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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 

 
 TITHES ORDINARY AND 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY: 
 
 HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM. 
 
 THE "MARK LANE EXPRESS" 
 
 1fhi# (S&sags. 
 
 LONDON: 
 THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS COMPANY, Limited, 
 
 Clement's House, Clement's Inn Passage, W.C.
 
 of 
 
 T&3 
 
 FIRST PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 TITHES ORDINARY AND 
 EXTRAORDINARY: 
 
 HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM. 
 
 By WILLIAM WATT, Aberdeen. 
 
 The Tithe Question of the present day turns almost 
 exclusively upon the Commutation Act of 1836. This Act 
 brought substantial relief from a long-standing grievance and 
 injustice. More than one-half of the tithable property of the 
 country had been the creation of modern times. Whenever 
 a piece of waste land was reclaimed and cropped the tithe- 
 owner stepped in to claim his share of the produce — reaping 
 where hehad not sown, and gathering where he had not strawed. 
 The old tithe system with its anomalies was borne with for a 
 long time, but at last the patience of English farmers became 
 exhausted, and to remedy what was at the time the most 
 pressing of their grievances the Commutation Act was passed. 
 It was not a perfect remedy, but the result of a compromise, 
 and vitiated by certain radical defects. The agricultural in- 
 terest, however, accepted it as a boon, and such in truth it 
 was ; but as time went on the defects became more and more 
 apparent, and new evils began to be experienced under its 
 operation. 
 
 40601 
 
 o
 
 Before Commutation, tithes, though an annoyance to the 
 farmer, were in their ultimate incidence a tax on the consumer. 
 By the Act of 183G they became a rent-charge ; whether paid 
 by landlord or tenant in the first instance, they became, 
 theoretically at least, a deduction from rent. How were they 
 a tax on the consumer 1 it may be asked. A general answer 
 will suffice for the present purpose. The Corn Laws kept 
 the price of grain at a high level, and limited the supply 
 from abroad. One-tenth of the gross produce of the land 
 went to the tithe-owner— under which designation I include 
 throughout this paper the lay impropriator. A tenth of the 
 gross produce was obviously much more than a tenth of the 
 farmer's net income, the other nine-tenths having to bear 
 rent, taxes, and all the costs of production. It was also 
 obviously much more than a tenth of the rent. Generally 
 speaking it may have been about a fifth, or in the ratio of 20 
 per cent, to what the landlord received as the hire of average 
 land. The tithe was almost entirely net income, and formed 
 a very heavy burden on the agricultural interest. On in- 
 ferior lands, the produce of which was just sufficient to bear 
 the cost of cultivation, it took precedence of the landlord's 
 rent. Land could nut be kept in cultivation, indeed, unless 
 nine-tenths of the produce were sufficient to pay the farmer's 
 costs, leaving one-tenth for the tithe-owner, and nothing for 
 the landlord ; and on these terms the interest of the landlord 
 was against corn-growing. The land was to him more pro- 
 fitable as sheep walk or rabbit-warren, when, but for the 
 tithe, it would have yielded crops with a margin of profit 
 and rent. Independently, therefore, of the peculiarly ob- 
 noxious manner in which it was levied, the tithe impeded and 
 hampered agricultural enterprise. When relief came an im- 
 portant change was at once apparent. Whether land fell out of 
 cultivation or additional land wasbrought under tiFage, the rent 
 charge was now an immovable quantity. Under these altered
 
 conditions not a little thin and infertile land began to be rapidly 
 reclaimed from the waste. One of the law-made impediments 
 to the production of food having been removed, an additional 
 acreage was immediately ploughed, sown, and reaped; and thus 
 a tangible benefit accrued to the general community in those 
 Corn Law times from the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836. 
 
 The gain to the farmer was more doubtful. Too often he 
 was tempted to offer excessive rent for the lands which the 
 commutation of tithes made him desirous to cultivate, and no 
 very long time elapsed before the repeal of the Corn Laws 
 introduced new conditions little to his advantage. Bad 
 seasons told severely upon the farmers of the inferior 
 lands. The imperfections of the Act itself also soon became 
 painfully apparent. The work of valuation for the rent- 
 charge proceeded slowly. Still slowlier went on that 
 redemption of the tithes which the Act permitted. If the 
 rent-charge had become theoretically a claim against the 
 landlord the Act failed to prevent him from passing it on to 
 the tenant. The farmer paying tithe rent-charge pays so 
 much less rent, it may be said. But this is a meagre and 
 inaccurate statement of his position. He is always at the 
 mercy of the seasons. Storms and floods at certain periods 
 of the year may involve him in incalculable loss. His crops 
 and his live stock are subject to the ravages of blight and 
 disease. In bad seasons and periods of misfortune in the 
 days preceding Commutation, he had less tithe taken from 
 him than in good seasons. The tithe was proportioned to 
 the J,bounty of nature. It rose in years of abundance and 
 fell in years of scarcity. But now-a-days the payment substi- 
 tuted for tithes is apt to be highest when the produce is 
 least. The seven years' average of corn prices, upon which 
 the rent charge is based, if it serves to moderate the fluctua- 
 tions in the amount of this payment, serves also to render it 
 unduly onerous in seasons of adversity and failure. The most
 
 disastrous year of recent times has just been passed through, 
 and for that year the rent-charge was far above its average of 
 the last forty years, and still farther above the amount that 
 was deemed an equitable satisfaction of the tithe-owner's 
 claims when the Commutation Act was passed. Since 1836 
 the fluctuations in the amount of the rent-charge have been 
 very considerable indeed. The quantities of corn assigned to 
 the tithe-owner in that year as the equivalent of £100 in 
 money yielded him only about £90 twenty years later. 
 During the last twenty-two years, however — half the period 
 that has elapsed since Commutation — the rent- charge has only 
 thrice been below the par of 1836, and by but a trifling 
 percentage in the three exceptional years. The average of 
 the twenty-two years has been £106 18s. 8d., or nearly 7 per 
 cent, above the original fixture. For last year, when the 
 harvest was one of the worst on record — certainly the worst 
 by far that has been experienced since tithes were commuted 
 — the value of the rent-charge was £109 17s. 9d. For 1878 
 it was £112 7s. 5^d., for 1874 about the same amount, for 
 1875 higher, and never below £108 since 1871. Since 1871 
 only two harvests have yielded an average return, and five 
 have fallen far short of the average, — at least as the average 
 used to be estimated, for it is becoming a serious question 
 whether the standard of yield will not have to be revised. 
 Deficient harvests and high rent-charge have thus gone 
 together. Year after year the farmer has been kept on the 
 rack, unable, too often, to prevent his capital from being 
 eaten away ; and all the while he has been harassed by excep- 
 tionally high exactions to meet the claims of the tithe- 
 owner. With the rent-charge two shillings or more in the 
 pound above the Commutation fixture, crops deficient, and 
 prices low — it is a fine time for the tithe-owner, anything 
 but a fine time for the tithe-paying farmer ! 
 
 The main scope and purpose of the arrangement of 1836,
 
 was to commute the variable tithe into a corn-rent payable in 
 money. The corn forming the corn-rent was to be a fixed 
 quantity, and permanently apportioned to the lands of each 
 parish by Commissioners appointed under the Act. The 
 tithe-owner was thus to receive every year the money 
 equivalent of a fixed and definite number of quarters of 
 corn. This corn was to consist of wheat, barley, and oats — 
 not equal quantities, nor in proportion to acreage or yield, 
 but the quantities constituting equal values according to the 
 official average prices of the seven years immediately preced- 
 ing 1836. By this scale the proportions for £100 of rent- 
 charge were 94*95 bushels of wheat, 168-42 of barley, and 
 242*42 of oats, each of these quantities representing the 
 value of £33 6s. 8d. Such were the proportions fixed in the 
 Act for all time coming, and upon which every payment of 
 rent-charge was to be made. Whether only one species of 
 grain, or two species, or three, or none at all, were grown on 
 the land thenceforward mattered not. The rent-charge had 
 to be paid on the triplex scale, its amount being for each 
 year the mean of the previous seven years' official average 
 prices applied to these respective proportions. The prices 
 on which the proportions were determined were for wheat, 
 56s. 2d. per quarter ; for barley, 31s. 6d. ; and for oats, 22s. 
 
 These facts involve some of the leading points at which 
 readjustment is required. 
 
 First, as to the composition of the rent-charge. The high 
 proportions assigned to barley and oats give those grains a pre- 
 ponderating influence on the result. A rise or fall of a shilling 
 per quarter in the mean septennial average of wheat affects the 
 rent-charge only to the extent of about twelve shillings per 
 £100. A similar rise or fall on barley makes twenty-one 
 shillings and on oats thirty shillings of difference. The 
 order of importance of the three grains in English agriculture 
 is thus reversed in the rent-charge arrangement. But this is
 
 8 
 
 not all. Wheat, to which so very subordinate a place is assigned, 
 has averaged, since Commutation, about 2s. lOd. per quarter 
 below the par value adopted in 1836. Barley, on the contrary, 
 has averaged for the forty-four years 2s. 8d., and oats Is. 3d. 
 above the original fixtures. Tims it has come about that 
 while the staple grain has fallen in price, the corn-rent in 
 lieu of tithe has been about two and three-quarters per cent, 
 above the Commutation level on the average of the 
 subsequent period ; and, as we have seen, the disparity 
 has been much greater during the latter half of the 
 time. I think it will be generally allowed, on consideration 
 of these facts, that equity requires that the tripartite arrange- 
 ment should be reconsidered. Joseph Hume's proposal of 
 half-wheat and quarter each barley and oats would be better ; 
 and fixed money rent-charge best. 
 
 Secondly, as to the mode of striking the averages. The 
 150 selected markets from which official returns are made are 
 not the best possible selection, regard being had to the course 
 of the corn trade in these modern days. Many important 
 markets are omitted ; not a few unimportant are included. 
 This, however, is a matter of detail, not of itself, perhaps, 
 very vital. But the returns from the markets in the list are 
 often most imperfect. The West Biding Chamber of Agri- 
 culture not very long ago made public the fact that of all the 
 dealers attending the important market of Wakefield not one 
 had for six weeks on end made the returns to the corn in- 
 spector that are required by law. Throughout the country 
 great laxity and remissness notoriously prevail in regard to 
 these returns. But even when they are duly made they are 
 not just to the grower or to the payer of the rent-charge 
 whether he is the grower or not. They are returns of prices 
 in the market, and include costs of carriage and profits of 
 dealers and intermediaries. They are not growers' prices. 
 They make no allowance for the " tail-corn " consumed on
 
 9 
 
 the farm, or for the inferior samples increasingly used in these 
 days for feeding purposes instead of being sent to market. 
 They are the prices of the choicest portion of the crop, and 
 not of the crop as a whole. The averages based on them must 
 therefore be fallacious, unduly favourable to the tithe-owner, 
 unjust to the payer of tithe be he farmer or landlord, doubly 
 unjust to the farmer in so far as they serve to aggravate a 
 burden not properly his. Here again a fixed money rent- 
 charge would save all heart-burning and sense of wrong. 
 
