On Thursday Mr. Lloyd George received a deputation of town
tenants, and explained the Government's policy with regard to the use of land in urban areas—a side of the land question upon which he had not touched in his earlier speeches. The deputation, which claimed to represent the whole of the retail traders of the country, asked for the Government's support for the Town Tenants Bill, a measure which aims at securing for the tenant relief from unreasonable covenants of leases, continuity of tenure, and compensation for permanent improvements made by the tenant. Mr. Lloyd George announced that he was authorized by the Govern- ment to state that when they came to deal with the land question they proposed to adopt the principles of the Bill. Nothing, be added, which legitimately and fairly belonged to the landlord would in this way be taken from him, while on the other hand nothing which legitimately and fairly belonged to traders would be taken from them. Mr. Lloyd George next proceeded to outline the machinery by means of which these proposals would be enforced. They intended to adopt the principle of having an impartial tribunal, which was, aecording to their present intention, to consist of Commis- sioners from the new Land Ministry, who will be business men rather than lawyers. While we do not doubt that town tenants may have considerable grievances (though we believe Mr. Lloyd George exaggerated these), the settling of all disputes by some extra-judicial tribunal is likely to lead to new forms of injustice and oppression.
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