ty's
Household. Vol. I. pp. 246 and 247. Dr. Forbes was afterwards knighted.

[313] Letter of M'Carthy Downing, Esq., M.P., to the Author, dated
Prospect House, Co. Cork, August 31st, 1874.

(NOTE A.)--ABSENTEEISM: MR. M'CULLOGH's DEFENCE OF IT EXAMINED.

The question of Irish Absenteeism has, for a long time, been discussed
by politicians and political economists; some maintaining it to be a
great evil; some admitting its injurious effects, but in a modified way
only; whilst others, with Mr. J.R. M'Culloch, maintain that, by the
principles of economic science, Absenteeism is no evil at all.

Apart altogether from the views of political economists, there are
certain evils which result from Absenteeism. 1. There is that
estrangement between landlord and tenant, which must naturally exist in
cases where the tenant seldom or never sees his landlord; has no
intercourse with him; is unacquainted with the sound of his voice, from
which no word of kindly encouragement ever reaches him; never hears of
him, except when the agent demands, in his name, the rent, which is to
be sent to England, or to whatever foreign country he may reside in.
Even though the argument were true, that his living out of Ireland
inflicts no real pecuniary loss upon Ireland, the impression on the
tenant's mind is different, and helps to increase the estrangement
between him and his landlord, which so generally exists, and which all
must lament as an evil. 2. It is an old and a commonly accepted adage,
that affairs thrive under the master's eye, and that those things which
he neither sees nor takes an interest in exhibit the signs of neglect.
As a resident landlord rides over his property, improvements will
frequently suggest themselves to his mind; some of them often easily and
inexpensively done, although important from their usefulness. He is
sure, at any rate, to know the condition of his estate, and he can, with
a just discernment, encourage the industrious, help the weak, urge
forward the slow, and have a friendly word for all, whether he approves,
or is obliged to find fault. The value of this mode of dealing with the
people cannot be over estimated, especially in Ireland, where a kind
word from a superior goes a great way.[314] An agent manages the
property of an absentee. There are many such agents who are just and
considerate, but the traditional character of an Irish land agent,
resulting from long experience, is, that he is a haugh