offer them first to the person entitled to the lands (if any) from which they were originally severed, and next to the owners of adjoining lands. If any person thus given a right of pre-emption desires to purchase, and he and the promoters cannot agree on the price, it is to be ascertained by arbitration, and the costs of the arbitration are to be in the discretion of the arbitrators.

Land Tax and Poor's Rate on Lands Taken.-Section 133 provides that, if the promoters become possessed, by virtue of the clauses Act or the special Act or any Act incorporated therewith, of any lands charged with land tax or liable to be assessed to poor's rate they shall, until the works are completed and assessed to such tax or rate, be liable to make good the deficiency in the assessments thereof by reason of the lands having been taken or used for the purposes of the works, the deficiency being computed according to the rental at which such lands, with any buildings thereon, were valued or rated at the time of the passing of the special Act. The promoters may however redeem the land tax.

ACQUISITION OF Land (AssessMENT OF COMPENSATION) ACT, 1919.-We now come to the variations of procedure for assessment of compensation recently made under the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919. As I have already indicated, this Act has no application except in cases where, by or under any statute (whether passed before or after the passing of the Act), land is authorised to be acquired compulsorily by any Government Department or any local or public authority. For this purpose the expression "land" includes water and any interests in land or water and any easement or right in, to, or over land or water, and "public authority means any body of persons, not trading for profit, authorised, by or under any Act, to carry on a railway, canal, dock, water or other public undertaking. In cases of the class to which this Act thus applies any question of disputed compensation or as to the apportionment of the rent of leased land of which part only is acquired, has now to be referred to, and determined by the arbitration of, an official

arbitrator, to be selected, in accordance with rules made by a Reference Committee, from a panel of arbitrators appointed by that committee. The Reference Committee for England and Wales is to consist of the Lord Chief Justice of England, the Master of the Rolls, and the President of the Surveyors' Institution. The official arbitrators are not to engage in private practice or business, and are to be paid by the Government. The proceedings before an official arbitrator are to be in public. Such fees are to be chargeable in respect of the proceedings as the Treasury may prescribe. Not more than one expert witness on either side is to be heard, unless the official arbitrator otherwise directs, but, where the claim includes a claim for compensation in respect of minerals, or disturbance of business, as well as in respect of land, one additional expert witness on either side, on the value of the minerals or the damage due to such disturbance of business, may be allowed. The official arbitrator is entitled to enter on and inspect any land which is the subject of proceedings before him. Where notices to treat have been served for the acquisition of the several interests in the land, the claims of the persons entitled to such interests must, so far as practicable, and so far as not agreed, and if the acquiring authority so desire, be heard and determined by the same official arbitrator.

The Act lays down, in section 2, certain principles or rules which are to guide the official arbitrators in making their assessments of compensation, but I will postpone consideration of these until I come to deal with the general question of the principles of compensation applied under the Lands Clauses Acts.

Various provisions are made as to the costs of proceedings before the official arbitrators.

Where the acquiring authority has made an unconditional offer in writing of any sum as compensation to any claimant, and the sum awarded by the official arbitrator to that claimant does not exceed the sum offered, the official arbitrator must, unless for special reasons he thinks proper not to do so, order the claimant to bear his own

costs and to pay the costs of the acquiring authority so far as such costs were incurred after the offer was made.

If the official arbitrator is satisfied that a claimant has failed to deliver to the acquiring authority a notice in writing of the amount claimed by him, giving sufficient particulars and in sufficient time to enable the acquiring authority to make a proper offer, the provision just referred to, as to the claimant bearing and paying costs, is to apply as if an unconditional offer had been made by the acquiring authority at the time when, in the opinion of the official arbitrator, sufficient particulars should have been furnished, and the claimant had been awarded a sum not exceeding the amount of such offer. The claimant's notice of the amount claimed by him must state the exact nature of the interest in respect of which compensation is claimed and give details of the claim distinguishing the amounts under separate heads and showing how the amount claimed under each head is calculated. When such a notice of claim has been delivered the acquiring authority may, at any time within six weeks after the delivery thereof, withdraw any notice to treat which has been served on the claimant, or on any other person interested in the land authorised to be acquired, but is liable to pay compensation to any such claimant or other person for any loss or expenses occasioned by the notice to treat having been given to him and withdrawn, and the amount of such compensation, in default of agreement, is to be determined by an official arbitrator.

