140 THE IRISH AGRARIAN PROBLEM. 



though a minority of the tenants is against it. 

 The value of unsold land in the hands of the 

 Commission must never exceed ;^5, 000,000. The 

 transaction is to be carried out without loss, 

 except in the case of congested estates, where 

 resale at a loss is permitted.^ 



Thus for the tenant the new Act implies a 

 lessening of his obligations by 10 to 40 per cent., 

 or to speak in his own language, a reduction of 

 rent by from 2s. to 8s. in the £. The Act 

 amounts simply and solely to this, that the Irish 

 tenant can become owner of his holding by pay- 

 ing for 684- years on an average 15 per cent, less 

 than a present-day (1905) judicial rent would 

 amount to.^ 



But whether the Irish tenant can take this bait 

 or not depends partly on what inducements are 

 offered to his landlord. The landlord receives 

 for every ^100 of rent a principal sumof ^1850- 

 2460, or ^2150-2770, according to whether the 

 rent is a first- or second-term one. Let us assume 

 that he gets^2,ooo. That gives in trustee securi- 

 ties at 3^ per cent, an income of ^65. He is 



^ It is possible to effect a sale outside the zones, but then 

 come in all the arrangements involving delay, which the zone 

 system was devised to get rid of. 



- A present-day rent would be a second-term rent, and the 

 reduction on it would therefore be 10 to 30, or say 15 percent. 

 A rent of ^100 therefore falls to ;^85. This ^85 contains 

 interest and sinking fund, about -/j, or say ;£\i, being 

 reckoned to sinking fund. The actual rent therefore is re- 

 duced from ;^'ioo to ^72, or by 28 per cent. 



