the case of tenements under five acres, to one per annum on every area of 400 acres; and in the case of holdings under 10 acres to one per annum on every area of 1,600 acres.[1] Of course, the process has neither been so gradual nor so uniform as this calculation would imply, the principal rush having taken place immediately after the potato failure, and from those districts most exposed to its effects; the devastation among the small tenements of Ulster being as tremendous as in any other part of Ireland. Allowing, however, for all subsidiary corrections, it is very evident that so far from the landlords being responsible for the entire emigration, they held no relation, good or bad, with perhaps three-fourths of those who went, even though you counted as emigrants every man, woman, and child that may have quitted—whether of their own free will or on compulsion—the agricultural tenancies that have been extinguished.[2]
- ↑ It is curious to contrast the view Mr. Mill seems to take of the extinction of very small tenancies, with the language of those who hold up the landlords of Ireland to obloquy for having promoted within very moderate limits, and as a general rule, by the most legitimate and humane means tho very improvement he desiderates.
"The principal change in the situation consists in the great diminution, holding out a hope of the entire extinction, of cottier tenure. The enormous decrease in the number of small holdings, and increase in those of a medium size, attested by the statistical returns, sufficiently proves the general fact, and all testimonies show that the tendency still continues."
Mill's Polit. Economy, p. 413, Vol. I. - ↑ It has been objected that inasmuch as Ireland is an agri-
