§ (1.) Where any land has been sold under the Land Purchase Acts, as amended by this Act, or where a lessor or grantor has signified his consent to the Redemption of Rent (Ireland) Act, 1891, the sale of such land, or the sale consequent on the lodgment of such consent, as the case may be, shall be made discharged from all superior interests as defined by this section or from any of them, and in every such case the land shall be vested accordingly in the purchaser in fee-simple, and such superior interests, or the value thereof, shall become a lien upon and to be redeemed or satisfied out of the purchase money of such land.
§ (2.) A vesting order shall be subject to such exceptions and reservations as are specified in the order if they were contained in the agreement for purchase or subsequently agreed to by the vendor and purchaser, and have been approved by the Land Commission, and the Land Commission are satisfied that the effect of such exceptions and reservations was explained to and understood by the purchaser, or the purchaser is represented by a solicitor other than the solicitor of the vendor.
§ (3.) The powers of apportionment given to the Land Commission by section ten of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1885, and sections fifteen and sixteen of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, shall extend to superior interest and be exercised in such manner as shall appear equitable, and shall not be limited to an apportionment between the land sold and the residue of the land subject to the superior interest.
§ (4.) The price or compensation to he paid in respect of a superior interest, or of any apportioned part thereof, shall be determined in the manner provided by the said sections for the redemption of annuities, rent charges, and rents: Provided that, if the Court are of opinion that any such superior interest is of no appreciable value to the persons entitled thereto, the purchase money of the land may be distributed without regard to such superior interest.
§ (5.) If a superior interest, or the benefit arising thereunder, is settled land within the meaning of the Settled Land Acts, 1882 to 1890, the person who constitutes the tenant for life, or who has the powers of a tenant for life under those Acts, shall have power to enter into any consent in relation to the sale being made discharged from such superior interest, and to the redemption or satisfaction of the same out of the purchase money.
§ (6.) Where a superior interest is subject to an incumbrance as defined by the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, the Court shall, for the purpose of distribution of the price or compensation payable in respect of such superior 644 interest, have the same powers as if such incumbrance had been charged directly upon the land sold.
§ (7.) The expression "superior interest" shall include any rent, rent charge, annuity, fees, duties, or services payable or to be rendered in respect of the land sold to any person, including Her Majesty and Her successors, and any estates, exceptions, reservations, covenants, conditions, or agreements contained in any fee-farm grant, or other conveyance in fee, or lease under which such land is held, and, if such land is held under a lease for lives or years renewable for ever, or for a term of years of which not less than sixty are unexpired at the date of the sale, shall include any reversion or estate expectant on the determination of such lease or expiration of such term, and notwithstanding that such reversion or estate may be vested in Her Majesty and Her successors.
§ (8.) Nothing in this section shall affect the rights of the public or of any class of the public in respect of the land sold, or the rights of any person or persons in respect of the waters of any stream or watercourse or of any right of way.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, Clause 30, page 15, in new Sub-section (1), line 3, after "the" insert "redemption of a rent under the."
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, Clause 30, page 15, line 4, after "1891," insert
Or where land is sold by the Land Judge to the tenant thereof, and an advance under the Land Purchase Acts is made for the purpose of such sale.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, Clause 30, page 15, in new Sub-section (3) after "apportionment" insert "and redemption."
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, Clause 30, page 15, after new Subsection (3), insert as new sub-section—
(4.) Where a holding is sold by the Land Judge to the tenant thereof and an advance under the Land Purchase Acts is made for the purpose, the Land Judge shall have the powers of apportionment and redemption conferred on the Land Commission by sections fifteen and sixteen of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, and by Section twenty of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, as the same are amended and extended by this Act in like manner as if the Land Judge were the Land Commission.
§ Amendment agreed to.
645§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, as an Amendment to the new subsection dealing with the powers of the Court where a superior interest is subject to an incumbrance as defined by the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, to omit the words—
for the purpose of distribution of the price or compensation payable in respect of such superior interest.The Scheme, as he understood it to be agreed to by Lord Londonderry, was that the fee simple should, in all cases, be vested in the tenant free from any kind of superior interest or incumbrance.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURsaid he did not see any objection to the omission of these words.
§ Amendment to proposed Amendment agreed to; Amendment, as thus altered, agreed to.
§
Lords' Amendment—
From page 17, line 32, leave out from 'any' to 'the' in line 33, and insert 'requisition as to title the making of which by a purchaser would be prevented by,' to page 19, line 7, after 'effect,' insert '(3) This section shall extend … necessary modifications,'
§ agreed to.
