The Irish standard., 1888-07-21

he purpose of clearing away many mis- I
conceptions still existing in the minds
)f.several of the leaders Of public opin-
on throughout Europe and Of pointing |
out, with solemn and emphatic dis
tinctness, to the responsible officials of
The present Tory government their
clear and urgent duties to thousands OF
still unrelieved and unprotected ten
antry of Ireland. Such a manifesto
the earnest and unanimous utterance
Of the Irish Episcopacy on a matter OF
such vital consequences to their flocks,
and on which no men can speak with
more authority, or with a more intim-
ate knowledge Of all its details-ia sure
to be received with the deepest respect
by those wellintentioned organs OF
public opinion whose misapprehension
on the subject the statement is designed
to remove, and cannot but result in q
clearer, juster, and more reasonable
view of the Irish difficulty. But it is
Of vastly more consequence that this
statement Of the Prelates should re-
ceive the prompt and practical consid-
GRAFTON OF the Government and of Par
lament. It is for them that it is chief
" intended; it is for them that it's facts,
it's appeals and it's warnings are spe-
cially addressed. The statement puts
forward no extravaganza demands, nor
does it formulate an impossible pro-
gramme, Their lordships recognize at
once that it would he out of the ques-
tion to expect that in the present
session Of Parliament every complaint
OF the Irish tenantry could be discussed
and disposed of; but they maintain, at
the same time, that ''there are certain
most pressing grievances, which, in the
interests Of public order as well as JUS
tice, imperatively call for immediate
legal redress" The Bishops make it
patent that the Land Courts and their
administration have utterly failed to
accomplish the main purpose for which
they were supposed to have been con-
stituted.
1.-THE fundamental demand, T" say their
Lordships, '''of the agricultural tenants
Of ireland, in the matter Of rent is, as
1t has always in substance been, for the
establishment of an impartial public
tribunal to adjudicate between landlord
and tenant. The tenants do not claim
that the amount of rent 70 be paid shall
be fixed by themselves. What they OBJ
iect to is that it should be determined
by the arbitrary will of the landlord. :"
This has been the avowed principle and
demand of every single agitation for the
reform Of the Irish Land Laws, and the
protection Icy law of the agricultural
tenants against the imposition OF ex-
orbitant rents, and against eviction in
consequence Of the non-payment Of
such rents, is the fundamental principle
Of the Land Act Of 1881, and of several
subsequent statutes" But Che admin
istration Of the Land Courts-resulting
largely from the personal element of
their constituencies practically an
initiated this principle, or has at least
rendered its application for the we'll
being of the tenantry matter Of almost
insuperable difficulty. 1t is too pain
fully notorious that the Land Courts do
not constitute that impartial tribunal
whose decisions the tenants could re-
ceive with respect, and unhappily recent
changes in these Courts have only served
to deepen the popular dlstrust in their
capability or in their fairness.
The Freeman concludes lengthy
comment on the subject Ivy warning
Lord Salisbury and his ministers that
they must not be surprised if, failing to
listen to the warning words Of the Irish
Episcopate, they find themselves con-
fronted in a not distant future with the
gloomy results foreshadowed by men
who know aud who feel deeply the
Of the word they are using in
the closing paragraph of their statement
ct We deem it our duty to add that un-
lass Parliament at once apply some
really effective measure for the protec-
ton Of Irish tenants from oppressive
exactions and from arbitrary eviction,
consequences the most disastrous, no
less to public order than to the safety of
the people, will almost inevitably
ensyle,''
EDITORIAL BREVITIES,
BANCROFT, the California historian,
mas a library worth $500 900.
MYR1ADs Of grasshoppers have ap.
oeared in many parts of southern Indi-
ma, and are deyouring all vegetation
IS they go.