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of this year, the purchasers were one-twenty-fifth* as to number, and one-tenth as to the total amount of purchase-money. On referring to these tables, we shall find, that up to July 31st the proportion as to number is one-twentieth, and as to amount, about one sixth of the total purchase-money.

It is undeniable, that the forethought, punctuality, disciplined labour, and scientific skill of the English and Scotch farmer,-what may in one word be termed industrial economy, must prove an invigorating graft on those wayward and procrastinating habits, that have for so long a period impeded the improvement of the peasantry of the south and west of Ireland.

It was not until the jealousies of Norman and Saxon merged in one common name and undivided interest, that the signs were developed in England of that progress, which has placed her at the head of the nations. And just in proportion as the invidious distinction of Celt and Saxon is forgotten in this country, and all classes, however differing in creed or opinion, are bound to each other and to the throne by the links of constitutional loyalty and social order, will a similar happy example of progress be developed in Ireland.

Additional Observations on the Valuation and Purchase of Land in Ireland. By the same Author.

[Read before the Statistical Society of London, 15th November, 1852.] In the present transition state of property in Ireland, valuation of land, based upon correct data, is of great importance; and the writer of this paper respectfully offers the results of his information and experience on the subject, in the hope that these may be of service, especially to English and Scotch capitalists seeking investments in this country.

The Commissioners for the Sale of Incumbered Estates, in certain cases, direct a special valuation to be made by some competent valuator, on application made to them showing proper reasons for such a measure; but it is required, in every case, that the Poor Law and Government valuations should be set forth in the published rentals of estates for sale in their court. The Poor Law valuation may be comparatively useful, as a check on other valuations, in estimating the amount of purchase ; but, having been originally made, or subsequently revised, by isolated individuals at different periods, without co-operation or reference to any fixed schedule of prices, it cannot be relied on as an accurate measure of value. The Government valuations were constituted under three Acts of Parliament, made respectively in 1839 (6 and 7 Wm. IV. c. 84), 1846 (9 and 10 Vict. c. 110), and 1852 (15 and 16 Vict. c. 63). The first-named, usually termed the Ordnance Valuation, was based on a fixed scale of prices of agricultural produce, and intended to form an uniform and relative valuation, the townland (the smallest denomination of land possessing permanent boundaries) being made the unit

* See a pamphlet published by Hodges and Smith, Dublin; Simpkin and Marshall, London; entitled "Ireland. Observations on the People, the Land, and the Law in 1851," (pp. 66—68,) which contains a great quantity of well-arranged and authentic information relative to the condition and prospects of Ireland.

of valuation. This system was continued until 1846, when the 9 and 10 Vict. c. 110, was passed, the valuation being made upon an estimate of the net annual value, or, in other terms, "the annual rent which each tenement might be reasonably expected to bring, all rates, insurance, repairs, and public charges (except tithe-rent charge), being paid by the tenant;" the unit of valuation being the tenement, i. e., the rateable hereditament under the provisions of the Poor Law. Up to the time of the passing of this Act the valuation had been completed in twenty-six counties, and the tenement valuation of the remaining six counties, viz., Dublin, Cork, Tipperary, Limerick, Kerry, and Waterford, was in forward progress, when the legislature deemed it expedient (for reasons unnecessary to be stated in this place) that the 9 and 10 Vict. c. 110, should be repealed, save as to the completion of unfinished valuations of any baronies or Poor Law unions; and the 15 and 16 Vict. c. 63, was enacted, in order to make one uniform valuation of lands and tenements in Ireland, which may be used for all public and local assessments and other rating;" the tenement being again constituted the unit, and a new reference standard of prices given more accordant with the changed conditions of our productive industry, flax being included, but potatoes omitted, in the new schedule; and the valuations previously made remaining fixed, until revised under this Act, in such manner as to present one uniform scale of value, based on the altered table of prices. Then the valuation of each Poor Law union, county, or barony, when finally ratified, is to continue in force for fourteen years, at the termination of which period any of these divisions may undergo revision, upon suitable representations made to that effect by grand juries, and approved by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The execution of the provisions of this Act has been entrusted to the same efficient agency that conducted the former valuations, thus securing a certain uniformity in principle and practice, by employment of the same instrumentality.

