CONCLTJSION.
169
land. If this price is determined by competition, and
is not merely a low customary price, it is absurd that
it should be fixed for a long period ; for the margin
of profit is small, and the course of the seasons and of
the prices of agricultural requisites and products is
extremely uncertain. But Government cannot foresee
these changes any better than the parties concerned,
although by furnishing ampie statistics it may enable
them to arrive at a more correct conclusoli ; nor can
the intervention of Government in fixing rent on the
larger farms be justified on the ground of a naturai
inequality in the position of landlord and tenant ; at
the present time, indeed, the position of the tenant is
probably the more favourable of the two for making
a good bargain.
Again, as regards the length of tenure, there
seems to be no necessity for interfering with private
arrangements. Here, as in the case of rent, ali that
seems required is that the same general laws should
apply to landlord and tenant alike ; no exceptional
security should be given to the landlord for rent
unless, as in the French Code, the tenant is privileged
when the crop .is much below the average ; if the
tenant cannot transfer his lease without the land-
lord's consent, the landlord should not be allowed to
transfer his land without giving the tenant the option
of breaking the lease ; and generally no law should