Morning journal and courier., 1888-11-20
News by Telegraph
 FROM ALL QUARTERS. HELP FOR IRELAND. GIadstone's Appeal In The House Of Commons FOR RELEASE FROM BACK RENT. Disastrous Fire In Rock
 vile, Conn.
 IRISH PROTECTIONISTS CELEBRATE Meeting Of The Church
 Temperance Society.
IRISHPROTECTIONISTS CELEBRATE
GLADSTONE FOR IRELAND.

GLADSTONE FOR IRELAND. The Great Champion of Home Rule Attacks the AshbOurne Land Pur-
 chase Act and Urges the Government
 to Cancel Rent rrears in Ireland The Governments Land Policy only
 Tends Increase Misery In Ireland.
 LONDON, Nov. 19.-In the House of Com- mons this evening Mir. Madden, solicitor general for Ireland, in the absence of MT. Balfour, chief secretary for Ireland, who is i'll, brought in the bill to further facilitate the purchase by tenants of land in Ireland by adding five million pounds to the amount applicable under the Ashbourue act. MT. Madden, in explaining the proposed meas ure, described the Ashbourne act as 8 great success. There had been, he said, A ,338 signed agreements for the purchase of land, of which 6, ,632 had been completed. There ment. One was to abandon the scheme of land purchase and the other was to extend the act. The fact that the act had been 8 conspicuous success justified the government in seeking to enlarge it's operations.
 GLADsToNE's PLAN OF RELIEF.
 When MT. Madden had finished Mr. Glad stone arose. He was received with prolonged cheers from the opposition. MT. Gladstone moved the following amendment to the gov ernment proposal:
 .sThat in lieu of voting 95, ,OOO, ,o0O it is ex- pedient, in view of the lamentable sufferings arising from recent eviotions in Ireland, to extend the land law of 1887 so as to empower the courts to reduce cancel arrears of rents that are found to be excessive"
 He complained that the government had broken their pledge to the House, after ob- taininR the whole command of the time at the disposal of the members under engage ment, that no controversy measures should be introduced. Here was bill of the first importance challenging discussion. It was submitted with the threat that it would be put forward daily until it was settled. His protest WAS equally against the mode of pre- senting the bill and the method in which it's discussion was to be pressed. His amend ment did not strike at the Ashbourne act nor would it necessarily stop it's operation. He did not desire to stop the operation of the act, whatever he might consider it's dan- ger, and he did not oppose the bill, because 1t proposed to keep the act alive. But he objected to it because of the amount de- manded. The government ought to have asked Parliament for limited grant, which would suffice to enable them to continue the operations of the act until the spring, when Parliament oould reconsider the whole mat ter. The opposition would cheerfully agree to such an advance, but the government, in stead of taking that course, produced bill involving Parliament on fresh approval of it's land purchase policy. (Cries of hear, hsar.)
 THE GOVERNMENTS DESIGNS FOR IRELAND.
 MT. Gladstone continued, saying that it was the manifest design of the government to view of Parliament for several years. (Cheers) That was not the course which could be al- lowed. The opposition was not insensible to the value of land purchase. He did not de- sire to see the landlords or any other other class removed in body. He wanted to see them not less, but great deal more Irish than they were, and to see them residents in- stead of absentees. The principle of the pre- vious land acts was totally different from was obtained, apparently as a prece- dent for another E5, ,000, 900, thus drawing the House by slow degrees into @ system from which there was no escape from putting the land into the hands of the State, making the State the immediate land lord without proper guarantees. How differ ent was the proposal from the liberal side when MT. Trsvelyan laid down the principle that the government should not ask the tionAl taxpayers to advance purchase money unless the taxpayers in Ireland evinced conf dence in the tenants by offering local guar antees. He (Mr Gladstone) had always ob- iected to the act as giving the initiative of purchase to the landlords, whom he consid- cred second, ss the peasants ought to have the initiative. If an imperial guarantee was ever given for the purchase of land in Ireland the security must convey 8 moral certainty to the government (eheers).
 LANDLORDS BENEFITED MOST BY THIS ACT.
 What reason had the government for re- fusinR with such tenacity to deal with the arrearsi Were these the means of ensuring the servitude of the tenant (Parnellite cheers). It was certain that this bill would give the landlords 6 leverage to bring up rents, while it would enable only a handful of tenants to acquire holdings. Certainly 1t would assist the government In their land purchase scheme-but under what made quate and precarious security for the repay ment of advancesl Doubtless the Irish ten ants could be praised as scrupulous in the payments of fair rents, but if another col lapse of agricultural prices occurred, the farmers might be unable to pay their in- stallments under the bill. The government were not justified upon the tenants will to pay after the declaration of Lord Salisbury that the majority of 5000, 900 in Ireland depend upon putting down the minority of 2, ,000, 900 in order to get at and rife their pockets. Cheers If Irishmen had no respect for the pockets of their oountrymen, were they like ly to respect the English exchequerl Were those who have been thus described by the government the people to be trusted as debt ors of the Sta.ei Daughter and cheers.)
 THK GOVERNMENT SHOULD CANCEL THE AR
 REARs
 This land purchase had no immediate claims to the character of the arrears ques- tion. The tenants themselves had urgently demanded settlement of arrears and simi. lar necessity had been acknowledged in the case of the crofters of Scotland. Much greater had been the need of Ireland, where the arrears were running without limit, and led to 8 paralysis of the farmers engagements and an unceasing flow of evictions. Evictions upon arrears prevented the tenant from obtaining the benefit of judicial rent. Clear, hear.) The ar rears were a weapon against the tenants, ,des feating and annuliing the land law which had been passed for their benefit. Hear, hear ) They made the landlords masters of the land act and masters of the conditions for the sale of the land. If the government had the ten ants welfare earnestly at heart, if instead of supporting the landlords they meant to re- lieve distressed tenants they would deal with arrears instead of pressing dangerous meas ure which provided machinery for prevent ing a reduction of rent and which offered fa- cilities for augmenting rents and multiplying eviotions with all their horrible incidents. He asked the house to intervene and prevent occurring of mischief too certain to ensue, perhaps on greatly augmented scale, under the governments policy. Let them do jus dce to Ireland in the matter of arrears. (oheersl.
 OTHER SPEAKERS.
 Mr. Goschen, chancellor of the exchoquer, denied that the government were pledged not to introduce controversial measures dur | ing the winter season. He said that the im- mediate extension of the Ashbourne act was I a necessity It was desired by the tenants, l and he hoped the house and the country ' would perceive that they were dealing with land purchase. which was not incompatible i was prepared to deal with arrears in due course of time (''Hear, hear.'O The sug gestion that they were practically assisting | the landlords to allow the arrears to continue and to encourage evictions was so absurd 1 that it was scarcely worth answering (Cheersl.
 MT. O'Brien maintained that the bill would
 make rich tenants richer, but leave the poo cottagers in the west in as bad position a Eevers-yIt was merely plan to shovel Englisl
 gold into the pockets of the Irish landlords
 MT. CampbeIl-Bsnnermans Liberal, ,seyerel. | r.. T.