§ On Clause 34 (Liabilities for arrears, etc.),
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, as an Amendment to the Lords' Amendment (line 9, leave out from "and" to "discharged" in line 12, and insert "is lodged with the Land Commission, the purchaser shall in the event of the sale being carried out, be"), to omit the words "in the event of the sale being carried out." What was intended to be provided was, he contended, amply covered by the final words of the clause. The words he proposed to omit were necessary in the Act of 1888, where they were in a different context, but mischief would be done if they were retained in the present Act, as it would then be possible for the landlord to maintain that his liability was not extinguished until the sale was ultimately sanctioned. They must, at any rate, secure that the tenant should not be worse off under this clause than he was under the Act of 1888. He protested against 646 the embarrassment and difficulties which the Government had got into by this wretched meddling with the Act of 1888.
MR. T. M. HEALYrespectfully asked the Government what was the mystery about this business. He could not understand the mystery about this proposal. He believed it was due to the malice of an official behind the scenes connected with the Land Commission, and so far as he was concerned he denounced it. For eight years the law had remained untouched, and it had stood the test of the Law Courts. Let them leave the Act of 1888 alone. ["Hear, hear!"]
§ *SIR J. COLOMBtrusted the Government would stick to the clause.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELANDsaid he could understand the hostility of the hon. and learned Member for North Louth to anything which interfered with the Act of 1888. It must seem to him something like an injury and an affront. [Laughter.] He denied that the clause would have the effect suggested by the hon. and learned Member, and he hoped the House would approve of it.
§ Amendment to Lords' Amendment negatived; Lords' Amendment agreed to.
§ Lords' Amendment, page 19, line 16, after the word "rent" insert the words "and arrears," agreed to.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYproposed to add to Sub-section (1), in order to make its sense perfectly clear, the words,—
provided that no proceedings with respect to the said rent and arrears existing at the date of the Agreement shall be brought, pending the carrying out of the same.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Lords' Amendment—
page 19, line 23, after the word "shall" insert the words "as respects the periods subsequent to the date of the advance be applied in payment of the interest due under section twenty of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887, and subject thereto shall,
§ agreed to.
647§ Lords' Amendment, page 21, line 4, after the word "shall" insert the words "subject to the provisions of section thirty of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881," agreed to.
§ Lords Amendment, page 21, line 34, leave out the word "and," and insert the words "discharged from," agreed to.
§
On the Lords' Amendment to insert after the word "mentioned" in line 22, page 22, the following sub-section:—
(e) Subject to the prescribed rules, any person aggrieved by any Order of the Land Judge made under this section may apply to the Court of Appeal to rehear the matter, and the matter shall be reheard accordingly,
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURmoved to insert after the word "rules" in the Amendment, the words "including rules as to security for costs."
§ MR. KNOXdid not think the Amendment would improve the clause. There were three parties in the matter, The incumbrancer or the landlord would probably have no difficulty in getting security, but the tenant might find difficulty.
§ MR. CARSONsaid it was very often in the hardest case that security for costs worked in the wrong direction. It might be that the man who had the best case might be in the worst position to give security for costs, and security for costs had no relation whatever to the matter to be determined by the Court of Appeal. It would be fairer to all parties that security for costs should not be required.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELANDsaid that if the Amendment were not accepted the result might be that the clause would be practically inoperative. Each tenant would have the right of appeal, and if there was to be no security for costs every one of 20, 30, or 40 tenants might appeal on exactly the same ground, and thus prolong the proceedings indefinitely. It was, therefore, absolutely necessary, in order that the right of appeal should not be abused, that some security for costs should be required. An owner, too, might appeal on every question that arose unless he was required to give security for costs; he might carry on endless litigation, not at his own expense, but at that of the incumbrancer. Of 648 course the amount of the security for costs would always be at the discretion of the Court, and they would never require so large an amount as would mean a denial of justice.
