, 1881-10-16
THE IRISH LAND BILL.
History OF the Struggle for Tenant
Rights.
The New Bill Wipes Out Rack-Rents
and Feudalism. .
i Great Boon for Ireland il the Commits
sioners DO Right.
Letter from the Hon. s.. G.. MoElroy, Of
Ballymoney, ireland.
Tho Eaorl.- s. G.. nIcLlroy to H5r. John
EsurkytffC.

1 ~-J "N~~~-~J} ~-
The Eaor.- s. G. nIcElroy to n1r. JolsI
| Earsytf3c.
| BALLyMoSEY, County Antrim, Irclanc
Oct !, 1SSl.--Joit7l. FUfsyths, EsI.-DE.A
Sir: Before complying with your reQues
for Information about the new Land act,
ttecin it advisable to await the publication 0
the rules OF procedure by the Land Cou1nis
sion. The whole case is now ripe enough
for an expression: Of opinion OIL its merits
You intimate that tile Information will be i'll
tcrestil,E to Americans and l infer that yol
! desire this letter to he published. appreci
| ate tile Importance Of conveying to Amer
| leans, especlali; Irisll-Amercals, uractica
] view OF our present landmarks This view
| may not coincide with views which have OBJ
/ tanned considerable ascelittalcy over tic
minds Of Irishmen III America, but, know
i1,:s that rcsltlcnce,in .AIlerica has not nlarre
the generous features Of the Irish clar-
| meter and that Il fair hearing will
bu given to one who 1ublbed
his telfart-riglt principles and fueas uf pop
uiar liberty from the Rev. j. l.. Eentoul, Of
lallymoney, and Dr. Mcknight, editor Ut
the nnnncr Of Ulster and afterwards Of the
Londonderry Standard, [ ain embroidered to
WfitE Ill liE oplIll OL 1iIclulA ciIuOI lIt1ci
than IL, that Of diplomatic usage.
1t may not bc ilexpcdent to take glance
ut the road which has been traverseu, at
least during the last fourteen years. In 1s67
Mr.. Isaac Butt published his Fixity of Ten
ure bill. The fundamental principle Of this
bill WIS slNty-thrce years term Of 0cen-
I,atlcy, with revision Of rent every seven
years. In 1869 the Route Tenants' Defense
Association WIS reorSAnlzcd in the northern
portion ct Conn:y Antrim, and tie banner
Inscribed with the memorable words Fixlty
OF Tenure, Fair Rents, and Free Sale" was
unfurfed. = Tile promoters Of the movement
were branded Us reyolutionists, as
tirebrants setting class agaillst: class.
LII 1870 Mr.. Gladstone passed his
first land bill. Its main principle
WAS compensation to the tenant in ease Of
eviction To cope with the evils Of eviction
was its primary object. Notices to quit were
described by Mr.. Gladstone as falling thick
US snow-hakes. Tht. bill did hot give entire
satisfaction to the Tenant-Kigtt party. At
several conferences its defects were pointed
out. It WIS Inadequate with respect to the
uniform revival Of the genuine tenant-right
custom of Ulster: it made 10 provision for
the adjustment OF rents; it,tlid not establish
free sale: compensation i'll case of eylctiUt
was too low to operate rs 4 deterrent. On
various important points tile decisions in the
land courts were adverse to the tenants. Il.
the North particularly the decisions were
very conflicting, one administration uphold
ing III estate usage, another ignoring it.
Chicf.Justlce Mona han ruled III favor
of lease!lold tenant:riglt; Chief-Jnstlce
Whlteslde gave Il contrary ruling. Very
tim l,,c,n f,,r :, ,nora con,nr..harsiv.,
LOU LOU, po"' iol u inole eoihplenel31.e
iaia cote. u n!use I1 pe ssa1ea, however, thas
some eSse,lelit M agc'soils M were ;{lven uhuef
Eoftey, III Derry, Mr. *'ohliston, III Down, as
ChaitlMen OF their Respective Land Courts |
gave, on the Whole, enultable decisions. Eut |
cerlalil great rights had not been embodied |
therrin were liable to misnterprstation.
fr,stra'e the beneficial oper:tlons Of tlle act:
ESta.c Ms;sseS wefe lnnlnt:ined ~ Ulster;
as as u iavor thai, arlslt. Ihe only solid hene,
III W;ls 1lsat Il 1e:'a'tt conld nor oG evictcu
"ltholt compensation. as 2 poly the Char
men ot tile Land Courts dltl not synipatllZe
with tie objects OF the act, and in process of
them. Tightly or wrongly. the court was
as more or less hostile to the i'll
terests OF the tenantry, and yoM can Imagine
how the act OF ioto fell III puDilc
estimation. With all lis faults, had
the act got q aalf trlal from
Inc i! outset II Wuniu iave uoi1e more $ooa anti
the Land agitation would hot have illuminated
70 70 pony winch mas m, attracted tle eaze OF
tue el'lllzed world: INC gcneral p:Uv!slons
of the act were ialfure anu MT. brlEnls
scheme ni peasant nroprletotsl'p vas q prae-
lical failure At National Land Conference
helu III Dublin N 1911 the right OF the tenant
was asserted thus: to continue in undis-
Afh INT Ea3k ian l