533
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
April 1, 1899.
Farm and several cottages, the who containing about 757 acres. We have not bee informed of the amount realised for the estate but we believe it was over £^0,000.
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Messrs. Farebrother, Ellis and Co. have recently disposed of a farm of about 112 acres, situated near Spalding, Lincolnshire, at upwards of £40 per acre, which must be regarded as a very satisfactory figure.
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The leasehold town house, No. 13, Chesham-street, Belgrave-square, S.W., which was not disposed of when offered to auction at the London Mart, on March 9, has now been sold by Messrs. Trollope.
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The Whyly Estate, near East Hoathly, Sussex, a valuable sporting estate of about 675 acres, has been sold by Messrs. Hampton and Sons. They have also disposed of Hapstead House, near Hayward’s Heath, a choice residential estate of about 93 acres, with farms, cottages, etc.
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We are informed that the North Malvern Hotel property, which was recently offered bj auction by Messrs. Frank Everill and Co., o" Worcester, has been sold by private treaty fo between £3,000 and £4,000. The mortgag from the Worcester Corporation, which wa offered at• the same time, has also been sold b them.
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The following properties have been sold by Messrs. E. and S. Smith :—A leasehold ground rent of £88 per annum, secured upon 13 cottages, known as Spa Cottages, Lloyd’S-row, derkenwell, four small houses in Thomas-street adjoining, and Spa House, Lloyd’s-row, held for 11 years unexpired, at £3, realised £600; the leasehold residence, No. 42, Wharton-street. Lloyd-square, Clerkenwell, let at £46 p־ annum, lease 28 years, ground rent £4, so for £350; and the leasehold comer residenc No. 1, Rosebery-gardens, Crouch-end, nounced for sale at the Mart, on April 14, leas 97 years, ground rent, £7 10s., for £575.
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Messrs. Ashley Gordon and Mason have sold the following investments: The freehold residence, San Remo, Hove-park-villas, Hove, let upon lease at £60 per annum, for £1,200; three freehold shops, Nos. 48, 50 and 52, Bensham-lane, West Croydon, producing £105 per annum, for £1,575 freehold weekly property, Nos. 17 and 19, Mare-street, Hackney, producing £230 per annum, for £2,100; *a modem building, known as Blenheim Mansions, Broadway, Queen Anne’s-gate, S.W., held on lease for 73 years unexpired at a ground rent of £150, for £4,125; a block of shops and houses, Nos. 207 to 217 (odd), Pentonville-road, King’s-cross, N., producing £794 per annum, lease 67 years unexpired, ground rent £250, f(w £2,350; freehold shops, Nos. 43 to 46, West-street, Farnham, Surrey, let on lease at £110 per annum, for £2,100 ; four freehold shops, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, Dawson-terrace, Mitcham-road, Tooting, producing £210 per annum, for £3,600; and 11 semi-detached houses, Nos. 19 to 30, Leigham-vale, SEreat-ham, producing £418 per annum, lease 84 years, ground rent £72 10s., for £4,275; making a total of £22,000.
^mmmirn *rf (ianhnts.
BEIC-A-BEAO (p. 638).
CITY TOPICS (p. 537).
COMPENSATION CASES ip. 526).—TUe arbitratio proceeding's in connection with the acquiremei of properties by the L.C.C. for the purpose of ti .Strand and׳ Clare Market improvement scherr were continued before Mr. H. T. Steward, ESI The claim of the freeholders of Nos. 5, 6, 7 and i Harford-plaee, which amounted to about £3,00 and of the lessee of the shop premises, No. 10 Drury-lane, -were also considered. The lessee c five weekly houses in Partiner-street, Southtvarl was awarded £375 as the result of his claim again: the Loudon School Board. A claim by the frei holder of two houses in BexhiH, acquired by th Crowhurst, Sidley and Bexhill :Railway Co. r< suited in the jury awarding £1,120. The hearin of the case of “ Batchelor v. Brompton, Chathan Gillingham and Rochester "Water Go.,’׳ in whic £77,743 was claimed in respect of a brickfield nea Chatham, was continued by Mr. Daniel Watnej the Umpire, at the Surveyors' Institution.
COMMISSION CASES (p. 535).—In a case arising: ou of an arrangement for the purchase and1 sale c the goodwill, etc., of the Horse and Groom, Whii comb-street, Haymarket, a negotiation which wa never completed, the plaintiff claimed £100 a commission, and the defendant denied that h had ever promised to pay the plaintiff that sun Mr. Justice Grantham gave judgment for th defendant with costs.
