Farming with a Pen n 



the thief for the common good. In most of 

 Ireland, you will find the thief a person as 

 " respectable " as yourself, if not more so. He 

 is often held up to you as an example in the devout 

 and punctual practice of his " religious duties," 

 and he is the last man to quarrel with constituted 

 authority so long as constituted authority 

 accommodates thieving. He comes to you this 

 morning and borrows an implement, on the 

 friendliest footing. He comes to you to-night and 

 steals another implement, which he has " spotted " 

 before leaving the yard in the morning. He 

 comes to you to-morrow to return the borrowed 

 implement, and to " spot " another, still on the 

 friendliest footing. Offer him work and wages for 

 the time he can spare in thieving, and if he accept, 

 it is only " to oblige you." The friendly footing 

 must always be kept upi but always at your 

 expense. Hand your thieving friend over to the 

 police, and you are an " informer." The moral 

 sense of the community makes you the offender 

 and him the victim, which shows that the offence 

 against society is in detecting the theft, and not in 

 committing it. Again, let us guard against 

 absolute inference. It has been my privilege to 

 employ at least three persons in fourteen years 

 who were not thieves ; perhaps less than ten per 

 cent, of the whole ; but their honesty is the more 

 to be honoured in a region where the official 

 morality makes thieving such a respectable pursuit. 

 I can think of nothing that does more to harm 

 agrarian Ireland to-day than the fixed conviction 



