The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-17 00:00:00

"W is ~..~•.:c5---i'9a~ sue+--~~.

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IPELAND.

The Daily .IVcrs' correspondent, who is investigating
the agrarian outrages in Ireland, gives a story which
',hews how thoroughly "Irish" the dwellers in the Green
Isle are. "It appears from the returns of the Irish banks
that the tenant farmers, spoken of as so poor and miserable,
have investments of money which, in the aggregate,
amount to a very large sum. But I understand the
money in the banks is a mirage. It will hardly be
believed that the Irish farmers pay interest on their own
money ; but it is a fact. A man lodges, say £6OO,
in the National or Provincial Bank, for which he is
allowed 1# or 2 per cent. But it is no unfrequent case,
when the same man wants money, that he goes to the
bank and asks for a loan. lie does not draw out a portion
of the £6OO which he has invested, and the receipt Of
which he keeps possession of, but for a loan of money At
the rate of interest for the time being. The bank, of
course, has the most substantial security in the deposit ( f
actual cash ; it can, therefore, lend money to the full
amount of the deposit, and the stupid farmer loses the
difference between the 2 per cent, which he receives from
the bank and the 6,7, or 8 per cent. which
he pays in the shape of interest. I asked (says this
correspondent) the excellent bank manager from whorl
I received this information to give me some explanation
of this almost incredible peculiarity. The explanation
given was, the farmer, in his social intercourse with his
neighbours, was able, by the retention of his .1600 receipt►
though mortgaged to nearly the full amount, to impress
them with the opinion that he was a ` strong' man ; and
this opinion was useful to him in many ways. He less
sometimes able to dispose of a daughter in marriage, &e.
In fact, the Irish farmer only does on a small scale what
magnificent companies and ' clever fellows' have done in
London on a scale so grand that the enormity of the crime
has been buried in the enormity of the cheat. In estiinst'
ing the amount of floating capital in the country a certain
deduction must therefore be made on account of the
custom to which I have referred."

Referring to the poor appearance of the dress of the
farmer and his belongings, the correspondent is informed
that he dare not dress as he might. " A farmer told me
at one time that he made a present, at some sacrifice, of it
silk dress to his daughter, an exceedingly pretty girl, to
whom he was most devotedly attached. After donning
her gay attire, she, woman-like, made a display, and on
Sunday was the admiration of her companions. Her
appearance attracted the notice of the lady of the ' great
house,' who inquired her name, and on learning it she
observed that when Jack could dress his daughter its
silks he ought to be able to pay higher for his land.
Well, the silk dress cost him ss. per acre (about 27 or
per annum) to his rent. I know myself farmers, rich.
comfortable men, who actually prepare their stock for the
market in secret. I have been present at fairs where their
cattle would realise high prices, but they would beg for
God's sake that the fact would not be mentioned in the
newspapers, fearing that they would be punished by
increased rents for being enterprising. On the contrary, the
farmer secured in his holding glories in seeing his success°
recorded, and the fact is an incentive to him to renewed and
still more vigorous exertion." But it is not always
the landlord so much as the agent who is near at hand.
"The distant landlord does not know—probably does not
care to know, for it might interfere with his pleasure 3r
peace of mind—the great oppressions and the pal?:
annoyances that are inflicted in his name. Of course,
agents are not the same. There are many good Weil
amorgst them, and many who try to mitigate the harsh
commands of a dictatorial absentee landlord, but agenel
as a system is bad, and, productive of evil. I'h°
duties of property are onerous enough wile°
performed directly, but the duties of property delegatecll
too frequently means power without responsibility ;and
irresponsible power, whether in the hands of an Emperor
or an agent, leads to nothing better than a well-arranged
disorder—disordre Lien ordonr%"

" The Irish Government," the Daily News writer goes
on to say, " are now preparing a return of the agrarian
crimes which have been committed in Ireland for the laBt
two or three years. They will contrast not unfavourably
with the amount of outrages of the same kind
in former times. But really what does it signify
what the ratio of comparison is ? It is not 0'
question of more or less, of a comparison of di°
last three years with three, ten, twenty, or thirty
years ago ; it is a question of cause and effect, of
a system and its results, of a one-sided law and its cones'
quences. Purify the system and the blotches disaPPelr
from the surface. It is not the untutored and undisci•
'dined passions of the Irish Celt that have produced and
do produce these agrarian outrages. As far as race mat
be supposed to have anything to do with the matter, it%
tendency would he in the other direction. It is buten'
rity of land tenure which is causing these most sad
occurrences."

