CHAPTER XLVIII. GRIFFITH'S VALUATION. THE HE valuation of the land of Ireland, as the basis of assessments for local rates, was first regulated by statutes in 1826 and 1836, and the valuation authorized by those Acts is called Griffith's Valuation, under the following circumstances. Mr. Richard Griffith (whose name became so prominent in 1880) was a public officer who, in the autumn of 1809, was selected by Commissioners who were appointed to inquire into, and report upon the bogs of Allan. He must have graduated considerably before then, as his salary was fixed at three guineas per day. In 1812, he was elected Professor of Geology and Mining Engineer to the Royal Dublin Society, and, as such, made sundry geological and mining reports, the map that resulted being published in 1815. As a consequence of the famine of 1822, he was appointed Engineer for the construction of the roads then commenced by the starving people of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick counties, which he subsequently carried forward to the extent of 250 miles, in districts of those counties where there had previously been no roads passable for wheeled conveyances. From 1824, and for some years afterwards, he was engaged in boundary surveys, his salary continuing at three guineas per day. Such being the character of his experience, he was, in 1826, invited by Chief Secretary Goulburn to assist in preparing a Bill for a general valuation of Ireland, and the eventual results were the Acts previously referred to, under which he was appointed Commissioner of Valuation, at a salary of £500 a year, as fixed by the Act. In 1844 he prepared a memorandum of the outline of the system he adopted from which we make the following extracts. "I would observe that the value set on land by the valuators em ployed on the general valuation, is proportioned to the value of the produce, according to the following scale : "The proportion which the rent should bear to the produce, on good arable lands, has usually been set down, in Scotland, at onethird, and for inferior lands, at one-fourth; and, taking this as the key, it would appear that what I call high rents would be considered fair rents, or even moderate, in many parts of Scotland. But we must take into account the imperfect state of agriculture in our most improved districts as compared to the Lothians, Berwickshire, or Roxburghshire; and if the labour be the same, and the produce much less, the rent should be reduced in proportion, to cover the extra cost of production. The same argument is applicable, but in an increased ratio, to poor and undrained lands, where agriculture is in a backward state; and, accordingly, suitable reductions have been made. "In pasture lands, the proportion of rent to produce is materially increased; because, the cost of production is comparatively trifling: it will consist chiefly in interest of capital invested in the purchase of stock, and the loss by casualties. "The general instructions given by me to the valuators were, that they should value the land on a liberal scale; that is to say, in the same manner as if employed by one of the principal landlords of the country, who was about to let the lands to solvent tenants, on leases, say of twenty-one years. That they were to judge of the value of the land, not only by its appearance to the eye, but by digging up the surface; and by this means ascertain the nature, quality, and depth of the soil, and the quality of the subsoil. That land of the same quality and circumstances, in the same locality, though badly farmed, was to be valued at the same rate as similar lands well farmed, clean, and in good order; but that all permanent improvements, such as drains, good fencing, good roads, &c., were to be taken into consideration by this means the industrious farmer, who tilled and manured his land well, would not be taxed more than his indolent neighbour who was similarly circumstanced, but who did not take advantage of his situation. "It is to be observed, that land, clean and in a high state of cultivation, may, by imperfect tillage and a succession of white crops, be deteriorated in a few years; and consequently it would be unjust, in a permanent valuation, to rate the land high solely on account of its being well cultivated at the time the valuation was made. On the other hand, land which is in a bad state, owing to mismanagement, should not be valued quite as low as its present condition would suggest. "Lands which have never been tilled are valued as pasture, though, from the nature of the soil and subsoil, they may be capable of being tilled and improved. Such land is valued at a price per acre proportioned to the number of cattle, sheep, &c., it may be capable of grazing during the year, the price per head being regulated according to the usual price per head paid in the neighbourhood for grazing, the quality of the herbage being taken into consideration. Of course, where the soil and subsoil are good, the quality of the herbage will be superior, and the value will be regulated accordingly. I have entered into this detail in consequence of an erroneous opinion having prevailed, that, in the general valuation, lands were valued at the same rate, according to their natural quality, whether improved and cultivated or in a state of nature; but this is not the fact, the land being valued in each case at the rate it would reasonably let for by lease to a solvent tenant in the state in which it is found. "The next consideration is the allowance to be made for local circumstances, all of which, whether they be in addition or deduction, are considered. 