The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-23 00:00:00

• mild and humid, and money advanced for that Object
would be, productive of great benefit.. It had, besides,
a collateral effect, for every acre of drainage employedi
160 labourers a day, who were employed by task work,
while it also enabled many who had no capital but theiri
labour to get their own land drained, and many small!
tenants accepted it as an equivalent for wages. He (Mr.!
Napier) wished this object to be attained more by private!
loan than public grants, though he was sure that public
money advanced for such purposes would be well laid out!
Still, however, he wished the money to be advanced by
private proprietors, who were able to do so, and also that.
facilities for such loans should be given to the Bank of
Ireland, and that such loans should be made the primary
charge on the land, thus affording a perfect security to the
lender. The act provided that, in the first instance, a me-
morial should be presented by the borrower, giving a de-,
scription of the land to be drained, and the increased value!
wwwhicchh
hawa.deand the Board of Works,'
Ireland,aeetaccuracy
eewouldyo ofofficers
beye 1
estanatbelmedeiltto
asexamineoffitoexpected
erselri netcht: ydel r ya
arise,vnad a county
en, datneds int
t hunlesse
were of opinion that such improvement would amount to.
at least 6.i per cent. they were to reject the propositidn.
The expense of such investigation would be from ss. to 155.!
per cent. The officers of the Board of Works were also to
see that the drainage was properly carried out as regarded
depth, and to exercise an equal supervision over other classes
of improvement. The improvements were to be registered
by means of the arrangement adopted in the Ordnance
maps, so that the farm of each individual intended to 'be
improved would be marked in every townland. division and
the nature of the improvements stated. (The right hon.
gentleman here illustrated the system proposed on a plan
which he had of the improvements on the estate of the
honourable member for Limerick, and by means of which
regular registry would be obtained.) The working of tlae
act for facilitating drainage had given great satisfaction hi
Ireland, and a proof of it was to be found in the fact,
that upwards of two millions had been expended ; and the
provision by which the commissioners were entitled to
adjudicate in cases of differences between landlord and
tenant, had only been called into exercise in four cases
All disputes had been amicably arranged, and the old
rants had been continued and paid in consequence of the
increased productiveness of the land. He had taken
that act as the basis of the measure he had proposed. There
was to be considered—firstly, the question of settlementa
for life on the land, and the difficulty of equitably adjust:
hag the interests arising out of them ; and, secondly, the
interests of the landlord and the tenant. The bill as pro-
posed made the sum borrowed. -payable by 22 yearly in-
stalments, which would have the effect that, as the pay.:
ment would be in the nature of a rent-charge, every owner
would pay in proportion to what he enjoyed, which was an
improvement of the Montgomery Act. If a tenant for
life borrowed the money either from a private individual
or the Bank of Ireland and died, the loan would be a
primary charge on the land, which would have the effect
of enabling improvements to be carried out fully through
all Ireland' increasing the productiveness of the soil,
employing the population, and diminishing the poor-
rates, while the proprietors would have the benefit'
of the assistance of an experienced staff of officers, who
worked out the Drainage Act, which would materially
assist them in doing what was essential. Take the
case of the flax crop, which, in his opinion, was a most
important feature. As in the case of agriculture there
could not be green crops without drainage, and the expen-I
+liture attendant on it, so it was with flax. The supply of,
liar. was not a third of that which was necessary for home
consumption in Ireland, and if thousands of additional'
acres were chained and subsoiled, the result would proba-
bly be that the supply of flax would not only be sufficient'
for Ireland, but afford sufficient for export to other coun-
tries, and the consequence (perhaps one of the effects of
unrestricted competition)would be that each country would
find out the article to the production of which the soil was
adapted, and its cultivation and export would tend to the
advantage not only of each particular country, but of the
civilised world. (Hear, hear.) He hoped that there would
be found no objection to the principle of the bill he pro-
posed to introduce. The next provision he came to was
~no to which he attached great importance. He found
that there were in Ireland some sixty scattered statutes,
giving power to persons and corporations to make leases for
special purposes. Some enabled a tenant for life to make
a lease of three acres of land, and then enabled a rector, or
a bishop, or any other corporation to make a lease for a
acar. he bill now proposed recognised the principle—.
