The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-11 00:00:00

IRISH LANDLORDS,

The Dublin Evening Puchet contains the folio
remarks on Mr. Simpson's pamphlet, entitled "
Defence of the Landlords of Ireland, with Remarks on
the Relation between Landlord and Tenant:"— _

Mr. Simpson, we need scarcely remind our readers, is
an Englishman of vast experience in matters relating to
the improvement and value of land in his own country.
He is, moreover, a gentleman of most comprehensive
views, and possesses an understanding naturally strong,
and a stock of practical knowledge and sterling sense
which falls to the lot of very few persons in his own or
any other rank of life. With the social condition of Ire-
land, he has made it his business, almost as a matter 4. f
necessity, to make himself thoroughly acquainted. lip
feels for her wants, and has contributed as much,
perhaps, as any man in his time, to improve her resource%
by encouraging the investment of British capital in
every department of Irish' industry. Such a witness as
this we, therefore, holclato be beyond the reach of suspi-
cion on the score either of interest or partiality. His
testimony mast be regarded as invaluable, as it is un-
questionably unimpeachable ; and what is his evidence ?
In this work Mr. Simpson, adverting to the charges
against Irish landlords, under the several heads of in-
equitable tenures, excessive rents
_harshly exacted, dis-
regard of the comfort and improvement of tenants, &e.,
thus expresses himself
.4' These are grave charges, important both as regards
the class against which they are brought, and from the
obscurity in which they veil the true source of existing
evils, the origin of which must be sought before proper
remedies can be applied. Viewed in the abstract,
it is difficult to conceive that harshness and cruelty of
disposition should prevail in an educated class be-
longing to an enlightened age and a Christian coun-
try. I have before raised my humble voice in this
cause. Eleven years' intercourse with Ireland in my
professional engagements has rendered me intimately
acquainted with the relative position of landlord and
tenant; extensive engagements in the valuation of
estates (for public sale and mortgage) in twenty of the
thirty-two counties of Ireland, have afforded me oppor-
tunities of arriving at the true value of land in that
country, and furnished me with tests respecting it, not
of usual oceurence; and my conviction is that, even under
the disadvantages of imperfect cultivation and unde-
velopedcapacity, land in Ireland is, as compared with land
in England, and of itself, generally speaking, rather under
than over rented. I, of course, except cases of inter
mediate tenure, the odium and evils of which system are
charged upon the head landlord ; whereas the existing
wretchedness and distress arise essentially from sublet-
ling, and the consequent minute subdivision of land. It
is, howevev, but justice to say, that I have observed
some middlemen who, by proper and humane conduct to
their under tenants, have not deserved the reproach
which this system has given rise to."
On the.score of excessive Tenting, the alleged master-
grievance of the Irish tenantry, Mr. Simpson completely
exonerate the landlords. "I have," he says, " fre-
quently surveyed, valued, and sold,. deep-stapled land
which was not let higher than from 255. to ,355. the
plantation acre (equivalent to from 15s. sd. to 21s. 7d4
the statute acre), and thin, but under proper mild-,
vation, grateful surfaces, as low as 12s. 11d. and 103.
the plantation acre, or 7s. 4d., 6s. 9d., and 6s. 2d., the
statute acre." And these, he tells us, are the average'
rents paid to landlords in fee by the occupying tenants,
in most of the counties in which ho had valued estates.
We know not, of course, nor indeed, is it of much con-
sequence, what the defamers of' the Irish landlords i. t
either island will say to this, but the fact is one which
certainly ought to make them hide their heads for very
shame. Thus has the charge of excessive rents been
satisfactorily disposed of.
The introduction of middlemen, and the minute sub-
division of farms, or what is generally known as the con-
acre system, the writer pronounces to be, to a certain
extent, an evil ; but very justly attributes it to the ne-
cessities arising out of a long war, and the consequent
rise in the value of agricultural produce. The injurious
effects, however, of that system, he remarks, have been
detected, and the praetice itself is,' consequently, de-
clining at a rapid rate. Yet he affirms, and we agree
with him,. that the retailing of land in small portions
would, if properly exercised, be often an advantage to
the rural poor and cottier tenants, who at present occupy
he anomalous position of half-labourer, half-tenant.

