At that time two-thirds of the poor-rate was paid by the landlord. When the tenancy was over L4 a year, they had to allow each tenant half the rate he paid; when it was under this sum, they had to pay the whole of it, and, of course, all the rates for land in their own occupation. Thus the Board of Guardians were utilising the money of the landlords in order to remunerate the men who were robbing them of their property. If a tenant--who generally had some money--was evicted, a notice was served on the relieving officer to provide him with a conveyance, in which he was taken to the poorhouse; but if a farmer evicted a labourer--who had, perhaps, nothing but the suit of clothes in which he stood up--he was allowed to walk to the poorhouse as best he might, and, when he got there, he obtained no special relief. It is true that the passing of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act offered another opportunity to the Government for striking a severe blow, but it was frittered away, although, before it became law, many of the leaders of disorder left the country, dreading its provisions. Instead, the isolated arrests revealed that the criminals were provided with special accommodation and superior fare. A district officer, asked by Lord Spencer for his views on the Coercion Act, replied:-- 'The only coercion I can perceive, your Excellency, is that people accustomed to live on potatoes and milk are forced to feed on salmon and wine.' The last outrage I intend to mention in this chapter was a very remarkable one. There was a contest for the chairmanship of the Tralee Board of Guardians. The Land League put forward a candidate who was at the time an inmate of Kilmainham gaol. The landlords, who at this earlier stage still had some power, conceived that the residence of the Home Ruler would not facilitate his control over the Board, and chose a candidate whose abode was not only more adjacent, but whose movements were unfettered. The voting was even, until Mr. A.E. Herbert came into the room and gave his casting vote against the involuntary tenant of the Kilmainham hostelry. For this he was murdered three days later, and by the crime they hoped to ensure that on the next occasion the landlords would abstain from voting at all.