CHAPTER V.
Mr. Bright's proposition considered, 211—Difficulties in the way of establishing a yeoman class in Ireland, 212—Tendency to sublet or subdivide, 213—Impossible to prevent the tendency by mere legal restraints, 214—'La petite culture' and subdivision in France, 215—Number of small freeholders in France, 216—Their indigence, 217—The large extent of fallow in France, 218—The inferior rate of production in France, 219—The mortgages on these small properties, 220—Mr. Michelet's method of solving the difficulty, 221—The embarrassment of the French peasant proprietor occasioned by competition, 222, 223—The desire to subdivide as prominent as ever in Ireland (note), 224—The Farmer's Club of Cork (note), 225—The tendency to subdivision which seems excessive in France would be more intense in Ireland, 226—The proposals to deprive Irish landlords of their proprietary rights considered, 227—The conditions under which the state can expropriate, 228—Mr. Butt's plan, 229—The effect on the interests of the landlord, 230—The expropriation of the landlord's improvements in his property, 231—The extent of those improvements both in the North and South, 233—Amount of compensation which has been paid to tenants, 234—The duration of leases in England, Scotland, and Belgium, 237—Mr. Butt's 63 years' lease, 237—Probable consequences of Mr. Butt's plan with reference to the interests of the tenant, 238—Three standards of valuation of land in Ireland, 239—And three rents, 240—Judge Longfield's opinion of fixity of tenure, 241—Difficulties of valuation, 242—The moral aspect of the schemes to deal with the property of the country. 243—It is an easy task to persuade uneducated people that what is apparently for their interest is right, 244, 245—The objections to such an arrangement, 248—The right of contract should be left as free as possible, 249—Alterations are not always improvements, 250—An operation which is slightly beneficial to a farm may be detrimental to an estate, 251—An instance of the foregoing assertion, 252—The Government bill of 1866, legitimate and politic in principle, faulty in detail, 254—Some amend-
