New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-10-10
THE DISTRESS IN IRELAND.
OPPRESSION or THE KERRY TENANTRY.

.
FArsITY or LOED LANsDOwNEs PUBLIC PaoFEs-
sIoxs-A SHOCKING REclTAL OF FACTS.
IrRoaf SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT or TIE fMBrSEl
DUBLIN. Aug 7.-Although have already sent
Won five letters on the Lansdowne estates in Kerry,
have not yet exhausted my illustrations Of tho
inlamy of the conditions Of life under which the
tcnantry are struggling 10 exist. If tbs facts /
have recorded condemn the system and do discrsdit
TO Lord Lansdownc the reader should remember
chat / selected neither the ground nor the an
taQonistfor went to the estates that the organs
Of the landlords themselves selected and extolled
rs examples Of the benccent influence OF the exist
ing system and took the nObleman whose refusal
10 remain i'm Mr. Gladstones Administration en-
titles him TO be regarded as times latest ncaIna-
tion of Irish landlord prerogatiyes and principles.
No landlord in Ireland, except one, has "A better
reputation outside OF ireland than the Marquis OF
Lansdowne. No family in Ireland, by itself and
its agents mas done more than the Lansdowne
family to create the impression that the lrlsh peas
antry are lawess. improvident. drunken, and in
temperate. and that the Irish landlords 20 repeat
once more Lord Lansdowne's own words arr " "a
class who have spent fortunes, lives and energies
i'm endeavorng to ameorate the condition OF
their country and set an example of order and IN
duslry within it,"
MY Investigations showed that the Lansdownes
have not spent fortunes" among their tenantfy ia
Kerry but that they have wrung fortunes out OF
their ccaseless toll, and that all their energies
have been directed not in amelloratng the con-
diton of the county, but in deyslng ana eAecnt-
ing with tireless cruelty new methods Tor lmpoNer-
shing the people aud driving them INTO exile
Their accusation against their peasantry' that
they are INDECENT is both false and cowardiy
desire to repeat more that the Industry Oh VIC
Irish peasantry everywhere is incessant and almost
l.-. Lords. hn ar r.
in Ireland.
What have the landlords Of Kerry done to
arueliorate the condition of their people during
the late famineY At the last Quarter Sessions the
landlords of Kerry took ont 2Oi processes Of EJECT
ment and the records show that the statehch5
was true which added especially by LdRsdoloHe ana
Wahoav of Dr0nOrc." Mahony is one OF the lrsh
landlords who have denounced the "agraru
schemes " OF the irish Land RefOrmcrs IN American
journals Some thirty DEGREES OF possession were
issued at the same time. Last year Lord
Lanslowne served eiecimcnt processes fourteen
DAYS after the SIX months rent was due.
Under Gladstone's Act of 1870. no landlord can
eyict for failure to pay rent unless the tenant IS
in arrears for at least one year. There is always IN
the West of Ireland what is called a hanging
gale" due-that is every tenant is allowed TO oc-
cupy his farm a year before he is called on to pay
rent and then he pays for six months only. lie 10
always in arrears six months. "Gale" means SIX
months rent, and this unpaid period Is calico t'c
changing galo.' Now, after tenant is IN arrears
six months over the " hanging gae." he Is haOie 10
be served with process OF eectment WITHOUT the
right to compensation for disturbance. But Lahs-
downe has contrved method by which lac can
eyict an ignorant peasant ut any time. All BIS
rents are dated back one year! There Is hang-
ing year. on paper although there is never more
a bo,, 5ala y in fact If Should
hire from Lord LansdOwne on this 1th day OF
Anpust. 1850. and pay i'll advance for farm for
one wear the receipt would show that he had paid,
not up to August, ISL but from August, 1879!
local clergyman refused to accept such receipt
He was assured that lac need have no fear about II
but that it was rule OF the estate To give re-
ceips IN this way This ingenious device enables
Lord Lansdowne to hold his tenantry at his mercy,
Notwithstanding the Gladstone Act, and IL Illus
trates how the landlords exhibit aud enforce a
spirit of obedience to the Law of the land, when
the law of the land conflicts with their own IN
terests or ancient prerogatives No other landlord
in the county has initiated this policy.
On the 18th of February last a telegraphic DIS
patch appeared in the Dublin papers, dated from
kenmarc. that Dennis Sullivan IA tenant of Lord
Lans lowne) had died from starvation. On the
next Gay q dispatch was sent TO the Dublin and
Kerry Journals from j. Townsend Trench, agent OF
Lord LanSdowne in his capacity as chairman Of
the Kcnmare Board of Guardians. that 1T is not
true that man died from starvation IN kenmare.
He had sufficient food, hut died OF an internal dis
| ease and he was a notorious drunkard." On the
third day. a corOners inquest was held on the body.
lis verdict was We find that the deceased died
| suddenly IN the Market House. Kcnmare. from
| natural causes and further find, after the most
painstaking investigation, that his death resulted
| from destitution and insuiiic mt food
In The Merry sentinel of February ~ resola-
! ti0n of the kenmare Board of Guardians was pub
| hshed in which it is stated that this Board III
qurcd into the circumstances OF Dennis SUI liNuns
| death and find that he had been sum ienty sup
Piled with food beforehand, ana that on the morn
inc of his death his break fast consisted OF hot corn
| cake and tea. This Board have ascertaintd that
| Dennis Sullivan has been suffering from rocuT.
renee of an Internal disease. which doubtless led
TO The premature decease. THIS Board have ascer-
| tanned that lntemperancc and lmDroyldence marked
! the home OF the deceased. In the same Journal
| and IN the same number. three of the Jurors pub
| lIshed a card, publicly calling on the Boar! oil
! Guardians " to state when, where. ana how TIER
| inquiry was hed-whethcG II was sworn one, and
| WHO the witnesses were" This challenge bv tie
corOncl's jury led to "swom inquiry bJ the
! local Government Board aud was confined solely
to the question 90 the alleged desti luton Ot the
| deceased" The same witnesses who appeared
| before the cOropcr'S luTy were examined at TINS
| inquiry From the records OF these two lnytstl-
cations and from the lips ot one OF the luy. /
cleaned the story OF Dennis Sulliyan's death. Mr.
Harrington, OF Hh Merry SrtiHci has told the story
! so we'll that present II IN his wOrds-addlng only
| such brief comments are needed 10 enable Amer
leans 10 understand it. | have carefully read the
evidence thrice 10 whether Mr.. Ilarrngtons ac.
count was strictly In accordance with 1t. lt rs cor
rect IN every statement;
DEATH OF DENNIS SULLIVAN.
TIE verdict arrived at by hc intel gent jury sworn 70
uuure iUo the DEAN % .nals sullivan at kenmare
appears have luoered the dove cses of Llndlorsm
| ia tna quarter. Mi. Trench and his Board of Guar
dams rushed print with Indecent haste To rcyie he
of the dead, by stating mat no was notorious
! druukarn, ana mOic money WIS expended In crculdt
ing This ca umny al over the Empire than would have
kept un tunate from starvation. II Mr. Trench
ana ais rans had but seen 10 his clrcnns auces o.
| time 49, That he had not been druukad-mu,h
lees s'nOiorlOus" estaul shed DCyOna dOubt
at the inquest, ana ON ll-1i1e clear aud s""rn ,,s
mony A. Mas proved m he hA been i"t ioiS TIM IN
abiec deSututiOn. /huugn, o( some rev ia "'i"e