The New York herald., 1879-10-31


ence on'the side OF the people But. US have said.
up to the close of Parliament had come to
the piiable pleading of the tenants from the land
lords. 1t Was then that the Parnell crusade began.
and tho member tor Meath determined TO hold the
series of monster meetings which eliminated in the
Navan demonstration OF yesterday. Mr.. Parnel and
his colleag agues-OConnor Power. Bggar and W. IL.
O'Sulivan-are the orignators of the crusade which
is now preparing for the British govern
ment in ireland the most perplexing prob
lem with which they have had to deal
since the union-more perrlexing than the 1.-THE
agitation. more dangerous than the Fenian move
ment, more difficult than either the Irish land or
the Irish Church agitations of nine and ten years
ago. 1t was Parnells opportunity to settle py TIC
pubic voice she question OF VINO was 20 DC a tis'
leader OF the Irish people, and he has settled eiec
tually have made calculation on the lowest est,
mates OF the number OF people VINO h.,e n rd Of
the ant-rent agitations held since the eha Oh
August-n the past six weeks. Ihey nave , psen'
taken great and small, some twenty-four III NUMBER
and the aggregate attendance has been computed as
at least two hundred thousand people. VINO nave a,
hailed Charles Stuart Parne as the liperator Oh tno
land with an enthusiasm accorded to no public man
in Ireland since OConnel stirred the soul OF Ireland
BY the magic OF his eoquence ana was the uh-
crowned monarch OF the Irish race
WHAT LANDLORDS OFFER.
The appearance of the ''actlve nlenibers OF the
home rule party as the leaders of the rent agitation
WAS the immediate precursor OF the offers made by
the landlords to reduce tho rents Tor the past hal
wear by TWENTY-FIVE per cent and. III few instances
TO romit the half years rent altogether In almost
every where the temporary reduction or remis-
sion has been made there was not the slightest
chance OF the tenant being able to ply it-even i'll
the reduced form-and the practical result Will be
that the tenants, Wllen the Dau SciSOu Is OVer-lI
they live through twill start afresh in debt tho
landlord we'll to the local tradesmen who have
in sef-detcnce been compelled to heighten the
prospective misery by stopping credit They will
not now part with their goods without ready money
There are few farmers who are not in debt to the
tradesmen. venture to state that not single
shopkeeper in this place has received money pay
ment for fifty per cent OF the transactions with the
small and moderate farmers within the last twelve
months. Another aspect OF the question is pre-
sented by the fact hitherto little noticed by the
writer's the condition of affdirs. that in most of
have been high that the tenants especially the
small tenants, from sixty to seventy acres down
ward have been precluded from saving. They have,
in moderately prosperous been hardly able to
live. In exceptionally good years they have been
honest enough to pay OF accumulated debts and
werc thus left without capital to face the depres-
sion. 1t is idle to tell them that farming does
not pay they should take to some other business.
There Is other business to take to in Ireland.
Emgrate then. They answer they have not money
to emigrate and that the "great shelter land, as
parnell calls the Staes chock full and does not
want them Besides they are Determined to stick to
the land. They will not leave the land this time.
This is simply the policy which Mr.. Parnell recon-
mends--to hold to the land under any circumstances,
rent; to hold. in fact, Ireland for theIrsh
against all Odds III face of this settled passionate
purpose of the people the landlords themselves have
grievance. They are not OF the thrifty tribe, and
depend on their for subsistence and calamity
them in the face i'll almost as great degree
the tenants.
TURNING THE TABLES.
'what will the landlords do?' asked one of them
in my presence yesterday only to receive the reply
from one of his own tenants. 'Let them take turn
ut the workhouse or the emigrant ship.
We did it often enough before" But the thing
remains certain that in tue present temper OF the
people British law and landlord combinations
poweress. There cannot be. and I venture
at wholesale eviction. Mr.. parneil has by
his action prevented that possibility, and at all
the meetings he has attended he has preached the
welcome doctrine Of resistance to any such expedi-
ent. No one landlord or proprietor Is prepared to
face social war by insusurating the policy of evc-
more rent than they could afford. majority OF his
colleagues in the House OF Commons were ready
enough declare that the man gone mad and
most of them held aloof from the agitation var-
Gus pretences Some ILL., some had business
pes Of the member for Meath 'ne in tSe
agrarian question. But by degrees they came in.
Their constituents called them, and even Mr.. Shaw.
the "ieader,'' has been dragged at the chariot
wheels of his rival Parnell. Those have refused
to 20 the whole hog doomed by the constituen-
cies, and acting the uncompromsing advice OF the
leader of obstruction. at least of the home
rule members to be ousted from their seats ut
the next election. The rest will follow parnell or
else they must go too. The member for Meath is
thus in the position of Parliamentary Dictator and
the position is strengthened by the attitude OF sup
port which the priests have adopted toward him.
THEN AND NOW.
Nine years ago, when John Martin came
to Meath the popular candidate. he
of Meath. / saw every one OF his de-
nunciators cheering for Parnel on Sunday last
Even the prime mover of the opposition to John
Martin. the Vicar General. Archdeacon Nichols.
foremost on Suniay in proclaiming the Loyalty
Oh pflestuoou uot only VI McAtus Dut Oh al
Ireland to the Parncll policy of mo surrender" As
il ut Meath it has been elsewhere. In the West
and the South and in Leinster the prominent mem-
bers OF the priesthood have ascended the Parnell
platforms. Any who knows Ireland knows
what all powerful influence they have any
public question. 1t would be idle to Disguise
another development in the political line. The land
agitation has undoubted tendency to shelve the
home rule question. Home rule would have been
relegated to a back in the theatre of Irish
politics but for the fact that Parnell is now the
home rule leader ispo tacto and that in some
form other such men as Sullivan, OConnor
Power. Biggar and even Shaw have given in their
adhesion to his leadership. The battle OF the future
will not be fought home rule conflicts but it
will be fought by the home rulers the cry of the
LAND for the People and the People for the Land"
The proposition which you have already received
IRON Parne in New York. is. at all events simple.
occuper the shall step in. purchase the land
from the landlord at fair valuation resell it to
tenant. and spread the payment long series of
years, when the land becomes the absolute property
of tho occupior. The landlord is to be paid by the
state in consos the interest which is paid by the
revenue contributed by the purchasers, the state
borro ing the capita-not providing il by taxation,
has been stated. There are many landlords who
object to compulsory sales. but when next year
sell what will not be paying properties that
there IL prospect OF large percentage of the
landlords being ready and willing to support The
Parneil settlement, and. indeed. to accept the men,
ber for Meath benefactor of their class-that is
IL the pressure OF agitation is only kept up long
enough and the tenants hold on to the land. With
aid to do these things there is every probability
that Mr. ParIell will live long enough to become the
Hibernian Stein.