The Sun.
London, England, 1824-09-25 00:00:00

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER '25; TR24.

PAItLIANANT:IIIY PAVER.

IRELAND. -

REPORT' from the 'SELECT COMMITTEE on the
SURVEY and VALUATION of IRELAND.:— .
In .considering
the subject referred to them,your Committee have not felt th enuely es called upon to enter into,
a prolonged examination of witnesset to prove the necessity of ir,,
new Survey and Valuation of Ireland. Such a measure has •
been recommended by- former Committees, and in expediency
admitted by the House. It has formed the subject of various
petitions to Parliament, and has been looked to bp the people of
Ireland as a remedy for the inequalitiet, of the present mode of
apportioning the taxation levied under the authofity of Grande
Attlee and Vestries. The ,eeeetueney, of proceeding in this
great national work, is apparent friten a consideration. of the,
sums annually levied under the rresenenent Laws. By returns
laid on the table of the. House during the present Seeslon, tit ap.
pears that the amount of the f;litead Jury, taxes imposed in the
last year has exceeded 750,0014e-The Obscurity And want of mile
formtty of the general syttemeie ?well to the inequality inciden-
tal to the mode of apportioning these local taxes, have-been ad..
mitted by the Parliement of Ireland at remote periode.
Nome parts of Ireland the assessment is made by the ,civil
divl-
siou of plonglilands, varying in size and value, but rated at an
.equal sum. In other cases, a division by townlandi his beers
'established, etch townland contributing according to its as.
stinted' area, which bean no defined proportion to let actual
contents. Uneeves, tannins, trues; and other sub.denomina.
dens of land, are recognized in other pens of Ireland; but how.
ever the names may vary, the evil seems universally' the same ;
and the inequality complained of in the.middle of the last
century by Sir William Petty, contisues, without correction,
to•tliepresent times. This subject has frequently occupied the
attention of the Legislature. A Select Committee, in tilt year
1815,.after a minute investigation, reported, " that some mode
should be taken to renderdrand Jury Assessments more equal
by correcting the defect* arising from apportioning the county
rate according to old surveys, calculated on the measure of land
formerly deemed profitable, and not eempreliending tire great
improvements which have subsequently taken place." Extracts
ream the evidence taken before the Select Committee of 1815; will
be found in the Appendix to the-present Report. In the folloW.
ing year a second Report was presented to the House, stating,
" that the various modes of 'levying the Orand Jury Present.
merits, from the inequality of their pressure, Arising out of. the
distant periods-of time, and unsettled state of the country where
such arrangements were made, require immediate and com-
plete alteration." In 1819, a Bill was •Introduced to provide
ifer the Survey and Valuation of Ireland;. but the measure was
not persevered in. During the present Smeden, a vote of 5,000/.
,was agreed to, for the. purpoie of , a Trigonometrical' Survey,
and the House resolved, "That it is expedient, for the purpose
of apportioning; more equally the• lord burthens of Ireland, to
rovtde for a general 'survey and valuation of that part of the
United Kingdom." The utility of the proposed measure, as well
as the necessity of its itnmetliate commencement, appear, on a
review of the Records of Parliament, to be established beyond
the possibility of doubt.
the proceedings taken, both in the 13titieh .empire and in fo.
our Committee have considered it important to inquire into
reign countries, in the execntion of territorial surveys and vs- •
to supply useful
ilnutaQtrionnmsti such an Atnheinsgaub
jisecytarepperearrrietnigtolitkheollty
,by.
the llouse.—
One of the earliest es well as the most minute of, the surveys,
is•thet ttanstnitted to us under the name of the Domesday Book.
This ancient reeortie like the other earliest surveys, was not
Laid down as a mep on paper, but as rattaluente hr terrier of
property. This inquest, properly called " the most itnportent
titteheial operation"'of that period; V7O. intended to.convey a
sttOeYof every: hide attend in the KingtiOnt.• CoMmiseioners
were sent down into the emetics, with,euthority to impannel is
joy in cart hundred, !Sulu wheez poetenernents and verdicts
the necessary information 'might be obtained. They directed
tel:e.mtexetadenotwof, eatinchd
their condition,. whether free
estwhooteairttieli. ritiutshieridenievatiii,,nlioce3nee.rienito:portetupeed nd,ettplaseeture
owners, tenants, and subtenants;
• t' the tenu gawp o res, and or servile ; the nature and °bli-
the estimated value." The extraor-
dinary precielonotod minute details of. this ancient work have
scarcely been surpassed in modein times; and the mode in
which it was effected appears to your Committee not wholly in.
aeplieeble to the intended survey of Ireland: • *
