The Threatened Rain Came On And Came Down Heavily And We Got Our Share
Of It Before We Got Under Shelter.
An elderly gentleman was introduced
to me at Ballina who had had a very great opportunity of noticing the
working of the law and the struggles of the people.
He admitted to me
that some might possibly have paid some rent before the agitation began,
but kept it back hoping for a permanent reduction, and then when they
had it by them had used it for living, and now had nothing to meet the
rent with. He said, however, that the most part had not recovered from
the effects of the scarcity sufficiently to be able to pay up arrears -
or, indeed, to pay anything on arrears.
We conversed a little about peasant proprietorship. He instanced the
case of two persons who had become owners of church land, one of eight
acres, another of sixteen. He spoke of the prosperity that had crowned
their labors ever since hope came to them and they had something to
struggle for. He said they came now decently clad to church and market.
He had been in their houses and noticed as much as two flitches of bacon
hanging in the chimney. One of them owned a team of horses. A man with a
team of horses on his farm is in a different position from a man with
only an ass and creels. Absolutely, said he, the man has devoted a
portion of his land to apple trees.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 205 of 404
Words from 54048 to 54303
of 107283
