The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-17 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEB. 17, 1870.

Mn. GLADSTONE'S Land Bill will be received very
differently on the two sides of St. George's Channel.
The first feeling in Ireland will be one of disappoint-
ment; the first feeling in England will be one of
relief. These results were inevitable if the measure
was to be moderate. Irish expectants have been
hoping for the very thing which English
expectants dreaded. Those demanded fixity of
tenure, these feared confiscation. It was
the same thing under different names, and
whatever it may be called Mr. GLADSTONE will have
none of it. He believes that the landlords have their
rights as well as their duties, and he is not prepared
to despoil them of the first any more than to absolve
them from the second; he is not prepared to convert
the landowners, who should be using their influence
in encouraging their tenants and improving their con-
dition, into absentee pensioners ; he is not pre-
pared to increase the already too large class
of loungers who are constantly endeavouring to
increase the expenditure upon luxuries, while they
endeavour ever more and more to shirk the respon-
sibility of relieving distress. But if the landlords are
to be maintained in their rights they must fulfil their
duties far better than they have done hitherto. It
is the failure in this respect which is the source of
all the present misery of Ireland. It is impossible to
doubt this after reading Mr. GLADSTONE'S statistics.
lle skewed that, just in proportion as the tenant
had reasonable security of tenure, had the rental
of land increased during the last 75 or 100
years. Highest in the scale stands Scotland,
where leases are common ; there the rental has
Increased sixfold. Next comes England, where leases
are less frequent, and there the increase has been
threefold. Lowest stands Ireland, where, as a rule,
there are no leases, and where the increase has been
only twofold for the whole kingdom. This relation
of rental to security is still more remarkably illus-
trated by distinguishing Ulster from the rest of
Ireland. Ulster is naturally the least fertile pro-
vince of the four, yet the rental has increased there
nearly as much as in England, while in the other
and more fruitful provinces it has augmented less than
twofold. It it be said that the presence of manufac-
tures in Ulster has caused the difference ; the answer
is, first, that manufactures existed there a century
ago ; and next, that as a rule manufactures, while
they indirectly stimulate agriculture by increasing the
demand for agricultural Produce. do not incream

directly ; tor instance, Lancashire agriculture is about
the most backward in England. These statistics
furnish one great argument for the revision
of the land tenure. Another is to be found
in the fact that nearly all the legislation which
has been intended for the benefit of Ireland, and
which has benefited it so far as itgards the special
objects of that legislation, has aggravated the posi-
tion of the tenants of land. To take one of three
memorable cases. No act has conferred greater ad-
vantages upon Ireland than the Encumbered Estates
Act, yet inasmuch as estates sold under that Act
have been sold with the tenants' improvements, and
none of the purchase money has gone to the tenants
for these improvements, additional misery has been
caused where it was intended only to insure pro-
sperity, and the feeling of insecurity has increased.
The causes for legislation being thus clear and
urgent, let us see how Mr. GLADSTONE proposes to
legislate. In the first place he acknowledges that
it may, under certain- circumstances, be desirable for
the present tenantry to become their own landlords;
and in all such cases he is willing that the Govern-
ment should assist the purchaser, provided only that the
landlord be willing to sell. A number of tenants
may combine 4o purchase an estate, and already Mr.
GLADSTONE has received notice that the tenants of
the Marquis of WATERFORD desire to purchase,
though the rental is not less than 813,000 a year.
Nor will Government assistance be confined to the
tenants. In Ireland there is a vast amount of waste
land ; the owners of this land will be encouraged to
reclaim it, and to make roads upon it by the aid of
Government loans. This indeed is no new principle ;
it is merely the extension of the principle
which Sir ROBERT PEEL first applied to the drain-
age of land. If the owner should hereafter
wish to sell these reclaimed lands, Government will
advance money to the purchasers on the condition
that the seller offers good security for the money
which has been advanced. In addition to these, pro-
visions especially referring to Ireland, and which
will be included in the Irish land bill, there will be
two other bills affecting the whole country; one for
facilitating the transfer of land, one for making the
succession to the real property of intestates similar
to the succession to personal property. Thus the
whole country will benefit by the reforms intended
for Ireland.

