New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-12-07
THE OUTLOOK ~ IRELAND.

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THE OUTLOOK ~ IRELAND
The outlook in Ireland grows more discour-
aging every week. The expectation of the
! Government that settlements would be
! speedily Effected outside the Land Court as
soon rs the prcccdcnts were established and the
| principles of the Act thoroughly understood,
| has not been fulfilled Although sub-commis-
sions have been organized and the new ma
chincry has been kept in constant motion under
! high pressure, the process Of rcvaluation and
redress is necessarily slow and laborious. The
decisions of these tribunals almost without ex-
ception have been in the tenants favor, yet the
moral effect has been less than was generally
expected Experience has proved that the
| Land Act was % greater boon than the tenants
had supposed. and that they have only to lay
their claims before the sub-commissions in
order to secure a material reduction OF rent
whenever their cases are reached. 6ut when
can decisions be expected, if every instance of
agIariau injustice is to be referred to these
tribunals n the island cannot be cncctualy
puciGcd until evidence has been heard and
Judgment rendered in at least 10000 aud pos
sibly as many as 100000 cases, the rcnt-paying
masses may be justified in regarding the pro-
ccS,c- Of remedial legislation as too slow TO be
of any practical assistance 10 them.
What is needed to render so exceptional a
measure really elective is the cooperation Of the
land-owning and rcnt-paying classes. II the de-
cision> IN court were giving form aud direction
to hundreds of compromises on the great estates,
if landlord and tenant were accepting the prccc-
dents n bearing directly upon Their own differ
Cuccs and were making their own terms with
ont appca ing To the sub-comms~on>, the sue
cess of the Land Act would be apparent. But
the decentralization effected by the Land
League is so oidc~prcad that this cooperation
of social classes seems to Ice entirely out of the
question. The machinery OF the court is al
ready cloglcd with vast accumulations of
work. The number of sub. commissions may
be multiplied, but the wheels viii move very
slowly. The rcyaluation Of Irish holdings is
a judicial process based ON evidence and re-
qurcs pain,laling care and wise di~crimina-
ton. It may be- accomplished in the course Of
q generation, but that j, long time for ,ullon,
Discontinued, EnglIsh-hating tenants to wait.
The cmbarrH ,smcuts OF the Government have
been increased 10y its successive defeats IN the
by-clcctious, by the equiv alliance of the
Conservatives with the Home Rulers in certain
constituencies, 10y the shrlI demands of land
lords for compensation, and by "a sudden out
break of agrarian crime In ireland. Since the
general election in 1850, there have been
thirty-four electoral contests in which the
Liberals have won two and the Conservatives
twelve scats-a net los, of ten, counting as
twenty in a general division. \ statesman 50
sensitive to fluctuations of public opinion as
Mr. Glal-.on. ha, always been, cannot regard
with cumposurc the loss ot 50 many Liberal
seats. Yet these lossr, have uniformly been
sustained through Irish di-alcctlon. and the
sim, are multiplying that the Conservatives are
deliberately planning 10 turn the Irish crisis to
direct party advantage They are unable 10
make any party capital ont of Mr.. Glad,touc's
foreign policy. They have ceased chlftcring
about Afghauistan and the TUm,vaal Russian
aggression and intrigue in the trans Caspian
region and in the Balkan Peninsula, and the
dccqdcncc of British influence on the Cont.
rent. Fair Trade has not proved an available
political issue. The Irish question alone offers
striking opportunities for political assault and
a party which is mainly made up of landowners
cannot be expected to resist the temptation of
defending the Irish landlords and of holding |
the Government responsible for the present
condition of the island. Their secret intrigucs |
with Home Rule committees in closely con
tested boroughs may open way for an open |
alliance with the Irish party in opposition to
any change in the obsolete practice of Parlia- |
mcnt; and their influence, as privileged pro- /
prictary class, will bc brought to bear against |
the Government in all leg Station relating to |
land, whether in Ireland, Scotland or England. |
Their more advanced leaders are already de- |
claIing that the Land Act is a lamentabe fail |
ure. and that Ireland is in state of utter law |
lcssness.
The secret agents Of the Land League are |
doing what they can to support Conservative |
The tenants are refusing to pay |
rent and defying the landlords to turn them |
ont Murder, arson, mutilation of cattle and |
all forms of agrarian outrage are becoming |
common Any pcaceable tenant in the most |
troublesome districts who ventures to pay his |
rent like an honest man exposes himself to a |
visit from Captain Moonlight and band of |
and the local juries will acquit every
prisoner who is convicted of agraIian outrage.
A less courageous statesman than Mr.. Glad |
stone would view the general prospect in Ire |
land with alright. But he has faith in moral |
as well as physical force. He leaves to pa |
thence its perfect work. He believes that party |
intrigucs and Irish prejudice and awessness
can be finally overcome.
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GOOD ADVICE THAT FONT BE FOLLOWED. |