The Irishman has an article on the subject of "a peas
sant proprietary in Ireland." Its tone will be understood
from the concluding passage. After referring to the
examples of France and Prussia, the writer observes
"So when the Irish people are put in possession of the
land they will not be the first nation in Europe that 101
achieved the same position. Those who tell them to loot
and work for this issue are not acting in a manner hostile
to the welfare of the nation. The prosperity and haPPI.
ness of 6,000,000 is of greater moment than the conve'
nience of a few thousands. The settling of the land quell:
tion here has been too long delayed. But a better daY
at hand. Hitherto Ireland had none to stand by her'
The oppression of our rulers had wellnigh crushed the
spirit of the people. But now Mr. Bright appears to
catch a glimpse of the future. Next year his message to
the British Parliament may be that Ireland and it land
lords cannot both be preserved. It will, no doubt, he!
hard struggle with landlordism to surrender the spoils
has so long enjoyed ; it will be unpleasant for landlord°
to give up their power over their vassals ; it will be hard
to forego the pleasure of spending wealth which has heel
won, not by their exertions, but by the toil of others.
is not the fault of the people of Ireland if there are men
such a position. The bulk of Irish landlords have been plaeea
here byour English rulers. They fatten on confiscated Pr?.
perty. They are still aliens in sentiment. It is the ti
interest as much as it is the interest of their tenants tho
there should be a peaceful and speedy solution of the
difficulty. They must make up their minds to submit to
great changes. They have everything to gain by shewh3l4
a readiness to do justice ; they have everything to lose by
opposing the wishes of the nation. Legislation might he
able to have regard in some degree to their interests'
But if legislation should fail to bring about the needed
reforms, there is still another power to which a nation
can resort—a power that when appealed to solves
questions of vested interests in a way summary, but
decisive, and when thoroughly roused has seldom failed Wi
strike terror into the hearts of tyrants and privileged
aristocrats."

THE REPRESENTATION OF CAITHNESS.—Th.
requisition to Mr. James C. Traill, nephew of the sitting
member for Caithness, has received the signatures °
nearly half the constituency. No definite announcement
has been made in regard to the degree of support given
the requisition to Sir Tollernache Sinclair ; but it has 04
yet received such a number of signatures as to justifY ant
active proceedings with a view to his offering himsom
The constituency generally continue to deprecate 11°.1
steps being taken by Mr. Traill, the sitting member. la
the mean time.

THE MARCH OF IMPROVEMENT.—The applies'
tion of electricity to church organs promises one advsn;
tage. In many country parishes the clergyman is th
only inhabitant capable of playing the instrument. ,
correspondent of a contemporary intimates that in a cAie
specified the clergyman is having the key-board fitted IN
in the reading-desk, so that he can himself preside oc.el
the musical pars cf the service without any unseemly dip
turbance of his own more strictly-prescribed avocatioo'
In this instance the organ itself is placed at the other e
of the building.
THE HEALTH OF PRINCESS CHRISTIAN. --- °I!8
.
health of Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, i"
understood, continues to improve. Her Royal Hightle.i.st
in the course of last week, was attacked with
fever," and her condition at one period excited seri°ll
apprehensions in the minds of the Queen and 10/.1"
7
Family. Fainting and hysteria were, it is belie"
among the symptoms of the attack. Sir William 'TWIT
who remains in town during the Queen's absence in Scot.
laud, was at once called in ; and, in co•operation with P.'
Fairbank, one of her Majesty's surgeons, has been
constant attendance at Frogmore House. Her g
°34
Highness and Prince Christian were to have left Wise's°.,.
on Friday night, with her Majesty, for Scotland, but the
sudden illness prevented the arrangement being carve('
out. As soon as her Royal Highness is convalescent 0"
and Prince Christian will leave Frogmore and join tlit'
Royal Family circle at Balmoral.

SENTENCE ON LADY THIEVES.—A Paris corre'
spondent writes :—" The increase of kleptomania 145°14
the ladies of Paris was recently noticed. Two of thos.e
maniacs, who appear to have had more method in the°
madness than even the cruel Prince of Denmark, hill!,
been tried by the Correctional Tribunal. The P'
soners were Madame d'Alpuget, aged 39, 37a
,e
her daughter, aged 22, and one styled by ""t
law papers as belonging to the monde elegan
Both mother and daughter appear to have beseo
carrying on their kleptomaniasm for some time post
less than three establishments fell victims to the uer°,
tunate fouling 'of those ladies in the shape of lace, ,-
r
and even mantles. Madame d'Alpuget was sentenced w,
twelve months' imprisonment, and her daughter to slip
is only one instance of the luxe efiiine des felon° 14
modern Paris, and, I am sorry to add, is not of the Vr-
type ; others gligtit easily be mentioird."