Jote 10, 1899.
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
992
night-workers, such as hakers and watchmen, to rent a bed to sleep in during the day from people already living in an ■overcrowded state who occupy the bed at night; whilst among some fami-lies in Spitalfields the beds are rented on the eight-hours principle, having three differente sets of sleepers every 24 hours. Truly the housing of the people ” is becoming a burning question.
The times change and we change with them. To compare a modem judge’s demeanour and mode of ■life with that of Chief Justice Saunders who died towards the close of the 17th century, is rather amusing. I fell ■across a curious account of this worthy a day or two ago. “ As to his person,” says the writer, “ he was■ very corpulent and beastly—a mere lump of morbid flesh. .	■	• Those whose ill fortune it was
to stand near him were confessors, and in summer time almost ׳martyrs. This hateful decay of his carcase came upon him by continual sot-tishness ; for to say nothing of brandy, he ■was seldom without ■a pot o׳f ale at his nose, or near him. That exercise was all he u׳sed._ However, the biographer adds that as to his ordinary dealing Saunders was “ as honest as the driven snow was white ; and why not, having no regard for money or desire to be rich ? And for good nature and condescension, there was not his fellow.”
“ Sunt lacryrna! rerum,” says the Latin poet■. There are some thingsi one cannot help crying over, and (he might have added) there are■ other things we cannot help laughing over. For instance pace all Utopian dreamers, one can hardly refrain from smiling when one reads of a colony which failed dismally wheal run on communistic lines, and became a distinct success directly the equality and fraternity idea was abandoned. A denizen of ;; Hew Australia (Paraguay) has been giving some account of the history of that settlement. Ho recounts that some yearsi ago׳ a number of good and sanguine folk shook the dust of Australia off their boots and sailedj for Paraguay. They were to form one huge family there, but somehow or other the plan would not work. Th׳o brothers, and particularly the ׳sisters׳, quarrelled rampantly, and! so acute did the uncivil war become that many of them swore that even civilisation was! )better than this, and, like the Scotchman, went “bock agen.” But seemingly the Paraguayan Government stepped in and ofiered 100 acres each to those who remained, whereupon the settlers individually elected to live and do business for the future “on their own,” to revert, in fact, to the vicious and effete mode of life which they had thought to have abandoned for ever. It is alleged that prosperity and peace! immediately returned to their homesteads, and thus they got what they had been looking for by sheer accident, as׳ the gentleman (name unknown) is said to have shot another gentleman (name unmentionable). The Hew Australians are now living like everyone else, except that they have no law, no established religion, and “ no nothing,” except freedom.
In ׳the matter Of the remission of penalties for the non-stamping of documents, I do not know that it is always advisable to rely too implicitly upon ׳the! tender mercies o׳f Somerset House. But, as a rule, the officials meet the careless and remiss in perhaps a more equitable spirit than they deserve. It !is now pretty generally known—though not so generally as it. ■should be—that an advertisement order, it above the value of £5, requires to be stamped. That, at any rate, is the■ view that has been׳ expressed by the Inland Revenue Commissioners, and, I believe, it to be the correct one, though I do not know that the question has ever been brought before a superior court of law. But that in such oases the penalty will be returned! may be gathered from some recent proceedings in which the proprietor of a newspaper was suing for the price of advertisements inserted to the order of the defendants. The point was taken that some of the orders were not duly stamped, and the representative of the plaintiff on paying the amount of the stamp and ■the penalty (£11 Os. 6d. in all), remarked that no doubt the Inland Revenue Commissioners would return! all the penalty with tho exception of a nominal sum of 5s. I presume that he would not have said this unless he had had some experience of ithe practice at Somerset House.
The following letter was recently addressed to a well-known firm of auctioneers and! house agents in a southwest■ seaside resort: —• ‘Dear Sirs,—I am writing to ask you if you have a House to let not higher than! 2s. 6d. a week, with a small orchard to it, or run for fowls and pigs. Awaiting your reply. Tours,-------.” The signature
is that of a lady, and she dates from a rectory. Well, ladies, and especially clerical ladies, never want much for their money, do they? Mrs. Rector might possibly get what she required in some very secluded and out of the way part of the three kingdoms, but not in any district within measurable distance of civilisation. Why she should have thought that the firm she wrote to had such an “ eligible residential property” on their books is a mystery.
