The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-06-09
IRISH WRONGS.
TIE 1NF4MoUs LAND SYSTEM.

Origin and Operation of the Ulster Gus
tom-The Effect of the Gladstone Land
Bill.
British statesmen, from Edmund Burke to
Benjamin Disraeli, eminent diVines rom Sid
ney Smith to Sidney Godolphin Osborne, and
political economists from Adam Smith to John
Stuart Mill, have been equally emphatic in
their condemnation of that system of land ten
ure so long tolerated in Ireland by the English
Government, which refuses the people the
right Of self-rule, and takes upon itself the re-
sponsibility of legislating for them. The
wretched condition of poverty and villanage
| In which barbarous land-code has kept the
people of Ireland finds no parallel in any civil
| lied country. It has been found necessary In
every other European nation to give the occu-
piers of the soil that fixed interest in it the
denial of which to the Irish peasant has been
the cause of so much destitution, agrarian
crime, and dsafection toward the govern
ment 1t was brought about in France by the
revolution effected in Italy during the reign
of the Emperor Leopold, and accomplished IN
Prussia at the beginning Of the present CEN
tury, by that radical change in her land laws
which has elevated the teudal serf to the sta
tus of peasant proprietor, and the expert
ence of sixty years has shown how beneficial
to. Prussia have been those measures OF re-
form; for to their operation may be chiefly at
tributed her present proud position in the
family of nations.
LAND TENURE IN IRELAND.
Land is at present held in Ireland either on
| leases for terms of twenty-one years anu up
ward. or at will from year to year. Tenants
who hold in the latter are OF course subject TO
an advance of rent from time to time, OF to
| eiectment from their farms at the option of the
| landlord, to carry out whose wishes regardless
of the consequences to the occupler, existing
| laws afford peculiar facilities. The lands hela
on lease do not probably exceed one.tentn OF
the whole, and, therefore, however oenenclal
such an arrangement may be, the effect IL not
very apprecia6le on the general state OF the
country. Highly beneficial, leases undoubtedly
have nroyed, not only to the tenants, but also
| to the landlords who have had the saGaclty
and honesty to grant them. In support .oi
this view we have the statement, among otn-
ers, of Lord Portsmouth, who owns property
|
years ago, leases for thirty-one years to his
tenants. ''My rents" he says, ''are punctually
paid; the occupants feel they have security for
| their industry; my estate Is greatly improved,
the farms are well cultivated, and the people
are contented, peaceful and prosperous"
Seeing that such are the results OF granting
leases, why have not other landlords adopted
The custom much more generally than they
have done? The truth is they are blinded to
their own interest by the love Of arbitrary
power. They prefer TO keep the tenants at
their mercy, obedient to theh0dictates IN all
| things, but especially in the exercise Of the
| franchise, by holding over them, IN terroren,
an advance Of rent, or o notice OF eJectment.
| Tenancies-at-will may be divided Into two
classes, the better to understand their nature
and operation; the first, held under the sane
| ton of what has been called Ulster Tenant
| Right, and the second, held on estates in those
districts where that custom has never been
| recognized.
THE ULSTER CUSroM-wHAT IT IS, AND HOW
IT ORIGINATED.
The stUlster Custom" was for long time re-
garded as having a common law force, or at
[sast o ouasIlegal sanction. Such, however,
never was the fact, and all efforts made to lc
galize it have hitherto prove aoorlive. me
usage, as it name imports, has chiefly prevail.
ed In Ulster, extending to at least tour-nltfls OF
that province, and Is almost unknown In the
other three Irish provinces. The comparative
exemption OF that portion of Ireland from the
misery and starvation so prevalent In other
parts of the country, Is partly owing to its ope-
ration and partly to the linen trade of which
Ulster is the seat, and Belfast, its chief town,
the great emporium. What then is the nature
of this custom T? How did 1t originate, and
how does it differ from other tenures? 1t Is
traceable to what has been called the ulster
Plantations" In the reigns of Elizabeth and
4 +I,o n q n
under which rulers three-fourths of the Is
land passed, by confscation, from its orlgi-
nal owners, and was parcelled out by tile
conouerors among their tavorites and
successful generals, under certain condl-
tions, for occupation by soldiers. colonlsts,
and natives well affected towards the govern
ment, which prohibited the eXaction OF exor-
proprIetorslp in the land between the tenants
and landlords The tenants gradually ceased
to be cOgnZant Of the original terms upon
which the landlord held under the crown,
while the landlords permitted what has since
been known as "Ulster Tenant Right" to
tinclive feature between Great Britain and Ire
land in land tenure consists In this: that In the
former country all houses erected and substan-
tial improvements made on the farm belong
to the landlord, and have been paid for by
him; whereas in Ireland the opposite IS the
case-they belong to the occupier, and have
been done at his expense. The landlord, how.
ever, has hitherto had 1t In his power to de-
fraud him Of their value whenever he choose,
either by raising the rent to an exhorbitant
amount, or by ejecting him from the land
without refunding him the outlay or giving
any compensation for the improvement.
THE PRACTICAL WORKING OF THE SYSTEM.
The Ulster Tenant Right prevented to GER
tain extent this evil, and hence the efforts
which have been repeatedly made to prevent
the landlords from Infringing 1t, and to get 1t
legaized and extended to the other provinces:
1t is a custom rather difficult TO define. Lord
Duferin, himself an Irish landlord, and one.
indeed, who in his views OF what would be just
toward the tenanSfarmers, has shown himself
far In advance of most Of his order, says, HE
could much better tell what it Is not, tSan
what it is It's leading, idea, however,
amounts to this-that when the tenant wishes,
he is permitted to sell to another the right OF
occupation of the farm, together with the
houses and appurtenances belonging to it, anu
usually receives for his goodwill, as it is call
ed, sum varying from five to fifteen years
purchase, or, IN other words, from i've to
fifteen times the amount Of the annual rent.
The price he gets is chiefly regulated by the
character of the landlord for what is called
.'harshness," or Indulgence toward his tenan-
try. and his permission to sell must In all cases
be sought and obtained. If the Occnpier, then,
have confidence in the honesty OF his landlord,
hc will further eypend, ii necessary, In The
erection OF more suitable houses and in pcrma-