These legislative amendments, so rapidly following each other, and, in fact, necessitated by the revolution in our social and agricultural condition, are not, however, found to destroy the relative utility of the ordnance valuation, inasmuch as the letting value may be fairly deduced by the ordinary rules of proportion, comparing the annual average of current prices with those of the standard scale in the Act. Indeed, the importance of this valuation to purchasers and proprietors, either in calculating marketable price or letting value, does not appear to be duly estimated. At the head of the work was an indefatigable man of business, whose extensive practical knowledge of the geological structure of Ireland afforded the soundest data for ascertaining the productive capabilities of its soils. Mr. Griffith's private instructions to his valuators forın, perhaps, the most lucid and instructive guide to the practice of valuation that has yet appeared; and the correctness and assiduity with which these were carried out, under the guarantees of sundry appeals and revisions, are unquestionable.

It must be observed, however, that the abandonment of potato cultivation on poor land, especially shallow and undrained soils near the sea coast, where the tilth involved little labour, and manure was plentiful, has deprived such soils of the factitious value they possessed previously to 1846; and the ordnance valuation here requires correc

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tion. Intending purchasers would do well also to ascertain the capabilities of land for the growth of flax and green crops, especially beet, the culture of which is increasing throughout this country. Turbary, too, has of late years assumed a certain commercial value in situations where facilities of transport are available, occasioned by the increasing demand for peat charcoal; but under the ordnance valuation, although contiguous arable land is estimated at a certain enhanced price, in consequence of the vicinity of fuel, the bog itself has only been assigned a separate or independent value for the qualities of its grazing surface.

It is further to be observed that in the counties of Antrim, Derry, Tyrone, Armagh, and Down, the rent value of land is about 12 per cent. higher in proportion to the ordnance valuation than elsewhere; but this increment of value, resulting altogether from the industrial character of the population in connection with the linen manufacture, has not been taken into calculation, because flax was not included amongst the agricultural commodities in the standard scale of the Act.

Again, in Roscommon the converse of this is true, the rent-value being 12 per cent. lower in proportion to the ordnance valuation than elsewhere, in consequence of the destructive process of burning the surface generally prevailing in that county; for this, by injuring the productivity, depreciates the letting price below that of land better farmed, though not superior in intrinsic value.

With these qualifying observations, I would recommend any intending purchaser to examine personally, or by the intervention of an experienced friend or valuator, any estate or lot he means to bid for, referring to the Ordnance Map to show the position and boundaries, and to Griffith's Townland Valuation as a safe authority for estimating value.*

The amount of Poor Law taxation, now happily diminishing throughout Ireland, will not be a serious discouragement when it is considered that the very circumstance of an independent and employing capitalist becoming the proprietor of a hitherto insolvent estate, must necessarily result in the reduction of local taxation. But purchasers should look closely to the condition of land as respects drainage, farm buildings, or excessive population; the expenditure necessary to remedy imperfections in such matters being, in reality, an essential element of price.

The schedule of prices in the ordnance (or townland) valuation, and the average for the first nine months of this year, are here stated, from comparison of which with the valuation of any townland, the present annual letting value can be easily computed. The scale adopted in the Act last passed is not given, as its utility to the land market will not be generally available for several years; the only districts as yet completed under this Act being the municipal borough of Cork, four baronies in Kerry, one in Limerick, and one in Tipperary.+

* The Ordnance Maps may be had at Hodges and Smith's, Dublin, for 2s. 6d., or 5s. the sheet. The valuations may be inspected at the office of the General Survey and Valuation of Ireland, in Dublin. It is manifest that the townland valuation does not apply where the lot is only a part of any townland, but this very seldom occurs.

+ Glenarought, Corkaguiny, Dunkerron North and Dunkerron South, in Kerry; Iffa and Offa West, in Tipperary; and Glenquin, in Limerick.

TABLE I.

Scale of Prices adopted under the Townland Valuation, 6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 84.

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Average of Four Markets-Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and Mullingar-from January to September, 1852, both inclusive.