66 Ist. They are made in consequence of vicinity to cities or towns. "2nd.-Vicinity to limestone quarries, to sea-manure, or turbary. "3rd.-Good roads to market, to sea-manure, or turbary. "4th.—Climate, which includes a moderately elevated situation, and shelter from injurious winds. "In maritime districts, say within eight miles of a good market and seaport, land in an ordinary situation, for the reasons already men CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING VALUE. 355 tioned, is reduced 2s. 6d. in the pound, to bring it to the scale of the Act. Approaching within say four miles of a considerable town, an increase of say Is. in the pound, is made, on account of superior advantage of situation, arising from the facility of procuring manure, vicinity to markets, &c. Approaching still nearer, the value is raised within two miles 8s. 6d.; one mile 145.; half a mile 26s.; and gardens close to a town 40s. in the pound. "The circumstances tending to diminish the value are:"Ist.--Distance from markets for the sale of produce. “2nd.—Difficulty of access to markets, on account of bad roads. "3rd.-Distance from lime, sea-manure, or turbary. 66 4th.-Elevation, aspect, exposure to injurious winds, &c. "Similar deductions are made for land in elevated and exposed situations, varying from 2s. to 5s., and in some cases as much as IOS. in the pound, over and above the other deductions. "In regard to the difference between the valuations of land adopted by me under the Act, and the actual letting value, I have to observe, that our valuation is generally about twenty-five per cent. under the full or high rent value, but very near that of many of the principal landed proprietors of the country. Thus, in the parish of Aghanloo, county of Derry, the valuation of the townlands, as contained in the printed schedule, rarely differed so much as one shilling in the pound from the proprietors' rental. The same fact was observed respecting the rentals of the different London companies, as well as of other proprietors in the county of Derry; while the full rents under ordinary small proprietors were usually thirty-three per cent. above the amounts given in the printed schedule. Similar facts were observable in other counties; and I have lately noticed several remarkable coincidences of the same kind in the counties of Tyrone, Cavan, Monaghan, &c.; so that it would appear, that the scale of value adopted by me, under the Act, is nearly that of the great landed proprietors of Ireland, but considerably below the ordinary rents. Acting on this knowledge, I have uniformly replied to applications from the guardians of poor law unions, in different parts of the country, respecting the addition that should be made to the amount contained in the printed schedules of the general valuation, to bring it to a rent value, that, if one-third be added, the result will give very nearly the full rent value of the land under ordinary proprietors." The "value of the produce" referred to in the first paragraph of the foregoing extract was based upon the prices laid down in the Acts, upon which the value was required to be ascertained. Those prices were precisely the same in the Acts of 1826 and 1836, but in an amending Act of 1852 a new list of prices is given. Such prices appear in the following order, per cwt. In the Act of 1852 the item of potatoes is omitted without any reason being assigned, and flax at 49s per cwt. is substituted. Judging from all the circumstances surrounding the subject, the substitution of flax for potatoes was owing to an official desire to say as little about potatoes as possible, as, practically, it was as important as ever to have a recognized standard for a crop upon which the value of considerably more than a million of acres must necessarily be based. The earlier Acts prescribe, for the valuation of houses, an amount equal to the rent at which each house may be expected to let one year with another, less a deduction of one third; but the Act of 1852 prescribes a deduction equal to the estimated cost of repairs, together with rates and taxes. With the basis prescribed in the two first-named Acts, Mr. Griffith set about his work in a thoroughly businesslike manner, organized the necessary staff, which seems to have been very efficient, and had the satisfaction of completing the valuation of the whole country, for which achievement he was made a baronet, and was therefore honourably known for some years before his death as Sir Richard Griffith, Bart. The total of Ireland, according to Griffith's valuation, is: Land, £9,101,398. Buildings, £4,695,408. Total, £13,796,806. Detailed particulars would be of little or no service. The figures being the outcome of Griffith's valuation, they suffice for the uses to which we desire to turn them in practice. But though the local details are of no immediate importance for our purpose, they are of immense |