 Thirdly, as to the septennial average. This also is open 
 to question, and chiefly because of its tendency, already re- 
 ferred to, to maintain the rent-charge at a high level through 
 periods of agricultural depression. 
 
 In considering how the rent-charge should be dealt 
 with so as to remove the anomalies and grievances connected 
 with it, some not unimportant hints may be derived from the 
 settlement of the tithe question effected long ago in Scotland. 
 The Scotch landlords, at their county meetings, have lately 
 been complaining a little of the growing disposition of the 
 presbyteries to exact the uttermost farthing allowed by that 
 settlement, and are taking counsel together at Edinburgh on 
 this and other matters concerning their relations with the 
 Kirk. But the farmer has been completely emancipated. 
 Questions about teinds (as tithes are called in Scotland) are 
 no affair of his. He is free to pursue his own business, and is 
 an entirely disinterested spectator of the disputes between 
 presbyteries and heritors. After the Reformation the people 
 of Scotland became restive under the teinds, which were an 
 oppressive deduction from the scanty produce of the land, 
 and obnoxious from the way in which they were collected. 
 In the course of the 17th century the Scotch Parliament 
 appointed several executive commissions to deal with ecclesi- 
 astical matters, and some at least of these commissions were 
 invested with powers to value, sell, and otherwise dispose of
 
 10 
 
 the teinds. At the union with England the powers of the 
 last of these commissions Avere transferred to a newly con- 
 stituted " Court of Teinds," presided over by the judges of 
 the Court of Session. Questions concerning the temporalities 
 of the Church are still dealt with by the Court of Teinds. 
 From the time it was instituted the landowners were enabled 
 to obtain through its instrumentality a judicial valuation of 
 the tithes. A fifth of the rent at the date of the valuation 
 was regarded as the whole tithe, and the Court of Teinds was 
 empowered to grant such proportion of this fifth as it might 
 see fit, to form the stipend of the minister. The remainder 
 called the free or unappropriated teinds, was left in the 
 possession of the landowner. As long as any part of the 
 teinds remained thus unappropriated to ecclesiastical use the 
 minister was entitled to apply once every twenty years for an 
 augmentation of stipend. In many parishes the teinds are 
 now exhausted, but in many others there is still a balance 
 left. The application for an increase of stipend, having been 
 sanctioned by the Presbytery, goes to the Court of Teinds. 
 The landowners may oppose. The Court decides the case on 
 its merits, and apportions such increase as it may grant upon 
 the lands of the parish according to the free teinds for which 
 each is liable. The Scotch like the English tithe has been 
 commuted into a corn-rent payable in money ; but there is an 
 essential difference between the modes in which the amount to 
 be paid is determined. In Scotland the standard by which the 
 payments are ruled is not a compound septennial average, 
 but the fiars' prices of the year. These prices are struck for 
 each county annually. The practice differs a little in different 
 counties, but the system, briefly described, is this : — A Fiars' 
 Court is held in the spring, presided over by the Sheriff of the 
 county, and to which a jury of landowners, farmers, corn- 
 dealers, accountants, and other respectable persons is summoned. 
 Witnesses — principal growers and principal buyers — are
 
 11 
 
 likewise summoned from all districts of the county, and are 
 required to bring with them schedules setting forth the 
 quantities and prices involved in the actual transactions in 
 which they have been concerned. Cognisance is taken only 
 of first transactions, and grain is classified into first and 
 second quality. 
 
 The advantages of this system over the English are : — 
 (1) That it gives a growers' and not a dealers' average ; (2) 
 that it adapts itself to local circumstances, and, in particular, to 
 local prices ; (3) that it lets every year bear its own burdens, 
 the money value of the teinds rising and falling with prices ; 
 (4) that a distinction is made between first and second 
 quality of corn ; and (5) that the evidence is full and trust- 
 worthy, and the prices struck by a jury consisting of men of 
 good standing, under the direction of a trained lawyer having 
 daily practise in the exercise of judicial functions. As I have 
 said, the tithes are in Scotland purely a landlords' question ; 
 and the settlement on this basis has worked very well. 
 "Without much difficulty the system might be adapted to 
 English circumstances. Witnesses might be called, as in 
 Scotland, to give evidence before a court and jury, which 
 might be presided over by the Chairman of Quarter Sessions. 
 Alternatively there is the County Court Judge, to whose juris- 
 diction the matter might be assigned if it were thought that 
 quarter sessions are too intimately connected with landlords' 
 interests to be a sufficiently impartial tribunal. In either case 
 there would be the safeguard of a jury and of publicity. If 
 the corn-rent- charge is to be maintained, it is obviously right 
 that the price to the grower should be taken as the founda- 
 tion of the averages. A separate determination of prices for 
 each county would also be a great improvement. The smallest 
 reform worth the name would be to multiply the number of 
 the returning markets, and compel the grower to make returns 
 under penalties. But without judicial authorit) 7 ' there will 
 never be an efficiently working system.
 
 12 
 
 The substitution for tlie existing corn-rent of a fixed money 
 rent-charge, payable by the landlord, would put an end to 
 difficulties, and save much time and trouble. This is the true 
 and simple solution of the tithe problem. The adjustment 
 of the new commutation, with due regard to the interests in- 
 volved, would be a work of some little delicacy, perhaps ; but 
 Parliament, after full discussion of the subject, would doubt- 
 less come to a decision not out of harmony with common 
 sense and equity. The average cash value of the rent-charge 
 since 1836, would probably commend itself to many im- 
 partial minds as a leading point to be considered in for- 
 mulating such a re-arrangement. 
 
 The important question of redemption would thus be in 
 some degree simplified. The value of the rent-charge would be 
 easy to calculate • and as the security would be of the highest 
 order, the purchase-money would be obtainable on moderate 
 terms, either Avith or without the intervention of the Govern- 
 ment. It could be repaid by instalments over a series of years. 
 In the case of the tithes devoted to ecclesiastical use, some 
 three fourths of the whole, the redemption-money would be 
 vested in the nation ; the annuity derivable from it taking 
 the place of the rent-charge in furnishing the incomes 
 of the clergy. The Act of 183G provided for redemption on 
 the agreement of the owners of two-thirds in value of the 
 lands and tithes respectively, such agreement being confirmed 
 by the Tithe Commissioners. Progress has not, however, 
 been rapid ; and it would, doubtless, be accelerated, or at 
 least there would be less temptation to hold out against it, 
 were the rent-charge absolutely fixed and no fluctuation either 
 way in prospect. 
 
 It may be demurred that a rigid money-rent would be 
 unfair to the tithe owner— that the settlement of 1 836 has 
 yielded him a considerable increment on the average of years, 
 and that a hard and fast money standard would bo less to his
 
 13 
 
 advantage. To this it may be answered that there is no 
 assurance that barley and oats will continue to rise in price. 
 It is quite possible that instead of rising they may fall, and 
 on the whole the average of the forty-four years seems a liberal 
 proposal to make for the further commutation which the 
 general interest renders expedient. The tithe-owner has con- 
 tributed nothing to the agricultural value of the land on 
 which he holds a preferential dividend-claim. His preference 
 dividend is very commonly equal to a fourth or even a third 
 of the landlord's rent. To cite only one instance, one that is 
 already public property, Mr. Mechi recently mentioned the 
 case of a farm in Essex, on which the tithe came to seven 
 shillings an acre, while the landlord's rent had fallen far 
 below that amount, whereas in better times the same land 
 had been rented at upwards of a pound an acre. It seems 
 perfectly fair and just to treat the tithe rent-charge as a 
 prefprence dividend, not liable to fluctuation, and subject 
 to redemption at a fair actuarial value. 
 
 Thus far I have been considering only the ordinary tithes 
 and the best mode of dealing with them. The " extra- 
 ordinary " tithes introduce a new set of considerations. 
 Amongst their other duties, the Tithe Commissioners were 
 to form the lands in any parish in which there were hop- 
 gardens, market- gardens, or orchards, into a "district" 
 within which the tithe rent-charge was to be divided into 
 two parts — ordinary and extraordinary. The ordinary was 
 to apply to all lands cultivated under the usual rotations ; 
 the extraordinary to be an additional burden on the market- 
 gardens, hop-grounds, and orchards, ceasing in the event of 
 the lands ceasing to be thus employed. When fresh lands 
 come to be cultivated for the first time as market or hop- 
 gardens, after the passin^of the Commutation Act, they were to 
 be rated with an additional rent-charge, so as to bring up their 
 total liability to the amount of the extraordinary rent-charge
 
 H 
 
 per acre in the district. Here was a new tax upon industry 
 operating as a serious discouragement to the improved cultiva- 
 tion of the soil ; and its evils were indefinitely extended hy 
 an Amending Act, passed twenty years ago, by which the 
 Commissioners were empowered, upon the application of in- 
 terested parties, to declare the lands in any parish of England 
 and Wales a district within which an extraordinary rent- 
 charge may be fixed by them if any portion of the parish has 
 been cultivated as hop-gardens or market-gardens since the 
 passing of the Act of 1836. The door was thus opened for a 
 great deal of litigation. Agricultural aud market-garden pro- 
 duce shade into each other by fine gradations. Potatoes, 
 cabbages, beet, and even peas and beans, are garden as well 
 as field crops. In parts of the centre and north-east of Scot- 
 land, the strawberry is a field crop. Extraordinary tithe was, 
 in point of fact, demanded, in respect of certain land in Corn- 
 wall newly reclaimed and planted with potatoes ; and exemp- 
 tion was not secured until a special Act of Parliament was 
 passed for the purpose in 1873. Cornwall, however, 
 is exceptionally favoured ; and extraordinary rent-charge 
 at rates varying from 6s. to 24s. an acre or upwards, 
 is levied on much of the land in several counties 
 of the south and west of England. In its practical 
 effect the extraordinary rent-charge is virtually a tax 
 on specific articles. Of the products — hops, fruit, and vege- 
 tables — subject to this indirect tax there are yearly importations 
 to the value of five or six millions. To that extent does the 
 foreigner compete successfully in the English markets with 
 the overtaxed English producers. The extraordinary rent- 
 charge acts as a bounty on importation, and discourages im- 
 provement. The farmer brings additional produce out of the 
 land by cultivating and cropping it on market gardening 
 principles, and no sooner does he begin to reap his reward 
 than the tithe-owner, who has contributed nothing to the re-
 
 15 
 
 suit, steps in to demand his share of the produce. Within less 
 than an hour's railway journey of London, there is much un- 
 cultivated land that will some day be turned to better account. 
 It would probably be so at once but for the extraordinary 
 tithe that weighs so heavily on the inferior soils to 
 which it is applied. The Metropolis and other great towns 
 are but indifferently furnished with fresh fruit and vegetables, 
 although the home supply is largely supplemented from 
 France and Belgium. With a better supply the demand 
 would increase, and there will be increasing scope for the 
 development of this branch of rural economy. Meanwhile 
 the extraordinary tithe operates seriously to its prejudice. 
 Alike in the interests of the producer and of the general com- 
 munity as consumers, it is imperative that this obnoxious im- 
 post should be got rid of. 
 
