III.—The legalization of the Ulster Custom did not prevent the landlord from increasing the rent from time to time so as almost to destroy the tenant’s interest. The Act did not define the custom, and the onus lay on the tenant of establishing that the particular usage under which he held was within it. The three great reforms introduced by the Act of 1870, namely: (1) The right to compensation for disturbance; (2) to compensation for improvements; and (3) the legalization of the Ulster Custom—could only be brought into operation by proceedings before the County Court Judges, who were thus entrusted with the administration of the Act. Failure of the Act of 1870, Causes of. The Act of 1870 failed in its object mainly for three reasons: (1) The great variety and complexity of the exceptions from the benefits of the Act. (2) The principle of administration which, as a rule, tended to reduce the compensation to as low a figure as possible. (3) The insecurity of tenure of the tenant, and the right the landlord still had of raising the rent at his pleasure. Thus the legalization of the Ulster Custom was of little use, as the landlord could practically destroy all the tenant’s interest under it by raising the rent. The only remedy was to surrender the holding and go before the County Court Judge for compensation, which was usually much less than the tenant-right would fetch if sold in the open market. To protect the interest and property of the tenant in his holding and in his improvements, both of which had now legal recognition—it was necessary to give him: (1) Security of tenure at a fair rent; and (2) a special and expert tribunal to decide on the amount of the rent at which he was to hold. The Land Act of 1881. The Act of 1881 effected these reforms. It gave the tenant the right to sell his interest in his holding—subject to the landlord’s right of pre-emption—it gave fixity of tenure at a fair rent—subject to a fifteen years’ re-valuation—and it established a special tribunal to fix the rents. The principles of the present Irish Land Code—which comprises a large number of statutes—are contained in the Acts of 1870 and 1881. The Act of 1870 recognised for the first time that the Irish tenant had a right of occupation and a property in his improvements. But the Act failed because it recognised these rights grudgingly, and left untouched the power of the landlord to fix what rent he pleased. The Land Act of 1881 for the first time safeguarded the property of the tenant, and reversed the policy of the Act of 1860 (Deasy’s Act) by removing the Irish Land system from the domain of contract, and, in a manner, bringing it back to tenure. Differences between the English and the Irish Land Systems.