to include an other, and the entire subject may, therefore, seem to be capable of adequate treatment under fewer general conditions, will be considered separately and in the order in which they have been named.

The suggestion that, if rentals shall be sufficient and sure, there should be little need that landlords concern themselves with the characters of leases and tenants, may be disposed of, for the present, by the statements that there are many requisites for the advantageous leasing of real estate other than the mere obtaining of sufficient rentals, and that these requisites will depend, for the most part, upon the conditions which the suggestion seeks to dispense with-statements which, in the course of the present chapter, will receive ample verification.

A lease is called an indenture of lease, from the fact that formerly certain legal instruments were written upon parchment, with some word, such as chirographum, written in the spaces between the duplicate parts, and were then cut apart with notched or indented lines through the particular word, leaving parts of each letter on either side of the lines, as a means of identification of the duplicate parts.

A lease is a contract, between a landlord on the one side and a tenant on the other, which gives to the tenant the possession of the landlord's real estate, for life, for a certain fixed term, or at will, in consideration of the rentals which are agreed to be paid by the tenant. In other words, a lease is a contract, or an instrument, which creates an estate in land for life, for years, or at will.

The regular clauses which are contained in an ordinary lease are in effect as follows:

A statement that A. B., party of the first part (the landlord) has leased to B. C., party of the second part (the tenant) certain described premises, for a certain specified term, at a specified rent, payable at certain times and in certain specified amounts; a covenant that, if the party of the second part shall make default in any of the covenants of the lease, the party of the first part may re-enter the premises, and remove all persons therefrom: a covenant that the party of the

second part will pay the rent in the manner specified in the lease, and, at the expiration of the term, or sooner termination of the lease, will quit and surrender the demised premises in as good a condition as reasonable wear and use thereof will permit, damages by the elements excepted; a covenant of quiet enjoyment, to the effect that the party of the second part, upon paying the rent and performing the covenants of the lease, shall and may peaceably and quietly have, hold, and enjoy the demised premises for the term specified; and the usual conclusion, "In witness whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands, etc," with the signatures of the parties, attestation clause ("signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of "), and the signatures of the witnesses.

Such a lease will, obviously, allow to a tenant a wide latitude in the use of the premises which are demised by the lease. The premises may be used for any legitimate business; they may be used and occupied at all hours of the day or night; the tenant may sublet the premises or assign the lease to persons and uses which may be entirely unsatisfactory to the owner-in a word, the tenant will be obliged only to pay the rent, to refrain from actually abusing the premises, and to occupy the premises for purposes which are not declared by the laws to be unlawful.

If, therefore, premises shall be of such characters as may be injured by unexpected uses, or if the owners shall have other reasons for restricting their premises to certain uses and occupations, it will be necessary to add to the simple form of lease which has been indicated, certain other covenants which are applicable to the special circumstances of the leasing.

The following are brief descriptions and explanations of covenants which should be included in all leases under which circumstances may, by any reasonable possibility, render the special covenants desirable from the owners' points of view:

In another part of this work the unwillingness of tenants, in general, to repair, at their own expense, the premises of their landlords, has been mentioned, as well as the good

policy of requiring tenants to agree to make repairs, notwithstanding the disposition which has been referred to. With

out unnecessarily considering the legal aspects of the matter of repairs, sufficient reasons may here be given for the general statement that all leases of considerable importance should contain covenants by which tenants shall agree to make all necessary repairs to the premises which they shall occupy at their own costs. The simple clause which requires the tenant to quit and surrender the premises in as good a state and condition as reasonable use and wear thereof will permit will go but a short distance in the direction of protecting premises from actual injuries; for the scope of the words "reasonable use and wear," unless their signification shall be modified by other covenants, or facts, will be wide enough to cause, in many cases, serious damage to the owners of real estate. Reasonable use and wear of a building which shall be used for the business of a worker in heavy metals, and which building shall not be designed for such purposes, may easily result in great damage to the premises. So the nature of many other branches of business is necessarily such that only buildings which shall be especially constructed will be able to endure the excessive wear, without serious and lasting injuries. The covenant, on the part of the tenant, to repair, is broad enough, in its general significance, to relieve the landlord of the expense of making the repairs, and to compel the tenant to make them, in all cases where tenants shall be actually responsible, or shall have furnished actually responsible sureties.