The survey of forfeited lands, made under the authority of
Lord Strafford, its Ireland, is considered to have been este--
vetted in like manner as a terrier, thotigh aceompanied by dirt.
These original documents have unfortunately been
destroyed.
. . • •
The most extensive and valuablestu veer of Ireland was under_
taken by Sir:William Petty, under. a
Commission dated De-
c'eether I I, 1654 ; it was executed, in consideration of a pay-
;nem of 20s. by the day, and of Id an acre for the. grantees ob.
taining'posseestonsif the'lande. This survey was laid down
:wpcjirthwth, ewictlhiaiva,l'icair:dit,wimitivexwitterdft;ti
it
teal:rat:veer
constildnetr)%ingatphse,
containing the bountieries of baronies and parisfiee, and of ba.
ronial maps on a scale of theta, perches to the inch ; the latter
distinguish the boundaries of parishes and townlends; many 01
these maps have been destroyed.by.fire,S but. are retiaeed by
topies taken front the originals deposited at the Royal Library
at,Paris, ',Of '1;420 maps, about 250 are of the ,barreiles,7and
the, revseining 1470 of the wishes t. about 57 of the baronial
Maps are, burned,: with more or less injury, 130 are fully pre-
served, anti Ma are `stated to be lost: Of the parochial maple,
algiot,39l have • suffered from fire, and 'abont • 780 have alto-
gether escaped. These maps are deposited among the records
i to Birmingham Tower, and are.evidence 'in -Courts of Law its
between the Crown and those deriving under it,
,as also between
two persons both deriving title trader the Crown. '
'The last official survey of an extensive nature, made in Ire.
land, was that of forfeited lands, in the reign of William 111. ;
it is -preserved in-the •Vite-Treastirer'soffiee; and- coutpri,;;.s
about 2,000,000 of acres. • - r•
lii 'France, the Great territorial • survey or Catlastre, has
been in progresi for Many years; it was first suggethedin
' 17636, tired alter an interval of thirty years, dtiring which "nu
progress was nouie, it was renewed by a decree of the; Go-
vernment of that day, and individuals of the higliees scientific
reputation. M. M. Lagrange, Laplace and D'eltimbre, were
consulted, with respect to' the best mede-of carrying into effect
the intention of,,tlovernment. Subsequent events suspended'
any etOetnal operations in the French cede:etre till the.year
11102, when a seltootof topographical engineering was orgatliFd•
The operations now in progress were fully commenced in 15011:
The principle adopted ix the inrmittion of a central canon:lesion,
acting in conjunction with the local authorities.; the eleeeifica.
tion of lands, according to an ascertained value is made by
three reeideus proprietors of land in each district; selected' by,
the Municipal Connell,. and by the chief officer of; revenuti--
" In the course of thirteen years, one.third only of each de-
pertinent- had been surveyed-, having cost the State 120,000/.
per alumni. At the, rate tie which; it icearried'on', it may be
computed as likely to requirk for its complegen,a total sum ee
4,580,000/., or an ucreable charge of }!iris' The delay of the
work, at well as the increase of etperiM, seem' to have been
the result of the minutenee*Of the' eel veY; which ',extends: to'
every distinct field ; a minuteness :which, fort many. reasons,
your COmtnittee considir bah- unneeessatiand inexpedient to
be sought ihr in the proposed Survey of ' • •
' The survey of ellavarta is,of more modern ,date, but of equal
minuteness. It is commenced by a primary triangulation, amtl
principal end verification bases; it is misled eh to it second,
triangulation
mine 'a all the principal .points ; • the filling hp the interior is
• with. very_acestrate instrehnents,-10 its le deter.
to' do 'Away with the inaccuracies of the common chain,
• completed by a peculiar species of plane ; order
the triangulation .is :carried down on" paper on the most
Minute comers of fields." 'f he map is laid down.ore 4.dcale
of tWelve inches, to the mile, or 1-5000th part of the real
size 4. and TM it contains all gnat Is required in the most precise
survey of property, it is used' it: the purchase and sale' of real
estates.

The ei,d„Rtre of Savoy an tiriet.lmontimgh.n in 1729 nail is
stated. to have atone& afforded the floverninent the means of
apportioning justly all the territorial tontributinne, and to have
pat an „end ,to litigations between individuals, by ascertaining
satisfactorily, the botuulti of proPertiew•
The Neapolitan survey under 'Visconti, and that of the Unit,
ed Stattil -under Hesis,r, Are both stated in be in progress ; bu
yout Committee hove Not had the Pleansof ascertaining on what
principles they arc ror.dneted.
The practical-subject referred •
to your -Committee tiny be con'-
. ; •

" " 11. to tbesAtownlabils, I,LoggillandP, eolp, gneeveg,
hbos, bullibellas, horsemen,
pax* t tbtly amat
festly unequal both in' gliantity and value, being made on
grounds that ars all obsolete and antiquated."—Political Ana-
P'nlYl p. 373.