, 1892-12-14

ACAIJ MI OOh'A 4hOCltt 1.. Ahls "
Murphy, Mr.. Morogh O'Brien, and Mr..
Reddington.
The present property to be dealt with is the
Clanricards Estate, the landlord Of which is re-
presented by Mr.. Carson Q.C. Wm. Kenny,
&C, appears for Mr.. A. Il. Smith-Barry,
MP.
At eleven o'clock NJ, ListeF Druamopd,
Secretary to the Commission, read the legal
document by virtue Of which the jnq9ry is
held. The proceedings th@l commenced.
The President said = Tie Ns4t Important
duty imposed upon ~ IN. the ceH lisslna
which las asst been read b. tls s~tcrey'.y Is
to inquire and ascertain what last means
should be adapted to brn5 ABOUT settlements
IS to the reinstatement OF the evieled tenants,
50 as % give effect to the policy of the late
Parliament. The othe! inquiries that we re
directed to make are suh.rdiuate to this,
which is the main Object Of the commission.
Co nplaint has been made that We have not
been called on to try Whether in any ease the
eylcted tenants ought to be. reinstated, AMI It
is said, by those who profess, as 1T would seem
with little authority, to speak on behalf Of the
landlords, that il would b unjust and iuR
polite to assist a class Of persons who ared6
clared to be wholly undeseryiag of the sym
pathy Of honest men. But This question has
already been answered fully, and, rs it ap-
pears to us conclusively. In the hrst place,
the policy Of reinstatement is clearly sanction
ed N th9 section Of the land Act ol 1891; ana
in The second place the Judgment Of Parlla-
ment would seem to have received me entire
approval Of Irish landlords. lit was intend
cd to assert That the ryicted tga}uts, as q
class, ought not to be restored to their hold
ings, the time for doing so was wucn the Ac,
Of 1871 was under the consideration Of tho
Legislature. No such position WAS then taken.
The section to which | have referred is IN the
following terms
Where a tenancy Of a holding has been
determined since May /, lS79. and tha former :
landlord or lis successor ii tide il IL oceQpa-
ton Of the holdings, it shall be lawful for lhe
former landlord or his successor, within SIX
months Of the passing of TIE act, to enter INTO
an agreement IN Ter tno Land Purchase Act.
or any Acts amended hv thus Aut for tie
sale of the holding With tine t5.mer tenant Or
bis present representative, the grants for such
purposes may be made by tI2 iaad Comma
sion IN the same NAME aeI subject 10 the
same condition as Il the purchaser 3. The date
Of the agreement was IN possession of the
hol ling as tonant, and tbereup0n the proyt-
sions Of the ,all Purchase Act a. amoa ID
by this shall Apply II such agreem5nI IN
advance, if the Land Commission are of Opin-
ion that the holding would b. sufficient Sc.
curity for the alyaucc.' But il it IS, having
become temporari y ieterioreted in value,
unable to advance such security as tl8y deem
sufficient to meet any risk Arising fron such
temporary deterioration, a lawyer would fore
see, and q statesman might have anticipated,
that the clause would give rise to difficulty
and delay. The time allowed by the section
is just six months. The scheme in the fist
part Of the section is this: The ~evictel ten
ants are to be in the same position as if they
had remained / in possession q heir holdings.
They are to be entitled 10 the benefit Of the
Land Purchase Act as if rhey we're actually
tenants against whom the iapdlord had ne
cause Of complaint. Tho fact that they had
adopted the plan of Campaign was not con-
sidered sufficient to disentitle them tc the
benefits Of the statute. What would seem to
be more material than the plain language Of
the Act itself is the conduct Of those members
Of Parliament who approved Of the measure
when under discussion, and whose authority
to speak on behalf of Irish landlords has ne.
yer been questioned. 1t is incredible that
the assent Of those gentlemen should have
been given to the proposal that the evicted
tenants should become practically the tenants
of the estate if they believed they were rs a
class dishonest and Enthusiastically. We have
been furnished with a long list of such
estates, where, it is said, settlement had been
brought about by good sense and good feel