Although, in the majority of cases in which the amounts of necessary repairs shall not be large, the owners will find it to their advantage to make the repairs themselves, in preference to the difficulties of legal proceedings against tenants; still there will always be possibilities of extensive damage to leased premises, involving heavy expenditure, and against these owners must endeavor to protect themselves. The covenant which requires tenants to make repairs will, moreover, often exercise a restraining effect upon tenants who, otherwise, will show very little regard for the

properties of their landlords; for tenants, as a class, be they ever so responsible, are, like the majority of mankind, at least willing to avoid trouble and legal complications which interfere materially with proper attention to business, when the cost of such avoidance will be only the using of the premises which they occupy in reasonably careful manners. The covenant which is in question may also be the means of preventing suits against landlords for damages growing out of alleged personal injuries, which shall be due to negligence with regard to the conditions of their premises; 'or at least the covenant will often furnish a legal recourse against tenants in cases of such suits for damages. So, also, the covenant will prevent claims by tenants for damage from leaking roofs, defective plumbing, etc., as well as removing legal reasons for quitting premises, under the statutory eviction acts, which allow tenants to surrender premises which have become untenantable. Tenants evidently cannot properly find fault with the conditions of their premises which are due to their own failures to fulfil the covenants contained in their leases.

A clause which is known as the "fire clause" is commonly included in leases, for the purpose of making definite provisions for the effects of possible fires upon leases. The clause is to the effect that if the buildings upon the demised land shall be partially damaged by fire they shall be repaired by the landlords; in case the damage shall be so extensive as to render the buildings untenable, the rents shall cease until such times as the buildings shall be put in complete repair; and in case the premises shall be totally destroyed by fire or otherwise, the rents shall be paid up to the times of such destruction, and then and from thenceforth the leases shall cease and come to an end; provided the damage or destruction shall not be caused by the carelessness, negligence, or improper conduct of the tenants or their agents or servants.

The covenant on the part of the tenant to make all repairs to the demised premises will, under ordinary circumstances, require the tenant to rebuild the buildings, even though they

shall be totally destroyed by fire. There are, however, few cases in which landlords will be warranted in relying upon their tenants, rather than upon first-class insurance companies, to rebuild buildings which shall have been destroyed by fire. The fire clause may, therefore, be regarded as a necessary one in all cases in which the demised buildings shall be covered by insurance. It may be dispensed with in the comparatively few cases in which owners of real estate shall insure themselves against fire, especially if the premises shall be occupied by tenants of known responsibilities.

A covenant, which should be included in all leases, except those of premises which are to be used for businesses which will necessarily place insurance rates at the highest, is that by which tenants agree that they will not occupy demised premises for purposes which are deemed to be extra hazardous. This covenant is often included in one which contains also a clause against assigning the lease or making alterations in the demised premises; thus, the tenant covenants that he "will not assign this lease, nor let, nor underlet the whole or any part of the said premises, nor make any alteration therein, without the written consent of the party of the first part, under penalty of forfeiture and damages; and that he will not occupy or use the said premises, nor permit the same to be occupied or used, for any business deemed extra hazardous on account of fire or otherwise, without the like consent, under the like penalty." This entire covenant may well be

contained in leases generally.

Landlords, assuredly, have the right to know, and should provide a means of knowing, at all times, the purposes for which their premises are used by the tenants. Owners of real estate very naturally prefer tenants whose occupations shall be such as to insure the proper treatment of their premises; they may also very properly prefer that their buildings shall be occupied for purposes which, with regard to legality and respectability, shall come up to required standards. Every properly drawn lease should therefore contain a covenant to the effect that the tenant will occupy the leased premises, and allow the same to be occupied, only for