IRISH PEASANT PROPRIETORS.

55

the present evil, as it would be a constant source of disputes, bad feeling, and law-suits, and would be likely to discourage improvements the probable effect of which would be a demand for increased rent. The second plan would give the cultivator the security that every improvement he made would be altogether his own property. This principle has been successfully carried out in Germany and Hungary. It would eventually cost the Government nothing if successful, as in thirty-five years from the time of the advance being made both principal and interest would be repaid.

But this plan would be liable to certain failure wherever land naturally unsuitable for profitable cultivation was purchased. Great judgment must be exercised in the selection of land of such quality, and in such a climate, as would ensure a profitable return to industry and enterprise. The poverty and misery of Ireland are chiefly found in localities naturally so poor in soil, and so bare and exposed in situation, as to defeat the most honest efforts of thrift and perseverance.

CHAPTER V.

LANDOWNER, FARMER, AND LABOURER.

The land- THE landowners are the capitalists to whom

owners;

their

position,

the land belongs. Their property comprises the duties, and soil and all that is beneath it, and the buildings

influence :

and other permanent works upon it, required for the accommodation of the people, and of the working stock employed in its cultivation. Thus, where the land itself may be worth £35 an acre, the buildings, roads, fences, and drainage may have cost the landowners £15 an acre more. The landowner has thus two capitals in the land, one of which is permanent, and growing in value with the prosperity of the country, the other liable to decay, and occasioning cost in repair. In nearly all permanent improvements arising from the progress of agriculture he is also expected to share the cost. And he is necessarily concerned in the

general prosperity and good management of his estate, and in the welfare of those who live upon it, with which his own is so closely involved. He takes a lead in the business of his parish, and from his class the magistrates who administer the criminal affairs of the county, and superintend its roads, its public buildings, and charitable institutions, are selected. Nor do his duties end here, for the landowner, from his position, is expected to be at the head of all objects of public utility, to subscribe to, and, if so inclined, to ride with the hounds, showing at once an example to the farmers and tradesmen, and meeting them on terms of neighbourly friendship and acquaintance. The same example is carried out in his intercourse with the clergy and schoolmaster, and his influence, where wisely exercised, is felt in the church, the school, the farm, and the cottage.

immense

This class in the United Kingdom comprises their number, a body of about 180,000, who possess among and the them the whole of the agricultural land from capital 10 acres upwards. The owners of less than 10 their acres each hold not more than one-hundredth

value of

property.

The tenant

farmers;

the pro

part of the land, and in regard to farming may be regarded as householders only. The property of the landowners, independent of minerals, yields an annual rent of sixty-seven millions sterling, and is worth a capital value of two thousand millions. There is no other body of men in the country who administer so large a capital on their own account, or whose influence is so widely extended and universally present. From them the learned professions, the church, the army, and the public services are largely recruited.

The tenant-farmers are the second class, and a much more numerous one. Their business is

portionate the cultivation of the land, with a capital quite

extent of

their hold- independent of that of the landowner. They

ings, and

the emula

tion that exists

among them.

occupy farms of very various extent, 70 per cent. of them under 50 acres each, 12 per cent. between 50 and 100 acres, and 18 per cent. farms of more than 100 acres each. 5,000 occupy farms of between 500 and 1,000 acres, and 600 occupy farms exceeding 1,000 acres. Many of them are men of liberal education, and some of these are found in most parishes and in every

county. A spirit of emulation exists among them, elicited by county, provincial, and national exhibitions of agricultural stock, and by a natural desire, in a country where everything is open to comment, not to be behind their neighbours in the neatness, style, and success of their cultivation, or in the symmetry and condition of their live-stock. They are brought into the closest relations with their labourers, and although, occasionally, feelings of keen antagonism have arisen, there is generally a very friendly understanding between them. The farmer knows that it is for his interest that the labourers should find their position made so comfortable as to value it.

To the farmer is committed the management of the details of the parish, as those of the county to the landowner. His intimate knowledge of the condition of the labourer, and constant residence in the parish, fit him best for the duty of Overseer of the Poor, member of the Board of Guardians, Churchwarden, and Surveyor of the Roads. He is frank and hospitable to strangers, as a rule; in favour of the