The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-23

Vne population than was the Irish Churon.
Ahat was, to a great extent sentimental
gr1evance-no less onerous on that account,
however-but the other is great and potent
wrong, that has forced millions of the Irish
people to leave their native land for America,
conveying with them an undying hatred of
England, and it has been the inspiring cause
OF all, or nearly all, the insurrections murders,
and other outrages that have disgraced both
Ireland and England ever since the green isle
has been a British province. That read
justment of the Irish land tenures on basis
that will relieve the people who till the ground
from the tyranny of irresponsible agents of
absentee landlords will be shortly attempted,
probably at the next session of Parliament,
there can be no doubt; and the task will be
found one attended with far more serious
difficulties than the disestablishment of the
Irish Church. That some measure of reform
will be brought about before long we do not
doubt; and with the wedge once entered,
thorough reorganization of the land tenure
system will only be question of time.
OF even more consequence than the discus
sion of this question with regard to Ireland,
is the agitation which has commenced in
England on the subject of land tenure re-
forms. The political leaders see this looming
up in the not far distant future as a formid-
able antagonist to the whole time-honored
English system. Journals that few years
ago would have secuted the idea of any
change in the old feudal tenures, are now dis
cussing the subject in a cautious and non
committal manner that shows how great have
been the influences secretly at work of late.
The law of primogeniture may almost be
said to be the cornerstone of the English
Constitution, and it is impossible to estimate
truly at this time the consequences of its alb
rogation. The immediate effect might not be
disturbing, but in the course of a generation
or two it would change in the most radical
manner the whole social and political system.
Under this law the land of the kingdom has
gradually been absorbed into few hands,
and the people are now inquiring more earn
estly than ever before, whether they have no
rights in the soil which are superior to any
human laws. There is very little danger that
any agrarian theories will be brought to bear
on this question, but the signs of the times
indicate that the law of primogeniture will
follow in the wake of other abandoned abuses,
| and that every Englishman will be given an
| opportunity to become the sole owner of a
portion of his native land. This is the kind
of a reform that is needed, and the evils of
the old feudal system have now grown to such
magnitude that they cannot be much longer
endured. Organizations are being formed in
various parts of the kingdom to agitate this
question, and to press upon the Government
the claims of the people, and the necessity for
doing something for their relief.
The law of primogeniture will not be over
thrown without mighty struggle. The
landed gentry are still the rulers of the coun-
try and are likely to be for many years to
come. Such measure as this would touch
their interests and their prejudices in the
most vital point, and the opposition which
they have made to every reform project would,
in this case, be intensified with tenfold bitter
ness. The reform bill of last year, however,
by enlarging the suffrage, gave the lower and
middle classes foothold of power which they
will not fail to take advantage of to make
further demands, and the impending struggle
is one that, throughout all its phases of pro,
6ress, will be watched with intense interest
on this side of the Atlantic.