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96
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[MAR., 1909
letter to the Incorporated Law Society. The
only question remaining is therefore the pro
viding of a 12 per cent. Bonus on ^1,347,774,
which sum will probably be reduced by the
Estates Commissioners.
Assuming that the prices fixed by the Estates
Commissioners in respect of this land, esti
mated in value for ^1,347,774, to be under
22 years' purchase, the Bonus under the new
Bill would be at least 6 per cent., z>._^8o,866 ;
if 12 per cent, bonus is given, ^161,732. The
amount, therefore, involved in providing the
full 12 per cent. Bonus on all outstanding
sections 6 and 8 cases up to the ist November,
1908, is about £80,000.
Reasons why the full bonus
of 12 per cent,
should be paid on all estates in respect of
which Requests were lodged prior to 24th
November, 1908, or which are sold to the
Estates Commissioners under section 6.
The cases in which vendors lodged Origi
nating Requests, instead of Originating Appli
cations, come under the following heads :—
(1) Cases in which vendor had, in addition
to his tenanted land, land in hand including
very often turf bogs.
In such cases tenants
agreed to the purchase prices of their holdings
only on the vendor undertaking to sell the
whole estate to the Estates Commissioners, so
that the untenanted land might be split up
amongst the tenants.
In these cases, the tenants' purchase-moneys
were agreed to before the request was lodged,
and the tenants signed either undertakings to
repurchase at the agreed prices, or a prelimi
nary agreement fixing purchase-moneys. From
the date of such undertakings or agreements,
the tenants have ceased to pay rent, and pay
interest on
their purchase-moneys
to
the
vendor.
It is now practically impossible for
the vendor to go back on his arrangement with
his tenants.
(2) Cases in which the tenants refused to pur
chase unless the estate was sold to the Estates
Commissioners for
re-sale
to
them.
The
reasons why the tenants wished the sale to take
place under section 6 were
(inter alia):—
(a)
Early in the working of the Act of
1903 there was an impression amongst the
tenants that, in case of a direct sale to them
under section i .no grants-could be made by
the Estates Commissioners for the improve
ment of holdings.
In consequence of this,
the tenants were advised not to agree to the
purchase prices suggested by the vendor,
unless he undertook to sell to the Estates
Commissioners under section 6.
(£) Cases
in which
the
tenants were
advised to agree to the landlord's terms,
provided he agreed to sell under section 6.
The object of this was to ensure that every
holding would be inspected, and on inspec
tion the tenants could raise questions of
value, enlargement of uneconomic holdings,
&c. This could not be done where they
signed agreements under section i within the
zones.
In all these cases, the landlord and
tenant agreed to terms of sale, and under
takings for a preliminary agreement were
signed.
The result is shortly thus :—
If the vendor had succeeded in getting his
tenants
to
sign
formal
agreements under
section i, and had refused to allow them to
have any of his untenanted land, and had
lodged these agreements on or before the 24th
November, 1908, he would not only have the
protection of the zones, but would also be
entitled to the full 12 per cent, bonus; and
because he agreed to sell under section 6,
which gave
the Estates Commissioners an
opportunity of inspecting for value, and of
enlarging uneconomic holdings, he should not
lose the protection of the zones, and get a
diminished bonus.
The case of a vendor lodging an Originating
Request without having previously arranged
terms with his tenants, is practically unknown.
The
164
cases
in
respect of which
the
^1,347,774 had been applied for, do not, in
all probability, contain more than one or two
cases in which the vendor merely lodged an
Originating Request without in the first instance
coming to terms with his tenants.
The question of the amount of bonus is
important in another class of case which has
arisen, and will in future arise,
i.e.—
(3) Cases where the vendor lodged an Origi
nating Application and purchase agreements
under section i, and the Estates Commissioners
find on inspection that:—
(a)
Some of the holdings are uneconomic.
(3) Some of the holdings are held in run-
dale or intermixed plots.
(c)
Vendor had untenanted land or grass
lands which were not included in the Origi
nating Application. The Estates Commis
sioners in such cases required the vendor
to
turn the Originating Application into a Request,
in order that they might buy the whole estate,