Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-08-19
The Lord. and the land Bill

Monopoles die hard, more especially hered-
itary monopolies hence the opposition Of the
English House of Lords to the passage of the
land bill of the House of Commons. After
an all-summer's job, Mr.. Gladstone's govern
ment got the land bill for Ireland through the
so.caled lower House. It then went before
the Lords as the matured judgment of the
representatives of the people touching what
was needed for the Cancellation and well-being
of the Irish. The Lords, unfortunately for
them, are at present led by tory Of the to-
ries Lord Salisbury; and so, instead of ac-
cepting the bill with good grace, they pro-
ceeded at once TO hamper and mutilate It by
amendments materially altering its main feat
ures, and then sent 1t back to the Commons.
1t is not easy to state just what are the pre-
else features of the bill which give such UNI
bragg to the Lords, as we have never seen the
full text of the bill but We gather that one
of the amendments Of the Lords is TO take
away from the tenants certain protection
which the bill proposes to give them, in the
matter of permanent improvements which
may have been made, in case of eviction for
non-payment of rent. For example, tenant
in prosperous times may have expended con-
siderable sums for drainage or the like but
series of bad years for crops cripples his
resources, and he falls behind in bis rent, for
the non payment of which he loses his lease.
The bill provides for his being remunerated
for his improvements--which provision seems
reasonable; but it appears that the Lords OBJ
ject 10 it. 1t seems as IL this difficulty might
be easily gotten over, as it is evidently no
more than Just that a tenant so crcumstanced
should be reimbursed for his outlay.
But this is not the gravest feature of the
bill, or what in particular gives apprehension
to the Lords It is the fact that the bill itself
makes the tenure of land rather uncertain ;
for it contemplates compulsory sale of the
land on the part of the owners, if the Gland
court shall so decide. This seems, undoubt-
eddy, good deal like the beginning of the
end of the land monopoly, and the Lords
dread it for, should it be carried forward in
Ireland, there can be no good reason why it
should not be in England and Scotland also,
and, with the loosening of their grip on the
land, farewell all hope of saving the heredi-
tary prerogatives of the aristocracy!
Mr.. Gladstone is in no mood to recede from
the main positions of his measure, and the
country is in no mood to have him do so
hence the gravity of the situation for the
Lords. The House of Lords has to hear it.
self characterized as Fan irresponsible body, -
and the question is mooted whether it be wise
"to continue system by which an irrespon-
sible chamber can thwart and defeat the ex-
pressed will of the people" All of which
must be anything but pleasant for the Lords
to hear. But we see no help for it, The
schoolmaster has been at work in Great Brit
ain to purpose, and the people understand
q thing or two. The farmers on our western
prairies have not been laboring in vain, and
railroads and steamships have enabled those
farmers to lay their products down in the
British markets at a price calculated to make
the possibility of rent-paying more and more
of o problem to the tenant-farmer, and to
render the ownership of land much less of 6
privilege than it once was. Of course the in
stincts of the landed Lords prompt them t.
guard jealousy anything like curtalment o
their age-long monopoly in the land but
whatever be the fate of the present bill, tn,
day is not far distant when the rent-rolls o
the aristocracy of Britain will not be compe
tent to the support of such establishments a
are represented by the nabobs who sit in tn
upper" House. England is fast becoming
democracy; hence the terror of the tories.
Later information is to the effect that tn
Lords, sooner than might have been expected
made a graceful back-down, accepting tn
land-bill as it came back from the Commons
without material alteration. 1t now remain
to be seen what practical effect it is going t
have in the way of pacifying the Irish tenant