Where a claimant has complied with the last-mentioned provisions as to giving notice and particulars of his claim, and has made an unconditional offer in writing to accept any sum as compensation, and the amount awarded is equal to or exceeds that sum, the official arbitrator must, unless for special reasons he thinks proper not to do so, order the acquiring authority to bear their own costs and to pay the costs of the claimant so far as such costs were incurred after the offer was made.

Apart from these provisions the official arbitrator has discretion over the costs of the arbitration and the section states that he may in any case disallow the cost of counsel.

The decision of the official arbitrator upon any question of fact is to be final and binding on the parties and the persons claiming under them, but the official arbitrator may, and shall, if the High Court so directs, state, at any stage of the proceedings, in the form of a special case for the opinion of the High Court, any question of law arising in the course of the proceedings, and may state his award, as to the whole or part thereof, in the form of a special case for the opinion of the High Court. The decision of the High Court upon any case so stated is final and conclusive and not subject to appeal to any other court.

The difference between the position in which the official arbitrator is thus placed under the 1919 Act, and the position of the arbitrators or umpire under the Lands Clauses Acts with reference to the submission of points of law to the High Court requires a little explanation. The Lands Clauses Acts themselves make no provision for stating a case. Section 24 of the Arbitration Act, 1889, however, provides that that Act, besides applying to written agreements for arbitration, shall apply to every arbitration under any Act passed either previously or subsequently, except in so far as the 1889 Act is inconsistent with the Act regulating the arbitration, or with any rules or procedure authorised or recognised by that Act. There being no inconsistency on this particular matter, the powers of the Arbitration Act, 1889, as to stating a case apply to an arbitration under the Lands Clauses Acts. Section 7 of the 1889 Act allows the arbitrators or umpire to state an award as to the whole or part thereof in the form of a special case for the opinion of the court. It has been held that, from the decision of the High Court on such a case, appeal lies to the Court of Appeal, and thence to the House of Lords. Section 19 of the 1889 Act allows the arbitrators or umpire at any stage of the proceedings under a reference, and requires them, if so directed by the court or a judge, to state in the form of a special case for the opinion of the court any question of law arising in the course of the reference. It has been held that on a case stated under this section there is no appeal from the decision of the High

Court. The position under the 1919 Act is therefore substantially the same on this matter as under the Lands Clauses Acts except that the power of appeal from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords does not apply where it is an official arbitrator under the 1919 Act who states his award in the form of a special case.

Section 8 provides that nothing in the Act is to prevent, if the parties agree, the reference of any question as to disputed compensation or apportionment of rent to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, or to an Arbitrator agreed on between the parties. In the former case, i.e. reference of a question to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, the Commissioners are not to proceed by arbitration, but to cause an assessment to be made in accordance with the rules for assessment laid down in section 2 of the Act, but under a form of procedure laid down in section 8. In the latter case, i.e. reference of a question to an agreed arbitrator, the matter is to proceed as if the arbitrator were an official arbitrator, and the provisions of the Act will apply accordingly, except that the provisions as to the appointment of the official arbitrator, as to reference of cases relating to different interests in one piece of land to the same official arbitrator, as to the proceedings being in public, and as to the fixing of fees, are excluded from application.

Section 8 further provides that either party to a claim for compensation may require the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to assess the value of the land in respect of which the claim arises, and that a copy of any such assessment shall be sent forthwith by the Commissioners to the other party and a certified copy of such assessment shall be admissible in evidence of that value in proceedings before the official arbitrator, and the officer who made the assessment shall attend, if the official arbitrator so require, to answer such questions as the official arbitrator may think fit to put to him thereon.

Section I provides that the Act is not to apply to any purchase of the whole or any part of any statutory undertaking under any statutory provisions prescribing the terms on which the purchase is to be effected.