, 1880-03-31

1870 V&ASA AA&C "a Nt~ UP
himself as he did, he; was not carried away
by any mere enthusiasm of partisanship,
OF oratory, or of conceit, has now BEEN
made evident. His words were the words
of a man who was both sincere and saga
ciOus, ~frm-minded and clearseeing; and he
has vindicated his good-faith by giving
them practical effect. The Scottish Cham
Der of Agriculture could do nothing better
for the purpose in aid of which it exists,
than 10, take the new regulations and
conditions of farm tenancy which have
been framed for the Fife estates, present
them to every landowner in Scotland, and
ask whether, he is ready to endorse and
accept them. There are at least two great
mobiles, both in their private character ibe-
raj and fair men-the Duke of Buccleuch
in the south, and the Duke of Richmond in
the north-who would think it due to their
dignity to sniff and refuse; but all the rest,
and they as well, will be obliged, sooner
or later, to follow suit, so that over this
new code there might be inscribed the pre-.
face" Here beginneth the story which
relates the downfall of feudalism in Scot
land" . +"
Lord Fife has innovated in four respects
upon law and usage. For q long series of
years, Scottish farmers have been e~xercis-
ed about "hypothec" and game, The word,
"hypothec", has q barbarous sound to ordi-
nary English ears, though of course every
lawyer, Continental as well as English,
knows what it means,-that, it is the
equivalent for the English law of distress.
Though largely modified of late years in
its incidence, this law is still capable of
being carried out with q harsh austerity
not permissible South of the Tweed. Lord
Fife, by formal contract, abandonS uncOn-
ditinuQHv fha rinbf m ifc ayaraico ruf%iD0
himself III his proper place, as on a level
with every other creditor of a falling or
bankrupt man. Ground game he allows
all his tenants to shoot as they like, leav.
ing it to themselves to settle with tho
Excise as to times and seasons. Winged
game he reserves, but with the proyis0
that if the birds do more damage thar the
farmer may fairly reckon upon-fve per
cent on the value of the crop is the figure
suggested-compensation will be allowed,
its amount being fixed by arbiters chosen
by both parties. This is a step in advance
of any Game Bill applicable to Scotland
hitherto introduced to Parliament. A like
stride forwards is marked in the rule that
compensation will be awarded for all true
Improvements executed at the tenants
cost, even should he have to be evicted for
non-payment of rent; in other words, there
is to be no ~seigniorial power of furnishing
failure by c~ontiscation. Most important of
all, perhaps, is a recognition of the right to
pursue the course of tillage that is likely
to pay best, the only exceptions being that
it is prohibited to reap two white crops in
succession; while it is enacted that, upon
the expiry of a lease, the land must be left
under some regular rotation of cropping, SO
that the new tenant shall not be subjected
to a disadvantage. To those who know
how, from generation to generation, c0ndi-
lions as to cropping have been copied by
lawyers from "BookS of Style"-ancient
rules being thus perpetuated in the most
absurd %way-this innovation will appear
the greatest of all. Safe guarded as it is,
the reasonableness of it can hardly be
questioned.
iii be a strange thing, as surely it must
be accounted, that one great landholder
has the power not only of becoming a law
to himself in the control of his property,
but of anticipating, ,,and so of forcing-as
We are persuaded will be the case here-a
legislative movement in favour of making
that law universal and compulsory, it is
still more odd that we should have had to
wait so long for a step as necessary as it is
significant. Exactly a hundred years have
passed since Paley, p~ropounded these two
rules as of Imperative obligation in re.
gard to the management of landed proper
ty-the first to give the occupier all the
p0werseyer the soil that Is necessary for
Its perfect cultivation;" othes second, "to