THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS 123 



pies laid down that would have secured uniformity and certainty. The 

 heads of the Ivand Commission have in the past usually repudiated the im- 

 putation of knowing anything about valuation or the principles on which it 

 is based, and have refused in their judgements to give any guidance on 

 the subject to their officials or the public. They have taken up the position 

 that it is for the valuers to discover their own principles and that the duty 

 of the Court is to weigh evidence and decide accordingly. The objections 

 to this method are plain to anyone who has an intimate knowledge of valua- 

 tions as presented in the Irish Land Courts. 



§ 7. Reductions in rent ^effected. 



If we turn now to see what actual reductions in rent have been 

 effected by the Fair Rent Acts we find the figures are as follows: — 



Fir,st Term Rents fixed jor yearly tenancies. 



How fixed No. 



By Land Commission. . . . 169,524 £3,109,742 £2,447,090 21.3 



» Civil Bin Courts .... 19,122 £309,707 £236,547 23.6 



» Agreement filed in Land 



Commission 152,837 £2,467,029 £2,033,089 13. i 



» Agreements filed in Civil 



Bill Courts 7,431 £126,666 £105,025 17. 1 



The difference between the reductions in contested cases (those heard 

 by the Land Commission and Civil BiU Courts) and those in which the part- 

 ies came to an agreement is considerable, but of course the very fact that 

 the parties came to an agreement is prima facie proof that the former 

 rent was not so excessive as to require a large reduction to bring it to the 

 level of a fair rent. 



It would be a very difficult, if not impossible, task to trace any exact 

 relation between the prices of agricultural produce, and the amounts at 

 which fair rents have been fixed. The following table shows the prices of 

 the principal agricultural products during periods of five years each, and 

 the reductions which the fair rents fixed during the periods corresponding 

 as nearly as possible represent when compared with the rents before they 

 were judicially fixed. The figures as to prices are taken from a Parliamen- 

 tary Return prepared by the Department of Agriculture for Ireland in the 

 present year (510 of 1913). 



