Page:A letter to the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P. on the state of Ireland.djvu/38

 is, therefore, very desirable to settle the question while the present Government remain in office.

The Commission of 1834 expressed a wish in favour of the creation of small properties in land. But since that time the Encumbered Estates Act, and other Acts subsidiary to it, have caused the sale of many millions worth of land. Latterly the high prices given by small capitalists have induced the Commissioners to sell estates in smaller portions. I cannot say that, according to the accounts I have heard, the new small proprietors are remarkable for being liberal landlords.

But, at all events, the property in land is more divided, the proprietors are more numerous, and I have no doubt that improved cultivation will be the result. Very low rents, whether in England, Scotland, or Ireland, generally co-exist with very slovenly cultivation.

There is some difficulty in finding proper judges or arbitrators to decide on questions of compensation in cases of ejectment. The judge of assize can hardly be called upon to give an opinion to a jury in long and intricate cases of this kind; a local court would be suspected of partiality. But gentlemen belonging to the Bar in Dublin might hold circuit courts for this especial purpose, and have power to call in assessors to assist them, both from the landlord and tenant class. They should, I think, have power to award compensation without referring the question to a jury.

There has been much controversy respecting the tenant-right of Ulster. It cannot be a bonum per se