The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-01 00:00:00

Society had entrusted the inspection of their estates in
Ireland, had visited those estates, and superintended 'their
advantageous management, and that the report which
the Gallant ()dicer had drawn up in consequence of his
visit would be read to the meeting by Colonel _Robinson
himself.
Colonel ROBINSON- then read- his report, from which it
appeared that the principle upon which the Socicty pro-
ceeds is that of reciprocal co-operation and mutual be-
nefit between landlord and.tenant. It will be see 'by
the following statement of the former and present ,rie.n-
dition of the three estates belonging to the Society
how this principle, has
,been adhered to, and what the
benefits "derived both to landlord- and tenant from Les
being carried into. effect, are— -
On the..ostate of county. Galway, the
landlords' improvements at the time of the Cdinpany's
coming into possession in the year 1838 were- %tailed at
2001 -; the, Socieiy's improveznents since that t..ne !ire
warth 1,3671.- On the estate. of Gleneask, ty 'of
Sligo, the landlords' improve rents were- valued, in
1838, when the Society came iiito possession, at 1,27'4/.
—they amount now to 24251.. ;On the estate of
kerrin, county of Galway, the landlords' improvements,
in the year 1841,- when the Company came into pos-
sessidn,. - were valued at' only 1371—no* they
-amount,- to :1,4401. The value of the Tenants' im-
provements on the three estates respectively, at
the fernier. pe?iods mentioned, and • at present are
1838, Eallynakill,.l44, no* 334 ; .1838, Gleneasic, 1391,
now 5531.; 1841, Kilkerrin,-2,4001, new 2,9041. The
tenants' property on the estates at the same periods re-
spectively amounted .on 4he Ballynakill..eatate,
191, now 3941. ; 1971, now 1,267/. ;
Kilkerrin, 2,2001., no 4. 3,1601 At the time when the
Society entered into possession the rental of the first
estate was ni/, it is now 1371. Of the second
estate the rental was 411, it is now 4481. ; of
the third estate the rental was 500/., it is now 6871.
.It....was.._also, mentioned in Colonel Robinson's report
that not one single individual of the Society's tenants
had ever been compelled to apply to the workhouses for
any relief whatever since the Society came into posses-
sion of those estates, nor had any, with the exception of
one ,of them, found it necessary to come over to Eng-
land, as was their usage, in the harvest season, to earn
money which they could not get in their own country.
Means, it appeared, were also taken by the Society to
extend the advantages of education to the peasantry,
which they had not enjoyed previously.
The Secretary then resumed the reading of the ordi-
nary Report of the Directors, inwhiCh Colonel Robinson's
report was embodied, and from it, it appeared that there
were 323 shares to.ba declared forfeited.
Mr. CARROLL inquired how the original property
stood. It was desirable that the Proprietors should
know the number of shares they could look to in case of
a fresh call.

The CHAIRMAN said, that tha't information was always
given at the general meetings, and would of course be
furnished at the present. The property consisted of
leases.

