The daily gazette., 1881-11-12
From the N. Y. Sun.
The Working OF the Land Courts.

From the N. Y. Sun.
The Working Of the Land Courts.
The legal machinery organized by the
Irish Land act 10 now in operation, and
number OF cases have been passed
upon by sub-commissions. These deci-
sions are, Of course, not finsl, being ap-
pealable, first, to the chief Commission
ers sitting at Dublin, and afterward TO
the highest Court of Appeal for the
United Kingdom. They will be closely
scrutinized, however, alike by friends
aud by opponents Of the Gladstone Gov
ernment, as indications OF the spirit In
which the new law will be Administered.
When the sub-commissions began
work Of Monday Of last week, there were
already thousands of applications for
judicial adjustment Of rents. The first
point to be noted is that these applica-
tions have not been taken up in the
order in which they were filed, but in
wholly arbitrary way, TO suit apparently
the convenience Of the Commissioners
or the purposes of the Government.
Under these circumstances It Is not
So rprising that the first decisions should,
on their face, produce favorable I'm
able by Patrick McAtavey, a tenant on
the estate of an absentee landlord IN
County Monaghan, was reduced from
fS los. to 60 Is. The landlord, more
over, was ordered TO pay half OF the
county tax, the whole Of which the
tenant paid before, so that the redr ction
really amounted 10 ca los. This LOOKS
like a large reduction, and II nothing
more were known about the case than
the figures just cited, 1t would naturally
be regarded as promising precedent.
But what are the facts? This case OF
Patrick McAtavey has for eighteen
months been brought up all over the
United Kingdom as a typical instance
of extortion and hardship. 1t consti-
tuted one Of the examples cited by the
Land League speakers, to prove that
even CIR ffith's valuation was sometimes
far too high. That they spoke the truth
could not be gainsaid by the suo-com-
missioners, who, after hearing evidence
which was conflicting, went out to view
the holding, and found IL TO consist OF
ten acres OF wretched soil badly drained
and really incapable of being turned To
good account. The appearance of the
land justified the statements OF the
that 6s figi of odeupsRcs s PsS% &if
worth scarcely anything, and others thai
at the outside IL was not worth abov'
10. The annual sum now chargeabl,
on the tenant, after subtract ing half til,
county cess, will be f6 Is, and be ha
also been forced to pay his own costs
which, II turns out, amount TO G25
These costs on the preliminary proceed
Ing will alone eat up all the profit de-
eight years to come. What Will be the
cond. tion Of the tenant If the LANDLORD
appeals TO the chief Commission a
Dublin, where, again, each party will b.
ordered to pay his own costs, canno
yet be stated with precision, but IL W iii
OF course, be greatly aggravated. Shout,
the landlord see fit, however, to TAX
advantage of the amendment introduce
in the House of Lords and accepted b
the Government, he can carry the cas-
up to Court of Appeal at Westminster
where, in all likelihood, he would oh
tain judgment by default, seeing tina
the tenant will by that time have bee
| completely ruinad