The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-26 00:00:00

APPLICATION OF THE DRAIN

AGE ACT.

The following elucidation of the Drainage Act is co-
pied from a recent number of the Gardener's Chronicle
and Agricultural Gazette. It will be found of very great
utility both to landlords and tenants.

! 1. So much misapprehension seems to prevail, both
with respect to the advantages resulting from borrow-
ing money under the provisions of the Land Drainage
Act, and also as to the proportion of the annual pay-
• ments towards the extinction of such debts, which
proprietors and their tenants ought respectively to con-
tribute, that the succeeding observations may possibly
be acceptable to those of your readers who aro inte-
rested in the subject. 2.—As everybody knows, the
Drainage Commissioners, in return for each 1001. ad-
vanced by them, are to receive an annual payment of
6/. 10s. fur 22 years, on the expiry of which period the
debt is cancelled. Of this sum 6L 103., one half may be
regarded as simple interest at 3 per cent, while the other
moiety, if suffered to accumulate with compound interest
also at the rate of 31 per cent., will, immediately after
the 22d payment, amount to 1091. 3s. lid., and thus
somewhat more than extinguish the debt. (3.) The Act
being intended as a boon to the agricultural interest
generally, and by way of compensation for a measure
which the majority of that bed) looked upon as injurious
to them, its projectors unquestionably designed that all
concerned, both proprietors and tenants, should partici-
pate equally in the benefits resulting from it. These
benefits are of two kinds—first, such as arise from the
increased productiveness of the land; and, 2dly, those
consequent on the low rate of interest charged
by the Government for its loan. It is evident that
the advantages which the former class will ulti-
mately confer on proprietors, whose interest in
the soil is permanent, must be greater than those
derivable from them by tenants, during their tem-
porary occupancy of their farms; but as this result
is not peculiar to improvements effected by means
of the Government loan, it:is unnecessary to make any
further allusion to it in this place, and I shall, there-
fore, confine myself to pecuniary matters. (4.) A pro-
prietor can at present, on the security of his estate, and
without the aid of Government, borrow money at 4 per
cent , and, very generally, charges his tenant 1 per
cent. more than he himself pays. Part of this addi
tional per tentage is necessarily expended in stamps and
legal documents ; but in order to make the ease appear
as favourable as possible to the proprietor, I shall as-
sume that he reaps the whole benefit arising from the
superfluous impost. Under these circumstances, his
account for each 100/. borrowed will, at the end of 22
years, stand thus:—
Sums borrowed £lOO 0 0
Value of an annuity of IL for 22 years at
3i per cent. paid by the tenant, and
therefore to be deducted from the above

SUM

32 6 7

Balance still due by proprietor £67 13 5
If the annuity had been calculated at 4 per cent., the
unliquidated balance would have been 651. 15s. Cid. (5.)
Compared with the details of the preceding system, the
advantage which accrues to the proprietor, and the profit
or loss to the tenant on each 1004 borrowed from Go-
vernment, varying as they necessarily do, with the share
of the annual payments which the parties severally con-
tribute, will appear from the following statements. As
an apology for the introduction of the first three cases,
I must mention that some proprietors have refused to
apply for a share of the loan, unless their tenants agree
to provide the whole of the annual payments. Case IV
is understood to be the one prescribed for the benefit 01
his Scotch tenants by the Duke of Richmond.
CASE I.—The tenant rated at 61 per cent.
At 31 percent.—Gain to the proprietor by
the extinction of the balance duo
on each 1001. as above (4) ... £67 13 5
Value of an annuity of 41. for 22
years gained by the proprietor in
consequence of the tenant paying
the whole interest on the sum bor-
rowed, and, therefore, to be added
to the above..

129 6 4

Total gain to the proprietor
Loss to the tenant by pa) ing 61 per
cent. instead of 5 per cent, for 22
years, equal to an annuity of
1/.'los, for that period
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain cal-
culated as before, would have
been 202 14 10
The tenant's loss would have been
CASE IL—The proprietor rated at 4 per cent., and the
tenant at 6 per cent.
At 31 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is 180 16 57
The tenant's loss is 32 6 9
At 4 per cent—The proprietor's gain is 185 13 41
The tenant's loss is 34 4 1
CASE M.—The proprietor rated at I per cent., the

48 9 10

_ .
tenant at 6} per cent.
At 3f per cent.—The proprietor's gain is 164 13 2
The tenant's loss is l6 3 3}
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is 168 9 11
The tenant's loss is l7 2 6
CASE IV.—The proprietor rated at if per cent. the

- tenant 5 per cent.
At 31 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is 148 9 101
At 4 per cent.— Do. do.
As in this case, the tenant pays the same rate of in-
terest which is demanded from him under the ordinary
system of borrowing money (4), he is, of course, neither
benefited nor otherwise by the Land Drainage Act.
CASE V.--The proprietor rated at 2 per cent., the tenant
at 4i per cent.
At 31 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is .L132 6 7
The tenant's gain, in paying 4i
instead of 5 per cent., for 22 years,
equal to an annuity of 10s. for
that period

16 3 3i

Excess of proprietor's gain ... 116 3 3
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is... 134 4 11
Tenant's gain, calculated as above... 17 2 6

Excess of proprietor's gain ll7 25i
CASE Vl.—The proprietor rated at 2i per cent., the
tenant at 4 per cent.
At 3i per Cent. —The proprietor's gain is £ll6 3 3i
The tenant's gain is 32 6 7
Excess of proprietor's gain
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is ll7 2 541
The tenant's gain is

' Excess of proprietor's gain
.82 17 6
CASE Vll.—The proprietor rated at 3 per cent., the
tenant at 3} per cent.
At 3} per cent.—The proprietor's gain is .£lOO 0 0
The tenant's gain is

Excess of proprietor's gain
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is lOO 0 0
The tenant's gain is

Excess of proprietor's gain
CASE VIII.—The proprietor and tenant each rated at

3f per cent.
At 3i per cent.—The proprietor's gain is ....£9l 18 4f
The tenant's gain is

Excess of proprietor's gain
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain is 9l 8 9
The tenant's gain is

Excess of proprietor's gain
CABE IX.—The proprietor rated at 3i per cent., the
tenant at 3 per cent.
At 3i per cent.—The proprietor's gain is £B3 16 8i
the tenant's gain is
---
Excess of proprietor's gain
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor's gain 82 17 61
The tenant's gain is

Excess of proprietor's gain
CASE X.—The proprietor rated at n per cent. the
tenant at 2,1. per cent. ,
At 3i per cent.—The proprietor gains
The tenant gains
72 14 9,1

Excess of proprietor's gain ..... 3 0 3
At 4 per cent.—The proprietor gains ...... 74 631
The tenant gains .................... 77 1 2

Excess of tenant's gain . ............. 214 104
As the last case nearly equalises the gains of the pro-
prietor and tenant, it is needless to investigate the effects
of any of the other arrangements which it might be pos-
sible to adopt. (G.) In determining the share of the an-
nual payments which a proprietor may, in justice, de-
mand from a tenant, it must be observed that the ques-
tion is not whether the latter can afford to pay si per