TO INQUIRE INTO THE OCCUPATION OF LAND IN IRELAND.
927 6.
What exertions have been made by the residents, or other landlords, to introduce a 9th September, 1844.
better system ?—In
this country, I cannot say that the landlords have made any exertions.
We have no farming societies in the district, and aU the landlords in the country, with the
p
70@" exception of myself, have agents.
I am my own agent, and am quite averse to the system
cLard Whlte'es* of agents, so long as the principal can act.
I came into possession of the property when it required every exertion, ancl 1 flatter myself, after twenty years' exertions, though I do not hold one-third as much as Lord Bantry's estate, or Mrs.
White, of Glcngarriff, who are the representatives of the property of the White family, that there is a vast deal more improvement upon that one-third than all the others put together.
7.
What means havo you taken to improve tho condition of the tenantry?—I
came into the country determined to pursue a totaHy different system to any other landlord, which was, to give an encouraging lease for three Hvos.
8.
Do you give them any assistance in bmlding their houses or draimng their lands ?—
Yes, M certain cases I do in thc houses, but not in draimng the lands.
Sometimes a man will build a good slated house, and I have assisted him, but no others.
I have set my face against aU thatched houses, and I clo flatter myself there is not a better paid estate in the country.
9.
Do you attribute the improved condition of your property, and the better payment of the rent, to giving those leases ?—Yes,
I do, solely.
I am satisfied if the landlords would give leases to the tenants, and if it was the fasMon to do it, there is a great deal of misfortune hi the country that would not exist.
10.
Have you resided constantly upon the estate ?—Tho
first twenty years of my life were spent ahnost entirely in England, where I was educated.
I came here soon after I was twenty-one.
I was a ward in chancery hi Ireland, but resided entirely in England till the last twenty years.
I have been backwards and forwards, but I have been a constant resident here, except for a few months now and then, since 1817, and I have been my own agent.
11.
Have you devoted much of your thne to personal mspection of the tenants and their farms ?—Yes;
ancl since I have clone so, I have not made a distress upon my estate, nor fumed out a man.
I should say the same thing is ahnost unheard of, and I am perfectly convinced that my estate has not only doubled itself, but trebled itself hi value in the last eighteen years.
12.
What clauses are there in your leases in reference to subletting or subdividing the lands?—In
some of my leases since the year 1832, there are clauses agahist subletting, but I am sorry to say I have not put them in force.
In fact I tMnk it a dangerous thing in Ireland to do it.
13.
What then is Hkely to be the consequence ?—That
is one of the most difficult questions.
I am perfectly convinced, if there could be an end, generaUy speaMng, to subletting, it would be one of the greatest blessings that could occur to the country; and in order to do that—I am speaking now from experience—if landlords could give only sufficient land, not too much nor too Httle, to a man, it would be the best thing they could do.
If he gives a large farm there is no doubt, as soon as a son marries and the daughter-in-law is brought in, the son gets a part, and the second and third son the same, so that it is cut up into small bits, and when it comes into the landlord's hands it is over-populated.
He goes upon thc sweeping system, and he Is held up as a cruel man; but a landlord camiot help doing it.
If there was a law passed of a strict nature to prevent subletting, it would be a great advantage to the country.
At the same time, it is worthy of observation— though here I do not allude to this comity merely, but Ireland generaUy, as far as I am able to speak; for I know a good deal of the neighbourhood of Dubhn, and I take that because it is supposed to be one of the most flourishing counties in Ireland, though I am sorry to say it is no such thing—but if the landlords who are not, generally speaking, men of capital, compared with the English landlords, and as the Irish tenantry have no capital, compared with the yeomanry of England—for our tenantry are not to be compared with the yeomanry of England; but if the landlords would let the lands out in smaU portions, and the tenants derived immediately under the landlord, I am convinced that half the evils that exist would not prevaiL The tenants would be obHgecl to send some of their children out into the world, and to provide for them in some other way—a tMng seldom dreamt of.
14.
How would you propose that such a law as you suggest should be carried out, when you, as the landlord, cannot attempt to carry out the clauses in your leases ?—The
subletting upon my estate is carried out to a very slight extent compared to others.
I see a difficulty in it, and it is a question I should not Hke to answer.
So convinced am I of the difficulty of it, that I have not attempted it.
I hear the outcry every day about it, and I Miow millions of mstances of it in the country.
!5-
Does any landlord take any step to check it?—The
only instance where landlords, in my ophiion, make exertions to do it is, when the old leases are out: there is a sweeping system, and it is let to one or two.
16.
Does any landlord take any steps to prevent the subletting ?—I
have heard of none; and if they had.
done so, I should have heard of it.
17.
What should you say was the usual size of the tillage farms, and the mode of culture ?—It
is very hard to say the size of the tillage farms, as far as tMs country is con¬ cerned.
There is a great deal of mountam attached to the farm that is oidy fit for grazing, aad it is in general in Httle patches, so that it is hard to teU at aU.
There are a few excep¬ tions, but I cannot answer generally.
18.
Are there many farms held in common or in joint tenancy ?—In
the district of Bear-
