Morris tribune., 1885-01-07
THE SKYE CROFTERs.
causes of tho Little Rebellion In the Isle
D of Skye.

The little rebellion now existing in
the Isle of Skye, says the New York
Commercial 1duertiSer, has not been
very clearly defined, as to its causes, in
the accounts received by cable; but it
is not in the least difficult to understand
and account for any conceivable dis
content among the poor crofters of that
island. -..
The island is in the main unfit for ag-
riculture. The lower lying tracts are
susceptible of cultivation in potatoes
and a few other products, but the eli
mate is unfavorable, the soil poor, and
the results of labor very uncertain.
The land system, not only in Skye but
in other islands of the group, is about
the worst one conceivable. The great
en- part of Skye belongs to one great
proprietor, and the curse of great es-
tates, intended for the support of
double or triple set of dependents upon
the soil, is felt throughout the He
brides. In many cases the land is held
of the great proprietor by tacksmen, q
sort of middlemen between owner and
cultivator, men who hold the land by
lease and sublet it at higher rates to
others, Lowing second rent of their
own, which would be well-nigh unen-
durable burden to agricultural industry
even in the best conditions, while the
conditions in the Hebrides are the
worst. -
The crofters are simply small renters
men who hold little fields or gardens
upon the most uncertain of tenures-
that of tenants at wi1l-at high rents.
They live by fishing and kelp hunting,
and by serving summer tourists; and
their lives are one long battle with alb
solute destitution, with the odds terri
| bly, against them.
That there should be discomfort
among people so situated-especially
when the population is so excessive as
it is in these islands-is quite matter
of course, and the desperation OF such
discomfort is equally to be presumed.
Men who, at best, are allowed only the
barest possibility of subsistence, and
who are exposed to the loss even OF that
small chance, by ordinary circum-
stances, or by the arbitrary will OF those
who Cypress them, are not apt to be
particular as to legal forms IN their ef-
forts to preserve themselves and their
children alive.
In the present case the crofters arc
behaving surprisingly we'll. The an
nouncement having been made to them
that a force of 200 marines is to be
sent over from the mainland to-day to
reduce them to order, they have re-
solved to assemble at the boat landing
$500 strong, not to attack the marines
OF to commit any act of violence, but
to escort the troops to zig, and there
to question them as to the object Of
their coming. If the answer is not sat
| isfactory-and there is hardly O chance
that it will be so-it is the purpose O
the crofters to escort the marines bach
to the troop-ship and to warn then
away.
Of course Great Britain can reduce
these poor wretches to subsection. Sh'
can compel them to sit still and starv'
amid their fogs, and to take the foot
out of the mouths of their children il
order that it may 90 to the tacksmel
and the great landlord in payment o
rents that the unfruitful ground canno
be made to yield if those who labo
upon it are to eat. But it would be {
much wiser and more humane thinE
for a great Christian nation to TAX
measures for improving the condition
of these oppressed and hungry people
and freeing them from burdens to-
grievous to be borne. The existin!
system of land tenure in the Hebride
is iniquitous and irrational as applied
to a region where it is scarcely possibl
for any man to dig living out of tn
soil even in the most favorable circum
stances, and where the population i
| excessive by reason of the false system
maintained there, The large estate
have been created In many cases by tn
simple process of removing the peopl
from the land. Such estates involv
the withdrawal of much land from
productive uses and the grievous op
preston of the laboring poor. There i.
occasion there for the exercise of wist
and humane craftsmanship, and il
would be better to send over commits
sion to study the condition of the PEG
Pile than to send a troop-ship will
armed men for the peoples further op
preston.