TO INQUIRE INTO THE OCCUPATION OF LAND IN IRELAND.
915 holders under the same landlords.
Rent is generaUy paid m cash, sometimes in labour, 7th September, 1844.
tradesmen's work, &c.
The produce is sometimes taken in Hen of rent, such as oafs, when proffered by the tenant.
693.
_ 31.
By what means are children provided for at the death of then* parents?—By
a
***' E' °'Suliivan-division of the parent's stock or effects, or the conversion thereof into cash.
GeneraHy some relative manages the holding for the orphans, or it, is sold or let at a profit rent for them.
32.
Under what class do the labourers usuaHy hold their cottages, and by whom are they built and repaired ?—The
smaH tenantry are generaUy the labourers.
We have scarcely such a thing as a mere labourer, except the servant boys of the tenants.
The labourer, being a tenant, has land with Ms cottage.
33.
Does the con-acre system prevad ?—Not
much.
A farmer somethnes lets out a smaH quantity to a class we term freeholders, of whom we have several hereabouts.
The usual rate is about £2 per acre.
The land is generaUy taken in tins way from the large holders, who have too much coarse land to break, and who have not themselves sufficient force to reclaim it.
34.
Who are the parties that manure that land?—The
labourers.
There Is such a facility of obtaining
^
sea sand and sea-weed along the coast, they find no difficulty in obtaining enough of it.
35.
How is payment recovered or enforced?—Payment
is enforced by process, or detention of the crop.
36.
Can employment be obtained, and at what rate of wages ?—Employment
can be obtained, but not generally, at from 7d.
to 8c?.
per day.
37.
Have there been any agrarian outrages, and in what have they originated ?—There
have been no agrarian outrages in tMs district.
38.
Is there any difference hi the management of estates of different classes,—as, for example, the estates of large or sniaU, absentee or resident proprietors ?—I
do not see any difference in the management of the estates of large or small, absentee or resident proprietors.
When the agent is resident, the estate, of course, is better managed.
39.
What are the agent's duties?—The
agent's duties generaUy consist in letting and managmg the property committed to Ms charge; looMng after improvements, hearing and settling disputes among the tenants, occupy most of Ms thne.
40.
Are there fees paid in coUecting or enforcing rent, or on granting leases ?—There
are fees payable to the agent ancl baihffs hi coUecting and.
enforcing the rent ancl granting leases, which are felt as a very great grievance by the tenants, inasmuch as the agent's fees are generaUy five per cent, on the amount of the rental; and it is therefore the agent's interest to let the lands Mgh, and thereby increase the rental and Ms owui fees : and in many cases the bailiff's fees are paid by the tenants also.
41.
What are the bailiff's fees usuaHy ?—So
much each tenant—2s.
or 3s.,
as the case may be.
Where there is a lease, they get 4s.
6d.
on every occasion when they distram.
42.
Do they get any thing annuaHy or regularly where they do not distrain ?—No,
not in tMs district, except on the gentleman's estate I manage, Mr.
Hartop—he pays a regular salary.
In some places the tenants pay a certain sum each half-year.
43.
What proportion does the county cess bear to the rent, the government, and poor law valuations ?—The
county cess hi this district is Mgh at present; it averages about one-fourth of the estimated rental of the barony, and the only considerations are the roads, wMch are being made in this district.
44.
How is the county cess applotted, and the amount made pubHc ?—The
applotment is a farce ; the time for applotment is not generaUy made pubHc, and only made so by the demand for the cess.
It is generaHy caHed for as soon as possible.
The cess coHector's driver wiU come round and impound the cattle of the respective cess-payers, and they have no alternative but to pay the amount at once.
Driver's fees and pound fees sweU the charge too much.
The entire system certainly requires reform of the most sweepmg hind.
45.
What proportion does the poor rate bearito the rent ?—No
poor rates have reached us in this union as yet.
46.
What advantage accrues to the tenant by placmg the tithe rent-charge upon the landlord ?—GeneraHy
speaMng*, no advantage accrues to the tenant, as the landlord puts it on the tenant again in the shape of rent; but there are some exceptions in tMs district.
47.
Have you any suggestions that you wish to lay before the commissioners ?—Nothing,
in my opimon, would tend more to miprove the condition of the people of tMs district than in the first mstance to obtain leases of their holdings, or to make them Hberal aHowances for permanent and substantial improvements, such as draining, fencing, roads, &c.
&c.
&c, as also the mtroduction of agricultural schools and model farms into every parish.
This bemg done, a new order of tMngs would take place, and the face of the country, and the condition of the people, would rapidly improve.
I tMnk the establishment of fisMng tillages in the different creeks and most ehgible places along the sea-coast, and the build¬ ing of quays, and maMng roads and approaches thereto from the main roads, would tend very much to improve the condition of the people along the sea-coast, where there is a superabundant population.
48.
Does any landlord in the district employ a person sMHed in farmmg to^instruct the tenantry as to the crops they should grow, or what steps they should take to improve the land ?—I
am not aware that any person is employed generaUy for that purpose.
Some of the land stewards recommend to the people, and urge upon them the propriety of farmmg on an unproved system, such as they may pomt out.
The county cess is felt as a very
PartH.
6A2
