/ 7 SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. 87 7 8400. Chairman.'] Is that Irish or English currency?—! have not marked it, Mr. Patrick Flood but I should think it must be the present currency. ______ ' * 8401. Mr. Serjeant Ball.] When was the lease made ?— I think it was an old 8 May 1838. lease, but I believe I have reduced it to the present currency. 8402. Mr. Curry.] What do you think a solvent tenant would give for that land by the acre ?— I think 50s. an Irish acre. 8403. Chairman.] What would that make the whole value of the farm?— The man has built a great many houses upon it. 8404. Mr. Serjeant Ball.] How much would it come to at 50 s. an acre ?— £. 30 ; but the man has a house 57 feet long; he has a barn, a dairy, a piggery, a stable, a byre, and a car- house. The buildings are worth 8 l. a year. S405. Mr. Curry.] According to your valuation in 1835, that would let for 38 I. a year ?— No ; valuing the houses with the farm, I would not put so much upon them; I think it would set at about 55 s. an acre, taking the houses with the land; that would be about 34 I. a year. 8406. And the rent was 22 I. 14s.?— Yes. The gentleman that gave testi- mony in London to break his vote, Mr. Tuite, I produced this valuation to him, and told him that we applied to have the man registered, and asked him to attend. 8407. Mr. Serjeant Ball.] When did you do that?— The day before the sessions in 1835. He had a letter from Mr. Lefroy, which he showed me, requesting him to attend to prevent this man and others being registered by Mr. French, then the registering barrister. He stated that he would not do so; he knew that the man had value, but if the Committee broke them, that was no affair of his. 8408. Mr. Curry.] Did you apply again, or did you serve notice again, for the man to be re- registered after his vote had been struck off by the Committee ? -— The notices were served at the time. 8409. Did Mr. French register them upon that occasion ?— He did. 8410. WThen you inspected the farm in 1835, had you any means of judging of the quantity of stock he had, or the quantity of ground he had under culti- vation ?— Yes, I had. 8411. Can you state what number of acres of oats he had at that time ?— I can, four acres of oats. 8412. Had he any potatoes ?— Yes, he had two acres of potatoes. 8413. Any other grain of any kind ?— No. 8414. Any flax ?— I did not put down the flax ; they generally have a small quantity of flax ; he had an acre of meadow ground. 8415. What stock had he upon the farm?— He had four cows and a horse at that time. 8416. What do you understand yourself by the term " beneficial interest" ? — What the land would produce by being tilled in this manner; so much for oats, so much for potatoes, so much for grazing, and so much for meadow; taking the total of that, and then taking the labour, and adding that to the rent, and deducting that from the other, I say what remains is " beneficial interest." 8417. Suppose you take that calculation, and ascertain the value of those four acres of oats, and two acres of potatoes, and the one acre of meadow land, and of the land for grazing the cows, and suppose you deduct from the gross amount of that valuation the rent of the farm, the tithe composition, the labour, and the annual allowance for the decrease in the value of stock, what would you say would be the balance of the produce of that man's farm ?— He would not have less than from 30/. to 40 I. at least. 8418. Then you mean to say that that man would have a beneficial interest in your understanding of the term to the extent of from 30/. to 40/. out of his farm ?— Most decidedly. 8419. Mr. Serjeant Ball.] Was evidence given before Mr. French ?— I was there myself. 8420." Did any one attend upon Mr. Courtney's side ?— Yes, Mr. Courtney, the agent for Mr. Lefroy. 8421. Did he contest the right of the man to register ?— He did; he objected to him. 8422. Did he examine any witnesses ?— No. 842 ? Did he cross- examine you ?— He did. J M 4 8424- Was