The Sun.
London, England, 1829-12-25 00:00:00

LAND REVENUES IN IREL kND.

According to the Official Returns annexed to
the Fourth Report of the Commissioners on
Fees, &c. the Yearly Amount of Perpetual
Rents in charge on the King's Rentals, at Lady-
day, 1796, was as follows, viz.
In late Irish equal In present
Currency, to Currency.
Crown Rents £14,368 6 6 £13,263 1 4f
C7onvositi on Rents 940 19 9f 868 19 lf
Quit Rents
Rents.cl Plus Acres, &c.

Total £65,300 12 81 60,277 10 21
And the Rental of the demised
Estate at the same period was .E 1,152 0 101 1,063 8 6

Making a Gross Rental of £66,452 13 7 61,310 18
In the year 1798, the Irish Parliament passed
an Act, 38 Geo. 111. c. 72, I. S. authorising
the sale of all or any part of the land -revenues
toward raising the supplies granted in that year ;
and in the years 1799, 180 G, and 1807, respec-
tively, other Acts were pa.ised for the same pur-
pose. Under the authority of those Acts, there
were sold various rents,• amounting to (1,0341.
17s. 113 d. late currency) 955/. ss. 9id. per an-
same, amounting to (22,1911. 15s. 3d. late cur-
rency) 20,481/. 14s. Oid. were applied to the
current service of the years in which they were
received.

In the year 1822 another Act was passed,
whereby the preceding Acts were repealed, and
new powers given to the Lords of the Treasury
for the sale of any rents or other property be-
longing to the Crown in Ireland. Under the
authority of this Act, there were sold, between
the 26th July, 1822 (the date of its commence-
ment), and the 2d July, 1827 (the date of its
repeal by the Act which placed the revenue un-
der our management), perpetual rents amount-
ing to (2,959/. 14s. late currency) 2,7321. Os.
74d. per annum, which produced the sum of
68,848/. 13s. ; and lamtis and other here-
ditament,:, which produced the sum of
12,899/. 13s. Bd. ; amounting together to
81,7481. 6s. Bd. That sum, in pursuance of
the 19th section of the Act, has been laid out
by the Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, in the pur-
chase of 83,851/. 19s. 4d. Principal Stock in
the Three and a Half per Cent. Bank Annui-
ties, now standing in the books of the Bank of
Ireland in the name of the Lord High Trea-
surer or Commissioners of the Treasury ; and it
is provided by the same enactment, that the ac-
cruing interest or dividends shall be appro-
priated to the same uses as the Land Revenue,
but that no part of the Stock shall be transferred
or transferable without the authority of Parlia-
ment.

From the preceding statement. it will appear
that the aggregate amount of the yearly rents
sold between the .passing of the respective- Acts
of 1798 and 1827, embracing a period of twenty-
nine years, was (3,9941. lls. Hid. late cur-
rency) 3,6871. Gs. 5d., being only one-seven-
teenth part of the amount of the rents in charge
at the commencement of the period,
This unsuccessful result of the variou
Acts
passed for the sale of the Perpetu?), Rents, in-
duced us to direct our earliest attention to an
investigation of the causes which had produced it.
We found that the subject had been particularly
considered by the commissioners of Revenue
Inquiry, who had stated the grounds of their
opinion, that the heavy expenses required to be
• defrayed by purchasers in the payment of official
fees, stamp-duties, and other costs attending the
.proceedings, greatly discouraged the purchase of
the rents, and also, reduced the prices obtained
for them by the Crown, and that on their sug-
gestion the conveyances were soon afterwards
exempted from Stamp-duties. That measure
appeared to have been follwoed by an increase in
the amount a &des (hiring the last three years
con p3risecl in the staten'cnt ; but the course of
official proceeding still continued to be attended
with an expense to applicants, not only uncertain
in its amount, but also in the care of small rents,
of which the greatest portion of the Reeul.ie is
composed, always far exceeding ttm highest price
which could reasonailly Le demanded for them.
In pti;•sning,, our inquiries into the means of
relieving applicants from that expense, Wi.l found
that the necessity for incurring it arose chiefly
out of the defeetiyo mitt conflicting particulars of
the r4-•.:ris and premises contained ill the three
sets7'Be'rentals in use., in th ,I.o.vpeetive offices of
the Vico:treasurer (late Auditor-General's De
partment•tlfcrlz. of the Quit Rents, and. Collec-
tors;.. in consequence- of which, it was general's'
Iccitusite-to iiistitUtQ- researches among various-