82 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



little over it. No one ever gets rid of a tenant for 

 the most justifiable cause without losing far more 

 than a year's rent. I believe my experience will 

 hold good in most other parts of Ireland — with ex- 

 ceptions, no doubt, but exceptions are not the rule to 

 be acted upon. The statement that the improvements 

 of tenants have made half the value of the land, has 

 not a shadow of proof to support it. It is very signi- 

 ficant that on this subject an advocate of the tenants 

 expressly excludes the decisions of the Courts, which 

 hear both sides of the question, and confines himself 

 to the evidence on his own side. Valeat quantum. 

 It is easy to make out a case in that way. 



In conclusion, I have only to protest against the 

 whine (so often a last resort in this subject) that 

 Irish tenants were not free agents in hiring land. 

 So long as the world lasts, if one man wishes to hire 

 what another man is not obliged to let, but can make 

 money of by holding himself, the latter will have the 

 best of the bargain — that is all. It is just the same 

 in all buying and selling. The Irish tenant class are 

 the shrewdest, the keenest, and most cunning bar- 

 gainers in Europe. Even the lazy and useless, who 

 would let any amount of money slip through their 

 fingers for want of a little self- exertion, are un- 

 matched in a bargain. If there is only one soft or 

 weak spot in a landlord's position or character, it is 

 absolutely certain to be taken advantage of, and is 

 taken advantage of to the utmost. If a landlord is 