 The first thing to be done with the extraordinary tithe is 
 to pass an Act to prevent its extension to lands at present 
 free. Mr. Inderwick, the member for Rye, is moving in the 
 matter, and has in hand a bill having this for its object. 
 Further, there is the question of redemption. I have spoken 
 of the ordinary tithe rent-charge as a preferential dividend 
 from the land. In like manner the extraordinary tithe may 
 be compared to a terminable and uncertain annuity. It may 
 cease at any time through a change in the mode of culture. 
 Should Mr. Inderwick be successful in his endeavour to prevent 
 the imposition of the tax on land not now subject to it he will 
 have done more to provide a remedy for the existing evil 
 than will be apparent from the terms of his bill. Free land 
 would soon come into competition with land that is burdened. 
 The burdened land would be less in demand, and in process 
 of time the extraordinary tithe might be expected to die a 
 natural death. In place of waiting for this it would probably 
 be found worth while for landlords to pay and tithe-owners 
 to accept a few years' purchase as the price of immediate
 
 16 
 
 redemption. What the purchase value should be T cannot 
 profess to determine. Obviously for an uncertain security 
 like the extraordinary tithe it would be very much less than 
 for the ordinary rent-charge. Seven years' purchase was 
 thought an equitable allowance for the extraordinary tithe in 
 1836, and it will hardly be maintained that its value has been 
 enhanced since then. 
 
 The whole subject of tithes is of not a little practical 
 interest to the agriculturist. By being subjected, as he too 
 often is, to the burden of the ordinary rent-charge, he is 
 made to suffer vicariously in times of adversity when other- 
 wise he has more than enough to bear. The ordinary rent- 
 charge is distinctly a charge on the land. The extraordinary 
 rent-charge, on the other hand, is a tax on production and an 
 impediment to the cultivation of the soil. The one should be 
 changed into a fixed money rent, subject to redemption, and 
 payable directly by the landlord ; the other should be re- 
 stricted to its present area in the first instance, and then 
 redeemed where practicable, or, failing that, allowed to dis- 
 appear by a gradual process of decay.
 
 SECOND PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 By ALBERT BATH, Colgates Farm, Sevenoaks, 
 Kent 
 
 Part I, —ORDINA RY 71 THES. 
 
 As the payment of tithes is now agitating the minds of 
 agriculturists and others, I consider it a very seasonable time 
 to elicit what facts we can concerning them. The question 
 arises in the minds of many thoughtful men whether, in the 
 face of heavy foreign competition and free trade (which is a 
 blessing to the million), the imposition of tithes for the 
 support of the richest church in Christendom is compatible 
 with the present altered times ; and if tithes should still be 
 exacted from the producer of food, whether it wordd not be 
 to the benefit and prosperity of our country that they should 
 be -used for educational purposes and for the easement of 
 local burdens. 
 
 It is universally admitted that the payment of tithes was, 
 in its commencement, free and spontaneous ; and although 
 it was afterwards enjoined as a religious duty, yet, until the 
 establishment of the parochial right, every one was at liberty 
 to give his tithes to any religious or ecclesiastical persons 
 at his discretion. A rector could no more demand tithes of 
 any of the lands within his parish without showing a par- 
 ticular title by grant or prescription than he could demand 
 inheritance of the lands themselves. The first written
 
 18 
 
 mention of tithes in any English law that I can find was in 
 the year 786, when a synod was held wherein the payment 
 of tithes was strongly enjoined. The laity were not at first 
 bound by this canon until it was confirmed by two kingdoms 
 of the Heptarchy (Mercia ami Northumberland), by a Parlia- 
 ment of the bishops, dukes, senators, and people. Later on 
 I notice that in 844 King Ethel wolf, at an assembly held at 
 Winchester, granted a tenth of all his lands, free from all 
 taxes and impositions of every kind. Tithes were of three 
 kinds ; prsedial tithes, arising only either of the fruits of the 
 ground, as corn, hay, hemp, or the fruits of the orchards, 
 as apples, plums, pears, &c. ; secondly, personal tithes, 
 arising out of the industry and labour of men, either by 
 handicraft or buying, selling. &c. ; and thirdly, mixed tithes, 
 arising partly out of the ground, and partly of the industry 
 of men, as lands, pigs, calves, cheese, and milk. I next 
 find that Athelstan in 928, at a great Council, made the 
 following canon : — " I, King Athelstan, by the advice of 
 "VVolfstein, my archbishop, and my other bishops, strictly 
 charge you all, my reeves in all parts of my kingdom, in the 
 name of God and the saints, and as you value my favour, to 
 pay tithes, both of cattle and corn, on all my lands, and I 
 further ordain that all my bishops aldermen shall pay the 
 tithes of their lands, and they shall give it in charge to all 
 who are under their jurisdiction to do the same. All this I 
 command*tobe carried into execution by the time appointed.'' 
 Then in 958, a canon of King Edgar, wherein the clergy are 
 recommended to earnestly exhort the people to pay their dues 
 to the Church at the proper time — " their plough aim 
 fifteen nights after Easter, their tithes of young animals at 
 Pentecost, their tithes of corn at All Saints, their Peter's 
 pence*at Lammas, their church scot at Martinmas." In the 
 reign of King Canute, among the canons I find penalties 
 threatened for failing to pay tithe of corn, cattle, church scot,
 
 19 
 
 Eome scot, plough alms, light scot, and soul scot. In the 
 beginning of the reign of King John, about the year 
 1200, all tithes of lands which Avere not then vested 
 in any ecclesiastical person or body were annexed by the 
 general law of the land to the rector of the parish in which 
 such lands were situate. For this reason the right of a rector 
 to all the tithes arising within his parish, is usually termed 
 by lawyers his common law right ; and this right is perfectly 
 distinct from those particular interests in tithes which were 
 created by the arbitrary grants or consecrations of private 
 persons before the establishment of the parochial and common 
 law right, and which are now denominated portions of tithes. 
 For these portions were never annexed to any rectory, nor do 
 they, either in point of fact or in contemplation of law, belong, 
 or bear any relation to, the rectories of the parishes in which 
 they are situate, but are wholly collateral to the inheritance 
 of the rectory. !N T or can they be legally united to the rectory ; 
 for if a portion of tithes and the rectory should happen to be 
 vested in the same person for an equal estate in fee, the por- 
 tion will not merge in the rectory, but Avill continue a dis- 
 tinct inheritance. 
 
 Coming down to the time of King Edward III., I find he 
 passed a law that barren lands and woods of more than twenty 
 years' growth should be exempt from tithes, and this he did 
 without consulting the Church. I will now mention the Re- 
 formation. This was effected by King Henry VIII. , who be- 
 came displeased and discontented with the Pope because he 
 would not grant him a divorce from his Queen, in order that 
 he might marry her maid of honour, AnneBoleyn; renounced 
 the Pope's supremacy (though himself a Papist), and assumed 
 it himself ; and by Act of a Parliament which he awed into 
 submission, got the tithes and other ecclesiastical property 
 transferred from their original holders to the clergy of the 
 new Church. When Queen Mary, in her devotion to Rome,
 
 20 
 
 and Elizabeth, in her aspiration after spiritual supremacy, 
 sought to make similar changes, they had only to command 
 their Parliaments and the work was done. The chorus of the 
 song called " The Vicar of Bray," viz. : — 
 
 "And this is law, I will maintain 
 ("ntil my dying day, sir — 
 Whatsoever king- may reign, 
 Still I'll he Vicar of Bray, sir," 
 
 brings to our minds the many changes that the country under- 
 went as regards the State religion ; and the Vicar of Bray, to 
 prevent losing his tithes and position, was not scrupulous in 
 changing his religion from Boman Catholicism to Protes- 
 tantism, and vice versa, from time to time as the monarchs 
 at their pleasure brought about the alteration. 
 
 From what I have stated, it is shown with perfect clear- 
 ness that tithes owed their existence not to any pious bequest, 
 but simply to the creation of law. At first they were a 
 voluntary offering ; but after a time, people failing to pay, 
 the civil power stepped in and converted them into a national 
 tax, and an increasing one, as it is estimated that more than 
 two-thirds of the present tithable property of the Church has 
 arisen during the last three hundred years, from the cultiva- 
 tion of waste lands formerly belonging to the Crown, or, in 
 other words, to the people. Seven years after cultivation, 
 these lands became subject to tithes. 
 
 As I have previously stated, tithes owe their existence to 
 the creation of law, and this is proved by Parliament legislating 
 upon them far differently than it does on our private pro- 
 perty. A later proof is the Tithe Commutation Act, 1836. 
 This Act altered the mode of assessing and collecting the 
 annual value, but did not in any way affect the tenure of this 
 kind of property. The owntrship and the conditions of use 
 remain precisely what they were before the Act was passed. 
 The adoption of the term " rent-charge," however, in lieu of 
 " tithes," has very materially contributed to the spread of the
 
 21 
 
 notion that the payments with which individuals are in the 
 habit of voluntarily charging their landed estates, as a pro- 
 vision for different branches of their families, or in compensa- 
 tion for some services performed, and the payments which are 
 now annually made to beneficed clergymen under that name, 
 are analogous. I will give some sections of the above Act, 
 as they may be of interest. Being a tenant farmer and not a 
 lawyer, I shall not presume to interpret their meaning, but 
 merely make a few comments on some of the clauses that most 
 affect agriculturists. As a kind of introduction to the Act 
 I will give the first section : — 
 
 Anno Sexto et Septimo 
 
 Gulielmi IV., Eegis. 
 
 Cap. LXXI. 
 
 An Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales. 
 
 [13th August, 1836.] 
 
 Whereas it is expedient to amend the laws relating to 
 tithes in England and Wales, and to provide the means for 
 an adecpiate compensation for tithes, and for the commutation 
 thereof. Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent 
 Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present 
 Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, 
 that it shall be lawful for one of his Majesty's principal 
 Secretaries of State to appoint two fit persons to be Com- 
 missioners to carry this Act into execution, and for the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, under his hand and archiepiscopal 
 seal, to appoint one fit person to be a Commissioner to carry 
 this Act into execution, and for the said Archbishop 
 and Secretary of State, at their joint pleasure, to remove any 
 one or more of the Commissioners so appointed ; and upon 
 every vacancy in the office of Commissioner some other fit 
 person shall be appointed to the said office in the same 
 manner and by the same authority as the Commissioner 
 whose vacancy is thereby supplied ; and until such appoint- 
 ment it shall be lawful for the continuing Commissioners or 
 Commissioner to act as if no vacancy had occurred.
 
