PART III. (Hansard, 10 August 1883)

§ LORD HENNIKER
said, he hoped his noble Friend (the Earl of Camper-down) would press his Amendment. It was most important to the small holder of land. It had been said in the other House that small holder had no compensation for improvements when he left. His father was one of the first to establish the allotment system 49 in his own county, and he had a great many allotments on his property. All he would say was, that he knew of no case where there had not been a fair compensation given. It had been well remarked in the House of Commons that some provision ought to be made that the compensation should in no case case exceed half the value of the land. To let all these small holdings come under the Bill would be to discourage landlords from letting small plots of land, and to discourage the allotment system. It was said that all difficulty would be avoided by a weekly agreement. He believed such an agreement was beneficial to the tenant, for it enabled him to seek the best employment at short notice, without the tie of having to pay for land he did not want. At the request of some working men, he had let them about two acres each; it was an experiment he thought would answer well with good men—that was, as long as they could earn their wages besides. He believed it was of advantage to these men that they should have the power of giving six months' notice. If the two acre limit were retained, he would let them nearly two acres each without coming under the Bill. If it was not retained, this experiment would not be encouraged. The letting of large plots of land was very much appreciated. He hoped the Committee would agree to the Amendment.

§ LORD CARLINGFORD (LORD PRESIDENT of the COUNCIL)
said, that the House of Commons had agreed that the Bill should apply to market gardens; and, that being the case, it would be impossible to agree to the limit proposed. Further than that, he did not see why, if improvements had been made on a small scale, compensation on the same scale should not be awarded.

THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN
said, he should be glad to modify his Amendment to meet the case referred to by the noble Lord, so that it should read as follows:—"Nothing in this Act shall apply to a holding that, not being a market garden, is less than two acres in extent."

§ EARL COWPER
said, he preferred the clause as it stood.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY
said, he would remind their Lordships that the clause, as now framed, was not in the 50 original Bill. He did not agree to the Amendment, however, on the ground that it might interfere with the letting of land in small allotments; and he would therefore suggest, as the best mode of meeting all the requirements of the case, that they should adopt the limit of one acre.

§ LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY
said, he should prefer the limitation being kept at two acres, because, besides the allotments of arable land, there were in some parts of the country small holdings of pasture land called cowgates, which would keep one or two cows, and these might be interfered with by this clause of the Bill.

§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY
said, he hoped the Committee would agree to the Amendment, otherwise he could not accept the clause, as it would cruelly affect the poorer tenants. The effect of this Bill would be to cause many landlords to evict their tenants.