Page:Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland.djvu/218

Rh he can cultivate it himself, as lie may please, so lung as he does not infringe existing contracts or the laws of his country.

A tenant, on the other hand, is a person who does not possess land, but who hires the use of it. J le embarks his capital in another man's field, much in the same way as a trader embarks his merchandisc in another man's ship. Experience teaches him that by expending a certain amount of labour and capital in the cultivation of the soil he is able within a limited period to get back from it not only the original capital he had expended, but also a profitable rate of interest upon that capital.* What rate that interest may reach will depend on his own skill and discretion, just as the trader's profits will depend on the judgment with which he sorts his cargo or selects his port. In either case, the amount of hire paid for the use of the ship or for the use of

The writer of the foregoing passage is by no means inclined to side with the landlord; any one who reads the article will see that his opinion is that of an impartial witness.


 * "Thus, then, the inherent qualities of the soil are the distinct property of the landlord."

"The labour and capital which a tenant may employ to call those qualities into activity, are the equally distinct property of the tenant. And various are the previous considerations upon commencing a tenancy which must enter into any equitable calculation, having for its object the apportionment of the produce between these two claimants, whilst their interests are connected, or the fixing what shall be the final balance due to either when they separate."

Dig. Dev. Com. Summary, p, G.