 22 
 
 22. And be it enacted, That at the said meeting, or at 
 some adjournment thereof, or at some other parochial meet- 
 ing to be called in like manner, either before or after the con- 
 firmation of the agreement, the owners of lands subject to 
 tithes in the said parish, or their agents, present at the meet- 
 ing, may appoint a valuer or valuers ; and in case the majority 
 in respect of number and the majority in respect to interest 
 shall not agree upon the appointment, then they shall appoint 
 two or such other even number of valuers as shall be then 
 agreed on by such landowners, half of such number to be 
 chosen by a majority in respect of number, and the other half 
 by a majority in respect of interest, of such landowners then 
 present. 
 
 33. And be it enacted, That as soon as may be after the 
 choosing of such valuer or valuers, and after the confirmation 
 of the said agreement, the valuer or valuers so chosen shall 
 apportion the total sum agreed to be paid by way of rent- 
 charge instead of tithes, and the expenses of the appointment, 
 amongst the several lands in the said parish, according to 
 such principles of apportionment as shall be agreed upon at 
 the meeting at which the valuer or valuers shall be chosen, 
 or if no principles shall be then agreed upon for the guidance 
 of the valuer or valuers, then, having regard to the average 
 titheable produce and productive quality of the lands, accord- 
 ing to his or their discretion and judgment, but subject in 
 each case to the provisions hereinafter contained, and so that 
 in each case the several lands shall have the full benefit of 
 every modus and composition real, prescriptive and customary 
 payment, and of every exemption from or non-liability to 
 tithes relating to the said lands respectively, and having re- 
 gard to the several tithes to which the said lands are severally 
 liable ; provided that it shall be lawful for the said valuers 
 when an even number is chosen, by any writing under their 
 hands, to appoint an umpire before they proceed upon the 
 business of such apportionment, and the decision of the um- 
 pire on the questions in difference between the valuers shall 
 be binding on them, and shall be adopted by them in appor- 
 tionment. 
 
 37. And be it enacted, That in every case in which the 
 commissioners shall intend making such award, notice thereof 
 shall be given in such manner as to them shall seem fit ; and
 
 
 23 
 
 after the expiration of twenty-one days after such notice shall 
 have been given, the commissioners or some assistant com- 
 missioner shall, except in the cases for which provision is 
 hereinafter made, proceed to ascertain the clear average value 
 (after making all just deductions on account of the expense 
 of collecting, preparing for sale, and marketing where such 
 tithes have been taken in kind), of the tithes in the said 
 parish, according to the average of seven years, preceding 
 Christmas in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 five ; provided that if during the said period of seven years, or 
 any part thereof, the said tithes or any part thereof shall be com- 
 pounded for or demised to the owner or occupier of any of 
 the said lands in consideration of any rent or payment instead 
 of tithes ; the amount of such composition or rent or sum 
 agieed to be paid instead of tithes shall be taken as 
 the clear value of the tithes included in such com- 
 position, demise, or agreement during the time for 
 which the same shall have been made ; and the com- 
 missioners or assistant commissioner shall award the 
 average annual value of the said seven years so ascertained as 
 the sum to be taken for calculating the rent-charge to be paid 
 as a permanent commutation of the said tithes ; provided 
 also, that whenever it shall appear to the commissioners that 
 the party entitled to any such rent or composition shall in 
 any one or more of the said seven years have allowed any 
 abatement from the amount of such rent or composition on 
 the ground of the same having in such year or years been 
 higher than the sum fairly payable, by way of compensation 
 for the tithe, but not otherwise, then and in every such case 
 such diminished amount, after making such abatement as 
 aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken to have been the sum 
 agreed to be paid for any such year or years ; provided also, 
 that in estimating the value of the said tithes the commis- 
 sioners or assistant commissioner shall estimate the same 
 without making any deduction therefrom on account of any 
 parliamentary, parochial, county, and other rates, charges, 
 and assessments, to which the said tithes are liable ; and 
 whenever the said tithes shall have been demised or com- 
 pounded for on the principle of the rent or composition 
 being paid free from all such rates, charges, and assessments, 
 or any part thereof, the said commissioners or assistant com-
 
 24 
 
 missioner shall have regard to that circumstance, and shall 
 make such an addition on account thereof as shall he equiva- 
 lent. 
 
 42. And be it enacted, That the amount which shall be 
 charged by any such apportionment as hereinafter provided 
 upon any hop grounds or market gardens in any district so to 
 be assigned shall be distinguished into two parts, which shall 
 be called the ordinary charge and the extraordinary charge, 
 and the extraordinary charge shall be a rate per imperial acre, 
 and so in proportion for less quantities of ground, according 
 to the discretion of the valuers or commissioners or assistant 
 commissioner by whom the apportionment shall be made as 
 aforesaid ; and all lands whereof the tithes shall have been 
 commuted under this Act, and which shall cease to be culti- 
 vated as hop grounds or market gardens at any time after such 
 commutation, shall be charged after the Thirty-first day of 
 December next following such change of cultivation only with 
 the ordinary charge upon such lands ; and all lands in any 
 such district the tithes whereof shall have been commuted 
 under this Act, and which shall be newly cultivated as hop 
 grounds or market gardens at any time after such commuta- 
 tion, shall be charged with an additional amount of rent- 
 charge per imperial acre, equal to the extraordinary charge 
 per acre upon hop grounds or market gardens respectively in 
 that district ; Provided always, that no such additional 
 amount shall be charged or payable during the first year, and 
 half only of such additional amount during the second year, 
 of such new cultivation • and an additional rent-charge by 
 way of extraordinary charge upon hop grounds and 
 market gardens, newly cultivated as such beyond the limits of 
 every district in which any extraordinary charge for hop 
 grounds or market gardens respectively shall have been 
 distinguished as aforesaid at the time of the commutation, 
 shall be charged by the commissioners at the time of such 
 new cultivation, upon the request of any person interested 
 therein, if such new cultivation shall have taken place during 
 the continuance of the commission of the said commissioners, 
 and after the expiration of the commission shall be charged 
 in such manner and by such authority as Parliament shall 
 direct, and shall be payable and recoverable in like manner 
 and subject to the same incidents in all respects as an extra-
 
 25 
 
 ordinary charge charged upon any hop grounds or market 
 gardens at the time of commutation. 
 
 81. And be it enacted, That in case the said rent-charge 
 shall at any time he in arrear and unpaid for the space of 
 twenty-one days next after any half-yearly day of payment, 
 it shall be lawful for the person entitled to the same, after 
 having given or left ten days' notice in writing at the usual 
 or last known residence of the tenant in possession, to distrain 
 upon the lands liable to the payment thereof, or on any part 
 thereof, for all arrears of the said rent-charge, and to dispose 
 of the distress when taken, and otherwise to act and demean 
 himself in relation thereto as any landlord may for arrears of 
 rent reserved on a common lease for years ; provided that 
 not more than two years' arrears shall at any time be re- 
 coverable by distress. 
 
 84. Provided always, and be it enacted, That in all 
 cases in which it shall be necessary to make any distress 
 under this Act in respect of any lands in the possession of 
 any person of the persuasion of the people called Quakers, the 
 same may be made upon the goods, chattels, or effects of 
 such person, whether on the premises or elsewhere, but 
 nevertheless to the same amount only and with the same 
 coDserpaences in all respects as if made on the premises ; and 
 that in all cases of distress under this Act upon persons of that 
 persuasion the goods, chattels, or effects which may be dis- 
 trained shall be sold without its being necessary to impound 
 or keep the same ; Provided always, that no writ under the 
 provision hereinbefore contained shall be issued for assessing 
 or recovering any rent-charge payable under this Act in re- 
 spect of any lands in the possession of any person of the 
 persuasion aforesaid, unless the same shall be in arrear and 
 unpaid for the space of forty days next after any half-yearly 
 day of payment, without the person entitled thereto being 
 able to find goods, chattels, or effects either on the premises 
 or elsewhere liable to be distrained as aforesaid sufficient to 
 satisfy the arrears t) which such lands are liable, together 
 with the reasonable costs of such distress. 
 
 85. And be it enacted, That whenever any rent-charge 
 payable under the provisions of this Act, shall be in arrear, 
 notwithstanding any apportionment which may have been 
 made of any such rent-charge, every part of the land situate
 
 26 
 
 in the parish in which such rent-charge shall so be in arrear, 
 and which shall be occupied by the same person who shall 
 be the occupier of the lands on which such rent-charge so in 
 arrear shall have been charged, whether such land shall be 
 occupied by the person occupying the same as the owner 
 thereof, or as tenant thereof, holding under the same 
 landlord under whom he occupies the land on which such 
 rent-charge so in arrear shall have been charged, shall be 
 liable to be distrained upon or entered upon as aforesaid 
 for the purpose of satisfying any arrears of such rent-charge, 
 whether chargeable on the lands on which such distress is 
 taken or such entry made, or upon any other part of the 
 lands so occupied or holden : Provided always that no land 
 shall be liable to be distrained or entered upon for the 
 purpose of satisfying any such rent-charge charged upon 
 lands which shall have been washed away by the sea, or 
 otherwise destroyed by any natural casualty. 
 
 96. And be it enacted, That this Act shall extend only to 
 England and "Wales. 
 
 97. And be it further enacted, That this Act may be 
 amended, altered, or repealed by any Act or Acts to be passed 
 in this present Session of Parliament. 
 
 By Section 32, which I give, it will be seen that although 
 the tenants had hereafter to pay in money instead of in kind, 
 they had little or no voice in the matter, bishops, clergymen, 
 and landlords, choosing valuers, and dictating what the 
 tenant-farmer shall pay, at least for 44 years to come. Land- 
 lords having interest in the church, being either owners of 
 livings or having sons or relations in the church, did not 
 scrapie at the expense of the tiller of the soil to enrich 
 them. Although I was not in existence at the time, I have 
 been told by several farmers living at the time of the altera- 
 tion that many valuers chosen were incompetent to carry out 
 the grave work they undertook to accomplish. A perusal of 
 Section 33 will show that there was a considerable amount 
 of mist as to how the apportionment should be made, no 
 defined rule beinjr laid down.
 
