The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1880-01-15
Plan Of Relief.

Plan of Relief.
Mr.. William Dillon, barrister OF Dublin
who recently arrived in this country. In al
Interview with a newspaper reporter gsv,
some accounts OF the modes OF relief propos
ed by the ''agtators.''
"Y0n must remember" said he, ssthat til,
mass Of small holders OF land In Ireland ar,
tenants at wfll-tliat is they can be turned
out by the landlord whenever he please.
upon q very short notice. A two-fold REM
. " has been proposed to rectify this eN
One is to convert these tenants at will into
p oprietors by bling them to buy up tht /
holdings by extensive loans OF money from
the State. Mr.. Parnell thinks, and so do l.,
iat that process would be a slow one. We
think THAT great deal may be done by buy
ing up waste lands and selling them to ten.
ants. think 1t would be very good spec
ulation for the Government, but 1t would
require an enormous advance of money,
which. perhaps, the Government would not
De prepared to make. 1t is proposed to ex-
act the fxty Of tenure by making law that
tenants, so long as they pay their rents.
shall not be liable to be disturbed. 1t often
happens now that landlords rack rent the
tenants to the last extremity, SO that they
can't pay. Again, they often think it will
pay better to turn out the tenants and make
grazing lands OF the property. have
known whole mountain side. twelve miles
from Dublin. to be cleared Of tenants. They
sometimes allow tenants to improve bad land
and turn them out when it Is made good.
This sort OF thing Is very unjust in country
like Ireland, which subsists on agriculture.
There will be no prosperity while that loose
tenure Of land prevails The leaders desire
a reform, so that tenants shall not be evlcted
as long as they pay rents. That would
necessltate fixing Of the rents, as other
wise it would set premium on bad landlords.
You must have some system of valuation. II
a tenant can support himself and family In
clothing and food for certain amount and
have enough besides to pay a small rent we
contend that that Is as much as the land
lord ought to get"
THE LANDLORDS DEFENSE.
"What do the landlords say about that?''
'Their cry is for perfect freedom o; con.
tract. They claim the right to get Just as
much out Of the tenant as they can get him
to pay. That might do very we'll In Amer
lea. but in Ireland, where the land Is held
by small owners who have an unreasonng
love for their bit OF property and will starve
themselves to retain it, the rule would not
be just. The question is whether class leg
islation should be made to sustain theory,
perhaps sound enough In the abstract, but
not just In its application. Freedom of con-
tract is the landlords argument"
'How do the leaders Of the agitation pro-
pose to have the tenants buy up the land, as
they have not at present the means of pay
ing the rents?"
"What they propose to do is this: The
for mr. nhoro f lon ord hox fhoir 90
states heavily mortgaged. In disastrous
times like the present these estates are fore
closed. Now there is 4 opportunity for
the tenant to buy at rates probably lower
than they will be again for many years to
come. They need the money to purchase.
What we propose is that the Gov ernment is
authorized to advance two.thirds of the
pnrchase-money. The tenants on large es-
tates could club together and bid for the
property. They would have to find the
other third for themselves. Such provisions
are not unknown in Ireland. For instance,
when the Irish Church was disestablished In
1869, the Church held considerable amount
of land which had to be sold. The Com.
missieners were authorized to sell land to
the tenants where they outbid other bidders
in fair competition. The Government
offered them in such cases a loan OF two
thirds OF the purchase-money. The value
of the tenant-right was always security to
the Governme nt. Under the Land act Of
1873 the tenant was guaranteed certain
rights, among which was that of being con-
pensated for improvements he might make.
The turning out tenants who had improved
land, as told you, can no longer be DONE"
HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS TO BE REIN
BURsED.
money leaned by the Government"
SAT present the English Government
borrows money at 81 per cent. Now, il the
tenant pays 5 per cent. of the purchase mon
ey per year, he could pay the 81 per cent, of
the Government interest and use the remain
ing Ii pei cent. as sinking fund with
which to pay the principal. By this means
in thirty-three years the total principal and
interest would be paid without expense to
the Government. This system would give
the tenant two things-immediate fixity of
tenure and prospect Of owning the land in
years. In the case Of the Church
lands there was 100000 sterling laid
aside for that very identical purpose Of loan
ing to tenants to pay two-thirds OF the pur-
The law was hedged around
with so many difficulties that very few persons
took advantage OF it, and the unfortunate
tenant thought he might just as we'll go to
China for money as to attempt to borrow 1t
under that provision. The Bright clause in
the Land act provided thai whenever
forced foreclosure sale OF real estate took
place the property might be partitOned for
the different tenants to buy If they chose.
That law was, however, defeated in practice
because the judges Of the court held that it
was their first duty to protect the interests
of the owner and the mortgaged. II they
sold parts OF the property to tenants and
could not sell the rest there would remain
an irregular. jagged piece of land, which
they could not dispose OF. So combination
of all the tenants was required to take ad-
vantage of the law, and only two cases have
occurred where they all did combine. Some
of the judges suggested that there should be
created 3 totally distinct body, with power
to buy up the whole Of the foreclosed estate,
Intervening between the court and the ten.
ants and effecting an equitable distribution
after the sale. Probably some such body as
that would be necessary to meet the Difficult.
ties OF the situation. An enormous amount
Of money would be required to carry out
that plan for the whole Of Ireland-about
E270, 600, 900 sterling. The Government has
already given Gl,0OO, 900; we want them to
Increase it to 100000, 000."
Legislative Notes.
The bill continuing the contract for convict
labor with the James River Kanawha Canal
Company has passed the House.
In the Senate, on the 18th, Mr.. Rawles offered
a resolution inquiring into the expediency of
abolishing the Office of county judges and return
ing to the old county court system.
In the House, on the l2th, Mr.. Wilkinson Of
fered resolution requesting the Finance COM