IRISH AGRARIAN TENURE. 101 



t who took ;i i<je of the 



decadal reductions had to pay his instalments 



:m. 1 



However it must not be overlooked that land 

 purchase has certain drawbacks. The tenant 

 becomes a debtor to the Government which 

 :ukr .ill circumstances punctual pay- 

 proceeds with uncomprou 



all the little devices and 

 prc hich were usual in dealing with the 



llonl. It grants none of the assistance which 

 a benevolent landlord will from time to time 

 afford to his tenant, nor does it take a parti- 

 bad harvest into consideration. But the 

 original rents which were capitalized by the 

 ho acquired their farms since 1885 

 amounted to about 1*2 millions sterling; the 

 amount advanced was 21 millions ; 4 per cent, 

 these 21 millions amounts to/"84O,ooo. The 

 ints have thus saved 360,000 a year ; nor 

 must it be forgotten that more than one-third 

 of each yearly instalment is to be credited to 

 sinking fund. 



Under these circumstances the purchase policy 



becam< rally an extremely popular one. 



This pop- I.T does not imply that 



tenant felt within himself the irresis- 



c impulse to become a proprietor it only 



proves that he found himself moved by a keen 



aspiration towards paying 30 per cent, less rent 



1 House of Commons Pipers, 1902, No. 186. 



