGHTmoved the omission of the word "custom," which he said was vague, and would lead to a great deal of cross swearing.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clause 15 (Landlord's title to compensation).
§ SIR HENRY JAMESproposed to leave out the words "or permits waste or commits" in order that a tenant should not be placed in a false position in case he should convert pasture into arable or vice versâ.
§ Amendment proposed, in page 4, line 39, to leave out the words "or permits waste or commits."—(Sir Henry James.)
§ Question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Clause 44 (Time of notice to quit).
§ MR. KNATCHBULL - HUGESSENmoved to leave out—
or is five months in arrear of his rent, the same having been lawfully demanded in writing and not paid within 14 days after such demand.He said, that having extended the term of notice to quit, from six months to a 598 year, it would be ungracious to clog that concession with unnecessary restrictions, and the law of distress sufficiently protected the landlord's rent. This Amendment had been somewhat hastily acceded to by the Government; and as he understood that many Gentlemen who had voted for it desired its omission, he would not argue the question at length, if his right hon. Friend (Mr. Hunt) was of the same opinion. Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 49 (Application of Act to existing tenancies).
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONproposed to leave out, in line 3, the words "or at will," and insert "where there is a written agreement."
§
Amendment proposed,
In page 14, lines 3 and 4, to leave out the words "or at will," and insert the words "where there is a written agreement,"—(The Marquess of Hartington,)—instead thereof.
§ Question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Bill re-committed in respect of Clauses 11 and 35; considered in Committee, and reported; as amended, considered:—Bill to be read the third time To-morrow.