Page:Letters to Lord John Russell on the Further Measures for the Social Amelioration of Ireland.djvu/52

49, and be the true 'equity of tenure.'"—(p. 186, Digest.)

This seems rather a sanguine view, however, and it would still remain, I think, necessary (in Ulster at least, if not elsewhere) to allow the tenant some compensation for goodwill, independent of, and beyond, the proved value of his improvements. This might be based on the custom of the country where it exists; or on the fact, if established, of the tenant having purchased such goodwill on entry with the presumed knowledge of the landlord or his agent. It seems but just to admit such a claim. Nor is it at all likely that tenants under these circumstances will be satisfied otherwise that justice is done to them.

It appears to me that the two principles of compensation should be combined, and an amount adjudicated, compounded of the two, so far as they apply to the special case; namely: 1. The claim for goodwill, if justified by usage or special circumstances. 2. That for improvements made within a limited period.

An unbiassed independent tribunal of arbitration would, probably, be enabled to establish before long such a series of decisions as would serve to regulate private arrangements; and if they appeared conformable to equity, the peasantry would unquestionably be satisfied that the law afforded them a more secure guarantee for the enjoyment of the fruits of their industry than the self-organised system of