, 1880-12-22

on which they live, and which for their
living they must cultivate; and the gen.
.eral results stated in fgures-I stated them
here in figures not long ago, but they are
so startliDg and so impressive that in one
sentence / shall place them before you
again, are as follows The prorrieiors OF
land in ireland arc few in number for a
country SO large, and those who hold
estates, properties under which, or a part
OF which they can lett mean estates of so
or 100 acres-over those I suppose there
are not more than II, 1000 or IA, 900 owners
10 Ireland. One third of Ireland is pos
sessed by 292 persons /; one-halt of Ireland
is possessed by 744 persons I suppose
about as many as are in that gallery at the
other end Of the hall ; and two-thirds of
the whole island are in possession OF l ,942
perhaps a little more than half the per-
sons that are present now in this building.
On the other side, there are more than
100000 tenants. There is q great fact
800. 900 families, being at least from 81
TO 3 millions of persons, dependent upon
the soil, competing with each other for
the possession of a farm. having no varie-
,y of occupation as there is 10 England,
having one way, and that oply-the way
out OF the conniry-to escape from the
difficulties in which they find themselves.
These 100000 tena ITS are living, they al
lege, for the most part, in a condition OF
continual insecurity. The rent may DO rails
ed half-a-crown an acre this year, aud
another half-a-croWn next. If the farm
passes from the father to the son, or from
sho xx,iAovy m fbn son mr. fran, a fnvr,or to
his brother, or to another farmer of new
family, there is an occasion where it Is
easy to propose some addition to the rent.
The addition may not be so large as to
shock the farmer and to drive him to
cease from any sttempt to enter upon the
farm. BY little and little rent is added.
The irritation Of the tenant becomes grent-
er and greater. He sees the end TO which
he is being driven. He cannot live upon
the farm, aud he must give it Up, and he
must find himself homeless in his own
country, aud thus there has growp up in
lrelaud-and. Of course. The most In the
poorest districts-an irritation and a dis
content which is the notorious and the
universal material on Which social or p0Eltl-
cal instructions are generally based. Now
we must not forget that III Ireland mel
who hold the land hold the homes and
lives Of the people Applause. No matter
Disgusting it. or putting it in language less
unpleasant that is. the fact: and if you
read the letters which have been publish
ed in the newspapers during the last few
months, or read any of the pamphlets or
books which were written upon it. or if
you go back to any of the reports which
are to be found III the Blue book published
by the House of Commons, you will
come to that conclusion there is no
escape from it wllatever-that. there has
been q time within my recollection when
60 persons out of every 100 in Ireland
were receiving relief in some shape or
other, and the normal and common condi-
ton OF great numbers of persons in the
extreme west of Ireland, where the coun-
try is poorest, where the land is poorest,
and where the climate is the most precari-
Gus, is one of the most abject and hopeless
poverty and in the country with this
state OF things, as you may imagine, TIL ere
is the most fierce and constant competi-
ton for land, and there it is in the power
of the landowner every where and his
agent, SO far as the interests of the people
are concerncd-it is in their power to pro-
pose, and constantly to obtain an increase
of rent. No, ] do not believe that the rent
all over Ireland is an excessive rent if the
land were farmed with q full security, by
an instructed tenantry. and with an ade-
quate capital Applause but one of the
results OF this system of insecurity is this
that tenants will not cult va their lands
according to the best of their knowledge or