Morning journal and courier., 1880-12-17
Friday Morning, Dec. F, 1880.
THE ULSTER TENANT RIGHT.

THE ULSTER TENANT RIGHT.
 Much has been said in favor of the general adoption of the Ulster tenant right as a means of bettering the condition of the un- happy Irish tenants. According to ancient custom, which has long since acquired the force of law in that province, the Ulster ten ant who for any reason wishes to quit his farm, may sell his right of occupancy to the highest bidder, and the landlord is obliged to accept the purchaser as his tenant unless he can show that the new tenant is man of bad character. The Ulster tenant right, it is said, sometimes brings more than the land lords title could be sold for. A sum equal to twenty years rent has been known to be given for the purchase of tenants right, and ten years rent is not an uncommon price. The price varies, of course, from time to time, owing to various causes. In years of good harvests, when farming is compara- lively profitable, tenants rights sell to advan- tage, and also when the number of persons desiring farms in that district happens to be large. Sometimes upon the death of a far of his children, partly from local attachment and partly from a generous desire to make a good provision for the rest of the family. The custom is not strictly confined to Ul- ster, but prevails on few estates in other parts of Ireland. Where it is recognized the landlords ownership consists simply in the right to collect rents from his lands, and lecting his tenants.
 In favor of the Ulster tenant right it is that by giving the tenants permanent and salable interest in their farms it encour- ages them to make improvements, to put their farms into the most productive con- dition, with the assurance that the increased value will be their own, and that they can get the price of it in cash when they choose, or keep it as part of their working cap- ital, if they prefer that. On the other hand, Mir. Bence Jones, landlord having large estate in the south of Ireland, contends, in an article in Macnailla1a's Magasiaae, that the Ul- ster tenant right is not an advantage to the tenant or the landlord, but that on the con- trary it encourages slack farming and habits ject to the purchaser of a tenant right for bad character is of scarcely any practical val ue The tenant is not stimulated to habits of industry and thrift, because he knows that if he falls into evil courses and becomes un- able to pay his rent, he will not be thrown upon the world penniless, but may be sure of selling out for good price, out of which, in- deed, the landlord may recover any arrears of rent then due, but the balance will provide for the present, and a man who has become reckless looks no further. The incoming ten ant, who has paid sum equal to ten years rent for his right, has in most cases spent all his capital in this purchase, and has none left for high farming He generally goes into debt for his stock and tools, and is continual ly prevented by want of money from making the best of his land.
 Mir. Jones thinks he has proved by expert ence that accurate business methods and fair contracts fairly lived up to on both sides are the best policy for both landlord and tenant. His tenants, he says, are all comfoxtable, some of them have grown rich on their farms, and he is willing to compare his land, and the condition of the farmers and laborers, with those of any estate in Ireland He is willing to sell his estate to the government at a fair price for the purpose of experiment in tenant proprietorship, which experiment, however, he does not think would be success full, but he is not willing to have Ulster ten ant right forced upon him.