STYLO.
be quite extinct, but I fancy a few specimens could be found without much difficulty. .	. I
know one man whose health gives way about Hovember, which necessitates his going away for a week or two to stop with a straightgoing ■friend who has a well-supplied stable.” The writer ■adds :—“ One of the things■ in which parsons used to take great delight, and for which a few retain a warm comer in their ■heart still, is ratting. There be parishes where the parson’s dog is notorious, and his master almost always manages to see that he does his duty.” With regard to racing—one may allude to the subject so near Ascot—“Martin West” says that he has met with more than one parson who owned to ■a liking for races. “ I have known several who have attended the Derby, more or less openly. I cannot say I have ever known a parson who made a bet. __ One told me his experiences the other day. Out of curiosity he went down to some meeting. A friend gave him a ‘ certainty,’ and being much tempted, he sought a bookie and invested a fiver. The friend’s ‘ tip ’ turned out correct ; the horse won! hands down,” but when the reverend gentleman went to draw his money the bookie had disappeared.
A very interesting pamphlet, issued by Messrs. Taylor and Go., the auctioneers and house agents, of Wellington-road, St. John’s-wood, has come under my notice. It deals with the proposed new Money Lenders' Bill, and its moral is directed to show that there are sharping borrowers in! existence as well as fraudulent lenders, and that the manœuvres of the former
To the ordinary layman the subject of the negotiability of debentures would probably be no more interesting than that of the law as to a tenant in tail after possibility of issue extinct, or as to the difference between the rights of free fishery and common of piscary. But t׳he article of Mr. Bosanquet, Q.C., in the current number of the “Law Quarterly Review,” has a valuable philosophical, as well as -technical hearing. The controversy, indeed, which has arisen in legal circles recently, as to the negotiability of the securities mentioned, really seems to come to this : •—Is the law merchant definitively fixed, or may it still be regarded as elastic, as capable of being from time to time stretched to meet the growing wants of the business community ? Mr. Bosanquet takes the conservative view ; but, after all, the question arises, why should not the trading community of to-day be allowed to continue to act as did their mediEeval predecessors, that is, to make a law merchant suitable to their own requirements ? The modern tendency in all matters of law is towards common sense, equity and the reasonable convenience of the public. “Find out what is the common sense of the matter and bend the law to it,” was the method—practical, if somewhat too strongly expressed—advocated by the late Lord Esher. Mr. Bosanquet stands strictly on the precedents, but the hands of the clock cannot be put back or stopped in such a way now.
as well as of the latter class ought to he taken into consideration by the gentlemen who are considerate enough to regulate, or to endeavour ■to regulate, our morals from their seats at St. Stephen’s. I have made some remarks from this point of view before in this column, ■and, in particular, quoted the great jurist Jeremy Bentham’s views on the subject of money lending. In the suggestive brochure before me, Messrs. Taylor allude to bill of sale, “ marriage settlement,” and other frauds perpetrated by borrowers, and, to my mind, put their case forcibly and logically. What they say as to borrowing money under circumstances amounting to fraud and conspiracy on the part of the borrowers and those associated with them, is, in many cases, absolutely true. “ The latter,” they remark, “ have no •fear of anything serious arising for they know, and the money lenders equally well know, that if criminal proceedings were taken against them, the chances of a conviction following are very remote, whilst the money lender would be certain of having heavy law costs to pay. The Public Prosecutor does not take up cases on behalf of money lenders, he is only induced to take up cases against them.” In a court of law, in fact, a money lendei has ■about as much chance, as a rule, as a betting man or a “breaeher” of promise.
“ The Thames as a Pleasure Resort ” was the subject of a very interesting article in the “ Times ” recently. The growth of public rights over the grand old river was traced historically by the writer from early times to that Great Charter of the lovers of the Thames, the Thames Conservancy Act, 1894, which declares in unequivocal language the right of all persons “whether for pleasure or profit, to go and lie, pass and re-pass, in vessels, over or upon any and every part of the Thames through which Thames water flows, including all such backwaters, creeks, side-channels, bays and inlets connected therewith as form parts of the said river.” The quarrels between riparian owners and the public on the subject of angling and so forth are alluded ■to, and it is pointed out that though much has been done for the maintenance and furtherance of the rights of citizens, much remains to he done, and approving mention is made of t'he contemplated Thames Preservation League, which, it is proposed, shall consist of representatives of the several open-space societies, the Selbome Society, and other bodies interested in preserving the amenities of town and country, together with, it is hoped, the heads ׳of the great seats of learning on the Thames, the mayors of the principal riverside towns, riparian owners and all unattached lovers of Thames scenery and Thames pastimes.
