Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-11-20
FOREIGN AFFAIRS. :
Proposed Amendment to the
Ashbourne Act.
THE DEBATE IN THE COMMONS.
Gladstone Opposes the New Measure.
More Inhuman EvictiOns in
Ireland.
Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD. ,

Associated Press Dispatches to the HRRAlD.l
LONDON, November 19.-In the Com
mons this evening Madden, Solicitor
General of Ireland, in the absence of
Balfour, who is ill, brought in bill to
further facilitate the purchase by tenants
OF land in Ireland, by adding e5, 100000
to the amount applicable under the Ash
bourne act. He desired that the Ash
bourne act should be great success.
There had been 1883 signed agree
ments for the purchase of land, of which
1852 had been completed. Only two
courses were open to the Government;
one was to abandon the scheme of land
purchase, and the other to extend the
act. The fact that the act has been a
conspicuous success, has justified the
Government to seek to enlarge its
operations.
When Madden finished, Gladstone
moved the following amendment to the
Government proposal: That in lieu of
voting e5 ,000, 900 it is expedient, in view
OF the lamentable sufferings arising from
the recent evictions, to extend the
land law OF 1887 so as to empower the
courts to reduce or cancel arrears of rents
| found to be excessive.
He complained that the Government
had broken its pledge to the House after
obtaining the whole command of the
time at the disposal of the members,
under the engagement that no contro-
versal measures should be introduced.
Here was a bill of first importance
challenging discussion. It was SUBJ
tol xr,sf %l,ck
put forward daily until settled. His pro-
test was equally against the mode OF pre-
senting the bill and the method in which
the discussion was to be pressed. His
amendment did not strike at the Ash
bourne act, nor would it necessarily stop
its operation. He objected to it because
of the amount demanded. 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 course which
could be allowed. The opposition were
not insensible to the value of the
land purchase. He did not desire
to see the landlords or any other class
removed in a body. He wanted to see
them not less but great deal more Irish
than they were, and to see them resi-
dents instead OF absentees from Ireland.
The principle of previous land acts was
totally different from the Ashbourne
act, under which G5,000,00O were OBJ
tanned, apparently as precedent for
a further $4,000, 900, thus drawing the
House by slow degrees into system
from which there was no escape putting
the land into the hands of the State,
making the State the immediate land
lord without proper guarantees.
He tGladstone) had always objected
to the Ashbourne act as giving an initia-
tive. 1t was certain that this bill would
give the landlords leverage to bring up
the rents, which would enable only q
handful of tenants to acquire holdings !:
certainly it would assist the landlords in
their land purchase scheme, but under
what inadequate and precarious security
for the repayment of the advance. The
Government was not justified in relying
on tenants to pay, after the recent de-
claration of Lord Salisbury that the ma
jority Of three million in Ireland were
bent upon putting down the minority of
two million, in order to get at and rifle
their pockets: [Cheers.l If the
Government had the tenants vel
fare earnestly at heart, instead
OF supporting the landlords they would
| relleVe tne distressed tenants; thew
would deal with arrears instead of pres
sing dangerous measure which pro-
vided machinery for preventing the re-
duction OF rents, and which afforded ia.
cilltles for augumenting rents and multi
plying evictions with all their horrible
incidents.
Goschen, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
denied that the Government was pledged
| n nj m Iy1fr
daring the winter session. Gladstone's
statement that if the Government had
asked just sufficient to keep the act in
operation until the next session. it would
have been granted, was incorrect. The
Immediate expectation of the Ashbourne
act was necessity. 1t was desired by the
tenants. The Government was prepared
to deal with the arrears in due course of
time.