Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-04-13
TIE IRISH AND THE LAND ACT.

Mr. Gladstonc'S remedial measures are too
Impotence of good many lrishmcu, and on
the principle by which the driver gccelcratcs
the speed OF the impetuous OK by the applica-
ton Of the goad, they are attempting TO hur-
ry John Bull by somewhat lavish dlstribu-
ton Of dynamite favors Concerning the
actual working of the Land Act-thc act
that was to transform Ireland from some
thing like Tophet into a close resemblance
given in an English paper. From these it
appears that on the 22l of August last so,
lS7 applications TO fix fair rents had been re-
ceived. or these, II ,4S3. OF about 90 per
cent had been isfosed Of Between Aug
ust 22d and January 3lst, 1908 additional
applications Cor about 1000 month"; were
received, and i2,0l0 (or about 24OO month";
were disposed of. This brought the total of
applications to 90, 2G2, of which 90, 493, or
about 80 per cent have been dealt with.
These figures refer only 10 contentious cases.
If we turn to the number of rents fixed by
agreement between landlord and tenant and
registered by the Land Count, We find that
on August 22d It stood at IL, 4S5, and on Jan
uary 3lst at &c, 440 ; 50 that in this period OF
five months -, 055 rents, or about 200 a
month, were settled by this method. TAX
ing contentious cases and agreements togeth-
or, we find that the total number of cases
| dapoeed of down to the 22d of August was
| 90, 9GS, and down TO the 3lsl of January 81,
| 1888, so that IN the five months 2j,9G3 cases
were dealt with, giving an average Of about
| 5000 month. The total number of tenants
to whose cases the Land Act applies is esti
| mated at three hundred thousand, Of whom
nearly fifty-two thousand had on the 3lst OF
January had their rents settled, and
| the number will, it is expected, be
increased to 10000 by the close OF
the year But this is only II little
more than onc-third of the whole number
and the great majority Of tenants therefore
must necessarily be Obliged to get along rs
best they may for the next two or three years.
Thus, an aggrevcd tenant who enters his
case the present month can not expect to get
g hearing on it until April, 1885, at the car
liest. And then, again, the hearing of appeals
seems 10 progress very slowly inasmuch as
the number of unheard appeals, which stood
at POI In August, had on Jan. 81 increase d,
to 377l.
The slowness of its working is the principal
objection to the Land Act and it is further
more Objectionable TO Irishmen because it
does not include all kinds of landed property
and all species Of tenants, and in particular
that it excludes leaseholdcr., WHO we're as
much entitled toprotecton as yearly tenants
and because in fixing the rent sufficient al
lowance has not been made for the tenants
| improvements. The intention of the govern.
meni and of the Parliamentary majority was
| it is said, that tenant should not pay rent
upon his improvements in other words, that
their value should be previously deducted be-
fore the fair rental for the farm WAS cstimat-
ed, This intention has been defeated by II
decision given by the Irish courts on the CON
struction of the act, and accordingly the ten