Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-05-12
THE IRISH LAND-MIsER.
How william sculIy Acquired 100000
Acres of Western Lands.
From thu Nel1 York World.

] r
LITTLE BRITAIN, n. Y, May 5.-The
publicity recently given to the rack-rent-
ing practices of William Scully, the Irish
absentee landlord OF thousands of acres
of Western lands, has attracted much at
tentiOn here. Mr.. Charles Reynders, of
this place, related to World cOrrespOn-
dent to-day some facts that throw an i'm
portant and interesting light on Scully's
character and the results OF the system
he has imported.
81 spent a long time with the Scully
tenants, or renters as they are called, in
the summer of 1882" said Mr.. Reynders.
sit was in Logan county, Illinois," he
continued, "that Scully laid the founda-
tions of his present fortune. Immediately
after the Mexican war he began buying
up soldiers homestead warrants. For
these he paid extremely little, as he went
to work very quietly and Systematically,
buying from men who either remained in
the army or returned to occupations in
the large cities, which indicated their in
disposition to become pioneer farmers in
what was then wild region of country.
In more than one instance, it is said, he
secured 160-acre tract for S. or $40. He
has never sold an acre of all The land thus
acquired. On the contrary, ii has been
made the means OF wringing from the
hard hands of large peasant tenantry
by any indirection all that their daily toll
might produce above a wretched subsist-
ence year in and year out. He is virtually
ae much master OF about a thousand of
these human toilers as the Pharoahs were
of the Egyptian slaves whose lives were
sacrificed in building the Pyramids, and
their condition is little better than that of
the wretched fellaheen of to-day, who are
compelled to labor increasingly through
miserable existence to provide for the
extravaganza of successive khedives.
Scully's are adjusted according to the
quality of the land, but in no case are
they low enough to leave the cultivatOrs
more than enough to keep body and soul
! together. These are mostly men with
families and without capital. who rent the
land in the vain hope of being able to
save enough in few years to become
purchasers of other land and establish
comfortable homes. Instead of this they
usually ind themselves worse of at the
end OF five or six years than they were at
the beginning, with their labor mOrtgaged
to pay arrears of rent. Besides the rem
tai the tenant is obliged to pay all taxes
and other charges on the land, and to
make his own improvements, no in
| demnity being allowed. In the city of
Lincoln Scully has several agents to
watch and report on crop prospects. Sc
cure prompt payment of rents and see to
the exact observance of the iron-clad
| leases. His agents make much of the as
sention that Scully's rents are reduced
when the crops fail. This, however, is
only partially true. For every such 're-
ductiOn' the tenant is charged with the
deficiency and obliged to make it up in
the next good season. The astute land
/ lord does not try to extract blood from a
stone.
"Having been bought up in small par
nd Ivvsc do Of&
adjOin farms owned bV those who live on
them, and the contrast is striking. A
squatter's shanty IN Harlem is a palace
compared to the squalld nuts of the rent
ers. On the other hand. the dwellers of
the owners of adjoining farms are, as
rule, well-built, tasteful and comfortable
houses that indicate the prosperous in
dustry of the American farmer.
"Land-hunger, which Is said to be pc
culiarly Irish disease, is, in ScuIly's
case. developed to an amazing extreme
He lives meanly and his enormous in
come is invested in addition to his al
ready extensive domain. His greed for
land makes him emphatically a land
miser, and he is now the owner of up
ward Of 100000 acres. Aware of the
unpopularity earned by his methods, he is
constantly afraid of being poisoned. On
this account he travels about with a set
of cooking utensils and prepares his own
meals. From his lands in Logan county
alone he derives an annual rental of
nearly $l50,000. The pitable condition of
the people under this system is likely
soon to result in decided action. While |
was in the neighborhood there was no
! little talk of bringing forward measure
in the Legislature to forfeit the lands to
| the State. paying Scully fair indemnif-
cation and allowing his tenants to become
proprietOrs by system of small pay
melts extending over ten years. This is
somewhat on the plan of Gladstone's land
bill for Ireland, and much trouble might
be avoided by adopting some such scheme
before it is too late.''