 27 
 
 Section 37 shows that the values of tithes were to be 
 calculated upon the average of seven years preceding Christ- 
 mas, 1835. As Section 67 is a rather important one in this 
 Act, I here give it : — 
 
 67. And be it enacted, That from the first day of January 
 next following the confirmation of every such appointment 
 the lands of the said parish shall be absolutely discharged 
 from the payment of all tithes, except so far as relates to the 
 liability of any tenant at rack rent dissenting as hereinafter 
 provided, and instead thereof there shall be payable thence- 
 forth to the person in that behalf mentioned in the said 
 apportionment a sum of money equal in value, according to 
 the prices ascertained by the then next preceding advertise- 
 ment, to the quantity of wheat, barley, and oats respectively 
 mentioned therein to be payable instead of the said tithes, in 
 the nature of a rent-charge issuing out of the lands charged 
 therewith ; and such yearly sum shall be payable by two 
 equal half-yearly payments on the first day of July and the 
 first day of January in every year, the first payment, except 
 in the case of barren reclaimed lands, as hereinafter provided, 
 being on the first day of July next after the lands shall have 
 been discharged from tithes as aforesaid ; and such rent- 
 charge may be recovered at the suit of the person entitled 
 thereto, his executors or administrators, by distress and entry 
 as hereinafter mentioned ; and every first day of January 
 the sum of money thenceforth payable in respect of such 
 rent-charge shall vary so as always to consist of the price of 
 the same number of bushels and decimal parts of a bushel of 
 wheat, barley, and oats respectively, according to the prices 
 ascertained by the then next preceding advertisement, and 
 any person entitled from time to time to any such varied rent- 
 charge shall have the same powers for enforcing payment 
 thereof as are herein contained concerning the original rent- 
 charge ; Provided always that nothing herein contained shall 
 be taken to render any person whomsoever personally liable 
 to the payment of any such rent-charge ; Provided always, 
 that the rent-charge which shall be apportioned upon any 
 lands in the said parish which during any part of the said 
 period of seven years preceding Christmas One thousand 
 eight hundred and thirty-five were exempted from tithes by
 
 28 
 
 reason of having been inclosed under any Act of Parliament, 
 or converted from barren heath or waste ground, shall be 
 payable for the first time on the first day of July or first day 
 of January next following the confirmation of the apportion- 
 ment which shall be nearest to the time at which tithes were 
 or would have become payable for the first time in respect of 
 the said lands if no commutation thereof had taken place. 
 
 Under this section it will be seen that the amount of 
 tithe, as awarded or agreed upon, should be divided into 
 three portions, and that every tithe charge should be deemed 
 to be of the value of such number of imperial bushels, and 
 decimal parts of an imperial bushel, of wheat, barlej 7 -, and oats, 
 as the same would have purchased at the average price for 
 seven years ending Thursday before Christmas Day, 1835, in 
 case one-third part of each rent-charge had been invested in 
 the purchase of wheat, one-third part thereof in the purchase 
 of barley, and the remaining one-third part in purchase of 
 oats. In conformity with the above, I find that £100, 
 expended in wheat, barley, and oats, would purchase the 
 following quantities, at the average prices for seven years 
 to Christmas, 1835, as fixed in the London Gazdte of 
 December 9th, 1836 :— • 
 
 Per Imp. Bush. 
 
 £ s. ]). Imp. Bush. 
 
 7 0^) ( 94-955,489 
 
 3 1H \ is equivalent to \ 168-421,052 
 2 9) ( 242-424,242 
 
 100 
 
 The above shows that the tithe charge was not a fixed 
 money payment of .£100, but only such a sum as the 
 epiantities of wheat, barley, and oats, which I have given, are 
 equivalent to, according to the seven years to each preceding 
 Christmas. And here I must remark that through the pre- 
 sent defective system of making corn returns, it acts most 
 unfairly upon the tenant-farmer and tithe-payer in general. 
 I will give a few reasons ; and first, insufficiency of markets 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 D. 
 
 \ or 33 
 
 6 
 
 8 in wheat 
 
 I or 33 
 
 6 
 
 8 in barley 
 
 I or 33 
 
 6 
 
 8 in oats
 
 29 
 
 where the returns are furnished from, there being only 150 
 markets out of 798, where they are made, and few of these 
 where inferior qualities of wheat and barley are grown. Take 
 "Wiltshire, for instance, not the richest of our counties — only 
 one market furnishes returns in that county, no returns 
 being made even at Salisbury or Devizes. I have gathered 
 that at Warminster not one-fourth of the corn sold is ever 
 returned, and this county is not alone in proving the imper- 
 fect system, for at a meeting of the Worcestershire Chamber 
 of Agriculture recently, complaints were made that out of 40 
 dealers attending Worcester market, not more than four make 
 the returns required by law. At Wakefield, Yorkshire, one 
 of the chief markets in our country, it has been stated that 
 for six weeks no single sale was returned. In most markets, 
 upon inspection, no doubt, it would be found that a few of 
 the dealers, who generally attend certain markets, make 
 them, but that the majority of them set the law at defiance, 
 knowing that although they are liable to a penalty of £20 
 for not making a true return, the law is never enforced. At 
 the present time the ordinary tithe is about 7s. per acre, in 
 some parishes more, excepting on woodland, where the charge 
 is about Is. 6d. and 2s. per acre in some parishes. There 
 are other causes whereby the tithe-payer has been unjustly 
 compelled by law to pay more than he should have done if 
 the corn returns were furnished fairly. The tail and inferior 
 corn being consumed on the farms, consequently does not come 
 in the corn returns. Again, a great deal of corn is sold by 
 weight, instead of by the "Imperial bushel," as the Act states 
 in Section 57. Another evil we suffer from in consequence 
 of the buyer instead of the grower making the return is, that 
 corn is often sold in the first place at some distant market, 
 and resold, perhaps more than once, by dealers, before it 
 reaches the market selected for furnishing returns, when the 
 price there made includes more than one profit and cost of
 
 30 
 
 freight Mr. James J. "Wheble, a Berkshire landowner, 
 writing to the Mark Lane Express of the 17th of May last, 
 quoted the letter of a Berkshire farmer, who points out that 
 if averages were taken justly, the present value of £100 tithe 
 would be £88 instead of £112. 
 
 Pressure of business during the past session of Parliament, 
 coupled with opposition from Colonel Barne, the Conserva- 
 tive member for East Suffolk, who persisted in preventing it 
 from coming on by a blocking notice, was the reason why 
 Mr Chamberlain's promised bill to amend the taking of the 
 corn averages did not come before the House. Upon reading 
 the draft of this Corn Returns bill, I come to the conclusion, 
 although it is in the right direction, as it fails to 
 provide for basing the official averages alone on the 
 growers' prices, and also takes no account of the tail 
 corn which does not find its way into the markets, being un- 
 saleable, it will be inadequate to wholly remedy the present 
 defective system in the averages. I will, by way of illustra- 
 tion, endeavour to show how unfairly the septennial takings 
 of the corn averages bear upon certain farmers. A father 
 takes a farm for his son at Michaelmas, 1877 ; the corn crops 
 for the previous seven years have been a fair average, with 
 good prices (or at least they should haye been if we are to be 
 guided by the £100 worth of tithe in the years I am alluding 
 to) ; the first year he has been in business, and the two 
 following ones, he lias poor crops, and through strong foreign 
 competition, low prices ; yet he has to pay on the previous good 
 years he has not shared in — thus in 1878, he pays 12| per cent- 
 above par, next year 11 6-8ths (one of the most disastrous 
 years upon record), and this year 9| per cent, instead of pay- 
 ing under £90 on the £100 worth of tithe, if returns were 
 taken fairly. Looking from the landlords' point of view, at a 
 largely attended anti-tithe meeting held at Wokingham on 
 Nov. 11, 1879, Mr J. J. Wheble said, "My father bought
 
 31 
 
 his land subject to £50 tithes, but since the Commutation 
 Act it had been raised to £130." Mr. George Palmer, M.P., 
 who attended the meeting, said, " If it was a fact that the 
 tithe in the district of Wokingham, before the Commutation 
 Act, was £300, and now was £2,000, he thought that was 
 sufficient grounds of itself for enquiring into the operation of 
 the Act." 
 
 Section 81 gives power to the tithe-receiver to distrain 
 upon crops and live or dead stock when tithes are in arrear 
 twenty-one days. On the 2 1 st of 1 ast May I had a notice of dis- 
 traint from one of the tithe-receivers of Cud ham, Kent, for 
 tithes due April 1st. I merely mention this to show that at 
 times the tithe-receiver resorts to this cruel power the law has 
 placed in his hands in a very sharp way. It acts very unjustly, 
 especially to tradesmen. For instance, a farmer fails ; 
 amongst other tradesmen he owes the wheelwright for new 
 waggons and carts, £100 ; the landlord and tithe-receiver 
 distrain upon his produce or cattle for rent and tithe ; they 
 get 20s. in the £, the wheelwright nothing. If the landlord 
 loses his rent, he only loses the interest upon his capital, but 
 the wheelwright loses his capital and interest as well. Sec- 
 tion 84 is a rather amusing clause, as it relates specially to 
 the recovery of rent charges from Quakers. I suppose it was 
 considered at the time that members of the Society of 
 Friends would be more adverse to the Act than other sects. 
 There have been several large anti-tithe meetings in Kent, and 
 at one held at Maidstone on January 14th, 1880, Mr. P. 
 Brine, a farmer of Hawkhurst, setting forth proofs of the 
 failure of the 1836 Act, as far as justice goes, stated that 
 from the passing of that Act up to the present time the 
 average of £100 worth of tithe was £103 2s. l|d. In 
 several parishes where I farm a great deal of the hill land is 
 not worth 5s. per acre, rent and tithe together, and 
 yet there is a charge of about 7s. per acre tithe upon it ;
 
 32 
 
 consequently no tenant will farm it, as the landowner will 
 not let it for less than 5s per acre, and in some instances 
 where landlords make miserable attempts to farm it, through 
 want of capital and judgment, the land returns but little pro- 
 duce as food for man. I could give numberless proofs to 
 show that the burden of tithes are too heavy for the tenant- 
 farmer. In the parish of Ashford, Kent, which, far from 
 being a poor part of the country, is rather the reverse, at the 
 time I am writing, there are no less than twenty farms, com- 
 prising 3350 acres, advertised to let. The number of sales 
 of farming live and dead stock advertised for next month is 
 beyond precedent, especially in the home counties. In Kent 
 there are now 80,000 acres of woodland, and I have been told 
 by land stewards on several estates, it pays better than the 
 land let as farms. There is only 42 per cent, of the 
 land that is cultivated, exclusive of permanent grass, in 
 this county, which is called the garden of England. I will 
 now give my opinion — 
 
 HOW TO DEAL WITH ORDINARY TITHES. 
 
