New-York tribune., 1870-05-31
LEASES - TENANT-AT-wILL - ULSTER CUSTOM
TIE GLADSTONE BILL.

British statesmen, from Edmund Burke 10
Benjamin Disraeli, eminent diynes from Sidney Smith
to Sidney Godolphn Osborne, and political economists
from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill, have been equally
emphatic in their condemnation OF that system OF land
tenure so long tolerated in Ireland by the English Gov
ernment, which refuses the people the right Of sofe
and takes upon itself the responsibility Of egslang
them The wretched condition Of poverty and yiIanage
In which barbarous landcOde has kept the people Of
Ireland finds parallel in any civilized country II has
been found necessary in every other European nation
give the occuper Of the soil that fixed interest in it tho
denial Of which to the Irish peasant has been tie
OF much destutiOn agrarian crime and disafectOn
toward the Government 1t was brought about in France
by the Revolution, effected In Italy during the reign OF
the Emperor Leopold, and accomplished in Prussia o.
the beginning of the present century, by that radical
change in her land which has elevated the eudal
serf the status Of peasant proprietor and the expo
rienco Of sixty years has shown how beneficial to Prussia
have been those Of reform for 10 their opera
ton may be chiefly attributed her present proud position
in the family Of nations. Land is at present held In
Ireland either leases for terms Of years and up
ward will from year to year. Tenants who hold in
the latter way are OF subject to advance OF
rent time time, to ejectent from their farms
at the option Of the landlord to carry out whose wishes
regardless OF the consequences to the occupier existing
laws afford peculiar facilities The lands held on lease
do not probably exceed one-tenth Of the whole and.
therefore, however beneficial such an arrangement may
be- the effect Is not very apprecabe on the general state
of the country. Highly beneficial leases undoubtedly
proved, not only to the tenants but also to the
landlords who have had the sagacity and honesty 10
grant hem In support Of this view have the state
ment, among others, Of Lord Portsmouth, who owns
property in Wexford County, and who granted several
years ago leases for 81 years to his tenants my rents
he says, punctuay paid; the oecuplers feel
they have a security for their industry; my estate
greatly improved the farms well cultivated and the
tad nj nd
Seeing that the results OF granting leases why
have other landlords adopted the custom mueh more
generally than they have done The truth IL, they are
blinded to their interest by the love OF arbitrary
power They prefer to keep the tenants at their mercy
obedent to their dictates in all things but especially in
the exercise of the franchise by holding over them, in
errorem an advance OF rent, notice Of ejectment
Tenancesatwill may DO divided into two classes the
better to understand their nature and operation The
first held under the sanction OF what has been called
Ulster Tenant Right and the second held on estates in
districts where that custom has never been eeO
nized.
TIE ULSTER CUsToM-wHAr IT is, AND HOW IT ORR
GINATED.
The ulster Custom" for a long time regarded
as having a common law force, or at least quasega
sanction. Such however, never was the fact aud al
efforts made legaze it have hitherto proved abortye
The usage as its imports has chiefly prevailed ID
Ulster extending at least fourfhs Of that Province,
and is almost unknown in the other three Irish Prov
inces The comparative exemption Of that portion OF
Ireland from misery and starvation so prevalent in
other parts of the country partly owing to ts operation
and partly to linen trade OF which Ulster the seat
and Belfast its chief town, the great emporium What
then is the nature of this custom How did originate
and how does it differ from other tenures II trace
able TO what has called the Ulster Plantations"
the reigns Of Elizabeth and James L. and the subsequent
grants Of Cromwell, under which rulers fully three
fourths of the island passed by coniseaton from It's
original owners parceled out by the eonluerofs
among their fayortes and successful generals, under
certain conditions for occupation by soldiers cOlons
and natives well affected toward the Government, which
prohibited the exaction of exorbant rents, and esla
lished sort Of conjoint proprietorship in the Ian
between the tenants and landlords. Tie tenants grad
uay ceased to be cognzant of the original terms upon
which the landlord held under the Crown, while the land
lords permitted what has since been known Ulster
Tenant Right" to come into operation in their place
The distinctive feature between Great Britain and Ire
land in land tenure consists In thiS that in the former
country all houses erected and substantial improvements
made on the farm belong to the landlord and have been
paid for by him; whereas in Ireland the opposite te
case-they belong the occupier and have been doneN
his expense The landlord, however has hitherto bSi
IL in his power TO defraud him Of their value wheneyer
chose, either by raising the rent to an exorbtst
amount OF by eectng him from the land without refund
ing him the outlay giving any compensation for no
improvement.
THE PRACTICAL WORKING OF THE SYSTEM
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