526 



LAND LAWS. 



covenants, to the contrary notwithstanding. 

 It is estimated that about one fifth of the land 

 of Ireland has been sold through the operations 

 of this and the Landed Estates Court, to which 

 its proceedings were transferred. 



Landlord and Tenant. The English law of 

 landlord and tenant was somewhat modified in 

 its application to Ireland, and, until recently, 

 commonly in the interest of the landlord. The 

 Irish tenant has, however, regularly claimed 

 the right, originating in the old communal 

 system, to the uninterrupted possession of 

 his holding and to the value of the improve- 

 ments that he and his predecessors have made. 

 These tenants' interests were not, however, 

 until recently secured by law, nor, except in 

 Ulster, by any well-deHned and established 

 custom. In Ulster custom permitted the ten- 

 ant on leaving his holding to sell his interests, 

 and commonly secured him against such an 

 increase of rent as should greatly diminish their 

 value. In the other provinces also the tenant's 

 interests were often openly or tacitly recog- 

 nized. Their value, however, in these prov- 

 inces depended largely on the generosity and 

 forbearance of the landlord. Local custom, 

 public opinion, and the fear of disturbance, 

 often checked landlords who were disposed to 

 exercise their full legal rights. The poverty 

 of the tenant, the smallness of his holding, and 

 the absences of industries other than farming, 

 often increased the difficulties of his position. 

 The Land Act of 1860 undertook to simplify the 

 complicated relations of landlord and tenant 

 and place them on the basis of contract. The 

 tenants complained that its principal effect was 

 to simplify the process by which they could be 

 turned out, and that it was a fruitful source of 

 rent-raising and eviction. To allay the discon- 

 tent the Land Act of 1870 was passed, making 

 the Ulster tenant-right legally binding on es- 

 tates on which it had been observed, and pro- 

 viding that the tenant who left his holding 

 voluntarily should have compensation for his 

 improvements, and the tenant who was turned 

 out, except for non-payment of rent or breach 

 of contract, should have both compensation for 

 his improvements and damages or compensa- 

 tion for disturbance. The landlord could, how- 

 ever, so increase the rent that the tenant, un- 

 able to pay it, would be forced to leave the 

 holding without compensation for disturbance. 

 Evictions commonly occurred for non-payment 

 of rent or alleged breach of contract, and many 

 tenants, when crops were poor and rents high, 

 fell hopelessly in arrears, and were liable to be 

 turned out. The poor crops of 1877, 1878, and 

 1879, filled the country with excitement and 

 alarm, and the attempts of some of the land- 

 lords to evict tenants for non-payment of rent 

 led to the Land-League war against landlords 

 and high rents. The Land Act of 1881 is in- 

 tended to provide a remedy for grievances of the 

 tenants by allowing them to sell their interests 

 for the best price they can get for them, estab- 

 lishing the Land Commission to fix a fair rent 



to stand for fifteen years, and securing com- 

 pensation for improvements and compensa- 

 tion for disturbance on a more liberal scale 

 than its predecessor. Fair rents may also be 

 fixed by the court, or the landlord and tenant 

 may file an agreement fixing a fair rent to 

 stand for fifteen years. The tenant thus has 

 fixity of tenure, fair rent, and freedom to sell 

 his interests. No increase of rent is allowed 

 on improvements made by the tenant or his 

 predecessor in title unless they have been paid 

 for by the landlord or his predecessor in title. 

 There was much discussion in regard to the 

 definition of improvements, and the Irish Court 

 of Appeals, in the case of Adams vs. Dun- 

 seath, decided, much to the disappointment of 

 many of the tenants, that improvements meant 

 " improvement works," and not the increased 

 value of the holding in consequence of the 

 improvements. Something like a hundred 

 thousand fair rents have been fixed by the 

 Land Commission, and perhaps an equal num- 

 ber by the courts or by agreement. The new- 

 rents are on the average about 20 per cent. 

 lower than the old ones. A slender crop and 

 very low prices for agricultural produce in 

 1885 made it impossible for some and very dif- 

 ficult for many tenants to pay their rents, and 

 in the latter part of the year there were new- 

 agitations and demands for from 20 to 50 per 

 cent, reductions. When the reductions have 

 been refused and attempts made to enforce full 

 payment, boycotting and agrarian crimes have 

 become common. 



There has been much dissatisfaction with 

 the exclusion of tenants of town parks and of 

 most leaseholders from the benefits of the act, 

 and many Irishmen and not a few Englishmen 

 strongly advocate the extension of the provis- 

 ions of the measure to these classes of tenants, 

 who are said to number about a hundred thou- 

 sand. Many of the tenants and land reformers 

 have urged that a much more liberal interpre- 

 tation ought to be given to the term improve- 

 ments than the act, according to the decision 

 of the Court of Appeals, gives. It is claimed 

 by many that all the difference between the 

 value of the land in an entirely unimproved 

 condition and its present value is due solely to 

 the labor and capital of the tenant, and that 

 " improvements " ought to include all this dif- 

 ference. They would give the tenant both 

 " what is due to the inherent capabilities of the 

 soil" and "the unearned increment." Others, 

 without going so far, would include good meth- 

 ods of farming and other specific items in 

 lt improvements." 



Peasant Proprietors. Several efforts have 

 been made by the Government to enable Irish 

 tenants to purchase their holdings. By the 

 Irish Church Disestablishment Act, tenants of 

 church-lands were given the first right to pur- 

 chase their holdings, paying one fourth of the 

 purchase-money down, and the remainder with 

 4 per cent, interest in half -yearly payments ex- 

 tending through thirty-two years. Under these 