§ MR. SERJEANT HEMPHILLsubmitted that it would be better to strike out the appeal clause altogether than to require the parties to give security for costs. The rich suitor or the landlord would be able to give security, but not the poor and wretched tenant.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURwould prefer that the section was struck out altogether, but he felt that in a matter of this kind it was desirable to meet the House of Lords, who expressed a very strong opinion in regard to it. The Government endeavoured to retain the power of appeal, but at the same time they guarded it in such a way that it should not be possible for an appellant to make the proceedings under Section 39 practically inoperative. Those proceedings were for the must part administrative, and not judicial, and certainly in 99 cases out of 100, or perhaps in 999 cases out of 1,000 there ought to be no necessity for appeal.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYsaid he also was against the clause and would prefer to get rid of it if possible. He entertained that view most strongly, because this was practically a one-sided appeal; it was a landlord's appeal. The only appeal that would be objectionable would be the appeal of the dissentient owner, where there would be no surplus to go to the owner, and where the cost of resisting the appeal would fall upon the State. It therefore came to this, that in order to protect the owner in that one case, they imposed upon the dissentient tenants the necessity of giving security for costs in any case, and that in a case where, for the first time, they enabled a single Judge to insist upon the tenants compulsorily purchasing their holdings.
§ Amendment to the Amendment agreed to.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURmoved to omit the word "apply" in the Amendment, in order to insert the word "appeal."
§ Amendment to the Amendment agreed to.
649§ MR GERALD BALFOURmoved to omit all the words after "Court of Appeal "in the Amendment, in order to insert the words "whose decision shall be final."
§ Amendment to the Amendment agreed to.
§ Lords' Amendment—Page 23, line 19, after "mortgagee," insert "in possession."
§ MR. KNOXsaid this clause was inserted in the Bill on his Motion, and he was afraid that, if the Lords' Amendment was agreed to, most of the virtue of the clause was gone. The object of the clause was to enable the Land Commissioners to make advances for a sale from a mortgagee to a tenant in the same way as in a sale from a landlord to a tenant. He could not see that any evil would arise if that were allowed to be done. The Lords' Amendment would render the procedure less simple for the mortgagee, and therefore he opposed it. He saw no reason why, if the mortgagee had power to sell, he should not sell to the tenant, who in nine cases out of ten was the only purchaser in Ireland. He would have thought it would be to the landlords' interest that the mortgagee should have power to sell with as little expense as possible. That was the object of the clause, and that clause would be in a great measure rendered nugatory if the Lords' Amendment were accepted.
§ Lords' Amendment agreed to.
§ Lords' Amendment—Page 27, line 11, after the first "the" 'insert "heir or," and after "representative" insert "as the case may be."
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Lords' Amendment—Page 28, line 27, leave out "the" and insert "a."
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Lords' Amendment—Line 28, leave out "herein" and insert "in this Act."
§ Amendment agreed to.
650
§
Lords' Amendment—Line 39, leave out from "where" to the end of the sub-section, and insert:—
a tenant would, if this Act had been in force at the passing of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, he now a present tenant, and either the landlord has not, since the said decision, resumed possession of the holding, or if he resumed the tenant has redeemed, the tenant shall he deemed a present tenant for the purpose of any such application.
MR. T. M. HEALYmoved to leave out "said decision "in Lords' Amendment, and to insert:—
passing of the said Act or the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, as the case may he.
§ Amendment to the Amendment agreed to.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved, alter "redeemed" to insert "or been reinstated."
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYthought it would be a hardship if the case was not provided for.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURintimated that he could not accept the words.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYasked if the right hon. Gentleman would accept any other words?
MR. T. M. HEALYasked leave to withdraw his Amendment, in order that other words might be brought up.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved to leave out, in line 5, the word "redeem," and substitute for it the words "has redeemed or been reinstated in his former tenancy."
MR. T. M. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary to accept the words. He did not think any lawyer would object to them. If a lawyer did, or they were objected to elsewhere, they would not be pressed.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURaccepted the words on that understanding.
§ Amendment, as amended, agreed to.
§ On the Schedules,—
§ MR. MAURICE HEALY, in paragraph 7, moved to leave out the words "unsuitable to the holding."
§ Amendment agreed to.
651§ MR. MAURICE HEALYmoved to leave out, in paragraph 8, the words "on account thereof."
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Remainder of Lords' Amendments agreed to, with slight alterations of a purely verbal character.
§ On the Motion of Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, a Committee, consisting of the following Members, was appointed to draw up the reasons to be assigned for disagreeing with certain of the Amendments made by the Lords:—Mr. Gerald Balfour, the Attorney General for Ireland, the Solicitor General for Ireland, Mr. T. W. Russell, Mr. T. M. Healy, Mr. Serjeant Hemphill, and Mr. Renshaw.