So far for the provisions affecting the land when
it changes hands. We now come to consider the
permanent relations between landlord and tenant. It
is here that we find the greatest reforms. In the
first place, the principle by which the tenant's
improvements have always been considered the pro-
perty of the landlord unless the tenant can prove the
contrary, will be reversed, and the onus probandi will
rest upon the shoulders of the landlord. In other
words, the tenant will have a right to be compen-
sated for the unexhausted improvements which he
has made. The next provision is still more remark-
able. Mr. GLADSTONE contends that when a tenant
is turned adrift for no fault of his, he is entitled not
only to receive back what he has put into the land, but
something more for being dispossessed. The PREMIER
contends that a landlord has no right, merely for his
own convenience, to turn out upon the world
tenants who have fulfilled their duties (and
who, such is the competition for land in Ireland, will
in all probability not be able to obtain another
tenancy), unless he will give them sufficient to keep
them from starving during the time that they are
looking out for other means of livelihood. In other
words, the evicting landlord must not only pay com-
pensation, which is bare justice, but a fine in the
shape of damages, and that fine will increase
in inverse proportion to the rent; it will,
for instance, be two year's rent, for a holding
above £lOO, and seven year's rent for one of £lO.
At the same time the landlord is protected against
having a bad tenant fastened upon him. Non-payment
of rent, subletting, and subdividing are offences
which the landlord may plead as his justification for
eviction ; and he may also urge as sets-off any
amount due to him when the compensation account
is made up. These provisions apply where no form of
tenant-right prevails. But in Ulster•thero is such a
form, and in other parts of Ireland there are customs
partaking of the nature of the Ulster custom. These,
as we always anticipated, Mr. GLADSTONE has care-
fully preserved. Where no such custom prevails,
always excepting those instances in which
leases are granted, the arrangements just described
will come into effect. In fact, these arrangements
are in many respects analogous to the Ulster
custom, and are applications and extensions
of the principle which governs it. At the
same time leases are a more excellent way
even than these. But the leases must be for thirty-
one years, and then, of course, the tenant will have
no right to claim either damages for eviction or com-
pensation for improvevements, except unexhausted
manure, reclamation of waste land, and buildings.
The term of the lease will, perhaps, appear excessive.
In thirty-one years the value of land may increase '
from causes quite irrespective of the tenant's cultiva-
tion. Mr. GLADSTONE has provided for this
increase in the case of tenants-at-will, for
landlords may evict their tenants on the ground
msummency of rent, and not be subjected
to penal damages if they can show that they have
offered fair terms. We do not see how under a thirty-
one years' lease any such protection can be given to
the landlord. At the same time it must be borne in
mind that a twenty-one years' lease will be recog-
nised when the landlord makes the improvements,
and that the longer time is intended for the protec-
tion of an improving tenant. The machinery by whch
compensation and 'damages are to be assessed
is very simple. If the landlord and the tenant are
unable to agree they may refer to a court of arbitra-
tion, whose decision shall be final; or they
may appeal to a Civil Bill Court, consisting of the
civil side of the Sessions Court, in which the assis-
tant-barrister alone is judge. His judgment will be
subject to appeal; and the court of appeal will con-
sist of two judges of assize, who may reserve certain
points for the Court for Land Cases in Dublin, to
be composed partly of equity and partly of common
law j udges.
There is little doubt but that this bill will pass.
Mr. aunt has already announced that there
will be no obstacle to going into committee on the
day named by Mr. GLADSTONE ; in other words, that
no opposition will be offered to the second reading.
The Conservatives have been taught by experience
to neither resist the inevitable nor reject a moderate
measure in the hope of upsetting the Government
which has introduced it. No doubt the bulk of them
are relieved to find that it is entirely free from the
confiscatory provisions which they feared ; and
though they may object to certain pro-
visions, they will not venture to enkindle any
further the dangerous flame of Irish discontent,
by declining to receive a measure so moderate in its
proposals and so beneficial in its tendency as this.
In fact it is difficult to say which party will be
the more benefited, the tenant or the landlord.
As Mr. GLADSTONE shewed in his magnificent pero-
ration, what is given to the one is not necessarily
taken from the other. Rather, there is a vast
fund in the land which has never yet been opened,
but which this bill will unlock. We may add that
English tenants will not be long in demanding the
application of this measure to themselves, and so an
effectual stop will be put to political evictions.
But when all is said there still remains
the grand and important question ; will Ire-
land be satisfied? Moderate, loyal Ireland will;
irreconcilable, Fenian Ireland will not ; for it will
see in this measure another blow dealt at its in-
fluence—another reason for its existence removed.
This faction we cannot hope to satisfy, do is we
will. Nor must we look to obtain the immediate
pacification even of those who are open
to conviction. It is, as Mr. GLADSTONE well said,
one of the decrees of Providence and one of the safe-
guards of mankind that the remedies for long con-
tinued injustice shall not be immediate in their
operation. Otherwise one of the greatest deterrents
to ill-doing would be removed. We have to suffer
for the sins of our forefathers, that_our children ma)
not sin as those sinned.

