All rents, whether for lands or houses, and whether from a tenant of the state or of an individual, are payable a year in advance; in other words, are payable, not for the year that is past, but for the year that is to come.
[The rent, in short, is like the purchase-money of an estate, which is to be paid before the title-deeds are delivered and the possession transferred.]
In like manner, with them, rent is the purchase-money of the house or land for one year; and the tenant has no claim upon it till that is paid. Rent, accordingly, is not recoverable or claimable as a debt; nor is there any such thing as distraining. It is, in fact, no debt; but at the end of the year, if the rent, or rather purchase-money, for the ensuing year have not been paid, the occupier ceases to have any interest in the land, and is exactly in the situation of a tenant whose lease has expired. If, however, he has agreed to take the house or land at a certain annual rent for a term of years, and fails to fulfil the engagement, he may be sued for a breach of contract, and, as in the case of any other breach of contract, will have to pay damages according to the circumstance of the case.
The travellers suggested, on this being first described, that it must be an inconvenience to a farmer to pay a sum of money out of his capital before he has got anything from his land. But they learned that, to prevent this, it is customary to let a farm for a term of years, and to fix the rent for the first year (to a new tenant) at a mere nominal sum. “At the end of each year, therefore,” said they, “we have our rents coming in, just as you have in England; and if (as you say is common in England) the same tenant and his family continue to renew from time to time, the landlord is just in the same situation in both countries.
“It is only when there is occasion to get rid of a bad tenant, and put in a new one, that there need be any difference; and when that is the case, your landlord is not, by your account, always better off than ours; but, on the contrary, sometimes loses more than one year’s rent, and incurs a great deal of trouble and law-expense besides.”
New settlers, becoming government-tenants under the arrangement above described, are sometimes in want of sufficient capital for the requisite improvements, especially irrigation, which is conducted on a great scale. In such cases, the state often advances a loan at moderate interest, secured on the land that is to be the tenant’s portion at the end of his term.
There are no usury laws in the country; every one lets either his land, his money, or any other property, on whatever terms the parties agree on.
CHAPTER X.
An Arrest.—Criminal Jurisprudence.—Jurymen.—Qualification of Jurors.—Syndics.—Royal Privilege.—Proceedings in Court.—Witnesses.—The Verdict.—Unanimity in Juries.—Decision of the Judge.—Prevarication.—Oaths.—False Witnesses.—Inconsistency in requiring Oaths.—Public Opinion.—Marriage.—Succession to the Crown.
While the travellers were in conversation with their new friends, a crowd was observed passing through the streets, as if some circumstance of interest had just occurred. On inquiry, it turned out, that one of the people had been arrested on rather an important charge, and that the proper officers were leading him off in custody. The travellers were very much struck by the demeanour of the people, which seemed to indicate respect for the authorities, and, at the same time, a delicacy of feeling towards the individual who was arrested, though not yet proved guilty. They became naturally curious to obtain information concerning their criminal jurisprudence, their mode of trial and of punishment.