Page:Landholding in England.djvu/186

 Mr Ryde, past-President of the Surveyors' Institute, began by naively confessing that the Institute was "greatly alarmed" on hearing there was to be legislation. They "all agreed" with him that "the prosperity of the country "required no more legislation in connection with land. Reminded that he had once written a pamphlet advocating the simplifying of land transfer, he admitted that such a simplification would be an advantage. But this did not make him less clear that a ground landlord has "a perfect right" to raise the rent when he sees that the tenant is succeeding in business. If he knows that a certain piece of land has become of increased value to the tenant, he has the perfect right to take the full advantage of this circumstance—as much right as the owner of a Derby winner has to ask a higher price for his horse after he has won the Derby than he would have asked before. Asked whether he thought the cases analogous, Ryde first confessed there was a difference, and then repeated the comparison of "rights." He admitted that in the course of ninety-nine years, properties generally increased in value "three, four, or five times." "You may take it that they do. But that is part of the bargain; it is seen beforehand, and it is known that it is so: there is nothing else like it; it is nothing like the old copyhold or feudal system, there is nothing to be compared to it. &hellip; The freeholder says, I will grant you a lease of this land for ninety-nine years, if at the expiration of the time you will leave me the house upon it." There must be "freedom of contract." "We must be allowed to bring our abilities to bear and work it out unfettered." Here, of course, freedom of contract means the freedom of the freeholder to drive the hardest bargain he possibly can; and the "abilities to be brought to bear" are the abilities which enable one man to exploit the labour of another man. The one-sidedness of the "freedom" never seems to have struck Mr Ryde at all. Where is the tenant's freedom? The landlord is truly "free." He can make a more or less hard bargain with the lessee, but the lessee must submit to the terms, or give up business altogether. It is true that he sees it beforehand, and knows that it is so; he also knows, not that he can take it or leave it, but that he must take it. He agrees, not because he willingly accepts the terms,