BILL.

THE SUN,- LONDON, T H URSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17, 1870,

THE REVISION OF 'ME SCRIPTURES.

The Bishop of St. David's writes of follows to the Pall
Mall Gazette :—" I observe that you have been misled by
some incorrect report of what I said in Convocation on
the revision of the Authorised Version of the Bible, into
a complete misapprehension of my view of the subject. I
never said " that no mere verbal or grammatical altera-
tions in the Bible would affect any doctrine of the
Church of England ;" but that no doctrine of the Church
of England would, in my belief, be affected by any im-
provement that could be. ade in the Authorised. Version.
I might have added that, unless those doctrines were
deduced from the translation, and not from the original
Scriptures, they could not be affected by a more correct
and faithful rendering of the original text. You, Sir, had
indeed good reason to be ' surprised' that I should have
said ' that Dissenters had anything to fear from a correct
translation of the Bible." Ido not even understand Lord
Shaftesbury to have said that. But, for my own part,
nothing could be farther from my thoughts. I observed,
indeed, that the effect of a more correct translation might
b 3 to deprive preachers, Churchmen as well as Dissenters,
of some favourite texts, to which they might look with
some regret, which might prejudice them against the
revised translation, and that it was therefore the more
desirable that some of the more eminent Nonconformists
should be associated with Churchmen in the work. I
entirely agree with you in your concluding remarks on a
part of L9rd Shaftesbury's letter to the Times, in which,
meaning apparently to raise an objection to the revision,
has unconsciously argued in its favour. I believe that
a correst report of my speech will appear in the Guardian
of this week, but I shall be not the less obliged to you for
the insertion of this letter."

THE IRISH PAPERS ON MR. GLADSTONE'S

The Dublin. Mail says Mr. Gladstone's speech last
night introducing the Irish 'And Bill will greatly disap-
point his Irish friends. The Premier is attempting now
to deal with a very different difficulty to that presented by
the Irish Church. The peasantry, it is stated, are once
again made the dupes of certain Irish members. The
moderation of the bill is the result of that public opinion
which Mr. Gladstone dared not affront, and, adds the Mail,
his submission to that public opinion represents the entire
collapse of his boasted Irish policy.
The Freeman's Journal reviews Mr. Gladstone's speech,
and the provisions of the bill ; but expresses no opinion as
to the reception it is likely to meet with from the Irish
people, merely saying the speech was listened to with
profound attention, and, no doubt, will excite equal atten-
tion amongst all classes of the community in Ireland.
The Irish Times observes the speech was a most
elaborate composition, artfully framed to comfort those
who may be disapphintect by the measure it introduces,
and to satisfy people who had been taught to expect so
much by flattery rather than by the fulfillment of engage-
ments. How both the measure and the speech will be
received by those who have taught the people to cherish
unlimited expectations, will be an amusing and curious
subject for study.
Saunders's News Letter and the Daily Express both
review the salient points of the speech, but reserve com-
ments on details for a future occasion.

