The Statesman.
London, England, 1822-01-02 00:00:00

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rents ?

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
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The following communication upon the sate of the
country, has been received from a comspendest of,
The Dublin Evening Post :-•-•
70 TUE EDITOR.
Sta—As Me deeply interested is the welfare of AU
country. I have taken some pains to Worm myself of
the cause of the unhappy disterhasees which %Mkt
and disgrace it; ankin search of .a remedy that might
afford a rational hope of relief, I have given the most
serious attention to the various oplaions advanced on
this important sohjeet. •
The principal, if sot the oily means of restoring
tranquillity, recommended in yes/ Paper. lea Rave-
tion of Rent and of Tithe. With the latter I have no
concern but to pay It; hot as a proprietor of land to a
considerable extent, allots use to request a little isfor-
motion as to the method by which this 'eduction of
rest, which I admit to be highly desirable, can be put
into ptietiee. Immediately after the passing of Mr.
Peel's celebrated Bill, from certain impression on my
misd as to the effect of that measure, I proposed to
givrep, at once, pearly all tbosecomforts and Instants
which my family had, for peasant's% ss.l°Y", with-
out having rat derived one penny of their imam.
from plat" sinecure, or pension. Os looking over
the house expenses of my grest-preadfathee, in the
year 1715, 1 Slid that five hogsheads of claret was the
overage I allowance in his family, besides other
wines. 1 live in the same house ; I potion the same
number of acres; yet, for the last two years and a half,
I have, from necessity. given op the use wino altoge-
ther. I have parted with my servants and reduced
my establishment within the, bounds of the strictest
economy. Ido not complain of these privations, but
only that they have been made in vain. I have been
compelled to dismiss many labourers, to, whom 1 had
hitherto given employment; and, rarely do 1 allow
myself the gratification of sharing with a friend my
very frugal table. Thus, I have brew enabled to make
rednetions from eight to thirty per cent. on that part
of the rest which 1 ran call ntine; but, Sir, there is
it least one half of the income of my estate the pro-
perty of others ; in interest, annuities, as* engulf-
hearten, laid on WAS the lastilweily years, and at
the rate of the value of land darTog that period.
My portion of the rent I can, and I did, reduce.
without being asked ; hot, how cap 1 reduce that part
which 15.11-t he forthcoming to pay others. lobe will
sot bear of an abatement on their claims; the Go-
vernment taxes included, all ealcolated on the War
pricer, and for which, I am manly 'a responsible
agents'
The interest of money debts, whether public or
private. is principally derived from the sale of Apricot-
tnral produce; now that that produce has been low-
ered in value two-thirds, how are-the same sums to be'
forced out of it ?
1 begin to think that, when the landlord is obliged
I. give up half his income, the reduction most retteadt
itself to all other property derived from the same

fusel.
The interest of the finvis most be reduced, when
the property out of which it is raised, his fallen more
then one-half.

As to national good faith, of which we hear so
mneli, it has been broken with the Agricultural in-
terest; and if, with the inevitable consequences of that
measure before their eyes, there should be persons so
infatuated as to rely on the continuance of such a sys-
tem, sir greedy enough to wait for a still greater profit
• in the Funds, let them abide by the result of their
venture.
The relief I have been able to afford my tenants
on my share of the rent, thougb given early, and
rbeerful4 bestowed, bas been but of little avail. Yet.
my estate is not let at a rack-rent; the average is
about twenty-two shillings the Irish acre, for good
arable ground. I hate resided among my tenants from
the hour I succeeded to the po ion of my estate;
they ere well clothed and well fed, and comfortably
lodged, for the most part in well-built slated houses. 1
have no Middlemen, and their rents were aiways re-
ceived in smaller or greater sums, at such times as
baited their convenience; until these last few years, I
never had occasion to send to a tenant for his rent.
They are quiet, honest and industrious. But, all this
is rapidly changing to poverty. to discontent, and ruin.
If the payment of those encumbrances be delayed, law
expenses are laid on in addition, with a merciless and
unsparing hand. The relief within my reach I have
given willingly, and I solemnly declare, that I would
wiser be reduced to live on potatoes mind sour milk for
the remainder of my stars. than distress one honest and
industrious tenant. Bat their fate is net in my hand;
my sufferings, my utter destruction will not mitigate
their distress.
Now, Mr. Eaitor, I have good reason to believe
that nine-tenths of Irish Landlorde are in a similar
situation. flow then can they effect the proposed
reduction of rents, until necessity has forced a reduc-
tion of the monied demands payable out of those

1 have lately met, by mere accident, a Paper of
Mr. Cobbett's pablishtd at London, in the Register of
the 12th of September, 1818. I am not, by any

mean., an admirer of that celebrated persons political
tenets ; neither am 1 one of those who will not allow
truth to be truth, because it proceeds from his pen.—
I will not take upon me to say, that it is an absolute

prophecy, but, I think, few can deny a remarkable
coincidence. Mr. Cobbett said, if you do so and so,
such must be the result. 'fhe novernment have done
as he said, and as to the description of the result, I
fear it is so correct, that all wtst feel and acknowledge
the deplorable truth of the likeness.
Whatever your own opinion on tlge subject may be,
I trust, Sir, that you will not refuse to give publicity
in your respectable paper, to this letter, and to the
following extract.--1 am, Mr. Editor, your mos!
obedient, and humble Servant, A.

EXTRACT FROM CORBETT'S REGISTER.
Srptember IV. 1819.

To enable the Bank to pay is Bold, on Amused,
Me old lady mart reduce tat yeautity of the float-
ing paper. indeed you say, that a greet ditmiattioa
most take place in the currency of the country. Now.'
it is iocoutestibly true, that such diminution most
create* great lowering of prices; and it is not less
tree, that this lowering of prices must be far g►eater
improper/ion this the diminution ita the smuttily of
paper nosey. Because, the first elect of the lessening
of eke qoastity of Mosey admit, is to straighten, and
threw late discredit, wavy persons who got along