926 EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED 9th September, 1844.
demands made upon them.
The consequence is, that tho tenant is harassed, the "round'
£ZZ impoverished, and the difficulties of the landlord are increased.
There are many oth18 699.
£ hardsliip wMch I could, if necessary, speak upon.
Lord Kemnare's mirlrUow,6I Rev.
C.
Freeman.
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x
•
.
i j.
t j?j.
j to •
i
"^aiC, & nuaaiemen have, many of them, evicted a groat number of tenants.
1 or instance, Samuel Hutchms h got a place caUed Dcrry Dew.
He was obHged, I think by his agreement with Lord Ke^ mare, to evict some tenants; at least, I was told by one of the tenants that he resetted being obHged to dispossess Mm.
G 15.
Can you state to what size the farms wore raised upon that property from wliich th tenants to whom you have referred were removed ?—I
cannot tell tho precise size, because there is a great quantity of mountain ancl bog.
The farms are not let by the acre, they are let at a certain rent.
I know that one man has a large farm, what is caUod a laro-e farm and a great quantity of mountam, which is capable of bemg brought into cultivation.
I am no great farmer, but I speak from looldng at it, and he is obHged, in consequence of the extent of tho farm, to pay the rent out of what he tills.
TMs man is poor now, though I recoUect the time when he was comfortable.
& 16.
Is tMs man's farm made up in part of the lands from wMch the poor persons you have referred to were ejected ?—Yes.
17.
Are you able to state the average size of the farms to wMch they have been raised ?—
No, I am not.
18.
Wore the persons who remained upon the estate, and to whom tho large farms were given, strangers from a distance, or were they all previously upon the estate ?
One of them was not on the estate before, one of tho name of Desmond.
19.
Are you aware whether previously to tho expiration of the middleman's lease, any intimation wTas given to those tenants that they would not bo continued ?—I
beHeve there was no such intimation given.
They were even continued as tenants after the expiration of tho middleman's lease.
20.
Do you know whether any attempt or offer was made to assist any of those persons m emigrating or removing ?—None
whatever to my knowledge ; and I clo not think it could be done without my knowledge.
One object I had in gomg to Lord Kenmare was to get some assistance for these people to help them to emigrate.
21.
You have mentioned near about the rent paid by these people, can you state whether any of them held as Httle as two or three acres, or whether they mostly held a larger amomit of land ?—There
were none of them that held less than ten, or fifteen, or twenty acres.
22.
Partly arable, ancl partly mountain ?—Yes.
I clo not think that any of them were under thirty acres, if you measured tho ground.
23.
How much tillage had thoy ?—I
cannot teU that; I am not a practical farmer.
I often heard it, but I cannot tax my memory at present.
24.
Have ypu any suggestions you wish to lay before tho commissioners ?—I
cannot suggest any tiling more than I have stated.
With regard to any hnprovement to be made in the relation of landlord and tenant, I would suggest that the arrears accruing tMs year, if they cannot be met, should never bo demanded afterwards.
25.
Do you not think that that might be likely to make landlords eject more frequently?—
I tMnk it might induce landlords to encourage their tenants to improve the ground, hi order to meet thc year's rent.
I do not tliink it would make them more Hkely to eject them; but I lay it down that in any arrangement of that land there should be leases.
26.
Do you mean that we are to take those two suggestions together, that there should be leases, and that no rent should be demanded after a year—that if the tenant could not pay the rent within tho year, he should not bo called upon again, but that he should be allowed to hold the land ?—Yes,
I mention that as a portion of a more comprehensive plan to remedy the evils that exist, and wMch in many instances aro dreadful.
27.
What else clo you think the plan should comprehend ?—I
have not turned my thoughts to it.
I have read much upon it, but I would not venture to give my crude opinions upon the subject.
[ The witness withdrew.]
JO®* Richard White, esq.,
sworn and examined.
Kichard White, esq.
h Where do you reside ?—Inchiclough,
within three miles of Bantry.
2.
Are you a landed proprietor ?—Yes,
I am.
3.
With what district are you so weU acquainted as to be able to give information to the commissioners ?—I
am very weH acquamted with the district of Bantry, having been a resident in it since the middle of 1827.
4.
Do you consider that the state of agriculture is improving or otherwise in the district ?—I
should say that in consequence of tho new roads we have had made in the last eight or ten years it is improving.
At the same time then-mode of cultivation m tMs country is of the very worst description in my opinion.
I know to-morrow, j£ 1 was myself to take a farm as a farmer with a very smaU capital, I should prefer getting lanci that was not in what they caU an improved state, but in a natural state.
They are too fond of burmng the land, and they depend solely 1 may say upon reclaiming, by means oi coral sand, which if they would put out a sufficient quantity of it would be a very gooci recompense for the injury thoy have done the land by burning.
5.
Is the coral sand much used upon other lands, as well as upon those that ar reclaimed ?—Yes.
It is absolutely necessary, on the light dry soils, to produce wheat.
wiU produce no wheat without it.
We should have nothing worth growing.