which was also recognised by the Devon Commission—that
persons with limited estates making charges on them should
not derive any advantage from fines, and also reduced all
leasing powers to one uniform principle. In the Montgo-
mery Act there was a provision which was productive of
some mischief, by placing restrictions on the cultivation of
the land; and there were other acts, some of them containing
enabling powers, but he thought that it would be best for
Ireland if all arrangements with regard to leases were
made beforehand, and not after they were granted. (Hear,
hear.) In the bill the classes who had such powers of
le :sing as he had stated, namely, tenants for life, tenants
in tail, corporations and trustees of public buildings, were
specified; and although he wished to continue limitations
on land for family uses, so long as they were consistent
with beneficial leases to tenants, yet it was a great object
to have the terms regulated by the purpose for which the
land was leased. When it was let for agricultural pur-
poses the term was not to be less than 31 years ; improve-
ment leases were not to be less than 61 years ; mining
leases than 91; model farms for longer terms, and indus-
trial schools and public buildings for 999 years. With re-
gard to public buildings and industrial schools, he had
found from documents in his office that attempts had been
made in Waterford and Kilkenny to erect industrial schools
on property which belonged only to tenants for life, which
had caused them to be given up. It was of the utmost im-
portance to Ireland that industrial and agricultural educa-
tion should be promoted; and this bill was intended to carry
out that object. He had set forth the various terms of leases
for different purposes to which the act was intended to ap-
ply, and all of them would enable leases to be granted for
those purposes. There were also provisions setting out the
conditions of leases granted under the act. There were
provisions for covenants for agricultural improvements,
and covenants with regard to mining. There was one
provision which might be the subject of discussion,
though he (Mr. Napier) thought it an advisable one. It
was a clause enabling that in agricultural leases the rent
should be made subject to variation, founded on the gene-
ral value of tenements in Ireland. The Act that was
passed last session for the valuation of tenements was
based on that principle. The valuation was to vary ac-
cording to the rise and fall of prices, and the rent was to
rise and fall according to the valuation. (The right hon.
gentleman then related a remarkable case, applicable to
this principle, which had been furnished by the present
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and which occurred on an
estate in Scotland, of 1,170 acres, divided into 12 farms,
on which the occupiers were tenants at will, and who after
the Currency Bill of 1819, got into arrear, and when,
after some difficulty, a gentleman undertook the manage-
ment of the estate, and leases of 16 years were granted to
the tenants, and the rent regulated by the prices of the
preceding four years, the tenants took the leases on those
terms, and drainage being just then introduced, the land-
lord and tenants subscribed a sum for that purpose • that
arrangement took place in 1830 ; from 1843 to 1848 the
rent paid for the whole 12 farms was 12,7151., but in 1848
the leases expired'; when all the tenants took their farms
again, the property was revalued, and a rise in the rent
took place of 24 per cent., nevertheless, all the rents had
since been punctually paid, and, instead of the proprietor
being involved and the tenants poor, as they were in
1830, since 1848 they had both been prosperous, and
the tenants were eager to get leases on the estate.) (Hear,
hear, hear.) That was done by the co-operation
of landlord and tenant, both the parties and the
country at large were benefited, and that was brought
about by a sensible agent, who saw the capabilities of the
property, and used the best means which Providence had
afforded and blessed to the production of this result. The
agent in question had sent this statement to the present
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, saying that he did not see why
the same state of things should not exist in Ireland. Nor
did he (Mr. Napier) see why they ought not, if all parties
co-operated, and honestly and seriously had the good of
their country at heart. Another case illustrative of the
principle of regulating rent by valuation was given by the
