The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-11 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 10.
TEN AN I' RIGHT.

Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD moved for leave to
bring in a Bill to provide for the better securing and
regulating the custom of tenant right, as practised in
the province of Ulster, and to secure compensation to
improving tenants who way not make claim under the
said custom, and to limit the power of eviction in certain
cases. This, he said, was called a tenant-right question,
but he proposed, if the House gave him leave to bring in
the Bill, ample provision would be made in it for ee-
curie.. the rights of landlords. The grievances com-
plained of by the tenants of Ireland had long existed and
were of no slight character.—(Hear, hear.) They in-
flicted great injustice upon the tenant, and many evils
wero produced by the present system which would not
exist at all if a Bill like this were adopted. It could
not be said that the nature of these grievances was not
known and fully understood by the Legislature, because
the matter had often been inquired into by Committees
and commissions; and the House must by this time be
well informed upon the subject.—(Hear, hear.) The
present system gave no impetus to industry; from the in-
security in which tenants lived now tney were reluctant
to make extensive improvements in the soil, and the re-
sult was bad cultivation and the non-payment of rents.—
(Hear.) Then, to aggravate these evils, the landlords had
adopted the practice of consolidating the farms, and
the people had been reduced to such a state of misery
and fright that they were glad of an opportunity to take
wing to America or some other hospitable land thst was
willing to receive them.—(Hear, hear ) He did not
wish to revive the old cry against the landlord
class, but after the exeimples and warnings they
had had of late, he thought they could no longer with-
hold the concession of tenant right to the yeomanry
of' Ircland.—(Hear, hear.) The objects of this Bill
were two; first, it was to give security by law to the
property created by the industry of the tenant; and,
secondly, it would enable the out going tenant to claim
compensation for all improvements he may have accom-
plished on his farm in the course of his tenantry.
The object of the Bill had often been approved of by
Lord Stanley, and to show the importance of adopting
it, he need only mention that his o union contained
93,000 acres of land, which had been improved by the
capital and labour of the tenants to the extent of
Si. ; and therefore, under the present system,
there was at this moment more than 700,0001.
of property belonging to the tenantry that was
wholly at the mercy, whim, will, or caprice of the land-
lord.—(Hear, hear.) The object, then, of his Bill was
to meet such cases as that, and if the Legislature would
only pass its provisions into a law, the soil of Ireland
would become morn fruitful, and its cultivators would
be made happy and contented.—(Elear, hear.)
Mr. KEOGH seconded the motion.
Sir G. GREY said, as the House had on several occa-
sions allowed the Hon. Member to lay on the table such
a Bill as he now proposed, he t hould offer no opposition
to its being brought in, but if its provisions were the
same as those of the former Bill, the Hon. Member must
expect to encounter a Government Opposition on the se-
cond reading. He admitted many of the facts which the
Hon. Member had stated, while he conceded to him that
the tenantry of Ireland laboured under great and mani-
fold evils and grievances ; but he was afraid the remedy
which the no.. Gentleman proposed would be totally
inadequate to meet the case.—(Rear.) Some reference
had been made to the recent outrages committed in
one or two parts of Ireland, but he denied that those out-
rages were the result of the bad cultivation of the land,
or the want of tenant right, but rather of a lawless con-
federation to bring about a reduction of rents.—(llear,
hear.) Government was bound to put down that system of
terrorism by the strong arm of the law, and the House and
the country might depend upon it, no concession would
be made to those who sought to attain extravagant ends
by the force of threats and outrages.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. GRATTAN hoped the discussion of this ques-
tion would not be stopped short to-night, but that
it would be gone into fully, and without a moment'serd
delay.—(Hear, hear.) No doubt the outrages referred
Home
efre
to by the Right Hon. Secretary of State for h
Department were not traceable directly to the absence of
tenant right in Ireland, but in some measure they wore,
for had the landlords abstained from driving out their
better feeling
tenants, like beasts, from off the land,
a
would have prevailed amongst the people.
was beside the question; what they were But that
ew discussing
was the subject of tenant right, and he was
uasraetlyie loss to
understand why it was to be refuesxedp.ense
ef
hi
a labour
who had improved an estate at the
some
compensation when
and capital was entitled to
his landlord mad© him surrender his holding. Well,
then, that was
this Bill demanded.
er t
atn he
and if Government were really rprosperity of Ireland, h was
anxious
sat aloss ttoo
restore
understand
d
why they should feet themselves called upon to oppose
it.—(llear, bear."
He attributed many of the evils
which prevailed in Ireland to absenteeism; fine estates
were destroyed by the neglect of their proprietors, for
the large landlords had too often abandoned their duty
and
ft their tenantry to the mercy of middlemen, and
The consecrience was the tenantry became careless of
existence, and banded themselves against law and order.
_(llear.) Hence arose the dreadful evictions which
had so recently occurred, and which had brought so
much discredit upon thelandlords of Ireland generally.
It was, however, the absentees who were responsible for
the consequences, and unless the House wished to wit-
ness a recurrence of such terrible scenes, they would not
hesitate to give their consent to some measure of this
sorts—(Hear.) The lion. Gentleman then proceeded to
attack the absentee landlords of Ireland as the cause of
much of the evil under which that country was suffering,
and recommended that the Duke of Devonshire, the
' Duke of Buckingham, Earl Fitzwilliam, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, and Lord Palmerston, should be all " field
up." For his parr. he would put them up to auction,
and et thew. There wouhi suusu in tLj~v
There was none in exporting the able• bodied penteivya;
of
Ir,ipT,d to America and the Briti,l^, coloni"•
easy enough for the bight Hun. Baron.er, (Sir
H•
:to tell him that coercion should be had recourse
to idicillges
(Mr. Grattan) was as much opposed
the Pro