Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-05-01
Irish Agents.

The Irish papers mentioned a few
months ago the death of Mr.. Stuart
Trench. whose :. Realities Of Irish Life
excited so much attention three years
ago. Mr. Trench was the most eminent
of a class of men peculiar To Ireland,
and growing out of the unfortunate con-
dtion of that cOnntry. He was an
agent. which means oyerlooker and man
aoer of the estates of absentee landlords.
In England. except on very extensive
propcriies. landlords do not employ an
agent of this sort, and even where they
do. his duties are Of a very different
character. There the landlords, being
nearly always in the country, If not on
their estates. look after their business
themselves, and have merely an over
locker. who does not occupy the posi-
ton of a gentleman, TO superintend and
report to them what may be needtul,
whilst the rents are collected by sollci-
tor. This is the case in Scotland also.
But in Ireland this would never do.
Even where the landlord is resident he
almost always has an agent, TO save
himself the great trouble which wo0ld
otherwise be entailed on him, while to
the nonresident an agent is imperatiyely
necessary.
Most Irish property is still subdivided
into very small farms. and this is in
itself a source of constant trouble. The
tenants get into arrear or become hope
lessly insolvent; they very often refuse
to quit their holdings nevertheless, and
have to be coaxed, bought or turned
out, as the case may be; which several
processes have to be accomplished by
the agent. Then he is compelled to see
in MANY cases that they don't exhaust
land by a repetition of the same crops,
and IN fact To superintend, either by
himself or his sub-agents, in hundred
wavs which would never be necessary in
ENGLAND. where the faims are large,
and their holders of a different class.
He also represents the landlord So
cially. and is frequently the great man
of the district, duly invested with magis-
terial and other county offices. The
office of agent has therefore IN Ireland
had a high social standing, and agencies
are eagerly sought by the younger sons
of gentlemen, and even noblemen.
There are three or four estates whose
agencies are regarded as special prizes,
and of these Mr.. Trench held one, the
marouis of Lansdowne's. That noble
man-who is descended from the ancient
Fitzmaurices. earls of Kerry, and the
celebrated savant Mr.. William Petty,
who first surveyed Ireland, and took the
opportunity of helping himself pretty
freely TO some very nice . tit-bits as
''refreshers by the way-has very
extensive property in Queens. county
and the wild maritime county OF Kerry,
| in which his ancestors were IN bygohe
! days a sort of kings.
Probably Lord Lansdownes agency
was worth to Mr. Trench quite $4,000 a
wear. equal in Kerry, where living is
| still yery cheap, TO S15, 200 in New York
city: and he had two or three other
agencies in addition.
On the smaller properties the agent is
usually paid five per cent, on the large
and fixed salary The best agency of
all is that of Lord Pembroke, who owns
the most valuable portion OF Dublin and
a great deal of adjoining land
When the duties and risks of an agent
are considered, he can by no means be
regarded as highly paid. Very many
agents have LOST their lives, and others
are continually exposed to continual dan-
ger. They are sometimes harsh, tyran-
| nical and overbearing, but far less SO
now, when railroad, press and telegraph
let light in upon all parts OF the coun-
try. than formerly, when they were left
to themselves, and as long as the rents
were duly paid no heed was taken to
their operations.