Rev. Mr. O'Sullivan, in his examination before a committee
of the House of Lords, in which he stated that in the centre
of Tipperary there was a townland so peaceable that it had
never been touched by the insurrection acts, and there the'
rents had been regulated by prices. It might be observed
that in Ireland the process of subsoiling went on with
drainage, although it was difficult to know when the sub-
soiling was properly done, unless the workmen were
watched ; but when the tenant co-operated with the land-
lord in that respect, and saw it properly clone, it was of
great importance in the pulverising of the soil and its pre-
paration for the crops. Provisions were also made in the
bill regulatine• the stamp duties. It was also proposed to
provide a local registry. There was a provision as to the
making of leases under powers. He (Mr. Napier) had
himself been concerned in a case which showed the ne-
cessity of such provision. There was a property in the
township of Ballycastle held by trustees with leasing
powers. The tenants took leases which were only executed
by one of the trustees, the other being absent, and some of
them expended 7001. or 8001. in buildings. The property
belonged to a lunatic, and the Court of Chancery, in deal-
ing with it, decreed that the leases so executed were inva-
lid, and ejectments were brought against all the tenants,
and but for his learned friend the Solicitor-General and
himself, who were the counsel in the cases, defeating the
ejectments on a point of law, the tenants were within an
ace of losing their property. He had provided in the bill
that such leases should be valid, and the parties thus se-
cured. There was also a provision that persons taking
'leases of that kind should be entitled to an agietnnent with
regard to improvements. In some towns in Ireland, by
reason of the defective powers of owners of property, im-
provements were prevented. There was one remarkable
case of a person who wished to build a factory near a turf-
bog, which would afford him fuel ; but the tenant for life
was only able to lease three acres, which, not being suffi-
cient for his purpose, he went to another place, and the
neighbourhood in question lost the benefit of having build-
ings erected on it, and the population employment. The
' improvements contemplated by this act were from farm-
buildings, from the reclamation of waste lands, from
thorough drainage, from making outer boundary fences,
or from internal fences, enclosing ten acres at least, from
durable improvement by marling, or from temporary im-
provements by the use of manure. A certain number of
years were specified as being what he would call compensa-
tion periods; for it was admitted that in a certain time the
tenant would compensate himself for the outlay he might
make in improvement. He had not taken the shortest
period for which precedent in the example of other coun-
tries might be found; but he had fixed upon 10 years as
the maximum, leaving it to agreement between the parties
to regulate the periods within that margin as they might
think most desirable in the several cases. As much as pos-
sible he left all the relations between landlord and tenant
to be determined within limits by mutual agreement; for
the interests of these two classes were, he believed, the
same; and he was proceeding throughout on the assump-
tion that there was a common object to effect. (Hear.)
Hence he invited leases of specific agreement for particular
classes of improvements. In these cases there would be
pt?hronetvirhceelicciinioolonata,Tuyfdor getting a certificate of completion of the im-
provement, which certificate would have to be registered,
and after the expiration of a certain short period in which
wbaogelilaaianpsp(tieeafllenatnoddltiaohrnead,assistant-barrister or judge of
assize, this certificate would be deemed final. The next
loinrdthaegaienvsetntet noafntd,i
s apnudt e t e oil r-
litigaa!in,;.Yand he provided, while the tenant is entitled, if
peryotei cl:wisheiez,itewhoouilddthhaevleancodmunpetnilsathteedexhpimirasetlifonfoorf
itmhe.
n(pileo'o(sivsueectsinsiheninia. ,ittihroolzer hand that if the landlord should dis-
lareniidtldorude.shAotitilhdepsaamy hie
tmimceohmepewnsontinoont,
zdipossessionprovoked bythe non-pay .
tenntgelercoZenot
paillirl eo° n:tec °owfl I li
rhe nntthi a;
e forfe
land
1 oarr
(I), the tenant had no right to im-
fors:apital ; the provision was only
'instances which the tenant,
havetcontemplated. From
(ilisngp?simseprssoivoenm
'het epdrogfirtelpee cultivation advantages,atio of the .
