Absentee

Absentee, a term especially used with reference to those landlords who leave the management of their estates entirely in the hands of agents, and rarely visit and never settle in the country from which they obtain their income. It is agreed by most authorities that this system of absenteeism in Ireland has been the cause of much of the discontent and disturbance. Beyond the obvious disadvantage of leaving the estate to the management of an agent, and thus destroying all hopes of any personal intercourse between landlord and tenant, the system further entails the spending of much money out of the country from which it is obtained and the diminution of the feeling of responsibility on the part of the landlord.