New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-11
OPENING THE LAND COURT.
PROCEEDINGS Full OF INTEREST.

IN THE COURT-LAwYr RS, pr CFDENTs AND
LEGAL TrCuNiCALIrIEs IGNOR D-EXTBAoEDI-
NARY FACILITIES EXTENDED TO TENANTS-JUS-
lice o'HkGAN's ENUNCIATIONs RATHER INDFFI-
NITE-TIfE LAND ACT TO BE INTERPRETED AND
EXECUTED IN The SPIRIT IN WHICH II WAS
framed.
trpoN the REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE tribune
LONDON. Oct 22.-The opening Of the Land
Court fell upon the very day of the suppression OF
the Land League. aud for that reason did not
secure quite its lull share Of public attention. But
the proceedings will be found full of interest. and
the interest is Of varied kind. The Court mas
been created to work the Land Act. That Act Is
without n precedent in history. Mr. Justice
OIIagan, who sits as chief Judge with Mr.. Litton
and Mr. Vernon as associates. opened his Court by
4 declaration of his view Of the Act, and of the
spirit in which he meant to execute 1t. lie regards
il rs measure dcs gned TO confer great and imme-
date benefits upon the Irish tenant who should
avail himself of IT, We have got 20 used TO that
sort of language by this time, that most of us prob
ably read il without great shock. Yet il is very
extraordinary language TO como from Judge APP
poipted nominally to hold the scales even between
tenant and landlord, and not less extraordinary be-
cause it does accurately describe the purpose and
effect of the Land Act. The Act deals with the
land and undertakes to settle the respective III
teress in It OF the landlord who Is the owner OF the
land and of The tenant, who Is not the owner bGt
the permitted occupier of it under contract when
he entered into freely. Yet the Judge who is to put
the Act into operation forgets in the account ho
gives of &c. all about the landlord, and remembers
ONLY the tenant. | do not mean TO say he could or
could not do otherwise. lie is perfectly right III
describing the Act as designed to give the tenant
secure tenure nj fair rent. and TO become I'D So'
cases the absolute and unfetered owner OF his hoIu
ing All ] wish to point ont il that a Court "hch
enters upon is work in thi, spirit is certain To exc
cute the Act with the utmost libcra'y toward 'h'
tenant. Anything the trainers OF this Act meant INC
tenant shouId get. ne will gel. The experiment
for an experiment it isis to be fairly and FULLY
fried. II is to ne settled for all whether the
Irish tenant will be content with the redress of
every grievance of which he has heretofore com
piained 1t does not seem TO matter so much
whether the landlord IS content The Act was not
devised in hi, interest and will not he executed with
a view to making him loyal subject. lie Is sup
posed 10 be sufficiently Iowa already.
RECOGNIZING thus frankly the evolutionary char
actcr of the tribunal over which he prcsidr', Mr.
Justice O'llagan adopts n method Of procedure no'
less revolutionary. ID is the first English Court
ever heard Of i'm which procedure is not based on
precedent When the Act was framed, its critics
spoke Of It as an act for the promotion oi ltgat"h'
Whether tenants benefited 10y II or not, there was
one class in Ireland who would hail 1t with delight
1t would prove q harvest To the lawyers. Fut
apprehend that Irish lawyers do not at this Wom'n
take unite that view. Mr. Justice OlIagan has all
but put them ont of court. when this great trust
was committed TO rs" slys be. ave resolved 10 do
our utmost to render the procedure through which
these great ends we're to he attained one Of extreme
;.;t rom all ffp
and pitfalls Of tcchnicaltic," II may be said of
Mr. Justice OIiagan that If lac has forgotten tho
landlords he has dciicd his own profession. The
most radical law Tciouucr never went so far IN
theory n }lr Justice o IIagau has gone i'm fact.
lie had the power under the Aci to organize his
Court rs hc liked. and he has organized II Is II
there were no such creatures in existence rs barrs-
tiers and solicitors. There are 10 he no plcadug-.
no elaborate enumeration Of PARTICULAR 10 state
mont of claim or statement of defence. and no
fees tenant who wants the Court 70 fix his zen,
serves "A notice his landlord saying 50. using
any form OF words he lilies, and stating only such
particulars as he must himself know all about
where his land lies, and what the present rent aud
valuation oft are copy Of tins notice be- sends by
post either to the County Court or the Land
Court. The doing Of that constitutes tie com
Of an action, which the Court itself
then taxes ~ tHAIGt, anu tAhtn 10 hiiE 10 "
early trial The cost oi this proceeding Is the sum
of one shilling plus the cost of the revenue stamp
which is not given but is trivial II the notice Is
not stamped or if a copy is stamped instead OF the
original. or any other iucguIariiy be committed
which would be fatal in an ordinary court. the
tenant will be allowed to set 1t right Mt any time
before trial without further charge. Nothing Is
more significant of the audaciy oi these new judges
than what they have done about stamps. They
cXtortcd the consent of the Inland Revenue Office
in advance; a body which has heretofore shown
tself incapable of concessions, and bent Oh exact
ing the uttcrmost far,hing which could be legally
screwed ont of an innocent offender. II you 60 INTO
an ordinary court with an unstampcd document
you must pay u hnc Of $50 for the privilege of
stamping it, Mr. Justice O'lIlgan has abolished
that fine for the purposes OF his Court and the
benefit Of the tenant.
Not less interesting, though possibly less novel is
the construction which Nh Justice OIlagan puts
upon one section Of the Act. BY the siNtieth soc.
ton certain important rights are saved 10 tenant,
in particular category. who present themselves in
Court on the occasion Of its frst sitting. "On the
first ocrason. not the first day. says Mr.. Justice
O'Hagan; and awaiting himself Of this loopholc
and insisting that he has right to define the limits
OF any sitting he Ordains that the first sitting shall
continue from Thursday the 2Oth ill SATURDAY,
the Goth of October inclusive. $50 that rs these
words of ours are certain to make their way through
the press to every part Of Ireland, one can say
with justice that his rights have been lost by any
want Of care on our part to preserve them" NO.
Mr.. Justice O'llagan, that, it is clear, cannot he
said lie is not less careful to explain that with
respect 10 any other rights than those now spnci-
fed the tenants failure to make application at tlis
sitting entails no loss or forfeiture whatever The
Court viii remain open, the tenant may come ia
whenever he likes, whether 10 have Iii, rent asrd
or to purchase his holding or to obtain grant I'm
iee-power by means Of u loan from thr Commission;
-" PRIVILEGES which we trust 10 largely taken adj
vantage Of" remarks Alr Justice O'lll,au in hi.
patcrna way.
Such being the organization m ! method, Of this
Court nobody Will be surprised to ini Mr.. Justice
O'Hagan conclude his exposition by insisting that
his Court is hardly court ut al. la language of