in re-
moving s e p riomv irs i odl
ms
ehne t
aft nttoi c
ti
soil ; and in proposing them, his ho
that h© was I

giving new facilities for parties to enter into contracts and
agreements, and that, while giving the tenant full legal
protection, and granting every just claim contained in the
phrase tenant-right, he was not, on the other hand depriv-
ing the landlord of a single one of the due rights of pro-
perty. In these two bills—the one enabling the proprietors
themselyes to improve the land by drainage and by farm
buildings, and other manner specified in the Land Im-
privement Act ; and the other enabling the owners of
estates to make beneficial leases with tenants for improve-
ments, for which the tenant would have ample compensa-
. tion—he saw a great machinery of usefulness to Ireland.
(Hear, hear.) And he should not forget to add, that by
the last bill he made provision for the case of mortgagors
left in possession by encumbrances, by which provision
they would have new facilities for making leases, safe-
guards being at the same time taken for securing the
creditors in every right. But something more was necessary
to give effect to those bills. That report of the Society of
Friends to which he had before referred spoke of two things
as essential to the well-being of Ireland ; first, that there
should be freedom in making contracts ; and next, that
there should be facilities for enforcing those contracts.
• (Hear, hear.) He believed in these essentials, and to fulfil
the latter he had now to propose a bill which consolidated
all the laws dealing with the relations of landlord and
tenant. This would .simplify the law, would clear it of
confusion and technicalities, and would secure the enforce-
ment of the contracts he thought it so desirable to see
generally entered into. (Hear.) A struggle had been going
on for some time in the courts between the old feudal
principles and the new commercial habits ; and
in this bill he set out with declaring that the relations of
landlord and tenant must be founded in contract. (Hear,
hear.) It had been said that from particular circumstances
the contract in Ireland could not be quite fair, since the
owners of the land and the proposing occupiers did not at
all stand on equal terms. No doubt there had been in
times past a most unhealthy competition in Ireland for
land ; but circumstances had diminished that competition;
and he must say that nothing could so much sustain it as
to allow the law to remain in such a state that the tenant
would be indifferent to what offer he made, however large,
because he could calculate on not being forced to pay
the rent. (Hear, hear.) The bill he now brought
forward would dispose of 200 statutes, and bring them
into a code, and on going into committee he would
show what acts would be repealed. As to assign-
ment, he proposed to continue the principle of the act
1332, which would prevent such frauds as tenants escaping
their responsibilities by assigning the land to paupers ; and
as to sub-letting, he would propose to leave matters to be
decided, as far as possible, by mutual specific arrangement.
On this point experience would guide them pretty safely ;
and ho believed it was now generally admitted that in Ire-
land the excessively small farms had not answered. In il-
lustration of the changes which had taken place in Ireland
in this respect, he would detail the statistical contrast of
the state of things in 1841, and of what was found to have
taken place in 1851. In 1841 there were, of farms of from
Ito 5 acres, 310,375 ;in 1851, of such farms, 88,083. In
1841 there were, of farms of from 5 to 15 acres, 252,778 ;
and in 1851, of such farms, 191,854. In 1841 there were,
of farms of from 30 acres and upwards, 48,623 ; and in
1851, of such farms, 149,090. Certainly, this result must
be traced to its primary cause ; and, however desirable
such a result, he could not but mourn over the cause which
consisted in the emigration of a million and a-half of peo-
ple. (Hear, hear.) To give full effect to leases, he pro-
posed to provide an open registry of them, and he would
endeavour to have this registry self-supporting, through
the instrumentality of the Ordnance survey. Another
class of provisions to which he had turned his attention,
specified different rights and reservations of the land-
lord, such as those connected with mines and quarries.
