THE AGRARIAN REFORM OF 1903. 141 



therefore poorer by ^35 a year, a circumstance 

 which is not an inducement to sell ; but for every 

 £100 of rent he may count off about 10 percent, 

 for costs of collection ; his net rent was therefore 

 ^90 and his loss is ^25. Moreover he is once 

 for all freed from the danger of further reductions 

 in rent. If he sells at the present day he has 

 even a considerable chance of gaining by a rise 

 in the securities in which he invests. He has, 

 moreover, yet other advantages. Parliament has 

 devoted a sum of ^12,000,000 as a free gift for 

 the Irish landlord. Upon every ^100 of principal 

 he gets ;^i2 bonus. This bonus goes to the 

 person in whose hands the estate is at the 

 moment — it is his own private property and 

 need not be invested in trustee securities. If 

 the whole estate is sold for ;^20,ooo the bonus 

 will amount to ^2,400, which at 4 per cent, will 

 bring in ^96 a year. On the ;^2,ooo estate the 

 bonus will yield interest of ;^9 12s., and the whole 

 return from the proceeds of the sale will be 

 ;^74 i2s. There will still be a loss of ;^ 15 8s. 



The landlord however is permitted to sell his 

 residence and demesne, not to the tenants but to 

 the Land Commission. He can afterwards buy 

 them back from the Commission by means of an 

 advance which they will make him, but which it 

 must be observed may not exceed one-third of 

 the total value of the estate. The landlord 

 has never drawn rent from this demesne. But 

 on an estate of the value of say ;^20,ooo he 

 has perhaps encumbrances amounting to some 