 As I have endeavoured to show, tithes are a heavy 
 burden upon the producer of food, and if something is 
 not done soon by Parliament, they will be the means of throw- 
 ing out of cultivation many acres of land, which would not 
 only be a loss to the landowner, but an injury to the labourer ; 
 and consequently the tradesman would suffer, and the country 
 at large. As the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 is so dis- 
 figured by inequalities and pregnant with injustice to the 
 payer of tithes in my opinion, I would propose that this and 
 all recent Acts of Parliament relating to tithes be repealed in 
 the next Session, and a short Act passed leaving the commuta- 
 tion of tithes, as agreed upon in 1836, to be the same ; also, 
 the portion and the standard price per bushel the same,
 
 33 
 
 viz. : — One-third in wheat, £33 6s. 8d., at 7s. O^d. per 
 Imperial bushel ; one-third in barley, £33 6s. 8d., at 3s. ll^d. 
 per Imperial bushel ; one-third in oats, £33 6s. 8d., at 2s. Dd. 
 per Imperial bushel. All com to be sold by the Imperial 
 bushel only. Returns to be made by the sellers only ; penalty 
 for not making a true return, £20. A tithe commissioner to 
 be appointed to supply every occupier of land with forms to 
 fill in with the price per Imperial bushel, stating buyer's 
 name and address ; when filled in the form to be sent free by 
 post to a department that shall be named, the taking of the 
 averages to be triennial, 10 per cent, to be allowed off in con- 
 sideration of inferior corn, which, being unfit for market, is 
 consumed at home. Tbis tithe to be paid by the landowner, 
 and it to be compulsory upon him to pay it. In cases where 
 he has tenants under leases, the tenant to pay the landowner 
 an equivalent sum in lieu of tithes until the expiration of his 
 or her lease. Also, that it be unlawful for the receiver of 
 tithes to apply to any occupier for any sum for tithes after 
 this Act comes into force, in cases of non-payment of tithes 
 by landowners, the tithe owners can have recourse to the Law 
 of Distress (so long as the law remains on the statute book), 
 and distrain upon the land, and sell so much of the land as 
 may be required to recover the amount in arrear for tithes, 
 and in the case of a tenant occupying such lands as shall be 
 sold, sufficient can be sold to compensate the tenant for his 
 lease, if any, also crops, cultivations, all his unexhausted im- 
 provements ; the amount to be paid to him within two weeks 
 after the sale. 
 
 Part II.— EXTRAORDINARY TITHE. 
 This tithe is nothing more nor less than a direct tax upon 
 labour and capital, and a discouragement to certain 
 industries. Instead of being levied on the soil accord- 
 ing to its richness, the description of the crop grown was
 
 34 
 
 taken into consideration, without regard to the extra capital 
 required and labour employed in producing it. Again, 
 the inequalities are a great mystery, even in the present day, 
 as will be seen in my remarks further on. Under the Tithe 
 Commutation Act of 1836, in addition to the ordinary tithe, 
 which is about 7s. per acre, and more in some parishes, an 
 extraordinary tithe was levied upon hops and market-garden 
 grounds, the latter meaning where vegetables are grown, the 
 extra tithe not being imposed upon fruit plantations until 
 1839, under the Tithe Commutation Amendment Act. This 
 extra wealth added to the clergyman's income at the expense 
 of the fruit grower is a severe tax upon his energies ; for in- 
 stance, take Eynsford parish, in Kent ; area, 3536 acres, with 
 a great deal of heavy hill land now going out of cultivation, 
 three farms, averaging 250 acres each, being tenantless on one 
 estate, and not touched by the landowner. At the time of 
 the Commutation Act, 1836, the tithes were commuted at 
 £ 1080 in this parish, being — Sectorial, £600 ; Vicarial, £480. 
 Under the Tithe Commutation Amendment Act, 1839, an im- 
 post of 7s. per acre was put upon the fruit plantations, most 
 of them being previously woodland. There are about 1000 
 acres of fruit plantations in the parish ; rateable value of the 
 whole parish in 1871, £6233 ; population, 1433, with very 
 little increase in either up to the present time. There is no 
 extraordinary tithe on fruit in the adjoining parish of Shore- 
 ham. I can refer my readers to Section 42 of the 1836 
 Act, which I have given previously, but not commented upon. 
 It will be seen that this section refers only to certain districts 
 where this extraordinary tithe could be imposed upon hops 
 and market-garden grounds ; but under a subsequent Act, 23 
 and 24 Vic, c. 93, sec. 42 (1860), any parish is liable to this 
 extra tithe if steps are taken to make the parish chargeable 
 as required by the Act. The extra charges upon hop grounds 
 vary so much that it is no little puzzle to understand how the
 
 35 
 
 valuers and tithe commissioners arrived at the amounts, in 
 many parishes the fertility of the soil heing equal, while there 
 is vast difference in the charge. In Kent there are ahout 
 43,400 acres of hops charged with this tithe, and I should 
 not be exaggerating if I said it would average 15s. per acre, 
 as this would be rather under the average. 1 will give a few 
 parishes, the charges of which I have taken from farmers who 
 have actually paid these amounts at per acre : Sevenoaks, 18s. ; 
 Shoreham, 14s. ; Eynsford, 12s.; Halstead, 10s. ; Wrotham, 
 £1 ; Westerham, 18s. ; Edenbridge, 18s. ; Chiddingstone, 1 2s. ; 
 Brasted, 15s. 4|d. ; Thurnham, 10s.; Seal, 16s. ; Yalding. 
 18s. ; Hollinbourne, 10s.; Ulcomb, 16s. 6d. ; Chart Sutton, 
 15s. ; Sutton Valence, 13s. to 18s. ; Cooling, 4s. ; Higham, 
 12s.; Sittingbourne, 12s.; Tonbridge, 18s.; Hartlip, 8s.; 
 Minster, 10s. ; Otham, 18s. ; Gillingham, near Chatham, 7s. ; 
 Boughton Malherbe, 18s. ; Bough ton Mouchelsea, 15s. ; 
 Leeds, 14s. ; Headcorn, 16s. ; East Sutton, 18s. ; Cliffe at 
 Hoo, 10s. ; Faversham, 10s. ; Marden, 16s. ; Ash, 12s. ; Bear- 
 stead, near Maidstone, 18s. ; Kemsing, 4s. ; Canterbury, 12s. ; 
 Doddington, 10s. ; Hayes, 10s. ; Goodnestone, next Favers- 
 ham, 10s. There are a few parishes in this country where 
 this extra charge is not imposed. I will name two, Cran- 
 brook and Benenden. 
 
 The extra charge commences the first year of polling the 
 hops, when half is charged. The following year, when they 
 are in full poll the whole amount is charged. When the 
 hops are grubbed, and the garden used for corn, &c. (six 
 months' notice being given to the clergyman of the alteration), 
 the extra tithe ceases. Also in the case of fruit plantation 
 and market garden grounds it ceases in like manner. 
 
 The corn averages also bear upon this tithe ; for instance, 
 any one having £100 of extraordinary tithe to pay, as the 
 average stood last year, would have to pay £111 15s. lid. 
 This refers to market gardens and fruit plantations as well as
 
 36 
 
 hop grounds. In Sussex there are about 9900 acres of hop 
 gardens charged with this extra tithe. By "what I have 
 ascertained from farmers in that county, I find the lowest is 
 14s. per acre, and highest 19s., excepting in Ifield which is 8s. 
 per acre. I will give a few parishes: Brede 18s. per acre, 
 Beckley 17s., Peasmarsh 18s., Westfield 18s.; Burwash 14s., 
 Ticehurst 17s., Etchingham 17s. I could find no parish 
 where this extra tithe upon hops did not exist in this county. 
 In Surrey, there are about 2300 acres of hops on which 
 extraordinary tithe is charged, varying from 12s. to £1 10s. 
 per acre. Although hops are grown in Tandridge and Crow- 
 hurst parishes of this county, no extraordinary tithe is 
 charged. Upon visiting Faruham, on August 5th, I found that 
 the extraordinary tithe upon hops "was ranged in six classes, 
 from 13s. 4d. to £1 10s. per acre, whereas in Limpsfield and 
 Oxted parishes, in the south-east of the county, it is 1 Gs. 9d. 
 In Hampshire about 3000 acres of hops are charged with 
 extraordinary tithe, varying from 12s. to £1 per acre. On 
 visiting Alton, in that county, I found that in the parish 
 of ZS'eatham no extraordinary tithe was charged upon the 
 hops. At Alton, the extraordinary tithe on hops is =£1 per 
 acre; Binsted, £1 ; Holybourne, 13s. 4d. ; Kingsley, 13s. 4d. ; 
 East Worldham, £1 ; West Worldham, 12s. ; Hartley, 15s. ; 
 Selbourne, 13s. 4d. ; Bentley, £1 ; East Tisted, 13s. 4d. In 
 Herefordshire there are about 5900 acres of hops chargeable 
 with extraordinary tithe, grown in sixteen parishes. 0:i 
 visiting Hereford, on August 18th, I ascertained from hop 
 growers that the extraordinary tithe on hop yards (as they 
 are termed there) would average 6s. per acre, excepting in 
 the parishes of Bosbury and Mortiford, where there is none. 
 In "Worcestershire, 2609 acres of hops are charged with 
 extraordinary tithe, and I found upon visiting Worcester, 
 August 21st, that it averaged from 5s. to 10s. per acre. 
 
 The extraordinary tithe upon fruit plantations and
 
 37 
 
 market garden grounds varies from 4s. to 18s. per acre, the 
 most common charge being about 7s. or 8s. per acre. Half 
 of the extra charge is imposed upon fruit grounds (bushtrees) 
 upon the second year from the commencement of the fresh 
 planting, and the full charge on the third year. As there 
 are many parishes in England where this extra charge is not 
 imposed, although it could be by following out what is 
 required by the Tithe Act of 1860, I have no means at hand 
 whereby I can ascertain the actual acreage so charged. I 
 will merely give the number of acres from the Agricultural re- 
 turns by the Board of Trade : — Orchards in Great Britain, 
 180,000 acres ; market gardens, 41,000 acres. 1 will state 
 the amounts of the extra charge upon fruit grounds in a few 
 parishes ; Eynsford, 7s per acre ; next parish of Shoreham, 
 none ; Farnborough, 7s ; Sutton-at-Hone, 9s ; next parish of 
 Horton Kirby, none ; Farningham, 8s. ; St. Mary Cray, 8s. ; Cob- 
 ham, near Gravesend, 8s.; Orpington, 8s. ; Frith, 10s. ; Gilling- 
 ham, 7s. ; Hoo, 12s. ; Cooling, 4s. ; East Sutton, 18s. ; Sutton 
 Valence, 18s. ; Leeds, 18s. ; Canterbury none ; Boughton Mal- 
 herbe, 18s. ; Cranbrook, none ; Bexley none ; Westerham, 18s. ; 
 Edenbridge, 18s. ; Chart Sutton, 8s. 6d. These are parishes in 
 the county of Kent, and charged under the Tithe Commuta- 
 tion Act of 1839. I will now give a few parishes where the 
 extra charge has been made under the 1880 Act, and date of 
 the award when confirmed — fruit or market garden grounds. 
 Plum-tead, Kent, 6s. per acre, September 5, 1871 ; Off en- 
 ham, Worcestershire, 4s., August 14, 1863; Lancing, Sussex, 
 6s., September 27, 1866 ; Henfield, Sussex, 4s. 6d., July 18, 
 1867 ; Edburton, Sussex, 4s., October 8, 1868 ; Thakeham, 
 Sussex, 3s. 6d., February 8, 1872. 
 
