102 THE IRISH AGRARIAN PROBLEM. 



than he did before. Naturally the purchase 

 policy created what were felt to be severe hard- 

 ships. On the one side there stands the tenant 

 who by reducing his yearly obligations by 30 

 per cent, becomes an owner in from 42^ to 

 70 years — on the other side is the tenant whose 

 rent is fixed by the court every 15 years and who 

 pays a great deal more in rent than the pur- 

 chaser does in instalments. This danger was 

 foreseen in the year i8gi, when, as we have seen, 

 a clause in the Purchase Act prescribed that a 

 tenant's reduction on purchasing was not to 

 exceed 20 per cent, for the first five years. Yet 

 on the other hand it was desired to make the 

 purchase policy popular and attractive. The 

 hunger for property is not so keen with the Irish 

 peasant as has been asserted ; if that were 

 really the case he would gladly go on paying his 

 existing rents if he could thereby arrive at 

 ownership in 49 years and be secured against 

 any very excessive fall in prices by a lo-yearly 

 or 15-yearly revision of rent. But it was 

 necessary to offer him more attractive con- 

 ditions ; the difference between the judicial rent 

 and the purchase-instalment had to be large. 



A landowner whose rents amount to ;^i,ooo 

 receives on sale of his property £iy,ooo or 

 ;^i8,ooo of capital — not reckoning here the 

 costliness and technical difficulties of the sale. 

 He had formerly to set off about ;^ioo against 

 arrears, costs of collecting rent, etc., so that his 

 net income w^as about £goo. If he could invest 