There was another set of provisions against waste and
against burning the land ; and in those cases a magis-
trate would have power to issue a stop order to re-
strain, on having obtained sufficient evidence of the injury
being- in progress ; and, as a security to the tenant, he
would have power to appeal against this order before the
execution of it. The next subject to which he had to call
attention was with regard to the dwellings of the labouring
classes on estates ; and he desired to express his decided
conviction that in this direction several improvements
were needed, and which could only be made by the land-
lords themselves. He thought that it was desirable that
the labourers should have decent cottages, and that attached
to these cottages there should be garden allotments. (Hear,
hear.) In pursuance of this object he proposed that as to
the cottages which were rated at not snore than 6/. a year,
it should be the duty of the landlord to keep them in repair,
and that if he did not so keep them in repair, he should
be deprived of any means of recovering rent : but at the
same time that the landlord should have power when he
removed a man from his employment to eject him from his
cottage ; and other powers were given to the landlord to
enforce the covenant of the lease. He now came to deal
with the law of distress, a subject on which there prevailed
great difference of opinion ; and he begged to say that he
had not stereotyped his own opinions on the question, and
that he invited every discussion, and every practical im-
provement on this bill. (Hear.) The alterations he did
propose to make were extensive. The present law allowed
distraint for six years' rent. Now his own conviction
was, that nothing was more unmerciful to the tenant
than to allow him to accumulate arrears in this way,
for such arrears were never paid ; and while they were
being accumulated, dissension and bad feeling of course
would exist between the landlord and 'his tenant. He
(Mr. Napier) proposed to limit the right to distrain in this
way ; that no distraint shall be made for any rent that
shall have accumulated for more than a year and a half
before the date of the warrant ; and that before the party
executes the distress he shall be required to make affidavit
that a sum of money, not less than Si. is owing to the
person claiming the rent. As a set off against this right of
the landlord to distrain (and he was only following the re-
commendation of the Devon Commission, that the law of
distress should not be abolished altogether) he proposed
that the tenant should have the right, if he should
deny that the rent claimed was duo, to go before the
sheriff, and have his rent account examined. The sheriff
to decide at once; and each party, according to
the decision, to deposit a security for the expenses, which
funds would be lodged with the clerk of the peace. There
were then provisions with regard to the removal of distress
and the rescue of distress, which would, he hoped, tend to
counteract the demoralisation which arose from that source.
He had provided different forms of ejectment. In the
service of ejectment there was great confusion ; and, in
order to remedy it, he proposed to confine the service to
the parties actually in possession, and such other parties as
had availed themselves of the locdregistry. He also abolished
the necessity for reversions and fictions, considering a system
of contract more consistent with advanced civilisation.
As regarded the case of overholding tenants, it was pro-
vided that they should be disposed of, as in England, by a
summary proceeding. Then, as respected deserting tenants,
persons, for example, who emigrated, and left the land un-
occupied, he had provided facilities to enable the landlord
to get possession, and if the tenant returned, as was some-
times the case, before the expiration of the term, the case
was to be treated as a simple misdemeanour. He now
came to the last bill, which provided for what he might
term the transition state of Ireland. If they had only to
do with the future they might perhaps rest contented with
the three bills which he had already explained to the house ;
but a vast portion of the country was at present under
tenancies from year to year ' • there were still a great
number of small farms ; they had to deal with the cases of
tenants who had made improvements, especially in the
north of Ireland, and all these required careful considera-
tion. He would say in lintine with regard to the tenant-
right of Ulster that it was not his intention, in these bills,
in any way to interfere with it. The Ulster tenant-right
was, in his judgment, incapable of being reduced to a fixed
law ; for it consisted of a varying custom, and there was
nothing whatever to prevent a landlord from introducing
any custom he pleased. The reception which had been
rti
extent
op
enh
given to previous bills enabled him to estimate pretty fairly
a
nbde
which n h e
h
the extent to which Parliament was likely to go with re-
ference oadisiledsooiroecasisnthrditendlotuygeinuthdt
thear
iv
rights
this
hwut
st
04thatfouse question
honestlyttfehoreognojcoetsot t
in giving legal security to
tenants for what they conceived to be included in moral
obligations. (Hear, hear.) By this bill he thought
he had honestly carried out the view of the Devon
Commission, which was, that when the tenant desired
to make beneficial improvements the landlord should first
have the option of carrying thorn out. He believed the
effect of such a state of things would be to create a system
of agreement, and the provision would thus have operated
as a species of industrial education with regard to the cul-
tivation of the soil. He now came to a part of the subject
which had raised a good deal of controversy ; he referred
to retrospective compensation. After giving it his most
ra: c
money
o a
ns
y thistthus
oclass
to
improveo f
tv heem
seornitls
s
careful attention, he had come to the conclusion that the
case of retrospective improvements ought to be provided
was specified in the Land Improvement Act, a-sd landlo d
for.
