The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-11-08

MI. ID. tx. Lock (Petrolium V. NasOy,
has recently returned from Il visit to Ire
! land. He went there a determined hate
of Ireland and the Irish --cause, he ha.
returned converted. He describes the hor
ror of the situation there, the poverty anC
destitution and is bold in his ascribance O
it to its cause; landlordism. In relating
his experiences there he gives the following
deposition of Edward Hannah, an evictet
tenant near Cork, and certifes to it
truth:
In 1869 / took farm from Mr.. Richard
Martin, Little Island, represented in my
lease as containing ninety nine acres, three
| roods and sixteen perches, at los per acre
In 1872 Mr. Martin advertised. anothel
farm adjoining the one which held, stat
ing that it contained 14S- acres. / took i
at los per acre. -.
In few years | discovered that these
farms did not contain the number of acres
represented, and We got two civil engl
neers to survey the farms. The result o.
their Investigations proved farm No. to
measure 50 acres; farm No. 2 no acres.
l hold the engineers certificate which
showed to Mr.. Martin, thus showing chat
had been paying for five acres at los. pei
acre in farm No 1 for 90 years, and fo1
30 acres in farm No. 2 for 20 years at los
per acre, land which / had not in my pos
session.
] agreed to pay Mr.. Martin the amount
due to him for. rent provided he allowed
me the amount i had already paid him in
advance. He refused nsdo SO, but got an
execution against me, and had the crops
sold in my absence before I got notice
lie then served me with a notice saving
that he would take criminal proceeding
against me If / touched the crops.
He then commenced to cut and save the
crops with his own men. On the 9Th oil
September, he, accompanied by the sheriff
bailiffs and thirty police, +evicted me on the
roadside. asked him If he would allow
me in for the night He refused. He
scattered my furniture about the yard, and
when | went to prevent the bailiffs break
ing my furniture, | was threatened by 8
police officer with arrest.
Bear in mind the fact that poor Hannah
does not get cent for the Improvement OF
20 years, that everything on the place,
even the wretched cabin, was put there by
the tenant, out out he went, all the same.
If this is not brigandage what is it? In
what respect does Mr.. Richard Martin diff
fer from highway robber2 And what
kind of a government is it that maintains
soldiery to back up the Mr.. Richard Mar
tins in their robberies?
Is there any cause for discomfort in Ire
1and9 Were Edward Hannah think I
should be discontinued, and / should
try if a shotgun would not make some Gis-
content in the vicinity of Mr.. Richard Mar
tin. But he cannot dothis, for he is not
permitted to own a shotgun, and then
there are the terrible police.
1t needs to be borne in mind that ehis
land when Harmon went upon it was en-
tirely worthless; it was bog and stone, and
until the stone and bog were removed DO
acres would not have pastured a goat He
had labored on that land for 20 years, he
had made a beautiful farm of it, he had
been paying for the land which he did not
have, and and with all this he was evicnes,
the crop Of the year seized, and he turned
out to starve. with no redress. s
The thirty police, armed with caEbiues,
made the law in this case, and it does in all
cases In Ireland.
The following Sunday a meeting to pro
test against this injustice was held upon
the land, and a detachment of police fol
lowed the procession, and a government