, 1880-03-06

A0p AN "hNh Wv okoA
nary conditions of life are ~re-establiShed.
There is, in fact, as Mr.. Blight says, the
tierceSt competition for land. Without,
however, going farther into the underly-
ing cause OF the fact, let us take the alleg-
ed fact that Irish tenants nave no freedom
and no security as our basis. 1t is from
this that Mr.. Bright starts, as Mr.. Parnell
starts, and as Mr.. Gladstone started in
1870. How did Mr.. Gladstone deal with
1t? he left landlords and tenants to settle
their relations %amicab!y, if possible; but
he provided in principle that if a landlord
evlcted a tenant for refusing to agree to an
unreasonable rent or from mere caprice, he
should be liable to be mulcted in a fine. to
be paid to the tenant by way of cOTpenSa-
ton. Upon this an observation must be
made with reference to Mr.. Bright's speech.
Mr.. Bright, discussing the general ques-
ton, ridicules the notion that any one but
landlord and tenant could determine the
fair rent OF a holding. 1t would be impOS-
sible to refer any such problem TO a Coun-
~ Court Judge or other authority. Mr.
Bright allows himself a singular latitude.
He once described the Education Act OF
1870 as the worst statute passed since the
Reform Bill, though its principles We're
settled when he was in the Cabinet; and
he now ridiculeS the notion of referring the
question OF a fair rent to a County Court,
though that is the pivot upon which the
Land Act turns, to which he was a party.
This fact must affect our estimate of the
t~horoughness of Mr.. Bright's examination
of the question; but, putting this aside,
what is the melancholy fact about Mr..
Gladstone's Bill? When that measure was
introduced by its author, he dwelt upon tie
unhappy tact that 40 much that had besn done
forIreiand had produced effects the opposite to
what had been intended. 1t appears to be too
true that the compensation on eviction pro-
vided by Mr Gladstone has proved a new re-
source upon which the Irish tenant can Dor
row and If he has in any degree been made
independent of his landlord, he has, op the
other hand, been made the prey of The sma,l
usurer. Aud II hxiiy OF tenure we're establish
ed in it's entirety, so that there couldbe no evic-
ton as long as fair rents were paid, there would
with this new security for the tenant be new
securities on which to borrow. Oar Special
Correspondent, now in Mayo, whose letters on
the aericultlr CT tbs West must have been
carefully studied by all interested in this sub.
ject, tells US that this notion of esta blishing
fxity Of tenure is now widely accepted among
ali classes in the districts be has examined ;
but while noting the fact We cannot help see
ing that the experience Of Mr. Gladstone's
Act seems to prove that ell devices OF the kind
are vain to redeem the condition Of the tenant
unless as parts of a design in which the tenant
oo-operates 10 bring about such relations OF nun.
bers between landlords and tenants rs shall es-
tabliSh real freedom and independence
Of contract. But it is time to return TO Mr..
Bright. Starting from the premiss Of he
tenants subsection. he would remedy it by
converting him into an owner Of his holding.
His principle is that where a tenaut can pro-
duce . certain proportion, say a third or a
fourth, of the value of bis holding, the State
should furnish the rest, so as to buy out
the landlord, who should thereafter have
nothing to do with the property, while the
tenant repaid the two-thirds or three.
fourths advanced by the State by continuing
TO pay to it for a certain number Of years an
annuity equal to the rental he had been accCs-
toned to pay. The scheme is the same in
principle as that of Mr.. ParnelI, with the i'm
portant variation that the tenant must begin
by providing a sensible quota of the purchase
money. 1t does not appear how this purchase
money is to be fixed, but we may be sure that,
if it was fairly estimated. many landlords, and
most absentees, would be glad enough to be
quit of their lands. The State would occupy
their place, and be entitled to receive for a
fixed number of years the rents they had re.
ceived. The peril Of suoh a position is
obvious, and it was upon this formidable pro-
speet that Mr. Fawcett recently dilated. If
land owners cannot enforce the payment of
their renta, would it bs easier for the State to
ID or HF To~o DBL ou,.L-. - 1T