Mr. MAUDE, a Director, then read a statement of the
Society's receipts, disbursements, and assets.
The CHAIRMAN said it would have been delightful to
him to . discover, in his intercourse with Ireland, more
instances in which improvements, like those effected by
Col. Robinson, had been carried out. The great pre-
vailing-errors were that plans were formed which it was
found impossible to carry out, and that there was a
want of attention to details, without which no
substantial improvements could be hoped for. He
was happy to bear his testimony in reference to
,the estate Of Ballynakill. Having had many years
acquaintance with the lower classes of Ireland, he had
never witnessed anything with more pleasure in that
country than the distribution of the prizes on the
mountain of Ballynakill in August last.—(Cheers.) He
had the satisfaction of personally observing the progress
made by the poor persons on the estate, who, it must be
recollected, were actually engaged in learning the first
rudiments of agriculture.—(Hear, hear.) Their busi-
ness as a society was not to adopt scientific modes of
farming, but to give the labourer the first impulse towards
improving both himself and the land which he cultivated.
On the occasion when the prizes were distributed, a very
general. feeling of satisfaction was evinced by those who
received them, and every promise was afforded of pro-
gressive improvement.—(Hear, hear.) He felt a eon&
dent hope that by degrees, however slow, the exertions
of this Society, would become appreciated in Ireland.
He firmly believed that they were laying the foundation
of a very substantial improvement in the habits
and condition, as well as leading the way to a
considerable increase in the general productions, of
the country. One means by which they sought to
attain their object was, by showing the people that the
land would, under proper care, produce several species
of grain, or more commonly, of artificial grass, which
they had never before thought of cuitivating.—(Hear„
hear.) A prize was given to the farmer who produced
the greatest breadth of green crop on a given surface
and thus a stimulus was given to the improvement of
the crops. Prizes were also given for cattle with a si-
milar object. The tenants kept the cattle in the house
during the winter; this gave them an opportunity of ob-
taining manure, and at the end of the winter a prize was
given, which was found to have a very beneficial effect.
He was quite sure that no individual connected with the
Society would grudge the small outlay which was
required for this purpose.—(Hear, hear,) might
mention one rather amusing circumstance in connection
with this subject. The President ended the day when
the distribution took place, by proposing that a prize
should be given to the wife of the poor tenant who
should send her husband to the next meeting with the
fewest holes in his coat.— (Loud laughter.) It
was • the habit of many even of those whom they
called farmers to go to the meeting dressed certainly not
in the neatest manner possiblel—(Hear.) In conclusion,
he begged to observe that while, by training the lowest
and poorest classes of the Irish people in habits of in-
dustry, and by inducing them to apply their energies to
the cultivation of the soil; they hoped that they were
securing some advantage to themselves, they also confi-
dently believed that they were laying the foundation of
permanent benefit to Ireland.
Mr. Cennom. said he entirely concurred in all that
had fallen from their excellent Chairman. He would
suggest, however, that in the present position of their
affairs, it would not be prudent to extend their specula-
tions by purchasing new land, lest they should find
themselves hampered in their movements.
The CHAIRMAN thought that the principle of the Hon.
Proprietor must be taken with some limitation.—(Hear.
hear.) He did not at all mean to advise a reckless
extension of their undertakings ; at the same time he
thought circumstances might arise which would justify
an enlargement of the present sphere. In any further
steps which might be taken, the Directors would be
cautious not to fall into the error which they committed
in the outset.; of giving too high a price for land.
Colonel ROBINSON said he thought it necessaryto 'ex-
plain that when the Society commenced its operations at
Ballynakill, the tenantry were in a state of extreme po-
verty ; they literally possessed nothing at all. This was
not the
-case, however, on some of the other estates. At
Kilkerrin, for instance, the tenants were not exactly
paupers ; they possessed some little property, al-
though, from their extreme ignorance, they were
unable to make a right use of it. With such per-
sons this Society dealt in a. manner which reseal.-
bled the course pursued by parents who taught children
first letters, and then words, and then led them on to
sentences. They led the tenantry forward by a gradual
course of improvement. ,He trusted that numbers of
them-would, in the course of three or four years, be in
a state of comparative affluence, as the result of the
course adopted: With respect to the point referred to
by Mr. Carroll—the extension of their operations--
he begged to state that on undertaking the management
of his department of duty, he had expressed his deter-
mination not to be a party to any new undertaking until
the estates already belonging to them yielded a profit.
The CHAIRMAN said there was one point which he
thought it very desirable to mention' before the discus-
sion cloied. Gentlemen who knew anything at all of
Ireland were aware that that part of it which was called
Connemara was not always very easily managed.
Upon the estate of Kilkerrin there were formerly
a great quantity of tenants. They occupied very
much in common, and had a sort of kingdom among
themselves, which they managed in their own way, and
they were very jealous of any improvements, or divi-
sions into farms. Of course, under these circumstances,
the Society had found it necessary to re-arrange the
holdings, There were now 139 tenants located on the
estate ; and he was happy to be able to state that they
had not lost one tenant,•and that not a single disturbance
had taken place, as the result of the course they had
pursued. Those persons were now regular holders.
and were going on quietly, peaceably, and industriously.
It was a point of great importance to convince the lower
classes of Ireland that they meant to 'benefit them; that
was the very foundation of success.
mr. WRAY moved, and Mr. CLARKE seconded, " That
the Report be received, entered in the minute book of tho
general meetings, and printed for distribution."
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Mr. CLARKE moved, " That the resolution of the Court
of Directors of the 2d Of November last; deelaring the
forfeiture of 323 shares for which the third call' has not
been paid, be confirmed."
Captain Born seconded the resolution, which was
adopted • unanimously.
A resolution was then moved by Colonel SHAW. and
seconded by Mr. MORRIS, reducing the number of Di-
luters to twelve, and Mr. Ronan Ronald, one of the
acting Directors, was re-elected.
Mr. CARROLL moved a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man, which was seconded by Captain
BOND, and carried
by acclamation. d.
The. CHAIRMAN, in acknowledging
th
said that long experience badbadseatrscltimedPm
Compliment,
that it was ;only through minute attention. to
dotalla, and the exertions of individuals in particular
; localities;ana thiatt
wasany this conviction which had induced great good could be effected in Ire-
land
to" Join a Society which was likely to carry out that
Objeot.—(Cheers.)
A vote of thanks was also given to Col. Robinson,
anti briefly acknowledged, after which the meeting so
paratel