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On comparing these tables it will be seen, at a glance, that the townland valuation is a perfectly safe measure of annual value, with the qualifying observations before stated.

It will be expected, perhaps, that some definite opinion should be here given as to the rates of purchase, but there are so many modifying local circumstances to be considered in each case, that any fixed estimate would be incapable of general application. The published rentals, when representing the rents previously to 1846, are in such instances usually fallacious, and we may therefore refer to the Government valuations. From 21 to 25 years' purchase of the net annual value is a moderate scale in Leinster and Ulster, with exception of Monaghan and Cavan, where land is somewhat lower than in the other counties; finding this net value by deducting the tithe rent-charge and half the poor's rate from the government valuations,* the full amount of poor's rate being averaged at 2s. 8d. in the pound annually. A similar estimate may be also assumed in Waterford and the eastern half of Cork. In the remaining counties of Munster, and in Connaught, from 17 to 22 years' purchase may be estimated as a safe investment, finding the net value as before, and the poors' rate being averaged at 5s. in the pound annually. These are, however, but very loose approximations. The estate, or lot, should be personally inspected, and considered in every aspect, from its geological

* The townland (or ordnance) valuation has been completed in twenty-six counties, as already stated. In the remaining six counties the tenement valuation (where published) may be made equally available, the results of both being nearly identical, inasmuch as the scale of the townland valuation differs very little from the average prices of 1846, upon which the latter valuation, or rent-estimate of tenements, has been founded.

structure to its marketable position. The capitalist, or farmer, intending to settle in Ireland, will generally find estates divided into large farms with substantial buildings, in Leinster. In Ulster (excepting Donegal) the rents are comparatively higher, though quite as well paid as in Leinster, but the land is much subdivided throughout all the manufacturing districts of the former province. In Munster and Connaught (especially in the counties of Galway and Mayo) the enterprising agriculturist will find large tracts in the market, abundant in all the elements of undeveloped fertility, inviting the outlay of capital.

Then it must be borne in mind, that land in this country is valued lower in comparison with its productive capabilities than land in England, the superior farming of the latter causing the actual produce per acre to exceed our returns by about one-third. From this it is easily apprehended how agricultural skill applied to our lands will yield the purchaser an increased per-centage on his investment, or, in other words, reduce the number of years' purchase, as estimated on the increased productive value under improved culture.

The advantageous circumstances of freedom from the burdens of the income-tax and of certain assessed taxes, and the higher negociable value given to land by an indefeasible parliamentary title, and a simple mode of transfer, unclogged by the expenses, uncertainties, and delays of disabling laws, must also prove a great encouragement to the investment of capital in Ireland.

Looking with calm unprejudiced eye on the circumstances that rendered the downfall of a numerous proprietary an inevitable consequence of the failure of a single crop, and again, on those complicated inconveniences and discouragements involved in our legal systems of inheritance and land tenure, the capitalist, now investing his earnings or accumulations, may render himself and successors in a great measure independent of those evils that have so deformed and disorganized our social and civil condition in Ireland.

The incoming purchaser may forestall the advantages of that reform, to which the landed interest, under the increasing exigencies of popular progress, must ultimately yield. Unfettered by conditions imposed before he was born, and now totally unsuitable to changed men and times, he may grant judicious and equitable tenures, calculated to secure his tenants in the profits of their industry, without trenching on the rights of ownership, and so advance in his allotted sphere the prosperity of the commonwealth, as well by extending employment as by the increase of the products of the soil. And reflecting upon the ruin of Irish proprietors, he will not probably be inclined to impose on his heirs and successors disproportionate incumbrances and restrictive stipulations, from which he himself is happily free.

The neglected tenantry of disqualified or insolvent proprietors having seldom any security for their improvements, will, it is natural to expect, do as little for the land, and take as much out of it, as they can. And so it is. They become reckless and altogether unlinked from the social chain, although happily agrarian outrages have almost ceased-the seven millions and a quarter of property sold under the Incumbered Estates Commission, representing a population of at least 350,000 souls, affording only two instances of agrarian crime within a period of three years.

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