114
and 3d. a day,- and a free farm in America to digging another man's potato garden in Connemara. Similar phenomena would have declared themselves under any system of land tenure, and in any country where the population had expanded in a degree disproportionate to its capacities for self-sustenation. If it were otherwise, every perpetuity in Ireland would be a land of Goshen,[1] and Ulster a paradise where rack-rents and evictions were unknown.[2] But it is an acknowledged fact that the low-let perpetuities of the South and West only exaggerate the worst features of the worst estates,[3] and in Ulster, though under a more
- ↑ "It does not appear either, as a general rule, from the evidence, that those tenants who have the longest leases, and the most beneficial interest in their farms, have brought the lands they hold to a more productive or improved state than others, not possessing such advantages or security. It is even broadly asserted by many that lands held under long leases, at nominal rents, are in a worse state than those held from year to year."—Digest Devon Commission, Summary, p. 16.
- ↑ "It may be assumed that the fourth class houses are generally unfit for human habitations; and yet it would appear that in the best circumstanced county in this respect (Down) 24.7 per cent., or about one-fourth, of the population live in houses of this class."—Ibid. p. 126.
- ↑ "What, in your opinion, is the length of lease which is most calculated to encourage agricultural improvements? — The better the lease the better the improvements. At the same time I do not think that those who have long leases, and pay nominal rents, exert themselves in a way beneficial to the country or to themselves."—Ibid. p. 284.
Evidence of John Quin, Esq., Land Proprietor.