CHEAP FOOD THE CAUSE OF
HIGH WAGES.
(From the Struggle.)
It is pleasing to be able to report from time to time
the success of our mill workpeople in asking for an
advance of wages. And we do trust the period is
gone by when masters shall doggedly attempt to turn
a deaf ear to the reasonable demands of the labourer,
or when the workpeople shall be so badly advised as
hastily to throw themselves out of employment if all
they ask is not conceded. Everywhere a better spirit
towards the workmen is being evinced, and we hail
this as a happy change ; for who are so deserving a
being well fed and well used as those whose wht to
powers are devoted to the enrichment of the nation?
We cannot avoid embracing the present opportunity
of reminding the operatives of two things ; first, the
fallacy of the monopolists' cry, that cheap bread would
produce low wages. They see before their eyes a
most decisive confutation of this erroneous proposi-
tion ; and if they will consult other years of cheap-
ness, such as 1835 and 1836, they will find that we
have always a good trade when food is low. It will
be seen by a reference to our exports, that the re-
vival 'of the cotton trade could not have arisen from
the extra quantity sent abroad. But when we re-
member the amount of saving in the food of the whole
people betwixt the,price of 1835 and 1840, we see at
once what it is that is driving our shuttles and com-
manding fresh mills into existence. The second
point we wish them not to forget is the other clap.
trap fallacy, that masters " would drop their wages','
if food .was cheap, and that it was for this purpose.
some of hem were advocates of free trade. We al-
ways maintained, that whatever might be the dispo-
sition of a few, masters in general had no power to
do any such thing; and we always foretold that just
in proportion as food got cheap, would the men ac-
quire the power of standing
.up for themselves, mid
obtaining the full market value for-their labour. How
should it be otherwise ? Cheap food has a twofold
operation in favour of restoring the balance of labour
—by lessening the supply and increasing the demand.
We have often felt indignant to hear some of the
leading, agitators, whose first principle in politics Aas
" the supremacy of the people," represent this sante
people as being absolutely in the hands of their em-
ployers. The truth is, labour is like any other
marketable article, regulated by supply and demand.
So long as the buyers of labour can realise a profit by
it, they will not refuse it, although an advanced price
,is demanded, and especially when they know that.if
they will not give the price somebody else will. This
is sure to be the case, except when combinations
exist ; and we are glad to hope that these are all
breaking up, both among the masters for depressing
the price of labour, and the men- for raising it to more
than it is worth. Let us have free trade among ear-
-1 selves as well as with other countries, and the la-
,.
bourer is sure to gain by it.

YOUNG ENGLAND AND CRICKET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Much has lately been written upon " Young
England," and upon their doctrine of the mutual
benefit derived, by persons in the higher ranks of
society, playing at cricket with the humbler classes,
and of the advantiges obtained frOtn the establishment
of cricket clubs.

It has long been the custom, in Kent, for all
classes of society to join in this healthy and manly
amusement ; and the late amiable Duchess of Bucking-
ham always promoted the innocent pastime of
cricket after service on Sunday amongst the labourers
on her estate. Unlike our very sombre and Reverend
Bishops, she thought the humbler classes should 'be
amused as well as instructed on Sunday ; for we all
know that if some innocent amusement be not pro-
vided for them, they will resort to those dens of
disease and dissipation—the public-house or the gin-
palace. _ _ _

In the upper parts of India, where the cold admits
of active exercise, the officers constantly join the
soldiers in a game of cricket, or in private theatricals ;
and I never heard that the union affected military dis-
cipline in the slightest degree, or had any other than
a beneficial effect, in promoting a mutual feeling of
good-will from one class towards the other. Human
nature is the same in all climates, " Ccelum non ani-
mum mutant," and that which is beneficial in India
will also he beneficial in England.
Your most obedient servant,
Nov., 1844. A M (IN 01? KENT.