The Tenant-right Bill passed the House of Lords on Thursday,
amidst a general chorus of approval, which at least proved that the great landlords do not think it will do them much harm. The Duke of Richmond was quite effusive in his thanks for the manner in which the Opposition had been conducted, and the Duke of Argyll said it was not a sham Bill, but would increase the security of the tenants, lead everywhere to written agreements, and necessi- tate a universal revaluation of land. How it is to produce those results, when any landowner can advertise himself •out of the Bill, his Grace did not explain. The real fight over the Bill will be in the Lower House, and the Duke of Richmond, foreseeing that, stated decisively that the Government would consider any interference with freedom of contract equivalent to the rejection of the Bill. It is the kind of measure, however, which never comes out of a Committee of the House of Commons as it went in, and we should not wonder at all if, when it emerged, it was found that Mr. Disraeli's promise to give tenant-farmers a right to tt,o years' notice had been kept, and that the rest of the Bill had somehow melted into the air. If the fight over freedom of contract proves severe, the Premier may force through that compromise.
Previous page
