t of "the tenant-right,"
the honourable gentleman's most favourite panacea.--Mr Thomas O'Brien,
an extensive land-valuator, in a letter written to Mr Colles, the
superintendent of Trinity College estates, (which was laid before the
land commissioners,) writes--"I will say that Kerry tenants pay the
highest rents I have met with in any part of Ireland, _and Tipperary men
the lowest_."

Mr Griffith, the able engineer under whose superintendence the
government valuation is being made, and who, as he states himself, has
walked over nearly every part of Ireland, and has personal knowledge of
almost every locality, is asked--"In the county of Tipperary, can you
say whether the tenant-right prevails there?"--"_The tenants generally
hold under leases there_; but the tenant-right does prevail to such an
extent, that few are bold enough to take the land where a tenant has
been dispossessed."

Mr Nicolas Maher, the Repeal member for the county, replies to the
question--"Do you understand at all in Tipperary what is known in the
north of Ireland as the tenant-right, by which a tenant, without a
lease, expects a sum of money for giving up the possession of the land,
either from the landlord if taking possession, or from another tenant to
whom he may give up the farm?"--"That is expected in Tipperary. I have
offered myself for fourteen Irish acres to a tenant-at-will who held at
thirty shillings an acre; and if that land was to be let to-morrow, I
would not charge more for it; so much so do I look on this land as
fairly set, that last year and this year I gave this tenant fifteen per
cent abatement upon his rent from the fall of agricultural produce, and
conceived he had a right to it; and, though there is no lease, I offered
him L200 for his interest, which he refused." Without _one solitary
exception_, every witness examined in Tipperary, both at Roscrea and
Nenagh, touching the point, by the Land Commissioners, bears testimony
to its universal prevalence.

Mr O'Brien Dillon is asked--"73. Does the sale of the good-will of farms
prevail much in the district?--Very much, I should say."

Mr Digan.--"39. Is the sale of the good-will of farms the custom of that
district?--Yes, for small spots it is.

"40. Is it recognised by the landlord?--It is recognised by the agent.
If there is a poor fellow who wishes to go to America, he gets L8 or L10
for his plot of ground, and he will let him go off if he gets a better
tenant.

"41. Do