The talk about overcrowded London—" horrible” London as some of the papers put it—continues. In fact, it gets worse, and there is more of it. I cannot help thinking that much of it is exaggerated, though, no doubt, in some parts of London there is no need whatever for exaggeration. I was recently in conversation with a well-known Surrey-side house agent, and he ׳told me that ׳the working people of his district compete against each other for houses, as their masters compete for trade. One will offer 6d. or Is. a week more rent, and another will deposit £2 or £3 as security for the key. They understate the number of their children so as to improve their chances ; they will take a house no matter how insanitary. People get to know when the outgoing tenants are timed to leave; so you have two vans at the door at the same time—the one loading furniture coming out, the other unloading furniture going in. This seems a sufficiently large order, but my friend went on to say that it is becoming quite common for
“Intelligence circulates,” says one of the characters in “ Zanoni” ; “ like water, it finds its level.” Still, to be very plain, I do not think that most of us take that interest in legal and social subjects that we ought. Those subjects, after all, personally concern everyone of us ; whilst to occupy oneself with “ politics ”— though, no doubt, a paying business to those who make it a business—is probably a great deal worse than useless to the outsider. To give a topical illustration of what I mean, the goddess Themis has once more taken down the shutters, and her law and equity emporium in the Strand will now he open every day (Sundays excepted), until the advent of the Long Vacation. And still we are not happy, and ought not to be. The public in general, and the business portion ■of it in particular, together with a great many members of the legal profession, consider that same Long Vacation a great deal too long. They want to see something definite done in the way of curtailing it ; but I hardly expect that anything ever will be done if they do not keep vigorously pegging aWay. The Committee of the Benchers of the four Inns of Court, which is now considering the advisability of cutting short the big legal holiday, will probably not recommend anything in the nature of a substantial reform, for a few days, one way or the other, mean nothing. For the rest, in legal matters time is money in every sense of the phrase. For instance, look at the “friendly” (and protracted) litigation of “Powell v. the Kempton Park Racecourse Company,” which went to the House of Lords to decide the vexed question, What is a place “ within the meaning of the Act ” ? The costs in it axe stated to amount to just on £6,000.
“If the so-called representatives of Ireland would only take up practical questions, instead of vapouring about themselves, they might do some good to the country. In any case, it is the duty of the commercial and agricultural classes to join their forces in order to end once for all this monstrous monopoly.” This will be admitted to be pretty strong language to emanate from an organ which has always been considered distinctly pro-Iri&h and pro-Radical. The writer, however, justifies it by asserting that the politicians of the Emerald Isle ought to pay much more attention than they do to such matters, for instance, as the administration of the railway companies of Ireland. He boldly states that those who have charge of the Irish system are doing their best (or worst) to ruin the commercial and agricultural prosperity of our sister island. Examples axe given in the facts that from Castlerea to London the charge for eggs is 65s. a ■ton, whereas from the farthest Russian port to London it is only 22s., and the butter rate is only 35s. ■a ton from Denmark to Dublin, whereas from Skibbereen to the same place it is 43s. 4d., and so on. Here, surely, are truths worth noting, and another illustration that is quite humorous in its absurdity is a charge of 7jd. a mile for the carriage of a young bull.
Though doubtless nowadays what is called “smartness” is aimed at by all sorts and conditions of journals—general, trade, class and no class—one is almost tempted to ask, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” when one sees a humorous and chaffing article in the pages of such a paper as the “ Church Gazette.” But an able contributor to the columns of our contemporary recently wrote an article in which he was very amusing on the subject of sporting parsons. Country life, it is certain, has altered greatly in modern ■times in many other respects than the personnel of its clergy, and, says “Martin West,” the hunting parson “is supposed to
latiti attir fpntsis.
