, 1881-10-16
GATH ON BRITISH LAND.
Interview on the British and Irish
81. Land Question.


Evils of the Baronial systena-Reforn
Is Necessary.
WASHINGTON, d. e., Oct. 14.-Con,in.
down OIL tile Pullman train last night with {;
I part Of tha Cabinet and many foreign visitor:
to Yorktown, fell into conversation with III
English gentielnat attached to the Foreign
Department for Ireland, and connection OF
| Mr. Forster the Irish Secretary, WHO gave
ms sonte highly Interesting points OIL the
land evils Of the two islands. Without fur
ther introduction, will put his case. The
| figures my informant put down for Int, and
| wrote some Ut the :l.,sWcrs.
| AMOUNT OF LAND IN ENGLAND AND WALES
| =" Give HE all idc;," said !, ''of the surface
| character OF the British Islaads:.''
/ !" According to Mr. Joseph kay,'' said my
| informant. *'a British Judge and publicist
| who wrote a b ook called 'Frce-rradc and
i Land,' published III 1879, the total area ot
England and Wales, emitting tile metropolis
| Of the London district, was 37.2l:, s59 acres
| or this siXt.-six persons owned f,M?,osG
acres. One hundred persons owned ,9l l7,tAt
acres. Less tIan $50 persons owned 5,{25. 'Hf
acres, or nearly one-slxth of all the incloscst
| land. just IA persons owned olG-litth OF
! England and Wales; TO persons owned more
than onc-fourth OF England and Wales; sri
| persons owned 9,:,G7,U ,U;l acres. LII none Of
| these. calculations are the eXtents Of woods.
| commons, and waste lands Included. Lit
the County Of Northumberland, which
has 1,20D, ,00D acres, twenty-slN persons owned
half tho county. A houy Ut men which
probably does not exceed more than t.: 40
own more than Il, 5 100 acres, Or more tllan
/ ottc-ltalf Of all Engl and and Wales.
SCOTLAND.
"Docs this inequality extend TO the other
kingdoms::'"
"In Scotland the returns are still morestartl-
ing. The Total acreage OF Scotland is 1885,
GA acres. Oie owner alone has ,0N
acres i'll Scotland, and also j. ,0.3 acres in
England, or Il total Of 1,;S,5 ,5is acres. \ se>:
onu owner has 43l, 600 acres; Il third owner
has 4a4,0o0; fourth owner has 3it::',0N;
fifth owner has :3n, 900. Twelve owners have
4.sss} ~ acres, or nearly onc7luartcr of the
whole of Scotland. or in other words, 4 tract
OF country larger than the whole Of Wales,
and equal in size to eight English counties.
Twenty owners have each more than 10000
acres; twenty-tDtlr owners have 4.Ji,Sf0
acres, or more than 0ilesltttrter Of Scotland.
Seventy OWilers have about 90, 000 acres, or
about onc-l,uIf uf Scotland. Nine-tcntls Of
tile whole OF Scotland belong to fewer than
zoo persons.
GAME ESTATES.
"Nhat is the first evil of this inequaiityoa'
''Tlle existence Of these vast properties i'll
Scotland has led to the depopulating OF great
tracts OF country in 0rdert To create large deer
forests. The lion. Ly.Iph Stanley cllcu-
!:tteS that much more than 2,000,0)0 acres
have been cleared Of hundreds Of thousands
Of sheep. or tepVpltiatel. in order to. make
room for deer. destroying the homes, and
farms, and food of thousands of familits III Il
country which Is alleged IL bc 50 crowded as
to make ii absurd ~ suppose that any alterit-
tion in the la1sd~iaws would enable the middle
and laborlng classes to acquire land.'
IRELAND.
s'!s Ireland as bad:'''
1.-THE condition IF things III Ireland is 50 |
bad, and has Durpusely been kept ST secret, |
that it is impossible to ascertain from the re-
turns the nuHberof yGol'ian pfuprietors who |
exist IN TIC island. AS far as ra'i hc found t
Ireland, with total area Ut 70, a9,t7S acres,
it.s III persons WHO hold. g,Gl., - acres,
or about one-1'alf Of the island. Two hun
third Of the island. One person owns 1t, ,11o
acrcs; three persons own each more than
lW.UN acres: II persons own eaci more than
:.uD0 acres; ~ ptrsullS own e;tcll lnnrc han t
~, }uV acres: i13 persons own each more than
o,ouo acres; 452 persons own each more than
900 acres.
In THE UNITED KINGDOM.
which IS made up, of England, Scot
land, Wales. and ireland, the twelve
largest owners lls,ld III the aggregate
whole OF Eli GIANT and Wales are ileitl ly only
II, !!07 persons. Twa-thirtls of the Wll0l. If
Scotland are held by only 80 persons. Tws,-
thirds Of the whole of Ireland are held By |
l.ol2 persons. uf the renlaiui1lg one-thirtt I
great oart. bcing leased ior y long period Of
wears, will. ut the termination Of the LEAST
holds. for the present renlalslers Of the orig
lnal terms ifor -ntncty-liile years anu np-
wartal revert to these @"c1t owners. with all
made upon tien1 BY the eX- |
pcaditl1rc 0f tic leasellOlflnrs.''
. '..1:E TIE r.Al:MEl;'S DlM1Sls111NGoo''
tMr. Froutle, the slcm;-Tory HISTORIANS ays:
THE House Of Lords does own more than Il /
bird of the whale are, OF Great Britain.
FWO-thirts OF it really belong to great Peers
md Commoncrs, whose estates are cnntill-
laiiy devouriny the small estates adjoining
HEM Lord Derby sad that the class of
lcasant proprictors formerly to be found i'll
he rural districts was tending to disappear
9ldWrItcFS t tteat it's one Of the ooaft5 Of oL1
icomeil. But where ARE they now: by
'ur system OF land laws,' saws Mr. Kay, we
,ayc been cutting away the base Of our so-
'iai pyramid. while nearly I'LL other civi1zed /
countries have been pursuing al exactly op-
,osit policy"
''Wllat countries, for instance"''
Since the French revolution of lisa tile
greater part Of the land throughout the Re-
,ubllcs OF Switzerland and France, the ELL
llres Of Germany and Austria, and the King
IONS Of Holland, Belgium. and Italy, las
,een released from its feutal ftttcrs, and has
II every such c:1sc begun Immediately to
'reak up into small estates, creating il class
IT CONSERVATIVES, industrious. prosperous
nl independent yeomtn proprictoyS. It ..
vould be a most Interesting subject of iu-
[uiry, rs Alr. Kay remarks, lad we only the ..
means Of following it out, to ascertain how
ach OF the great estates came to be formed |
II the United Kingdom; how many were
reated by the industry and personal efforts |
i some ancestor; how many were the grants
4 soyereisns to their favorits; how {
many were gradually amassetl by suc~
esslye marriages Of convenience; how {
many were obtained by ambitious I
iii the troublors times Ut ollr |
ough island story by the attaiutler and )
cath Of rivals; how many were either ere {
tel Or immensely increased by grants of the s
asst Possessions uf the religious houses and
f the Roman church; how many were tho F;
esults ut our fierce and bloody civil wars ! {
nd struggles. Mr. Froude says: Unless
e area Of Great Britain could he made !
.rger than it is or until the British people | :.