SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. 2.5 a solvent tenant; suppose that were the enactment, you think that would be more beneficial than the present system ?— So far as regards the abuse that I have wit- nessed ; I am merelv talking of that. ' ^ o 6962. Supposing- the 5 1. value were bona fide 5 I that could be obtained from a solvent tenant, over and above the rent and charges, would you conceive that franchise better than the present, or worse ?— My opinion is that it would be too low ; but if acted upon in the way described in the question, it would be as good as the system of registration that I have observed in the county of Longford. 6963. By " as good,' 1 do you mean as beneficial and as " useful?— I think it would come to nearly the same thing. 6964. Mr. Lefroy.] Do you mean that it would produce as solvent and sub- stantial a constituency ?— I think it would rather produce a more solvent con- stituency, in many instances, than we have at present. 6965. You are not of opinion that the franchise ought to be raised?— I think 10 /., if properly viewed and acted upon, is a fair standard. 6966. Mr. French.] You state that] you conceive that a great number of the persons upon the register have not a bona fide qualification of 10/. Now on looking to your evidence, it appears that you are a solicitor in Dublin ; is vour knowledge of land and of the localities of the different holdings of those persons claiming to register, sufficient to entitle you to pass an opinion upon that?— I think it is ; for as well as being a solicitor, I am a land agent, and have been for a good many years; I have been in the habit of letting land largely; of receiving proposals for it, and declaring tenants. 6967. Mr. Lefroy.] Have you had any other opportunities of knowing the value of the qualification, particularly of those voters whose qualifications you now impeach by your evidence?— I have ; in getting up the last petition to Parliament against the return of the Mr. Whites, I thought it prudent to advise the Committee to employ a person not at all connected with the county, to value the farms of the persons whose votes we intended to impeach ; and at my suggestion, they sent Mr. Sherrard, I believe the first house in Dublin in that way, a land- valuator and land- surveyor by profession ; he came down to the county of Longford, and he valued those farms without knowing anything as to the rents which the tenants in occu- pation paid for them. In 110 instance was he aware of the rent; he refused to have it put upon his list; and according to the calculation that he returned to me, and which he came over here to prove before that Committee; in many instances, if the man even had his land rent- free, he could not have had a 10 1. qualification. G968. Had Mr. Sherrard been extensively employed in the valuation of lands upon a public occasion, independently of his experience as a professional valuator ? — Very much so, I understand, and it was in consequence of that we employed him; he was employed by the present Government, he informed me, to value under the Tithe Composition Act. 6969. Mr. French. J Then you take your opinion from the opinion expressed to you by Mr. Sherrard ?— From his own return to me. 6() 70. Mr. Lefroy. j Had you had any other opportunity of ascertaining the opinions of other competent persons as to the value of such holdings ?— I have of the persons in the county of Longford, who valued under the Tithe Composition Act, and who made their returns in their books without reference to political feeling. 6971. Mr. French.] Are you aware that it was the habit of people, when the tithe composition was going on, to depress their rents as much as possible to the valuators?— 1 think an honest man who went there determined to do justice, would not be swayed one way or the other by what the people told him. I think he would judge for himself. 6972. Mr. Lefroy.~\ Were not those tithe valuators very competent persons themselves to form a judgment?— I conceive they were, and I did not hear of any appeals from their decisions. 6973. Had not you also returns of extensive farmers residing contiguous to the several voters whose qualifications were in question ?•— I had. 6974. You had an opportunity of hearing the evidence those men gave before the two Committees?— I had, and I took it down for the last Committee if they had entertained the case. 6975. Then from all those circumstances you conceive yourself fairly qualified to form a judgment as to the qualification of the 10/. voters on the Longford register ?— From facts connected with my own knowledge and experience I ' 643. £ 6976. > T. Courtenay, Esq. 27 March 1838. do. And