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HINDHEAD.—For	Sale.—A	singularly
beautiful Freehold Residential Property, occupying a magnificent position nearly 800ft. above sea level, in the most charming part of this unrivalled district, about Zh miles from Haslemere station. The house, a carefullj־ designed and well-built residence in the Elizabethan style, occupies a position altogether unique and is surrounded by grounds of almost matchless beauty through which it is approached by a long carriage drive. The accommodation comprises: nine bed rooms, throe dressing rooms, hath room, etc; entrance hall leading to a noble panelled music room 36ft. lOin. by 26ft׳. lOin. and nearly 20ft high, with massive timbered roof and picturesque gallery, ingle nook and organ recess, opening to a large rose-covered verandah, very pretty
1־
drawing and dining rooms with large ornamental windows commanding quite enchanting views, servants’ hall, offices, and cellarage. Stabling for four horses, coachhouse, and harness room; lovely pleasure grounds commanding at every turn prospects of extraordinary beauty, lavishly planted with conifers and rhododendrons and melting away imperceptibly into the wild surrounding scenery, richly-wooded slopes with shady undulating paths, a long sheltered terrace walk nearly 700ft. long, and capital tennis lawn encircled b.v pine plantations— in all about 20a. 3r. 6p —the whole forming one of the most covetable properties in the South of England.—Illustrated particulars and plan of Messrs. Debenliam, Tewso.i, Farmer and Bridgewater, 80, Cheapside, E.C.
WITHIN A FEW YARDS OF STATION
’ ^ on Harrow and South Ealing Railway, nowl in course of construction, 5f acres of well-timbered freehold land, free from building restrictions. Price to an immediate purchaser £800 per acre : part could remain on mortgage.—For plan and particulars, apply to owner, care of J. G. Hossaek, Esq., solicitor, Howard House, Arundel-street, W.C.
FLETTON TOWERS, Peterborough.—To
LET, for a term of years. Furnished or Unfurnished, this picturesque Family Mansion, standing in its own grounds of two acres. Approached by a fine avenue of elms with gardener’s lodge at entrance. The house contains four reception rooms, fine hall with gallery staircase, numerous bed and dressing rooms, bath, with hot and cold water, etc.—For further particulars and order to view, apply F. H. Cooke, land agent, Peterborough.
FREEHOLD (Agricultural) LAND, from
five to 40 acres WANTED (near stations preferred), in the neighbourhood of Harrow. Pinner, Northwood, or Rickmansworth.—Write, stating character of land, and lowest price for cash, “Seeds,” care of Thos. S. Ware, Limited, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, London, N.
QJURREY.—To be Let from Michaelmas,
^ 1899, an excellent Sheep farm, comprising about 646 acres of Land in first-rate order (of which 268 acres are pasture) superior Buildings with covered yards, large Farmhouse and Twelve Cottages, besides Harvester’s Houses, situated about five miles from Croydon and twelve from London, and within three miles of a railway station. Rent moderate and covenants libeiai. Water laid on to house, buildings, and land. 100 acres of sheep run and 54 acres of arab’e land could be let with the farm if desired.—Apply to Messrs. Geo. Graham Bell and Co., land agents, 9, Victoria-street, London, S.Wi
T^OR SALE, Tynemouth Villa, Rothbury, -L	Northumberland.—A Cottage orné, containing
nine rooms!, etc., with well-planted grounds, views of the river Coquet, the hills and Cragside, the seat of Lord1 Armstrong, with the Diamond Cottages, about 1,600 superficial yards in all. Several high-class Mansions in Percy-gardens, etc., in the charming village of Tynemouth, Northumberland. —Apply to Robert M. Tate, auctioneer and land agent, Victoria-chambers, 98, Howard-street, North Shields.
Development of building estates
—Owners of large or small estates in any approved locality in England are invited to furnish particulars of their property to Messrs. G. A. and J. Hall, of Valkyrie, Colney Hatch-lane, Muswell-in 11, N., whose speciality is the development of buiding estates, and1 who are prepared either to purchase outright or to arrange mutual terms for the successful development of the same.
NOW READY.
Crown 8vo, Price 6s. For Cash with Order 5s. net
THE VALUATION OF LAND
AND
HOUSE PROPERTY.
BY
CHARLES E. CURTIS, F.S.I.,
Professor of Forestry, Field Engineering and Surveying and General Estate Management at the CollcEre of Agriculture, Downton : Consulting Forester to the Right Hon.
Lord O’Neill. Shane’s Castle, Antrim ;
Author of “Estate Management” (Fourth Edition) “Practical Forestry ” (Second•Edition), etc., etc.: with
VALUATION EXAMPLES
BY
D. THOS. DAVIES, F.S.I.
INDICATION, ETC., by
Ivor Curtis■, B.A., Cantab.
FRANK P. WILSON,
Estates Gazette” Office, 6, St. Bride-street’ London, E.C