Dean Stanley maintains, in a letter to the Noncon-
formist, that Dissenters were never excluded from Parlia-
ment. The Nanconformat admits that the very rev. dean
i 3 right.

ELECTION NEWS.—Sir William Scott, the Liberal
member for Roxburghshire, has intimated his intention to
retire, because of ill-health. Lord Bowmont, son of the
Duke of Roxburgh, comes forward in the Liberal interest.
Mn. flusiax AT OXFORD.—Mr. Ruskin delivered
the first of his course of lectures as Professor of the Fine
Arts in the Sheldonian Theatre on Wednesday, when
there was a larger attendance than at the inaugural lecture.

MISS BURDETT COUTTS AND EMIGRATION.—MiSS
Burdett Coutts, who is new residing at Torquay, has given
to the Local Emigration Society the sum of £2OO. About
fifty families will be assisted to emigrate, at a total cost of
seven hundred pounds.
EMBEZZLEMENT AND BIGAMY.—Alfred Barker,
the late station master at Milverton is held responsible for
a complication of crimes—embezzlement and bigamy.
He was charged atLeamington on Wednesdaywith stealing
the moneys of the London and North-Western Railway
Company. The prosecutors did not lay their whole case be-
fore the bench ; they adduced proof only that the defendant
had embezzled some small amounts, and then asked for a re-
mand. At the same time they charge him with not
accounting for some eighty pounds. Their request was
granted, and the magistrates remanded the prisoner.
They fix the bail at—Sureties £2OO, and himself in the
same amount. Not being able to obtain sureties, he was
remanded in custody.
COVENTRY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. —At a
meeting of the Coventry Chamber of Commerce held on
Wednesday, the programme of propositions to be brought
before the Associated Chambers, at theirmeeting next week
in London, was considered. It was resolved to support the
proposal for reduced postage, and the Chamber declared in
favour of the amendment athepatentlaws, and of urging
on the Government to negotiate a treaty with Spain. and
Portug-al. It was also in favour of tribunals of commerce,
and of a governmental guarantee of moneys and valuables
transmitted through the Post Office upon the payment of
a fee ; of the registration of trade marks ; and of the
sale of cereals by weight. The Chamber specially deter-
mined to support the resolutions against stipula-
tions contained in thetreaty with China, where the duty on
textile goods entering China is to be increased 50 per cent.
The Chamber agreed that the idea of the abolition of
duties paid in the interior was fallacious. The proposal
to double the duty on imported silk was also condemned.
A deputation was appointed to represent the Coventry
Chamber at the meetings of the Associated Chambers.

AN ENGLISHMAN'S DREAM, A SWEDE'S REALITY.
—What would be the feelings of the half-frozen much-in-
cenvenienced traveller on any of our railways if, on arriv-
ing at one of our refreshment stations, he should find the
old order changed—the food tempting, and the waiters
attentive ? If iu the place, of the present counter he were
to find five small tables neatly laid out, the first of which
should display everything to provoke his appetite in
the shape of dried fish potted meats, and hung
beef ; the second tea, and coffee bread and
butter, milk and cream ; the third hot soup and
11 h of various sorts ; the fourth cutlets, steaks,
poultry, and vegetables • and the fifth sweets and
puddings, truffles and cheese ? And if in addition to
these delicacies he were to find that sufficient time were
allowed to partake of all of them, and that a notice was
affixed in a conspicuous place stating that the total charge
for all was is. 7d., he would probably think that he was
travelling in Wonderland. Such a dream is, of course,
not to be realised in civilised England—but in poor Sweden,
refreshment rooms, carrying out the whole of this pro-
Lrunme, are to be met with not only at the termini of the
main lines but even at such out-of-the-way stations as
Elmhult, Halisberg, Falkoping, and many others.—PaLl
Mall Gazette.
THE WEATHER ON THE CONTINENT.--It appears
that our friends across the Channel have been experiencing
weather fully as severe as that which we in London have
been encturin, for the last few days. The temperature has
been remarkably low, especially in Northern Europe, and
it is stated that in Russia such intense cold has not been
felt within the memory of the existing generation. On
February 1, at Moscow, the thermometer marked 30 deg.
(Reaumur) below zero, or 36 deg. centigrade ; and at War-
saw 25 deg. Reaumur is recorded. Extremely low
temperature prevails throughout France and Bel-
gium. The harbour at Ostend is completely frozen
over. The upper part of the Scheldt has become
unnavigable for sailing vessels, and there is so
much ice that even steam vessels can scarcely make
way down the river. In Paris numerous deaths from
the severe cold are reported. A passenger outside an
omnibus was found to be dead when the vehicle reached
its destination. An old woman, aged 60, fell down in the
Rue des Terms in an epileptic fit, caused by the intense
cold, and, despite all efforts, died very shortly afterwards.
In Russia, " frozen to death " is the assigned cause of
numerous casualties daily reported, and many sentinels
have within the past three weeks perished while on guard.

