, 1880-12-22

eS1Sf
Ireland who are just, and landowners whO
are just and merciful and generous. / do
not doubt it at all. The general aspect OF
affairs there is such as to compel us to
believe that the condition of the agricultu-
raj population is one to a large extent most
deplorable, and calls for the instant atten-
ton of the Legislature and Administra-
ton. [Cheersk. At this moment you have
before you two appealing parties in Ire
land. You have the ~tenantry, with their
discomfort, with the outrages committed
by some of them, with the reputation of
contracts with all these evils, some OF
which / have attempted to describe; and
you have, on the other hand, the land pro-
priel ors, who are very anxious also to gain
your ear, and gain the ear of the Govern
ment and of Parliament. Until nov Tor
the last 100 years, and for longer, the
English Government and the Engl1sh Far
lament have always come to the rescue OF
the landed proprietors. England has done
it i'll the past, and the question now is
whether it will do it in the future. Loud
cries of "No".
Mr.. Bright then reproached the House
ofLords for having thrown out the Dis
turbance Bill Ca Bill which suspend
ed for "a year and half the landlords,
right to evict tenants for non-pay-
ment Of rent) in the last session OF
Parliament, and expressed himself
entirely opposed to any suspension
Of the Habeas Corpus act.
Force is not a remedy, he said. There
are times when it may be necessary,
and when it's employment may be abso-
lutely unavoidable but, for my part, |
should rather regard and rather discuss
measures of relief as measures OF remedy
than measures of force, whose influence is
only temporary, and, in the long run, |
believe is disastrous. (Cheersl. | do not
now refer to some Of the remedies which
you have heard Of-violent and impossible
Schemes-where tenants, apparently, are
to fix their own rents, under which the
landlords as a body are to be got rid OF
and banished, or where the Government is
to undertake some gigantic transaction,
raising two or three hundreds OF millions
of money to buy them out of their estates,
and to convey the estates over to the
farmers who now cultivate them. Now, L
believe that the extravagant and the 1mpos-
sible and the unjust are not required, even
Ill a. CdSc 50 SCIlOuS-IU H|J OO1 DV NcNPC
rate-as this. Those propositions, which
no Government can listen to, which no
people can submit tO-thoSe propositions,
DEPEND upon it, are made by men who IN
their hearts hate much more than they
love the farmers of their W country.
Hear, hear,j [ have seen something OF
Irish farmers in travelling for weeks III
that country. | have heard of them from
MANY people. some not of the political
opinions which | hold. have lately had
the opportunity of discussing with men
connected with the making OF railroads IN
Observation-Disclosures, contractors, anu per
sons eminent in that way and yet am
bound to say that l have heard on the
whole nothing but a good opinion, asym-
pathetic opinion, of the general character
of the Irish population with which they
were connected. The farmers are, III the
main, industrious and honest. There has
been no country in Europe. no part OF the
United Kingdom, in which rents have
been more generally and constantly and
fairly paid than in Ireland until the recent
troubles. (Hear, hearO The Irish farmer
is an economist; he saves even to penurl-
BUSINESS. The great object of his life is
TO enable him to give a small portion to
his daughters on their marriage. Hear,
hear,) The Irish people eXpatrlated to
the United States have sent millions and
millions of money to Ireland TO help their
poor relations to make the voyage thither.
Therefore, l believe, as much as | believe
anything, that it is possible to frame a
measure of legislation which will satisfy
the great bulk of the tenant-farmers, and
will before 1Ono Withdraw them from the