56
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has nowhere to go, and though the cases of unscrupulous use
of that weapon which have come to light are few, they are not
entirely unknown.
There was a recent case to which some publicity
was given in which a landlord increased his rent, evicted his
tenant and was subsequently prosecuted and tried for making
a false statement of his rent to the Assessor
action of course being in the Magistrate's Court.
-
the latter
This Bill gives power to the Court to refuse or
delay an order for ejectment or possession. That power exists
in England in the Rent Restriction Acts which are remaining in force there until some time this month, that is June 1938, and even after those Acts have come off, it is recognised that there will be some need for such a power in England. power is contained in Part 2 of the Rent and Mortgage
That
Restriction Act of 1923 which is to come into operation after
the Rents Restrictions Act has been removed.
They contain a method of preventing hardship and
may be described as precautionary measures after rent restriction. Here in this case it is proposed to use this precautionary measure as a preliminary step to rent restriction in the hope that rent restriction may really be unnecessary. In addition to delaying the power of eviction to which I have already referred, there is also a power to refer cases for a report to a Committee, and there is also a further power of reference direct to the Committee by landlord and tenant who agree to arbitration, by which they may avoid going to Court at all. There is an appeal from that Committee's decision in the matter to the Court.
I have said that this is an essential and temporary measure, and in order that its nature shall be clearly understood and that it be retained, provision is made in Clause 6 that this Ordinance, if passed, shall remain in force only until June 1, 1939. Like all temporary measures, its greatest