§ MR. MAGUIREsaid, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If his attention has been called to the proceedings of the Salters' Company of London in connection with the management of their property in Magherafelt, county Derry; and if he has received any memorial from the inhabitants of that town, complaining of the conduct of the Company in enormously and repeatedly increasing the rents of the tenants, serving fifty of them with "notices to quit," and violating the Custom of Tenant Right which prevails in that part of the Province of Ulster?
LORD NAASsaid, in reply, that no memorial had been received by the Government in reference to the circumstance alluded to by the hon. Gentleman. When, however, the notice of the hon. Gentleman's Question appeared on the Paper, some gentlemen were deputed by the Sal- 254 ters' Company to wait upon him. These gentlemen presented him with a statement which he felt it his duty to lay before the House, but for which, of course, he was not in any way responsible. As to the enormous and repeated increase of rent, the Salters' Company stated that there had been but one general increase in the rent-roll of the town of Magherafelt—namely, in 1855, when the rental was £307, and the increase then made was £414, making a total of £721, the Poor Law valuation then being £2,942. It was true that in 1865 the rent-roll of the Company had been further augmented by £214; but this small increase was due exclusively to an outlay by the Company of nearly £8,000. It was the intention of the Company, from the 1st of November, 1867, to increase the rent-roll from £935 to about £1,230. As to the eviction of fifty tenants, the Company stated that it seemed to be necessary in practice that notices should be served on tenants in making an alteration in rent. They found, on inquiry, that forty-nine notices had been served, but not necessarily for the purpose of eviction. With reference to the last Question, as to the alleged violation of tenant-right, the Company stated that the exorbitant sums paid for dilapidated buildings by incoming tenants induced them, in 1864, to limit the purchase of tenant-right to ten years' improved value. This resolution was adopted for the benefit of incoming tenants, and for the protection of the Company's interests. The rents received from the town of Magherafelt from 1853 to 1865 (twelve years) amounted to £8,535 8s., while the amount expended by the Company in buildings and improvements in the town during the same period was £16,500; leaving a balance against the Company of £7,964 12s., to which must be added the expenses incurred in building an agent's house and offices?