FARM AND FIELD (p. 537).
FOREbTRT (p. 524).—Cutting ash coppice—the as! and the oak—birds—Palm Sunday.
FURNITURE OLD AND NEW (p. 535).-The Directoir style.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS (p. 522).—Several importan cases are reported.
LEGAL TOPICS (p. 534).
LICENSED PROPERTY NOTES (p. 538).
MEMS. FROM THE MART (p. 528).
NOTES BY THE WAY (p. 536).
PRIYATE TREATY SALES (p. 533).
PROVINCIAL PROPERTY SALES (p. 527).
QUERIES AND REPLIES (p. 539).
SAYINGS AND DOINGS (p. 534).
SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY (p. 525).—Several letters are published this week.
pressed for room at its offices in Spring-gardens, and is paying a good deal of money every year for rent for additional buildings, some of them rather remote from head-quarters. At its meeting last week, it therefore decided to purchase the freehold of two houses in Coekspur-street, and to connect them, by additional buildings, with the Spring-gardens offices. The buildings will cost £100,000, and will house one hundred and forty of the officials who are at present stowed away elsewhere. It is suggested that, even should a new County Hall be presently erected elsewhere, the increase in the value of property in the neighbourhood would, in all probability, make the transaction a profitable one, and we are inclined to agree with that view. A good deal depends, however, upon how much money is spent upon additions and alterations.
No surprise is possible at the rejection of the County Council’s Welsh Water Bill. It was a rather irritating tactical blunder to introduce it at a time when a Royal Commission is considering the whole question of the London Water Supply. We are far from suggesting that some day it may not be necessary to tap the Welsh rivers for the benefit of the capital ; and it is always possible that the Commission may report in favour of the County Council becoming the Metropolitan water authority. But we do not yet need Wales, and it is obvious that we must look to the Report for guidance upon the whole question. It is a pity the Council should have done anything to give colour to the suggestion that it desired to force the hand of Parliament. We do not believe that it had any such desire, and it no doubt considered that it was bound by its own conception of its position and its duty to introduce the Bill at this particular moment. But it was a mistake nevertheless.
The deputation from the Butter Association which waited upon the President of the Board of Agriculture, on Tuesday, made a very good show. It was careful to point out that it had no animus against margarine ; but was solely concerned to see that it was not sold as butter, and at something approaching butter prices. That is just where the two great evils of adulteration come in. Not only is an inferior article sold as, and in the name of, a superior one, but the superior price is oharged. Of course principle is almost equally outraged when goods of good quality in themselves are sold, so long as they purport to be what they are not. We are very glad to learn that the Butter Association has, during the last four months, instituted 150 prosecutions against retailers who have sold as butter,mixtures containing from 75 to 95 per cent, of margarine. The Association is doing good work, and we are glad it is in favour of the Bill. We are all likely to benefit by its efforts, since the un-concious eating of margarine is certainly not always or entirely oonfined to the poor.
Jlaks bn flrtbak feat¡!.
We are informed that the Moulton Paddocks Estate, Newmarket, which was offered to auction by Mr. Charles W. Driver (Messrs. Driver and Co.), on September 29 last, at the Town Hall, Newmarket, has now been disposed of by his firm. It will be remembered that this property, which was dealt with in an illustrated descriptive article in our issue of September 3 last, belonged to the late Mr. George Alexander Baird, and comprises a very comfortable family residence, having charming pleasure grounds, with magnificent winter garden, a large quantity of glass houses, together with paddocks, Well Bottom Stud Farm, Glebe
out, rather sarcastically, that his side of the House was not very likely to do anything to interfere with the working of equalisation, since his party had passed two out of the three Equalisation Acts which are now in operation.
Every now and again we get a little echo of what used to be called the “ Welsh Land Question.” The other night, we read, there was an “ enthusiastic public meeting ” at a village near Dolgelly, to protest against the action of a local squire “ in giving notice to quit to several old tenants.” We know nothing whatever of the circumstances of this particular ease, but it has been taken advantage of as a text for preaching the necessity of a Land Court in Wales. A Member of Parliament who went down to the meeting told his hearers that nothing short of the establishment of such a tribunal would “ compel ” the Welsh landlord “ to do what was fair and honest by their tenants,” and a resolution was passed to the same effect. Happily, the experience we have have had of Land Courts in Ireland is hardly such as to encourage any but those to whose advantage they are likely to be to feel much eagerness for their establishment in this island. But the bottom was long ago knocked out of the Welsh “ Land Question,” absurdly so called.
