Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-09-28
TENANTRY TROUBLES,
SITUATION OF THE SCOTCH CROFT
ERS AND IRISH TENANT FARMERS.
They Both Have Much of which to Com
plain-How the Croftsrs Live and the
Straits to which the Irish Teuantry
Have Come-Reasons for the De-
plorable Condition.


my Beltas letter the course of my travel
made me acuu uuted TO some extent with
the conditions that surround the farmers
and "croftersn in the middle and north of
Scott nd Since that time observations
made in the north of Ireland have given
me some understanding of the unfortun-
ate environs of the Irlsh tentntry. Tue
condition of the former is but little better
than that of the latter, and the condition
of neither the one nor The other could fail
to provoke tot pity an uuprejudiced obstrv-
er who should see, AS | have seen in the
past 10 days. the signs of piuching poverty
and bpvgary comfort that are seemingly
"A common heritage of most of those who
till the soil.
To the average tourist who is whirled
through the country at express train speed
the face of nature presents picture of
prosperity, and points to "A people blessed
with peace and enjoying plenty, but these
conditions, as they relate to the Scottish
"crofter' or the Irish tenant, are founded
more in fancy than in fact.
Holdings in Scotland of l to 30 acres or
thereab ,uls constitutes "croft" while
larger holdings are considered worthy to
be known as farms, and this distinction
marks l ne uilltTtllCt DSi Nttu u CIUlJeG
aud Il farmer. The average croft does not
exceed SIX acres, and from the proceeds OF
its Weld of grain or other product Is the
crolter's wont to pay the rent, while o'd
seasons of ali sorts of occupation are the
source of X UregdrlOu5 existence for him
self aud family. The deprecated scale OF
prices realized from fum and grazing
products during he past few years mas
led the larger farmers to employ less help
than formerly, and III this direction the
volume of employ me mt for the crotter has
| been curtailed, and this fact taken in con
Iection with the proportlouately lessened
value OF what hi croft produces has made
the problem OF existence indeed serious
: one. The landlord still demands the rent
, and even when he grudgiu4ly grants 4
! concession it l. in no proportion To the
CHANGED conditions. l. is now II struggle
against starvation III which the gAunt de
T. stroyer is not witt nut advantage. The
house in which the crotter lives is not a
house. 1t j. a hut with walls of stone,
; with only the earth for Il floor, and with
/ thatch of straw Or maybe soil and heather
l for Il roof OF windows there are seldom
more than two, and they are only barrow
openings that serve t. spare the cherries
5 room-there is rarely more than one-ot
e entire darkness. Some of these prisOn-ike
l itbodes have caimneys, aud from some the
( smoke from the scanty fires of peat hunts
! It's way to the outside world through an
/ opening in the thAtch, that gives access
, in the opposite direction to the tall Of rain
i or snow as the season may suggest, Here
: lives the family of the crofter, on the scant-
u lest and meaue st fare that may be imagin-
= ed and ouly spared from nakedneSs toy
i the little wool crop ylehied by the few
4 sheep he may own that feed upon the
= hlg hland heather.
4 He has his cause for com plant in the re-
. fuaal OF the Lard" to recognize the fact
[ that whereas a dozen years ago bushe
!, OF wheat brought 10 sulllings the price Is
l now "A fourth of that amount, and pota
Il toes have dropped in like proportion.
With no rent to pay, the 'crotter's'' lot
would be AT best hard one, aud under a
reduction of not t. exceed third from
; the ruling figure, when ready market
5 and high prices ava ted the harvest of his
i little crop, he is now hedged about by a
state OF beggary ana RUIN.
. The some conditions that aft ct the
! crotters bear uDun the farmers t. a dis
+ couraging degree, a even in the most
= productive portions OF the country the
:. lowest rents eXacted in the majority OF
cases are oppressive. during the period
:, from 1860 to 1876 the prices realized from
:. wheat aud cattle made ii not only possiD {
p to pay the rents, but the farmers VINO ten
Il anted the better portl ms or the count
= were able to lay by Il llttle money. Bn
a TINS mas all been changed. The steady
i! depress ion i'll prices, and the voracious de
- mautis OF the "landlords" but little modl
= fled havo combined TO eliminate the ele
: ment OF profit from the labor OF the farm
a er.
y the rivers Spey and Flndhorn, constitute
the garden spot of Scott md. The adaD
:, ton of the soil and the climate of the lati
"a tude to the growing of wheat made tina
cereal the staple product or the section
;, and here, before the freely admitted hooC
= of the American project had set in, tn,
T farmers not only reaped Dountitul crop
n but made handsome profit on the prod
n uct at the prevailing prices. or rents, th
- Earl of Fife alone eXacts from his tenants
Il in Moray,hlre $500 coo every year 1t i
=. collected by "factor" and is expended b,
q the earl in the free trade atmospher o
" the metropolis. The fields Of Morayshil
+ are stitl productive, the farmers are Still
= indusl rious, as they must be, and, TO tn
casual observer, the land still reward
IN them richly for their labor.
A. But for the landlord leeches and tn
ly pernlcious economic policy, which cheap
r. Gus their products, the fair appearances il
Ia question would not, as they do, bell
IA the true conditions.
IN The condition of the Irish tenantry i
pr indeed deplorable, and no amount OF pc
If litical effort on the part OF the lntereste
ne ENGLISH press can successfully deny VIVA
a. is patent to any intelligent aud observin
la traveller through the troubled Isle, EVSl
/ :, in Ulster, the Protestant stronghold, tn
mr. LOYALTY to English parliamentary rule
H. and submission of the majority to the cor
H. dltious that exist, is due not to a relatio
RI If equity between landlord and tenan
~ but To the tear of the Protestant populj
ID t on that an overthrow of anclordlsl
ha through the Success Of the nationalist pa
no ty would result IN Catholic supremacy an
ng iutolerdnt religious domuatiOnS. True
their long established policy in controllin
the affairs of Ireland, the English contll
ue 10 selfiShly foster the religious diviSlo
and stimulate the fears of the irish Pr'
testtnts. This is the reason the tenants {
Ulster sdbmt to the heel of oppressio
ana refuse to complain. This is The re
Use on North of Irelanders kiss the hand thu
smites them and explains their loyalty
49,, n power that panders TO the interests {
iai their oppressors.
tw The story of Irelaud's wrongs const
ne tutes the dan kest page in English histor
and though the light of freedom from b.
T.. bitter and long continued thraldom
III breaking, the hour before the dawn hi
- been Que of sorest trial for her people.
So During the year succeeding the close
the American rebellion until 1876, Ct
farmers IN most productive Ulster counts
An