Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-05-12
ETY-NINE-YEAR LEASES.

corning Modern Land Tenures.
'-Leaseholds." Adam Smith said. ARE
eviscerated freeI1olds stuffed with law:
a tenure first contrived when legal
subtlety was perfectly matured but
social science and political economy
We're yet unknown. Property in land
was then a corpus viii for the lawyers.
who regarded it as a peculiar subject
for their cIeverest devices Adam
Smith. like tia. other famous economist
Of his epoch. John Stuart Mill. did not
believe in any tenure than the fee
simple. To-day long-term leaseholds-
not only for ninety-nine. but for one
hundred and ninety-eight. and some
times even for nine hundred and ninety
nine vears-are the rule rather than
the exception where particu larry valu
Die proper " is concerned: property
bound TO increase in value, and in
which the owner is lOath TO part with
the fee for that reason. Here in Chi
cago the most valuable property is held
under such leases and the finest i'm
provements. worth hundreds OF thou
sands of dollars are made at the lessees'
cost upon leased ground. Of recent
years there has been but one change
from the lOng-term lease of old that
revaluatiOn clauses ara generally
dropped and the straight lease prevails.
The ninety nine-vear lease. as it is in
use in Chicago to-day. is direct form
OF that sort OF English land tenure of
which the first traces are found during
the reign of Queen Anne. when the
bishop Of Durham was authorized to
grant certain lands 70 the vicar of
Stockton. The vicar of course was
only enabled to grant to his tenants
such leases as the law allowed to a
vicar. Church lands We're held by &C.
clesiaStical officials only for a term CO..
durable with their own personal en-
joyment. They could execute leases
only by obtaining the consent or con-
frmation OF Interested corpora tions or
dignitaries. According to another act.
inaugurate by George l., land could be
let for yearly rent if the lessees or
persons farming the land might have a
sufficient tenure or interest to build
upon and improve the land.
Atabout this time the so-cafled three
lives leases began to be known. and
they are undoubtedly the forerunner of
the present ninety-nine year instru-
ments. The ninety-nine year lease
proper is a product of the present cen
fury. During William Tvs short reign
it was found expedient to impose re
strictions on the renewal Of leases. and
after the passage of the leasehold
act of June 81. 1895. no eccIesi-
astical persons nor any master OF
guardian could grant new leases for any
longer term than three lives While
-, p; Ill
the present incumbent and his two next
successors during the terms of their
natural lives. it was very soon construed
to mean-especially in cases where
valua bic city properly WAS involved
the average dura ton of the life OF
man. which at that period was calcu-
lated at thirty-three years. Hence.
three lives meant ninetynine years,
and this period vas soon accepted in
leases granted by the holders OF large
estates. It was sort of entail on the
estate. practically speaking. protecting
the property from being sGuaHdered by
thriftiess descendants. and at the same
time gave the lessee IL chance FOR perma-
aent improvement
in this city nInety-nine-year leases
were made as far back as thirty-five
years. though the custom lay dormant
for years until it was revived at com
para lively recent date The modern
ninety-nine-year lease Is perhaps the
most pOnderOus legal instrument ex-
tantant. It has naturally to deal with
50 many future possibilities. both on the
part of the lessor and the lessee. that it
admits OF an almost infinite volume of
legal phrslseolOgy. It has To contain
the assent of III living claimants or
beneiciaries Of the estate. in direct
succession as well As in the matter of
dover. and it must be equally binding
to all descendants. heirs and assigns of
the lessee for the term named In the
lease. Hence II Is an occurrence not at
all rare that Sucf1 formula Die instru-
ment-w hich. OF course. includes the alb
stract of title OF the property involved
contains forty thousand to fifty thou
sand words That would mean from
three to four pages OF solid prlnt.-Chi-
cago Herald