The Irish standard., 1890-04-19
GREAT TORY LAND SCHEME.
How Bloody Balfour and His Band Of
Robbers Would Settle the Irish
ii. Land Question
FIFTY PER CENT. INTEREST !!

flFIy fEh CENf. lW ] EhEol
That's What the Irish Tenant Farmers
Would Actually Pay for the Use Of
Government Money.
''The bill have been describing is an
improved Ashbonrne Act-and nothing
els"
So said Mr.. Balfour In his speech in
Producing the new Land Purchase Bill
on Monday afternoon. We take his sem
tence as the text of our comments, for
it.guldes us straight to a correct judg-
ment. 1t is an improved Ashb0urne
Act according to the English landlord
minister; but all it's improvements are
improvements from the English and
landlord point OF view. and have been
made at,the cost of Irish credit and of
the Irish tenants interest. Not one de-
feet of the Ashbourne Act has been re-
moved. and every change IS change
for the worse!
What were the defects of the Ash
bourne Act? Briefly they were these {:
1t left the burden of arrears which has
accrued on rents subsequently admit
ted to be unjust rents untouched, and
allowed the power which thus came to
the landlord to be used as compulsory
lever, depriving the tenant of all free
dom, and making the contracts agreed
to morally .invalid-as they were, many
OF them, economically impossible. It
allowed these arrears to be piled up on
the price which was calculated on the
basis of the rent on which they had &C
tually accrued. 1t left the intention of
the Land Act Of 1881, as to the tenants
improvements, unfulilled, proceeding
on the presumption that the mutilated
Healy clause contained both the expires
sion of the mind of the legislators OF
1881 and the definition of the full rights
of the tenant. Mr.. Gladstone has de-
nonnced the one presumption; Arch
bishop Walsh, from his position, has
sufficiently disposed of the other.
Finally it contained no mention Of aT-
ranging those differences between land
lord and tenant which arose through
the negligence of parliament in 1885 =
and Of preventing the men whose sacri-
fees won the Land Act of 1887 from
being pursued-for motives of sheer
vindictiveness and revenge. This omis-
sion forbade the act to be regarded as
anything more than temporary make
shift.
Now, not one Of these defects is re-
medied by the proposed bill. The OBJ
jections based upon them apply with
full force, and with greater force than
ever because the sums proposed to be
advanced for the workings Of the meas
ures are far greater, and because the
bill is put forward as final settlement
of the land question
Instead of improving upon the Ash
bourne Act and attempting to conclli.
ate Irish opinion-by meeting Irish
criticism lit proposes amendments
which will render it distinctly more OBJ
jectionable.
First aud foremost, it substitutes
Irish for English credit as the guaran-
tee for the payments. IN virtue OF con-
tracts which all Ireland, through the
mouth OF her representatives. has con-
demned. The substitution, whether
we view it from the historical polDt Of
view, or from the actual conditions
under which 1t is proposed. or from the
means bv which it is accomplished is q
gross wrong. Forit means that Eng
land. having by cruelty, cong nest. con :,
fiscation and repression, estab blished IN
Ireland system Of land tenure which
prevented the peace and prosperity OF
the country, and ultimately grew to be
q danger to herself, is now compelled TO
undo the work. but attempts to saddle
upon Irish shoulders the whole risk and
burden of the transaction. The propo-
sal is not more urjust than it is mean ]
and bears the impress, as Mr.. Healy5
truly SAYS, Of being the cOneeption OF
ga Semitic brain. = Second, this credit
is pledged not by the Irish people or
their Representative but BY their enc
mics. Third, the means proposed Tor
the enforcement of the obligation are
such as, in the evenJ of the obligation
falling, will impose the penalty upon
rJ,x, ~, lxssc ~ f1tn cam