§ Clauses 55 to 60, inclusive, agreed to.
§
LORD DUNSANY moved to insert a new clause before Clause 61—
Where a tenant is bound by any covenant to keep agricultural buildings, premises, drains, or other improvements in repair, but where no penalty is prescribed for the violation of such covenant, it shall be lawful for the landlord to apply to the Court to compel the tenant to fulfil the covenant, and the Judge shall decide according to what he believes to be the spirit and intention of the covenant, and any order made by the Judge for the fulfilment thereof shall be binding upon the tenant.
§ EARL GRANVILLEthought the proposed clause unnecessary.
§ Amendment negatived.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Clauses 61 to 65, inclusive, agreed to.
§ Clause 66 (Distress).
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND moved the omission of the clause. He said it was inconsistent with other clauses in the Bill. The Government were not responsible for it in the beginning. It was put into the Bill at a late period in the other House of Parliament.
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, this clause was very strongly pressed on the Government when the Bill was under discussion in the other House of Parliament. His own opinion was, that the Law of Distress should be abolished; and Judge Longfield and a very eminent land agent in Ireland had expressed themselves as being very strongly of the same opinion. It was true that this clause was, to some extent, inconsistent with other clauses of the Bill; and if the noble Duke pressed 1086 his Amendment he would not divide against him; but he reserved to the Government the right of endeavouring to give effect to the object of the clause in some other way if they should think it advisable to do so.
§ Clause struck out.
§ Clause 67 (General definitions) agreed to.
§ Clause 68 (Special definitions).
§
LORD CAIRNS moved an Amendment to definition of a "holding"—
The term 'holding' shall mean a farm or other holding of a tenant which is agricultural or pastoral in its character, or partly agricultural and partly pastoral"—
namely, to add at the end of the foregoing the words—
And shall include all the land of that character held by the same tenant of the same landlord.
THE LORD CHANCELLORsuggested that the Amendment required some modification of detail to meet cases where a tenant might have one holding by lease, and another from year to year from the same landlord, and the like. The addition of some such words as "under the same landlord, on the same estate, and under the same contract," would answer the purpose.
§ Amendment altered accordingly, and agreed to.
§
Amendment moved, line 20, after ("holding,") to insert—
("Manures shall mean any manures other than the ordinary manure made on the farm that shall be proved to have been used upon it within not more than four years previous to the end of the tenancy, and then unexhausted; such manures shall be taken to be exhausted in the manner following:—Lime and bones in four years in equal yearly proportions; town manure and marl in three years; guano and superphosphate used for turnips or mangolds in two years in like proportions; provided, that whenever any two following crops of the same kind shall have been taken from the land they shall be considered to have exhausted the manure.")—(The Lord Talbot de Malahide.)
§ EARL GRANVILLEobjected to the Amendment as drawing a very inconvenient hard-and-fast line.
§ Amendment negatived.
§
Amendment moved, at end of Clause 68, to insert—
The term tillages shall mean such acts of cultivation done in the last year of the tenancy as shall enure to the benefit of the crop of the succeeding year."—(The Lord Vernon.)
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, it was better to leave the matter to be decided by evidence before the Court.
§ Amendment (by Leave of the House) withdrawn.
§ Clause agreed to,
§
Amendment moved, after Clause 68, to insert the following Clause:—
In the cases of all estates of one thousand acres and upwards (situate in the same county), it shall be competent, within a year from the date of the passing of this Act, for three-fourths of the tenantry thereon to apply to the Court to release such estate from the provisions of this Act, and the Court shall as soon as practicable, after first obtaining the consent of the landlord, make an order for such release, and from the date of such order such estate shall no longer be subject to the provisions of this Act or any of them; provided, that at any subsequent time within the duration of this Act, it shall be competent for one-third of such tenantry for the time being to apply to the Court to rescind such order, and the Court shall rescind it accordingly."—(The Marquess of Bristol.)
§ EARL GRANVILLEopposed the clause on the ground that it would not work.
After a few remarks from Lord CLANCARTY,
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMONDsaid, that while he, with all noble Lords on that side of the House, appreciated very highly the motives which had actuated the noble Marquess in bringing forward his clause, he could not but think that it would be out of place to pass it at the present stage. He would, therefore, suggest that the noble Marquess should be content with the expression of opinion which had been called forth and not press his Motion further.
§ THE MARQUESS OF BRISTOLsaid, he would, in deference to the advice of his noble Friend, withdraw his Amendment.
§ Amendment (by Leave of the House) withdrawn.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Clauses 69 and 70 agreed to.
§ Schedule agreed to.
§ On the Question, That the Amendments be reported to the House,
THE EARL OF LEITRIMsaid, he desired to express his distinct dissatisfaction with the proceedings in Committee on the Bill, which, in his opinion, had been brought in with rancour and party spirit directed against the landlords of Ireland, and opposed only from fear lest 1088 the same mode of proceeding should be adopted on this side the Channel. He was perfectly satisfied that the Bill would not give satisfaction to one-tenth of the people in whose favour its promoters said it had been framed. It would inflict great cruelty upon Ireland, by running a large number of small capitalists and driving very many of the labouring classes from the country.
The Report of the Amendments to be received on Tuesday next; and Bill to be printed, as amended. (No. 168.)
§ House adjourned at a quarter before One o'clock A.M., to Thursday next, half past Ten o'clock.