The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-11-20
LAND BUYING IN IRELAND
MADDEN ASKS MORE MONEY UN-
DER THE AsHBOURNE ACT.


Amendment and Critlcises the Gov
ernmeut
LONDON, Nov. 19-In the House Of
Commons this evening, Mr.. Maiden,
solicitor-general for Ireland, in the absence
OF MIR. Balfour, who is ill, brought in
bill to further facilitate the purchase by
tenants of land in Ireland by adding
95,000,000 to the amount appli-
cable under the Ashbourne act.
Mr.. Madden described the Ashbourne
act as a great success There had been, he
said, l4,33S signed agreements for tho pur-
chase of lands, of which S.632 had been
completed. There were only two courses
open to the government. One was to aban-
don the scheme of land purchase and the
other was to extend the act. The fact that
the act had been a conspicuous success
Justified tue government in seeking to en-
large its operations.
GLADSTONE MOVES TO AMEND.
When Mr.. Madden had finished, Mr.. Glad
stone arose. He was received with pro-
longed cheers from the opposition. he
moved the following amendment to the
government proposal:
That in lieu of voting 95 900, 900 it is expedient
in view of the lamentable sufferings arising
from the recent evictions in Ireland. to extend
the land law of 1887, so as to empower the
courts to reduce or cancel arrears of rents that
are found to be excessive.
A BROKEN PROMISE.
He complained that the government had
broken their promise to the House, after
obtaining the whole command of the time
at the disposal of the members under ca
gagement that no controversial measures
ha ir,tr hi -
the first Importance challenging discussion
1t was submitted with a threat that
1t would be put forward daily until
it was settled. His protest was equally
against the mode of presenting the bill and
the method in which its discussion was
to be pressed. His amendment did not
strike at the Ashbourne act, nor would it
necessarily stop its operation. He did not
desire to stop the operation of the act, what
ever he might consider its dangers, and he
did not oppose toe bill because it proposed
to keep the act alive. but he objected to it
because of the amount demanded.
SHOULD HAVE BEEN MODERATE
The government ought to have asked
parliament for a limited grant which
would suffice to enable them to continue the
operations of the act until spring. when
parliament could reconsider the whole met-
ter. The opposition would cheerfully agree
to such an advance; but the government,
instead of taking that course, produced a
bill involving parliament in fresh approval
OF its land purchase policy. [Cries Of Hear!
hearl]
Mr.. Gladstone continued, stating that 1t
was the manifest design of the government
to withdraw the subject of Irish land from
the view of parliament for several years
(Cheers.) That was not a course which
could be allowed The opposition was not
insensible to the value of land purchase.
HIS DESIRE.
He did not desire to see landlords, or any
other class, removed in body He wanted
to see them not less but a great deal more
Irish than they were, and to see them resi-
dents instead of atsentees from Ireland.
The principle of previous land acts was to-
tally different from the Ashbourne act, un-
der which 95,000,000 were obtained, appar-
emily as precedent for another 5000, 900,
thus drawing the beuse by slow degrees
into system from which there was no es-
cape from putting the land into the hands
of the state, making the state the mmedi-
ate landlord without proper guarantees.
PROPOSAL OF THE LIBERALS.
How different was the proposal from the
liberal side when Sir Treyelyn laid down
the principle that the government should
not ask the national tax payers TO advance
the purchase money unless tax payers in
Ireland evinced confidence in the tenants
by Offering local guarantees. He (Mr.
Gladestone) had always objected to the
Ashbourne act as giving the initiative of
purchase to the landlords, whom he
considered second, as the peasants ought
to have the initiative. II an imperial guar
antee was ever given for the purchase of
land in Ireland, the security must convey
moral certainty to the government.
[Cheersl What reason had the govern
ment for refusing with such tenacity to
deal with arrears.
A MEANS OF sERvITUDE.
Were they the means of insuring the
servitude Of the tenentl (Parnellite cheers.)
1t was certain that this bill would give the
landlords only handful of tenants to
acquire holdings. Certainly it would assist
tho government in their land purchase
scheme-but under what inadequate aud
precarious security for the repayment
Of advances. Doubtless the Irish
tenants could be praised as scrupulous in
the payment of fair reHts, but if another
collapse of agricultural prices occurred, the
farmers might be unable to pay their in
stallments under the bill The government
was not justified in relying upon a tenants
will to pay after the recent declaration
of Lord Salisbury that majority of
5000, 600 in Ireland were bent upon putting
down minority of 100000 IN order to
get at and rife their pockets. [Cheers.1
LOOKS IMPROBABLE.
If Irishmen had no respect for the pockets
of their countrymeD, were they likely to
respect the English exchequer? We're those
who have been thus described by the
head Of the government people to
be trusted as debtors Of the statel
Laughter and cheers] This land
purchase had DO immediate claims to
character of the arrears question. The
tenants themselves had urgently demanded
settlement OF the arrears. A similar
necessity had been acknowledged in the
case of the crofters of Scotland. Much
greater had been the need Of ireland, where
arrears were running without limit, and
led to paralysis of farmers engagements,
and an unceasing flow of evictions.
Evictions upon arrears prevented the
tenant from obtaining the benefit of
judicial rent. HEAR hearl
WEAPON AGAINST THE TENANTS.
Arrears were thus a weapon against the
tenants, defeating and annulling the land
law, which had been passed for their benefit.
[Hear, hear.l They made the landlords
masters Of the land act and masters Of the
conditions for the sale Of the land and
fortunes Of the tenents. II the government
had the tenants welfare earnestly at heart:
il, instead of supporting the landlords, tn ey
meant to relieve the distressed tenants, they
would deal with arrears instead of pressing
a DANGEROUS measure which provided ma