Another witness of larger views, and free from unhappy prejudices against the majority of his countrymen—­Mr. Marcus Keane, agent to the Marquis of Conyngham—­in a letter to Colonel Vandeleur, M.P., lately gave the result of his experience for thirty years as agent of several large estates, and as a landlord, on the Irish land question.  I submit his suggestions to my readers, as eminently worthy of the consideration of statesmen at the present time:—­

’The outline of measures submitted for your consideration combines the very unusual recommendation of meeting, on the one hand, with the approbation of some good landlords of the higher class (who, like yourself, have long been practically acknowledging the just claims of tenants), and, at the same time, of satisfying the claims of many of the warmest advocates of the tenant class.  It is calculated to protect the farmers from selfish landlords, whose conduct has tended much to produce the serious disaffection that now prevails.

’I need not burthen you with a lengthened recital of the facts which render such legislation absolutely necessary to the tranquillity of society.  In outline, however, they may be briefly stated—­

’First—­The great mass of Irish tenantry have no better title to their holdings than the will of their landlords.

’Second—­Education is daily rendering the tenant class more impatient of the condition of dependence which their want of title necessitates.

’Third—­Every good tenant must improve his land more or less, in order to live in comparative comfort.

’Fourth—­The rentals of Ireland are steadily following the improvements of the tenants.  Some landlords suffer a considerable margin to exist between the actual value and the rent paid; while others lose no opportunity of forcing the rents to the highest amount that circumstances permit.

’Fifth—­Although good tenants must improve in order to live comfortably, their improvements are not one-fourth of what the condition of the country invites, and are far below what they would be if the occupiers were afforded equitable security.

’Sixth—­Trade, manufactures, and industrial occupations require local accumulations of surplus capital in order to their prosperity; and such accumulations are hindered by the general want of security of tenure.  Society at large is therefore deeply interested in the protection of the tenant class.

’Seventh—­The increased expense of the governmental establishments, civil and military, which Irish disaffection entails, renders it a matter of imperial importance that the Irish land question should be satisfactorily settled.

’Irish rentals have, in some counties, increased more than tenfold since the beginning of the eighteenth century.’