 In Surrey, under the 1839 Act, Limpsneld was charged 
 16s. 9d. per acre, and Oxted, 16s. 9d. Isleworth, in Middle- 
 sex, 7s. I may here mention that although woodland, at the 
 time of the Commutation Act, 1836, was charged about 2s. 
 
 /i nam f>
 
 38 
 
 per acre, as ordinary tithe, and in some parishes less, if it is 
 grubbed up and planted with hops, or fruit, the existing extraor- 
 dinary tithe in that parish is imposed upon this newly planted 
 ground. For instance, take Eynsford parish, in Kent, which 
 only pays Is. 6d. per acre upon woodland which is greatly to 
 the advantage of the landowners who held almost all their 
 woodland at the time of the passing of the 1836 Act, or it is a 
 question if even it would have been commuted so low. When 
 grubbed up at the expense of fruit growers or farmers, and 
 brought into cultivation, extra charges of 7s. on fruit, and 12s. 
 per acre on hop grounds are imposed. I will here mention that 
 according to the agricultural returns just issued from the Board 
 of Trade, during the last eight years there has been nearly 10 
 per cent, increase of newly-planted w T oods. In 1872 there 
 were 2,187,000 acres, and in 1880, 2,409,000. I will now 
 give three Sections of the Tithe Commutation Amendment 
 Act, dated 17th August, 1839 : — 
 
 Cap. 42. — An Act to explain and amend the Acts for the 
 Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales, was passed. 
 
 26. And be it enacted, That in case any of the lands in a 
 parish the tithes whereof shall be in course of commutation 
 under the provisions of the said first recited Act shall be 
 orchards or fruit plantations, and notice in writing, under 
 the hands of any of the owners thereof whose interest therein 
 shall nut be less than two thirds of the whole of the orchards 
 and fruit plantations in such parish, shall be given to the 
 valuers or commissioners or assistant commissioner by whom 
 any apportionment provided for by the said Act shall be 
 made at any time before the draught of such apportionment 
 shall he framed that the Tithes thereof should be dis- 
 tinguished into two parts, the amount which shall be charged 
 by any such apportionment upon the several orchards and 
 fruit plantations in such parish shall be distinguished into 
 two parts accordingly, and the same shall be called the 
 Ordinary Charge and the Extraordinary Fruit Charge ; and 
 the Extraordinary Charge shall be a rate per imperial acre
 
 39 
 
 and so in proportion for less quantities of ground, according 
 to the discretion of the valuers or commissioners or assistant 
 commissioner by whom such apportionment shall be made as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 27. And be it enacted, That all lands the Tithes whereof 
 shall have been commute;! under the said Act, which shall be 
 situate within the limits of any parish in which an Extraor- 
 dinary Fruit Charge shall have been distinguished as aforesaid 
 at time of commutation, and which shall be newly cultivated as 
 orchard or fruit plantations at any time after such commuta- 
 tion, shall be charged with an additional amount of rent- 
 charge per imperial acre equal to the extraordinary Fruit 
 Charge per acre in that parish : Provided always, that no such 
 •additional amount shall be charged in respect of any planta- 
 tion of apples, pears, plums, cherries, and filberts, or of any 
 one or more of those fruits, during the first five years, and 
 half only of such additional amount during each of the next 
 succeeding five years of such new cultivation thereof ; and 
 that no such additional amount shall be charged in respect of 
 any plantation of gooseberries, currants, or raspberries, or of 
 any one or more of those fruits, during the first two years, and 
 half only of such additional amount during each of the next 
 succeeding two years of such new cultivation thereof ; and 
 that no such additional amount shall be charged in respect of 
 any mixed plantation of apples, pears, plums, cherries, or 
 filberts, and of gooseberries, currants, or raspberries during 
 the first three years, and half only of such additional amount 
 •during each of the next succeeding three years, of such new 
 cultivation thereof. 
 
 32. And be it enacted, that for the purpose of fixing any 
 charge for the Tithes of hops or fruit, or any mixed planta- 
 tion as aforesaid, the Commissioners may, if they see fit, 
 assign the parish or lands in respect of which due notice shall 
 have been given, requiring the Tithes thereof to be separately 
 valued, as required by the said first recited Act, or any part 
 or parts of such parish or lands, as a district under the pro- 
 visions of the said Act, and may fix a charge upon such lands 
 in respect of the Tithes of hops or fruit as the rent-charge 
 to prevail and to be established in respect of the same, 
 without specific reference in the award to any other parish 
 or lands, but having regard nevertheless to the general amount
 
 40 
 
 of compositions which they shall find to have prevailed in 
 other parishes of a similar description, and not to the money 
 payments in the parish under consideration, or the value of 
 the Tithes in kind therein. 
 
 In Section 26 it will he seen that the power, as usual, 
 rests with the large landowner to charge this impost on fruit 
 ground. 
 
 Section 27 provides that newly -cultivated fruit plantations 
 he charged an additional sum. 
 
 Section 28, which I do not give, relieves fruit plantations, 
 when displanted, from the additional charge. 
 
 The next Act, of which I will give three clauses, is dated 
 13th August, 18G0, 23 and 24 Vic, c. 93. " An Act to amend 
 and farther extend the Acts for the Commutation of Tithes 
 in England and Wales." 
 
 Section 42 gives further power to the Commissioners to- 
 levy extraordinary tithes in parishes or districts where none 
 existed previously. I will just give a little of my own 
 experience with respect to this clause. In 1865 I took a 
 lease of a farm at Halstead, Kent, for 14 years, and planted 
 several acres of hops in that parish, knowing there were no 
 extraordinary tithes upon them, there being only two roods 
 at the time of the Commutation Act, 1836. The salary of 
 the clergyman was arrived at from the ordinary tithe, but on 
 the 10th of September, 1867, a Vestry was called, a Tithe 
 Commissioner attended, and although every tenant at the 
 meeting (which was crowded) raised his voice at the fresh 
 impost, because one landowner and the clergyman consented, 
 10s. per acre was charged. I quote this to show the danger 
 we are under so long as the various Tithe Acts remain un- 
 repealed : — 
 
 42. Whenever the Commissioners are requested, in the 
 manner provided by the said recited Acts to charge an 
 additional rent-charge by way of extraordinary charge upon
 
 41 
 
 any hop grounds or market gardens newly cultivated as 
 such beyond the limits of any district for which an extra- 
 ordinary charge for hop grounds or market gardens re- 
 spectively shall have been already distinguished, the Com- 
 missioners may declare the lands in the parish in which such 
 newly cultivated hop grounds or market gardens are situate a 
 district within which the extraordinary charge to be then 
 fixed by them shall be thereafter payable. 
 
 43. For the purpose of ascertaining the extent of the 
 land cultivated as hop grounds or market gardens, the person 
 to whom any extraordinary charge upon such land is or 
 would be payable, his agents or servants, at all reasonable 
 times, may enter upon the said land, and make an admeasure- 
 ment and plan of the same, without being subject to any 
 action or molestation for so doing. 
 
 44. This Act shall be t:iken and construed as part of the 
 said first-recited Act, as amended and extended by the several 
 Acts passed for the amendment thereof, and by this Act. 
 
 Of all the tithes, the extraordinary one is the most 
 obnoxious, and is therefore disliked by all farmers, especially 
 in Kent, more being paid in that county than any 
 other ; hence the agitations and meetings for its abolition. On 
 June the 3rd, a deputation of farmers waited upon the 
 President of the Board of Trade, urging its abolition. On 
 the 23rd of June a large and influential meeting w s held at 
 Swanley, near Farningham, Kent, and another was held 
 at Maidstone, on the 8th of July. From these meetings 
 emanated petitions to Parliament which have been freely 
 signed in Kent and Sussex, for the abolition in an equitable 
 manner of the Extraordinary Tithe, and as those petitions re- 
 fer to an Act of 1873, which being a short one, I give it in 
 its entirety, as it may be of use to any who are without it : — ■ 
 [36 and 37 Vict.] Tithe Commutation Acts Amendment. 
 [Cn. 42.] — " An Act for amending the Tithe Commuta- 
 tion Acts with respect to Market Gardens." [21st July, 
 1873.] 
 
 Whereas by the Tithe Commutation Acts (described in the 
 schedule to this Act) provision is made for the commutation
 
 42 
 
 into a permanent rent-charge of the tithes leviable in the 
 several parishes in England and "Wales : 
 
 And whereas it is expedient to amend the said Acts in re- 
 spect of the sections of such Acts in the said schedule 
 particularly mentioned : — 
 
 Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent 
 ^Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parlia- 
 ment assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : 
 
 1. So much of such sections, and of the powers therein 
 contained conferred on the Tithe Commissioners, as provide 
 for the charging of an additional rent-charge by way of extra- 
 ordinary charge on market gardens newly cultivated as such, 
 shall extend and apply only to a parish in which an extra- 
 ordinary charge for market gardens was distinguished at the 
 time of commutation. 
 
 2. Nothing in this Act shall affect or be deemed to apply 
 to any proceedings taken or to be taken in relation to the 
 charging of an additional rent-charge by way of extraordinary 
 charge on market-gardens newly cultivated as such in any 
 case where an award in that behalf was made and confirmed, 
 or where an application was made to the Tithe Commissioners 
 to charge an additional rent-charge by way of extraordinary 
 eharge upon any market gardens newly cultivated as such, 
 before the commencement of the present session of Parliament. 
 
 3. This Act shall be construed and have effect as one Act 
 with the Tithe Commutation Acts, and may be cited as " The 
 Tithe Commutation Acts Amendment Act, 1873." 
 