REGICIDES PREVENTED.—The recent conspiracy
in Russia seems to have been of a more serious nature
than was at first supposed. It was not students only who
were concerned in it. The Courier of Cracow an-
nounces, on the authority of a letter received from
Warsaw, that Prince Obolensky, head of the Customs
Department of the Empire, has been arrested,
charged with being implicated in the conspiracy. The
Prince was returning from Berlin, when, on his arrival at
Warsaw, the Chief of the Police attended at the station
with a large staff, and conducted the Prince immediately
to the station of the St. Petersburg Railway, where a first
class carriage and an escort were already prepared. Several
other arrests have been made in Warsaw among the higher
officials. Prince Obolensky is not a Pole, but a pure
Russian ; he is very_ young, but has always been highly
esteemed by the Emperor for his abilities. It is,
perhaps, worth noting that Europe is now enlivened
by three conspiracies, each having regicide for its object.
Besides the Russian conspiracy, one in France has been
reported, and another is just announced by the Parlement
in a telegram from Constantinople. It is stated that the
Turkish police have discovered in. a shop various infernal
machines, which, according to the confessions of two
persons arrested, were to have been placed in the way of
the Sultan as he was- going to the Mosque.—Pall Mail
Gazelle.

*.lbe preparations for.the return of her Majesty and
the Royal family to Windsor are being completed, and the
private suites of apartments made ready for her Majesty's
residence within the Castle. The arrangements for her
Majesty s journey from the coast to Windsor are being
made

Four men lost their lives on Monday by an acci-
dent at Coxhoo Colliery, in Durham. They were engaged
on some work in the up-cast shaft, and a heavy prop having
fallen upon the " cradle" on which they were standing, they
were precipitated to the bottom, a distance of 70 fathoms.
They were inetantly killed.

The London correspondent of the Manchester
Guardian states that the Council of the Education League,
rather than risk the manifestation of the difference of opinion
on the question of making the Scripture a class-book, have
resolved on dropping their proposed Lill for the present, and
confining their action in Parliament to criticisms and amend-
ments on the forthcoming Government measure.

The suspension ctAtepirs. Hutchinson and Co.,
Kirkcaldy, corn merchants, is announced. The liabilities
at-a stated at from £BO,OOO to £120,000. With time
Clay.hope to pay in full. Most of their creditors are
English.

Mr. Graves will move on the 15th of March that,
in tho opinion of the Hose of Commons, it is expedient to
reduce the rate of inland postage on printed matter to one
halfpenny for two ounces, and that the postage on news-
papers should be likewise reduoed to one halfpenny.
BRITISH HOSPITAL FOR DISEASES OF THE SKIN'.
r— The Committee of the British Hospital for Skin Dis-
eases, in Great Marlborough-street, find, in the case of a
large proportion of the patients attending at the usual
hour in the daytime, that each visit to the hospital in-
volves the loss of a day's work. They have therefore
recently decided that those patients who are unable to
attend in the daytime shall be permitted to attend on
Wednesdarovonings, at eight o'clock. If this example
were generally followed by hospitals _much good would j
result.