§ (1) The consideration money payable on the redemption of a tithe rent-charge on any land under the Tithe Acts, 1836 to 1891, or this Act, shall, in lieu of the amount authorised or directed by the Tithe Acts, 1836 to 1891, be such an amount as may be agreed by the owners of the land and of the rent-charge, and in default of such agreement as may, on the application of the owner of the rent-charge, or of the owner of the land or any part thereof, be determined by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, in accordance with the provisions contained in the Second Schedule to this Act, to be fair compensation for the redemption.
§ Mr. PROTHEROI beg to move, after Sub-section (1), to insert the following new Sub-section:
(2) An agreement made under this Section may provide that the consideration money shall be discharged by an annuity payable yearly or half-yearly for such period, not exceeding fifty years, as may be agreed, consisting of interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum on the consideration money, and of such sum as would be sufficient if the periodical payments thereof were accumulated at compound interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum, to produce an amount equal to the consideration money at the end of the said period, and in any such case the Board shall by order direct the discharge of the consideration money by such an annuity as aforesaid and shall charge the land therewith, and the order shall contain such provisions for giving effect to the agreement and for protecting the interests of persons interested in the rent-charge as the Board may think fit, and after payment of the first instalment of the annuity the rent-charge shall cease and be extinguished.In Committee I promised the hon. and gallant Member for Rye that I would bring up on the Report stage an Amendment to enable voluntary agreements to be made for discharging the liability for tithe rent-charge by charging the land with terminable annuities. This Amendment, as drafted, follows very closely the details of the Amendment which stood in the name of the hon. and gallant Member for Rye, and certain other Amendments. But the provision is entirely voluntary, and any agreement made between a tithe owner and a tithe payer would require the consent of Queen Anne's Bounty, as is provided in the following Section, or, in the case of lay tithe, it is the consent required by the following Sub-section. I do not myself think that the power will be very largely used; but I see no objection to parties being authorised to agree to such arrangements if they wish to do that.
§ Sir C. HOBHOUSEI have got a notice on the Paper to move a new Clause. 2183 Would the right hon. Gentleman tell me whether that would come as an Amendment at the same point as his Amendment? Leaving out of consideration the application of the words which I have put on the Paper to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, I understand that the Amendment of my right hon. Friend really deals with the same points as that which I have raised, and does it for the same purpose. The position of a tithe owner is this. If he is required to find the sum which is to be chargeable on the property which he desires to relieve from the payment of tithe rent-charge, he can only do it in two ways; either by having so large a sum at his disposal in selling securities as to discharge at once the sum equivalent to the tithe rent-charge, or else by saving out of an agricultural income the sum which is represented by that equivalent. Now, it is quite clear that it would be very hard for the owner of agricultural land to save out of an agricultural income the amount required to discharge the tithe rent-charge. He would, therefore, have to raise the money by way of mortgage on the property. That would be a very undesirable thing to do, and would increase the cost of redemption very considerably. If, when the payer of the tithe rent-charge goes to the Board of Agriculture, he is pretty fairly certain that the Board will make an arrangement by which he can discharge the sum equivalent to the tithe rent-charge by yearly instalments, he will have added very little to the burden of the charge on the property by increasing that charge by the amount of the repayment of principal. It is difficult to make my point clear. I hope I have done so to my right ton. Friend. He will pay an equivalent to the present tithe rent-charge in the way of interest. He will add to that the amount required to discharge the capital, and if it is understood that it is the general policy of the Board that where the payer of tithe rent-charge desires so to discharge his obligations that that is to be the fixed policy of the Board, then his Amendment meets all my requirements, and all those of my friends who, outside this House, have suggested this to me, and I have nothing more to say. I should just like to have an assurance from the President of the Board of Agriculture that that is the case.
§ Mr. PROTHEROI am not prepared to go further in facilitating this arrangement than to say that there shall be a voluntary agreement between the parties. The right hon. Baronet proposes to make this arrangement of redemption by annual instalments compulsory in the case of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. I think it is quite true that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are not under the same disabilities with regard to accepting annual instalments as are the owners of settled estates, who would find it extremely difficult to reinvest the small bits of capital which are represented in that annual instalment. There is, therefore, that ground, I think, for the right hon. Baronet's suggestion; but, at the same time, I do not think that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners should be treated differently from other bodies, like colleges, or other tithe owners. That is to say, they ought not to be forced to accept a redemption by annual instalments which might only amount to a few shillings at a time. I am quite sure that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are, as a body, most reasonable in all transactions of the kind; and I think, if the right hon. Baronet has a case in his own mind, he might be able to persuade the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to agree voluntarily to accept the proposal which he makes. I do not know whether he has consulted them; but I may say this, that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners themselves are very reluctant to be forced to accept annual instalments. I am therefore obliged to resist his proposal.
§ Mr. HARDYAs an Ecclesiastical Commissioner I desire to oppose the suggestion that the Commissioners should be singled out, in all the country, for exceptional treatment. As the President of the Board of Agriculture says, they may be able to make a voluntary arrangement rather more easily than other people, and in that case, no doubt, a voluntary arrangement will be made. But they are the owners of a very large amount of tithe, and I think it would be very unfair if they were put in a less free position than any other tithe owner in the country.
§ Amendment agreed to.