 I will just make a few remarks as to how this Act was 
 brought about, and what benefit it is to some market 
 gardeners. At that time through an attempt by tithe-receivers 
 in Cornwall to impose an extraordinary tithe of 30s. per acre, 
 on new ground reclaimed by the industry of Cornish men, 
 and used as market gardens by them, through agitating in the 
 matter, an application was made to Parliament to protect 
 that industry from this unjust impost. The Bill was re- 
 ferred to a select committee, and this Act was passed, which 
 on perusal will be seen, provides that in no future case should 
 this extra tax be charged upon market gardens (not fruit
 
 43 
 
 plantations, which are distinct from them), unless the parish 
 in which they were situated had been at the time of the com- 
 mutation of the tithes distinguished as a parish liable to the 
 ■extraordinary tithe. Therefore it will be seen that there are 
 now some parishes where this extra tax is levied, while others 
 are free from it. When the Bill was before Parliament it 
 applied to hop plantations as well as market garden grounds, 
 but some of the Kentish members who were supposed to re- 
 present hop growers in that county, said that the farmers were 
 not anxious to be relieved from the extraordinary tithe on 
 hops, which proves in some measure that we want men from 
 our own ranks, independent of party, to truly represent our 
 interests. 
 
 It will thus be evident that by the passing of this Act a 
 •certain amount of good was gained, or rather further imposi- 
 tion stopped, by market gardeners in Cornwall ventilating 
 their grievance before the public ; and I am glad to see that 
 the agitation now going on in the hop and fruit growing 
 counties, and the many letters in country papers, and some 
 in the London press, have at least brought one member of 
 Parliament to come to our assistance ; I am referring to Mr. 
 F. A. Inderwick, Q.C., the Liberal member for Eye, Sussex, 
 who gave notice on the 4th of September :— " Early next 
 Session to bring in a Bill to encourage the cultivation of 
 hops, fruit, and market garden produce, by amending the 
 laws relating to the imposition of extraordinary tithes." As 
 I have not at present seen the draft of this TAU, I cannot 
 make any comment upon it ; but of one thing I am certain, 
 that he will gain the thanks of all agriculturists, especially of 
 those who are directly interested in that particular industry, 
 by seeking to relieve them from this heavy and unjust impost. 
 Mr. Inderwick has already presented seventeen petitions to 
 Parliament, " praying that some equitable plan should be 
 devised whereby the whole of the extraordinary tithes shall
 
 44 
 
 be abolished, &c," signed by hop and fruit growers, from 
 Kent and Sussex; also Mr. -lames Howard, Liberal member 
 for Bedford, and Sir E. Filmer, Conservative member for 
 Mid-Kent, and the two Conservative members for East 
 Sussex, have presented eighteen similar petitions, containing 
 in all 797 signatures. Next Session there will be many more 
 presented to Parliament from Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hereford, 
 "Worcester, and Hampshire, there being petitions in course of 
 signature in parishes of these counties where hops, fruit, or 
 market garden produce are cultivated. I will now suggest to 
 my readers my idea 
 
 HOW TO DEAL WITH EXTRAORDINARY TITHES. 
 
 A short Act of Parliament, to be called the " Extraor- 
 dinary Tithes Compulsory Redemption Act," should be 
 passed, declaring that at a certain period, all extraordinary 
 tithes shall be redeemed, landowners in a reasonable time to 
 pay the receivers of these tithes (who are with few exceptions 
 clergymen of the Church of England), life and vested interest, 
 it to be compulsory upon receivers of tithes to sell, Govern- 
 ment to grant loans to the landowners where required, upon 
 easy terms, for the purpose of redeeming the said tithes. After 
 the passing of this Act any agreement or lease binding the 
 tenant to pay the landowner an extra sum per year in " con- 
 sideration " of being relieved of these tithes will be useless,, 
 and of no effect in courts of justice. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I hope no one will consider me unfair in arguing that 
 the ordinary tithes shall henceforth be paid by the land- 
 owner, for I consider he is the only person who should pay 
 this impost. It has been argued over and over again that it 
 is a landowners' question, a tax upon his land. Granted !
 
 45 
 
 Then I say by all means let him pay his own taxes, and not 
 endeavour to throw his burdens upon the poor tenant, who is 
 breaking down every day under his load, which is too heavy 
 for him to bear. Again, I am only asking what is done by 
 every landowner in Scotland, in some of the Northern and 
 Midland counties, and by a landlord in one parish where 1 
 farm, also by others in parts of Kent well known to me. 
 Then, as to the alteration of taking the corn averages which I 
 propose. It is merely to endeavour to get a correct return. 
 In Scotland they already manage this far more satisfactorily 
 than we do, the farmers meeting an officer and others 
 appointed for the purpose every spring, and giving the results 
 of their sales of corn. I am well aware that an alteration is 
 needed in the price of wheat, and that the quantity should 
 be lessened in wheat for the averages ; but my object is to 
 first give this a fair trial for at least three years, and then, if 
 necessary, further legislation can be effected to improve upon 
 it. Why I suggest that the Act should be compulsory in 
 making the landowner pay the ordinary tithe is, that I am 
 certain that any other legislation would be useless. I say this 
 with all due respect to landowners and with a considerable 
 amount of reluctance. Take for instance the Agricultural 
 Holdings Act, with its permissive clause ; why, it is a dead- 
 letter, it is worthless ! 
 
 Again, if the tenant has to insist upon securing any 
 benefit from any Act' of Parliament, from his landlord, in- 
 stead of that Act compelling the stronger person, the land- 
 owner, to carry it out, it becomes useless to the tenant ; he 
 being the weaker of the two, always fails in the attempt. For 
 instance, what advantage has the farmer in the Midland and 
 Southern counties derived from the 60th section of the Act, 
 6 and 7 William IV., cap. 71, passed in 1836, which pro- 
 vides that any tenant paying the tithe shall be entitled to 
 deduct the amount thereof from the rent payable by him to
 
 46 
 
 his landlord ] But notice — he must insist upon the obser- 
 vance of this from his landlord when taking his farm. On 
 the other hand, how few landowners have sought to obtain 
 the redemption of tithes under the Act of 1878 (see 41 
 and 42 Vic, cap. 42, section 4). Such redemption on reason- 
 able terms would improve the value of their estates, and 
 would relieve the tenant from all concern with the tithe ; 
 hut as there is nothing compulsory in the Act, its good inten- 
 tions are lost. 
 
 The question might arise. How will this alteration, if 
 made law, affect the tenant-farmer and landowner] The 
 tenant, of course, will have to pay more rent, but not so much 
 as he now does, rent and tithes together ; consequently his 
 rates and taxes would be reduced, as the tithe charge is 
 assessed to the income taxes and poor rates, which is a fresh 
 burthen since 1836, and he will be relieved from paying a 
 tax so obnoxious to him. On the other hand, the land- 
 owner, although after paying tithes and striking a balance 
 from rent he receives, may find it less for a time — yet, in the 
 long run, he will prove he is no loser by the change. Instead 
 of his farms being tenantless, they will be occupied, and he 
 will not have to resort to the system of allowing 10 to 25 per 
 cent, deduction off his rents. The cultivation of fruit, 
 market gardens, and hop grounds, being freed from the extra- 
 ordinary tithe will increase in acreage, and stop to a consider- 
 able extent the great increase of imports of hops, fruit, and 
 vegetables, that should be grown at home, thus keeping the 
 extra labour required to produce them, as well as 
 the money, at home. And looking at a landowner's 
 point of view, the land thus being relieved from 
 this extraordinary tithe, would realise more when sold 
 than if the impost remained on. At the time when the duty 
 was taken off hops, the extraordinary tithe upon hop planta- 
 tions should have been redeemed. For instance, look at the
 
 47 
 
 unfair position it left us in, the duty on our hops was £1 
 per cwt, hut on foreign hops over £4, really a prohibitory 
 rate, and yet we still hugged the extra tax, forgetting that 
 what land can bear in the time of protection is far different 
 from what it can when free trade takes its place. Ahhough 
 this change of the person paying the tithes, who it was in- 
 tended by the 1836 Act should pay them, would relieve the 
 tenant-farmer of his greatest burden, let it not be thought 
 that that alone will emancipate him from the present distress- 
 ful condition that he has by degrees drifted into, but as I am 
 dealing with tithes, I will not dwell upon the other burdens 
 which press heavily upon him, but merely mention some of 
 the foremost which most directly affect him, and with re- 
 ference to which the Committee of the Farmers' Alliance on 
 the 17th of September, in London, passed a resolution to the 
 effect that they required the immediate attention of Govern- 
 ment, viz., " To stimulate the improved cultivation of the 
 land, especially by obtaining security for the capital of tenants 
 invested in the improvement of their holdings ; to obtain the 
 abolition of class privileges involved in the Law of Distress ; 
 to secure to ratepayers their legitimate share of County 
 Government ; to obtain a fair apportionment of local burdens 
 between landlord and tenant." I firmly believe when the 
 farmer is relieved of the tithes, and the above reforms 
 advocated by the Farmers' Alliance are accomplished, he will 
 be in a position to grow corn at such a cost as will enable 
 him to compete with the foreigner, and the representatives of 
 the people will be able to congratulate themselves on having 
 done their duty. The land question is not only a landowners' 
 and farmers', but a national one, and no country can prosper 
 long where agriculture is upon the decline. I am certainly 
 reiterating the words of farmers in saying we want no favours, 
 no class legislation, but 
 
 We ask for justice, this we will demand. 
 
 Just laws under which to till our Nation's land.
 
 THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE. 
 
 To Farmers and others interested in Agricultural 
 Reform. 
 
 IT has long been felt by many farmers, as well as by others who 
 understand the necessities of modern farming, that the condi- 
 tions under which the cultivation of the soil is carried on are 
 highly detrimental to agricultural prosperity, being obstructive to 
 increased production, and therefore prejudicial to the interests of 
 landlords, tenants, and the public at large. 
 
 The serious position in which landlords and tenants find them- 
 selves placed at the present time urgently demands that every 
 legitimate effort be made to encourage the development of the 
 resources of the soil ; and the preliminary step in this direction 
 must be to free the business of farming from the trammels of 
 unjust laws, and the cultivation of the soil from the unwise and 
 in many cases absurd restrictions which obstruct its improvement. 
 
 The hopes of Agricultural Reform have hitherto proved delusive, 
 and the obvious reason is that the interests of those engaged in 
 agriculture have not been adequately represented in Parliament. 
 
 The first step towards the removal of those Agricultural obstruc- 
 tions which have to be dealt with by Parliament is manifestly the 
 election of men who really represent the interests of agriculture. 
 
 To accomplish this, farmers have only to assert their political 
 independence, and elect candidates who truly represent their views 
 and thoroughly possess their confidence. 
 
 The Farmers' Alliance is organised to help towards the return 
 of 3uch representatives, as the proper constitutional means for the 
 redress of the grievances complained of, and to promote the other 
 objects stated in the Programme, by the united action of all who 
 are in favour of Agricultural Reform. 
 
 Programme of the Farmers' Alliance. 
 
 1. To secure the better representation of tenant-farmers in Parliament* 
 
 2. To stimulate the improved cultivation of the land, especially by 
 
 obtaining security for the capital of tenants invested in tht 
 improvement of their holdings.
 
 Ml 
 
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