THE DUKE OF LEINSTER AND HIS TENANTRY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 411, 25 February 1881, Page 9

THE DUKE OF LEINSTER AND HIS TENANTRY.

On Saturday afternoon, December 18, his Grace the Duke of Leinster received at the estate office, 30 Lower Dominick street, a deputation of the tenantry on his Athy and Castledermot estates. Mr. C. R. Hamilton, his Grace's agent, wa>s present during the interview, the object of which was to present a. memorial agreed to at a meeting of the tenantry, held at Athy on Tuesday last, and at which the following resolutions were adopted :—: — " That the rent, taxes, losses and expenses incident to farming have left the occupier worse off for the last three or four years than he was, and that in view of the competition with foreign countries, we believe that the rents hitherU) paid for land cannot continue with successful farming. '• That this meeting would respectfully ask his Grace to make such permanent abatement in his rents as will enable the. tenants to repair their oast losses and meet the contingencies of the future. " Thai a deputation be a, pointed to meet his Grace, and represent to him toe views of this meeting in their requirements for a reduction of rent. " That in the event of his Grace refusing to accede to the wishes of the deputation, they be authorised to request his Grace's acceptance of Griffith's valuation, together with that percentage of money borrowed from the Boar«l of Wnvks for improvements in tbe farms, pending the settlement of the laud question in Parliament. •' That the following gentl men be appointed as a deputation to wait on his Grace ■ — James Lealiy, M.P.; Alexander Duncan, Thomas Flewman, Thomas Orford, John Gannon, P. J. O'Kelly, George Low, M. J. Minchin (Secretary)." Mr. Duncan introduced the deputation, and read the memoiial. The Duke of Leinster. having expressed his pleasure at meeting the deputation, said that he understood that the object of the deputation was to impress on him the necessity of accepting Griffith's valuation as the rent of the holdings in the Athy district. He did not consider Griffith's valuation as at all a correct standard by which they could arrive at a settlement of the present question of rent. Tbe grabs lands, for example, were very productive, and Griffith's valuation, as applied to them, was far and away below the real value. Mr. Duncan paid the case of the tenants of his Grace at Maynooth and Kildare was quite different from that of the tenants of the Athy district. The latter was an agricultural and not a grazing district, and barley had in recent years, and especially last year, been a very unproductive crop. The Duke of Leinster said he had offered 10 per cent, reduction to the tenants of holdings whose valuations were under £50. He was now prepared to extend the offer to all tenants. He himself had felt the pinch of tbe times ; his estate, he should adu, was encumbered to the < xtent of about a quarter of a million "f money. He was of opinion that the smaller tenants had suffered more severely than the large ones. Mr. Low said that, on the contrary, the large tenants had suffered in a far greater lvtio than the small faimers. The labour and expense of tillage farms was, moieovea, much greater than that of gras^f.ums. The <"■ ilure of Air. Mechi, just announced, showed the pi *»<»«." re of tbe a ;ultuial depression on men havinsr all the appliances that mUL I capita l could command. The Duke of Lehibter said that Mr. Mechi was lather an experimental than a practical agriculturalist. He was also rather inclined to attribute Mr. Mechi's failure to trade depression. Mr. Low said that from his own experience he was satisfied that Mr. Mechi could not have borne up even until now but for other sources of income

Mt. Leahy, M.P., said that a reduction of ten per cent, would be only a ten-pouud note to a man who paid £100, which would be a matter of no importance. Anything less than 25 per cent, would not be acceptable. Mi. J. Minchin gave some particulars showirig the state of distress exi&ting in the district not only among his Grace's tenants, but among the tenants on neighbouring estates. He was largely engaged in the corn trade, and had supplied the farmers in the locality, some of whom were still indebted for the seed supplied to them for the last two or three years. Last year he had not received in cash one-half of the amount of the seed supplied. As illustrating the state of the country, he might mention that the county court I'udge -was giving lengthened periods for payment. To one man who owed for three years' seed he gave two years to pay the amount in instalments of £2 a quarter. He wished to add that this action had been taken by the tenantry entirely of their own motion, and altogether independently of the Land League, with which this particular movement was not in any way connected. Mr. Duncan said that if his Grace was not prepared to give an immediate answer they would retire and return again ia an hour or two. The Duke of Leinster said that he should like to have a longer time to consider the matter, but he would let them know his final decision early in the week, The deputation thanked bis Grace and retired. Naas, Tuesday. To-day, at a meeting held in the Town Hall, Athy, of the Athy tenants of the Duke of Leinster, a resolution was passed accepting his Grace's offer of a reduction of 20 per cent, on the half-year's rent.