The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1879-12-04
IRISH AGITATION.

and entails are comparatively, unknown
and primogenit1re wholly SO, the peculiar
tenure by which land is held in England
and Ireland can not be fully appreciated.
Here every man capable of earning
livelihood can become the possessor Ct
land in fee. 1t is different in Ireland
where the entire realty is in the hands
of few. There the law has ingeniously
raised up barriers to the alienation of
lands, so that large estates descend with
out division to the heir. Estates are en-
tailed and this prevents the alienation of
any part by the owner who is in reality
but life tenant. Property thus entailed
cannot be seized for debt SO that the
system of entailing serves three purpos-
es: Prevents spendthrift from incum-
bering his estates; bars the owner from
divesting the prospective heir of his
succession TO the title, and releases the
lands from responsibility for his debts.
Then the doctrine of primogeniture
comes into play to prevent the more
general distribution OF lands. The old
est son in law succeeds to the possession
of the estate of the parent SO that all the
younger children are excluded from the
possession of any part. This system
preserves the integrity of large landed
estates, so dear to the nobility. There
are no conveyances of small parcels OF
land in Ireland. Practically there is no
such thing as sale of land in Ireland. A
tenant may be wealthy but he cannot
own in fee the land he cultivates. He
may improve the land and add to its
value both in improvements of the land
and in buildings, but he derives no pc
cuniary advantage and these are simply
a convenience to him while he remains in
occupancy, his tenure in a number OF
cases being subject to the will of his
landlord. In this country and in Ireland
the law relating to fixtures differ as
widely as the tenure by which the Guilt
vator of the soil holds it. In Ireland
any building, fence, or improvement be-
comes part of the reality and the title
to these, vests In the owner of the soil
though they are the work of the tenant.
A tenant may build house which might
easily be removed, but when once built
he is not the owner. 1t is the property
of the landlord. It is easy to see that
with such laws there can be no great
spirit of Improvement. Such a system
fosters poverty and Incidence. No man
cares about expanding much money in
improvements which in time he will be
debarred from enjoying.
In the United States the farmers are
wont to invest their surplus money in
improvements on the land. In Ireland
the tenant generally pays over every
cent above what is needed for his actual
wants to the landlord who in most cases
knows nothing of the condition of his
lands and who rarely ever appropriates
any of the revenues obtained from them
in their improvement. These landlords
are absentees in a majority of cases and
the revenues from the lands leave the
country, thus not contributing either d.
rectly or indirectly to its prosperity.
The average rental of farming lands in
Ireland amount yearly to S65, DOC, 600.
A sum taken from the agricultural classes
and not one cent of Which is expended
on the lands. What country could stand
this system and not be impoverished
Can the poverty of the Irish people liv-
ing under such a system be attributed to
improyidence Can they be blamed for
demanding a change by which they may
become owners of the soil they cultivate?
The Irish people to-day are not commun-
lists. They do not ask that the lands
they work but do not own shall be con
fscated. They demand the right of
purchasing. They demand this after ex-
perience has demonstrated that they are
unable to live under the present system;
when they realize that ownership Of the
land is necessity of their being. All
the lands which they now ask the privi-
lege of buying were theirs at one time.
Cromwell confscated them and they
were given to the English people. Now
all the Irish people want is to have these
lands put in the market.