Page:Peasant proprietary in Ireland; a rejoinder.djvu/7



month there appeared in the an article condemning the institution of a peasant proprietary in Ireland, and containing arguments so partial and one-sided that if it be not likely that a more competent advocate of 'la petite culture' should enter the lists, I venture, rather than allow Mr. Morice's essay the appearance of being unanswerable because it was unanswered, to say a few words n the other side. As you, Mr. Editor, appear to recognise the justice of the audi alteram partem doctrine, I look to your indulgence for the insertion of my remarks upon a question the most important that could engage the attention of the thoughtful constituency to which the appeals.

Without going into the well-threshed subject of the present relations between landlord and tenant in our country, and the unsatisfactory results of such an artificial arrangement, it occurs to me the better course would be to show the working and effects of a system of peasant proprietary in other countries, for from the proved success of the plan elsewhere, we may, considering the circumstances of Ireland, infer its adaptability to such a state of things as she presents.

The first country that attracts attention as we cast our eyes beyond the limits of the British Isles is probably France, and, accordingly, we shall see what good peasant proprietary has effected there. As they are to-day, as a body, there is no peasantry upon the face of the globe who