Page:Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland.djvu/227

Rh their capital and energies, no law should impede his action, even though the operation involve the occasional conversion of a struggling tenant into a well-paid labourer or prosperous emigrant.* Far from


 * 1) I subjoin some evidence from the Devon Commission on the respective prospects of the large and small farmer, i.e. the man of five or six acres, and the occupier of 25 or 30 acres.

" The best opinion, however, appears to be, that the condition of those large farmers, who adopt the improvements in agriculture suggested by the progress of science, is advancing ; but that those who neglect those improvements are stationary, or declining in circumstances."

It must be observed, that many witnesses apply the term of large farmers to the occupiers of twenty, thirty, or forty acres."

"The opinion, that the condition of the small farmers is in general very wretched, is supported by a great weight of evidence. It appears that in most parts of Ireland their sole food "was the potato, accompanied with milk, salt, or salt herrings when procurable. Many witnesses asserted that the condition of this class was even lower than that of the labourers ; but it must be remembered that the occupiers of two, three, or "four acres, are frequently included under the title of " small farmers." — Dig. Dev. Com. p. 364.

" It appears that where agricultural knowledge is diffused amongst this class, their condition is improving ; that the progress of temperance has been very useful, but that in general they are gradually sinking into deeper misery. The subdivision of farms, which seems to be frequently practised in defiance of the proprietors, is one powerful cause of this degradation."

Dig. Dev. Com. p. 3G4.

Thomas Davison, Esq., Agent.

" As to the condition of the farming population, is it improving or otherwise ? — The condition of this class, speaking of large farmers, is always superior to the small tenantry. The large farmer must necessarily have a capital to carry on his

O