THE FAIK RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS II3 



where the tenants held under lease with clauses against subletting, it was 

 found impossible by the landlords to enforce these clauses as no jury- 

 would give a verdict in favour of the clauses. A Map attached to the Re- 

 port of the Devon Commission gives a striking example of this tendency to 

 subdivision. In one generation a holding of 205 acres in possession of two 

 tenants was sublet until it was occupied by 29 tenants whose scattered 

 holdings comprised 422 lots. 



It must also be remembered that the introduction oi the 40s. franchise 

 and its extension to Roman Catholics acted as a strong inducement to a 

 landlord to allow subletting and the creation of a class of small holders 

 who added considerably to his political importance. 



The result of the change was that the population, which was a little 

 over 4 millions in 1792, had risen in 1841 to over 8 millions, and the intense 

 competition for land which naturally resulted from the population being 

 practically doubled in half a century placed the tenants at the landlord's 

 mercy. Leases were the exception and, strange to say, there is evidence 

 that many tenants preferred to hold on a yearly tenancy than to take a lease. 

 " Many witnesses stated that the occupiers have no wish for leases at the 

 present rents... and many... assert that frequently, where proprietors are 

 ready to grant, the occupiers do not manifest any wish to receive them." (i) 



On the other hand landlords were reluctant to grant leases for a rather 

 curious reason, as stated in the same Report (2). "The fear of this subdivision 

 and its ruinous consequences appear, from the testimony of many, to be 

 the principal causes preventing the grant of leases, as the power of the 

 landlord to resist them, though always insufl&cient, is considered to be much 

 diminished where the tenant holds by lease, no matter how stringent the 

 covenants against subdivision may be, it being stated that the difficulty 

 of enforcing the covenants in leases is in general very great." 



To complete the dependent position of the Irish tenants, statutes were 

 passed simplifying the procedure for evicting tenants so as " to get rid of 

 every formality by which the old Common Law delayed and obstructed 

 the forfeiture of the tenant's estate." (3) Finally in i860 by Deasy's Act it 

 was laid down that " the relation of landlord and tenant shall be deemed to 

 be founded on the express or implied contract of the parties and not upon 

 tenure or ser\ice." This Act further simplified the procedure for eviction 

 of a tenant for non-payment of rent, and on notice to quit, and enabled 

 the landlord to practically confiscate the tenants' improvements. As a 

 matter of fact, as is generally admitted, nearly all the improvements of 

 land in Ireland have been made by the tenants. 



During the period from the Famine to the passing of the Act of i860 

 another charge took place in Irish land tenure. The increase in the cost 



(i) Digest, Devon Commission Report, p. 235. 



(2) Digest, Devon Commission Report, p. 419. 



(3) "Short Sketch of the Irish I,and Acts," by The Rt. Honble. W. F. Bailey, 

 C. B., Bstates Commissioner. 



