It Is Admitted By All Who Know Anything Of The Matter, That The Tenants
Have Reclaimed What Land Is Reclaimed.
Rent in County Leitrim has been
raised from L24,990 to L170,670 within the last eighty years, and is
L34,144 above the Government valuation.
We called at the house of a tenant farmer who had been evicted for non-
payment of rent, and was back as a weekly tenant. He was putting in some
crop, working alone in the field. He came to speak to my companion. He
had got no word from the landlord as to whether he would put in any crop
or not. He was in sore anxiety between his fear of offending the
landlord, and the fear of doing anything against the rules of the Land
League. His little boys were putting out manure in creels, carrying it
on their shoulders. He had no means of paying rent. If he were forgiven
the rent due and a year's rent to come, he might then be in a position
to resume paying rent. This is my own opinion. The poor man himself was
sorely perplexed and cast down. A thin, white, helpless-looking man. The
terrors of the eviction had taken hold of his wife, who was sickly. The
only hope they had was that God would bless the potato crop, for they
had secured Champion potatoes for seed.
The potatoes that used to flourish in Ireland forty years ago, have
entirely passed away. Even the Champion potato is not very good.
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