obtained(Ch loanseers. of public
a)lu
it was clear that such improvements were regarded as
beneficial to the public. -He thought that when the
tenant had made improvements, he should be secured in
possession for a compensating period applicable to then
class of improvements which he had effected ; but he could
not consent that the tenant, under such circumstances,
should both obtain a money compensation and give up
his occupation. If hon. members thought that ho had
fallen short of doing complete justice in any particular, he
should be delighted, whatever toil might be involved, to
give his most candid consideration to any. proposal for
amendment—(hear) —but he confessed he did not see any
way of carrying out what he had mentioned last, which did
not resolve itself into a compulsory adjustment of rent.
I have en-
The right hon. and learned gentleman concluded as fol-
lows :—Such then is the outline of the code which I propose
for the adoption of the house and the acceptance of such
proprietors and tenants in Ireland as may not desire to
sacrifice any of those rights of property which form the
basis
far as
toth
wooseridd allow,hts
to
meet
tdheeaveg
en-
deavoured,
civilie
eedn'csos as their just limits
of Ireland in a liberal and generous spirit.
(Hear, hear.) In preparing this code, in considering every
suggestion submitted, I have added many an hour of toil
to a life of labour. And every suggestion which may here-
after be offered, from whatever quarter it may come, will
be accepted and considered in the same spirit in which the
measure has been now submitted to the house. I know the
recompense often bestowed on those who prefer the mode-
rate and equitable adjustment of extreme opinions and oon.
fficting claims, and who consider the common weal as pans.
mount to the selfish demands of any class or party. The
man who is clamorous about rights and negligent of duties,
will depreciate my labours ; the grinding middleman will
dislike, and the factious or fraudulent tenant will heartily
condemn ; for all this I am quite prepared. Enough, if
I have provided a free course for industry, and a hindrance
to injustice. If I shall have afforded the means of work-
ing effectively the resources of a land which God has
blessed but man has blighted, the recompense will be to
me an exceeding great reward. (Hear, hear.) But it
may be asked, is Ireland to be made a land of peace and
save so far as such legislation be a part of the proper agency
prosperity by the power of legislation ? Assuredly not,
which He may bless, whose gracious touch could make the
very act of distributing to the wants of the multitude the
occasion and the means of increase and abundance. The
voice of mercy has resuscitated Ireland; the flush and flow
of returning life re-animate her frame; but still is she
bound in the grave clothes in which severe policy and sore
affliction have enwrapped her

Loose her, and let her go.
Loud cheers.)

Mr. CONOLLY congratulated the right hon. gentleman
on his measure, and trusted he should receive from the
house the support necessary to carry out his arduous un-
dertaking.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE had listened to the right hon. and
learned gentleman with the greatest attention, and could
tell him he was very much mistaken if he thought the
members who represented Irish constituencies would join
in any attempt to disturb the rights of property. With
respect to three of his bills, he believed they contained
much that was well worthy the attention of the house, but
he had heard the last bill explained without any feeling of
satisfaction. It was neither more nor less than a repeti
tion of Lord Stanley's bill, and contained no provision for
the protection of the vast accumulati m of property in the
north of Ireland. He could assure the right hon. and I