Ireland -- Politics and government -- 1901-1910; Land tenure -- Ireland
else the rents could have been arrived at.'[126] And once more: 'Did the
Sub-Commissioners invariably take the occupation interest of the sitting
tenant into account?--I think so.' I conclude with these remarks of Mr.
Barnes, one of the best and most impartial of Irish valuers: 'When I came
to give evidence in Court I found that nothing else would be accepted as
evidence unless based on occupation interest. It was almost the first
question.... Whenever there was an answer made that the valuation was
based on what the landlord would get for the land in his own hands, it was
discounted at once.'[127] No wonder that it has been alleged by the
highest authority with respect to this claim, since proved to have been
unfounded, guarded and cautious as the language is: 'There is, however,
reason to believe that this notion of an occupation interest existed in
the minds of some of the early valuers, and did, in fact, influence them,
and it is very possible that some cases in which the reductions there made
appear startling, may be, in part, attributable to this doctrine.'[128]
What amount of the rental of Ireland was unlawfully cut down owing to the
theory of 'occupation right,' it is, of course, impossible to ascertain.
Reductions of rent, too, were probably unjustly made through the
ignorance of the Land Commission as to agricultural matters. I refer to a
grotesque instance of this: 'You have marked a passage there in the
judgment, which, according to you, shows that owing to their ignorance as
experts they entirely mistook what six-course rotation meant?--Yes. The
fact is they took it to be the same crop in the whole seventy acres, that
instead of having so many different crops in this portion of the ground,
it was to be put into one crop for the year, and that is what they call
"rotation" in the Court of Rehearing.... It is plain enough, from the
authorised report of the judgment, that they made that mistake?--It is
clear as possible, and it was upon that that they threw me out. The tenant
himself knew that it was all absurdity and mistake.'[129]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account