| dc.description.abstract | There are few questions generated by the peculiar condition of
Ireland more interesting to its people, than that upon which I am
about to offer a few observations; for if the opinion which I, in
common with many others, hold, that the nonresidence in Ireland
of those who, as landlords or creditors, receive the amount of rents
payable out of lands in it, is injurious to this country, be not well
founded, there is a prevalence of error amongst us that cannot but
operate injuriously upon the Irish community, by creating false
notions as to what many of us regard as one of the principal causes of
our poverty, and one of the greatest impediments to the improvement
of our condition; and if, on the other hand, the doctrine we
hold be sound, it is not less important that the error of those who
entertain a contrary opinion should be corrected. For although
it may not be practicable to remedy the evils resulting from
absenteeism, by compelling Irish proprietors to live in Ireland,
the pernicious influence of their absence upon the prosperity of the
country, in an economic, as well as in a social, point of view, ought
to be mitigated by those who have it in their power to do so;
because it is an evil which we are obliged to suffer to a great
extent for the benefit of our British fellow-subjects, and as the
result of our political relations with them, and therefore we ought
to be compensated for its endurance by the enjoyment of some
countervailing good. | en |
