TO INQUIRE INTO THE OCCUPATION OP LAND IN IRELAND.
967 farmer as the middleman would; and the great evil is, that in general tho lauds are much 10th Sept.,
1844.
over set, more than any solvent tenant could fairly pay for them.
The competition for land js so great, that any thing will bo acceded to in the shape of rent that mav be demanded, 57a&.
for tho purpose of getting into possession; and after coming into possesion tho rent cannot
T-T°wnsend,esq.
be made out of the premises, and then follow so many ejectments.
Tenure is generally at Trill, or from year to year; at the same time, there are a good many leases at twenty-one and thirty-one years, and some for two or more lives.
5.
Do you see much difference in the cultivation of farms, according as they are held by lease or will?—I
almost invariably see that tho tenant-at-will, if he has a dependence upon tbe landlord, has his ground in bettor order than if he had a lease.
6.
Is that a common case ?—Yes,
it is.
When a lease begins to come near its end, or stagger at all, thoy work tho very life out of the ground, for fear they should not get it again, and the landlord gets Ms ground in much worse order than he gives it to them.
There was a tenant who refused a thirty-one years' lease.
Ho said he would rather remain as he was.
7.
Does tho subdivision of farms continue ?—Under
(his head it is too much the custom with tho farmer, on marrying any of Ms children, or all of them, to give them a portion of the ground, until he cuts it up into such small tenements that the whole produce is eaten up and nothing left to pay tbe rent; and it is a case the landlord can hardly guard against.
Many is the comfortable farmer that has destroyed himself in that way the landlord is ultimately obliged to eject the whole.
Scarcely one of them has any idea of putting their children out to trades, or sending Lhom abroad to provide for themselves; all depending* on that bit of land to support the whole.
With respect to the condition of large or small farmers, I have invariably found tho larger the farm the bettor the rent is paid, and tbe more comfort¬ able and wealthy the tenant; and though the acreable rent of the small farm does not exceed that of the large, the holding of the small farmer is not sufficient to maintain his family and pay his rent.
I do conceive the labourer is better off than the small farmer, having no taxes of any kind to pay.
The labourer generally holds Ms cottage from the large farmer, for which he pays him a certain rent; and whatever ground he requires for a potato garden, he likewise rents at from £3 to £4 from the farmer, for which he pays him in labour.
In the busy times of the year he is fed by the farmer.
The con-acre system does not prevail, except from the farmer to his labourer.
Agency would be hard for me to describe; it is pretty well known that some of them take fees to a great extent, and require those fees, and thero are others who take or require none at all.
I would say it depends more on the landlord, the description of person ho appoints to that situation, and the manner in which ho pays him.
The gale days are twenty-fifth March, and twenty-ninth September ; but mostly May and November.
Rents are generally paid in cash, and the mode of recovery is generally by-distress on the lands.
The landlord's portion of the poor rate is allowed to whatever gale the tenant pays up Ms rent.
8.
Have you heard any complaint of it not being allowed in your neighbourhood ?—No,
I have not.
9.
What has boon the effect of placing the tithe rent-charge upon the landlord ?—The
effect of placing* the rent-charge on tho landlord must ultimately be to free the tenant from it.
So many new lettings having* taken place since tho year 1832 all new sots muvt bo tithe free; and were there no rent-charge at all, the tenant would not benefit by it—the landlord would, as ground will set for its value, and not one out of fifty knows they are paying it at all.
On those .old
takes that havo not fallen in, they arc aware that they are still paying it; but as it comes in the shape of rent nothing is heard about it.
There have been no agrarian out¬ rages in this part of tho country.
In respect to county cess, it was formerly very light; of latter years it has been so very heavy, that it has turned into a very serious grievance, the whole burden of which is now thrown on the poor fanner and whoever occupies a few acres of land,—the whole of the landed proprietors and landlords not contributing a shilling to it, and the greater part of them non-resident.
Were tho landlord ancl landed proprietor obliged to contribute their portion according to their interest in the grounds, it would be the cause of stopping a great deal of jobbing going forward.
Landlords are continually endeavouring to get new lines of roads through their properties, and in very few instances offering to contri¬ bute to any part of the expense.
And from the general description of rate-piyers associated "with the magistrates at road sessions, instead of being a check, they have made things much worse than formerly.
They are in the first place canvassed on all-occasions, and none of them will go against the wish of their landlords ; and without knowing for why or for wherefore, they would vote away all the barony was worth.
And what isv still worse, it is with few exceptions the same persons that are always chosen, and they are themselves the principal contractors and road jobbers.
10.
Have you any suggestions to lay before the commissioners ?—-If
the landlord could be made to bear his proportion of the county cess; I think that should be done, because all the burden falls upon the occupying tenants" Formerly it was merely notMng—-2s.
or 3s.
a year; now it is 20s.
or 30s.
[ The icitness withdrew.]
William Henry Hedyes Beecher, esq.,
sworn and examined.
*J&3a 1.
Wliere iB your residence?-_HolIybrook.
W"k*Z!**
2.
Are you a landed proprietor ?—Yes,
and a magistrate.
From 16,000 to 17,000 acres -' ** I have hereabouts, held under different circumstances.
