The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-08 00:00:00

which appeared in our columns simultaneously with
the article above referred to, however, shows that
there was another cause in operation, tending to pro-
duce the untoward results so loudly complained of by

the agriculturists, and sufficient to account in a great
degree for their depressed condition. The admirable
and important work of Mr. COOKE will not only be
useful to legal practitioners, but it should be atten-
tively perused and calmly and maturely considered by
every tenant-farmer, and by all landlords who
may see the evil consequences of their
own class legislation, of the code of laws
enacted by themselves for their own exclusive benefit
and advantage. Although the object of Mr.
CooKE was merely to produce an useful and much
required book on a subject of general interest, and to
avoid embarking on the stormy sea of politics, it is im-
possible not to perceive from the state of facts which
he so clearly explains the defective state of the law be-
tween landlord and tenant in England as well as in
Ireland, and the imperative necessity of a large and
comprehensive measure of reform being speedily
enacted. It appears that " tenant-right" is as much
required in this country as at the other side of St.
George's Channel. We do not by "tenant-right"
mean the wild and untenable demands that have
occasionally been put forward by professional
agitators, but such a custom as prevails in
some districts in Ulster, and which is found
to act beneficially for all parties concerned
—for landlords as well as tenants, and even
for the bumbler class, who earn their daily bread by
their daily labour, and to whom it ensures the great
desideratum—full employment, a fair demand for
their only commodity, their labour.
Under the present system there is no inducement to
farmers to invest their capital, and apply their labour
in the amelioration of their holdings, because there is
no security that if they do so they themselves or their
families will be permitted to enjoy the legitimate
fruits of their industry. They are told by the land-
' lords at agricultural societies, that nothing can be
I achieved unless they drain, manure, and fence their
lands. These are preliminaries which cannot be
dispensed with if they desire to succeed. But what
farmer of ordinary intelligence and ordinary caution
will enter upon such expensive and laborious
undertakings when he can be, at a short notice,
turned out of possession, without obtaining any com-
pensation whataoever for his permanent and lasting
improvements ? It is vain to expect or hope for such
wild and unreasoning proceedings on the part of any
body of men, and the landlords, by seeking undue ad-
vantages not sought for or conceded to any other
class, practically prohibit the amelioration of the lands
and tenements of which they possess the fee and in-

heritance.
Mr. COOKE has shown that in this country written
contracts, whether in the form of agreement or leases,
form the exception, and not the rule. We are by no
means surprised that such should be the case, when
we see the vexatious stipulations, the strange condi-
tions introduced into these documents, and insisted
upon by or on behalf of the landlords. In some
a course of cultivation may be laid down which
could not be pursued by the farmer without
certain and heavy loss. Many of these covenants can
only be regarded as snares by which the tenant may
be led into the trap either of forfeiture of his interest
in the tenement, or of being rendered liable for
ruinous penal rents, in either of which cases he v. ill
be placed wholly at the mercy of his lessor. It is
by no means surprising then that many of these men,
" with considerable shrewdness and great talents fcr
bargaining," should prefer the pleasing " elasticity of
a parole contract" to inadequate securities for doubt-
ful improvements and stringent covenants for a pre-
cisely defined system of husbandry.
The condition of the farmer then is this : if, as in
the majority of cases, he holds under a simple verbal
tenancy, without lease or egreement in writing, he
cannot improve the lands with a due regard for his
own interest. If he erects fixtures necessary to the
proper cultivation of the soil ; if be sets up
a threshing machine, a barn, a feeding shed, or a
steam-engine, they, or any of them, forthwith become
the property of his landlord if affixed to the freehold.
He may be turned out without having a legal claim
to a single shilling as compensation for his heavy ex-
, penditure. If he can put forward any deinaLo,
must be under the custom of the district, which Mr.
COOKE happily terms the " shifting and uncertain
mass of tradition, which is at present the common law
of agriculture," and which varies in every locality,
and can scarcely be fixed or defined with any degree
of certainty in any place. It must be obvious that
rules so vague could not be acted on with safety in
any instance, even if purporting to give " security for
improvements," which is not the case in any part of the
country.
Neither is he perfectly safe even if so fortunate as
to obtain what Lord STAPLEY terms " the ample and
full security of a lease," although all objectionable
stipulati ons should be excluded therefrom, and that it
should be framed with the utmost regard for his interests.
What tenant would venture to ask, or what landlord
would concede a full and searching investigation into
the title of the latter, even if the enormous expenses
of such an inquiry did not act as a practical prohibi-
tion of the scrutiny ? Such a thing is absolutely un-
known ; and yet if the tenant, after expending a large
sum of money on the security of such a document,
were about to dispose of his interest in the premises
without showing that the landlord did Lot in any
degree exceed his leasing powers, any bargain into
which he entered might be repudiated by the pur
chaser for want of that essential requisite—a satisfac
tory and unimpeachable title on the part of his land-
lord. Even if he should be satisfied tp retain it in his
own hands, he might find that the long term of years
for which he contracted would be limited by the
uncertain and transitory life of the lessor. The
lands might be strictly entailed, the nomi-
nal owner might have only an estate for
life, or other limited estate, and the much-
prized lease might be no better than so much
waste paper against the claims of the tenant "in tail
or reversioner." Again, the lands may be mortgaged,
and the mortgagee, not being a party to the lease,
might at any moment treat the lessee as a tenant from
year to year, and evict him from his holding without
any compensation for his improvements.
This is not as it should be. This is not what
tenant-farmers have a right to expect from a Legis-
lature composed principally of the territorial aristo-
cracy. They have a right to demand a complete
alteration in the law of landlord and tenant, by which
the latter will, in the event of his removal from his
tenement, or the rent being unduly raised beyond
what he is willing to pay, be secured full compensa-
tion for all unexhausted improvements. Until this
just and equitable law be enacted, the condition
of agriculture can never be in a satisfactory state,
nor can we look for those ameliorations produced by
draining, manuring, and fencing, and that system of
scientific cultivation which by the increased quantity
of produce will more than compensate for reduced
prices, and render farming a profitable and remunera-
tive
powerß u But
oi t
dois fsoor, theto i
nl
tarnoddeude
ep rt ohpe r
ni eet
coerss.,
who och
acvuep at
fullio
sary enactments ; and they cannot for a moment sup-
pose that the community in general would consent to
heavy " import duties on agricultural produce," or
the re-imposition of a " bread-tax," because they
neglect so simple and obvious an expedient. In the
meantime we heartily commend Mr. Cooxa's admir-
able work to the attention of all persons in any degree
interested in the cultivation of the soil, as showing
the best remedies for the unquestionable evils consis-
tent with the present state of the law. His observa-
tions on " produce rents," " culture covenants,'
" tenant-right," and the " expediency of terms of
years," will be found particularly deserving of notice.
We must in justice to the learned author add, that
there is no portion of his able and elaborate produc-
tion which will not be found well worthy of a calm
and attentive perusal.

Elsewhere, in this evening's impression of our
journal, will be found a digest of the financial con-
dition of Austria, taken from the recently completed
commercial statistics of Mr. MACGREGOR. An exa-
mination of this interesting paper will amply repay
the 1 :Jour of perusal, being stored throughout with a
variety important facts arranged not merely with
lucidity, of ,
but with a regard to their chrono-
logical sequence. From these facts it will
be seen bow grievously the rigorous form
of the Austrian Government has affected
the revenues of that immense empire, as
well as its social and political condition. In conse-