We do not know whether Mr. F. Wilson, M.P., has much experience of the rural districts or of the condition of cottage tenants in those districts ; but the question which he put to Mr. Balfour a few days before the adjournment of the House suggests that he has yet considerable knowledge to acquire on the subject. He asked Mr. Balfour “ if he was aware of the serious consequences arising from the liabilities to ejectment at short notice ” of such tenants, and what he proposed to do in the matter. The First Lord’s reply was that he did not intend to do anything, since ejectments under distressing circumstances are of very rare occurrence. So rarely indeed are cottage tenants treated harshly that the question is simply ridiculous. A well-conducted man who falls upon evil days is very rarely indeed left without a roof to shelter him in a country village ; and many a squire, parson, and farmer could give Mr. Wilson some highly useful information upon the subject.
“ At least another year” is expected to elapse before the Royal Commission on Local Taxation has fulfilled its reference. This is no mere uninstructed guess, but the deliberate opinion of the secretary, as stated to a correspondent. Not only have witnesses still to be called in London, but the Commission has yet to visit Ireland. Therefore we are bidden not to expect the final report “ until the session of 1900 ” is well advanced. This, of course, means that we cannot expect legislation upon the whole subject of local taxation for two years hence. The delay is very regrettable, but is quite inevitable so long as we continue to burden busy politicians with the heavy and thankless work of sitting upon Royal Commissions and Select Committees. If half a dozen of the most distinguished professional rating authorities had been set to work upon the matter and remunerated adequately, they would probably have reportedjin six months. Happily, while the delay goes on the whole subject continues to ripen, so that there will be no excuse for delay when the report is, at last, made.
The County Council is about to engage in a rather speculative transaction of some magnitude in real estate. It is notoriously
to obtain things cheaply; but we are not as a nation altogether fools, and we should prefer to have things fresh and good if we could obtain them at no very serious increase, or better still, no increase at all upon the price paid for the—usually inferior —foreign competing article.	Something is
being done in the matter of egg-producing and poultry-growing, and in dairying generally ; but there is a terrible amount of lee-way to make up. We have allowed ourselves to fall back so far in the race that a very long period of hard work will be necessary before we can regain our lost place. It is always possible that, when our growth of food bears a considerably nearer proportion to the needs of our population than it does at present, national opinion may demand that something should bs done to give a preference to home supplies over foreign ones. But without a greatly increased home production such a course would lead to very great hardship. The important matter at present is that our own production should keep pace with the growth of our population, and that the foreigner should, in this way, be prevented from obtaining a stronger foot-hold than he already possesses.
THE ESTATE MARKET.
Owing to the Easter Festival there has been a great falling off in the number of sales held at the Tokenhouse-yard Mart during the week, and the returns show a decided drop. The properties disposed of consisted chiefly of metropolitan and suburban investments, which together produced a total of £29,761. The well-known residential and training estate, Moulton Pad-docks, Newmarket, the property of the late Mr. Alexander Baird, comprising a mansion and 757 acres, has been just sold for over £40,000.
(©aastomtl Jbte.
In his speech at the close of the Second Reading debate on the London Government Bill, on Friday night, Mr. Balfour discussed some of those objections to the measure to which we made reference last week. On the question of assessment Mr. Balfour said pretty much what we said ourselves—that it was clearly undesirable to deal with it while the whole subject is being enquired into by the Royal Commission. Admitting, however, that it was desirable to deal with it without waiting for the Commission, he pointed out that there was nothing whatever in the Bill to prevent the question “ being treated by subsequent legislation introduced by some more enterprising Government.” Mr. Balfour suggestedj some doubt;whether the Opposition were really anxious to see assessment dealt with in the measure ; and probably it is the old story of any stick being good enough to beat a dog with.
On the matter of equalisation of rates, Mr. Balfour was very emphatic. He ridiculed the false pretence of the opponents of the Bill that, in some [indirect and occult manner, it interferes with equalisation and would prevent the rich parts of London contributing anything to the poor parts; and went on to point out that of the fifteen municipalities which will be created by the Bill six only will lose any revenue, while tbo other nine will gain by it. The suggestion that a series of rich and a series of poor cities is created is obviously absurd; yet even if it were true, these imaginary poor cities would still benefit by the existence of the rich ones, so long as the present system of equalisation prevails. Mr. Balfour pointed