The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-01-11
T. W. RUSSELL, NJ. P.
Severely DenOunces Landlordism
Ireland.

Ireland.
A strong and true picture of land
| lor(lism in Ulster was drawn by T. w.
Russell, NJ. P, Tuesday night, Dec. "a,
at a meeting held in Noy, County
Tyrone. for the purpose of forming a
branch of the Tenants Defense and
Land Purchase Association.
\ large branch was formed, and the
speakers arraignment of the land
lords was heartily Endorsed by groans
and cries of "Shame!"
The chair was occupied by Rev.
John 7. Rea, the Presbyterian minis
ter of Moy. and the religious complex
ion of the attendance was such that it
could have been relied on to fight for
landlordism few short years ago.
Mr.. Russell said he would not deal
with political issues of the past Par
Lament, but there We're two important
matters which he wished to bring be-
fore them that night. The first was
the land question. The local govern
ment act was new measure, which
had now been in existence for three
years. and it might be said to have
caused revolution in the government
of Ireland. They had seen in what
respect it had failed in it's purpose,
and they now would strive to remedy
these failures.
They had no previous experience of
local government, he said, and the
working Of it had been Il marvellous
surprise. 1t had done better than it's
best friends had ever expected. They
now had found that the electoral dis
tricts were too large. What formerly
was intended was that the divisions
should return Il single member, each,
but the landlords, headed by Lord Lon
donderry and Col. Saunderson, contriv-
ed to have two members allocated for
each division, thus allowing the land
lord class to be represented. They
would have to revert to what origin
ally was intended, viz, a single-mem-
Dor constituency, the same as in par
liamentary representation. This new
form of democratic government ap-
peared to be expensive, but he knew
that democratic government was
never cheap.
The local government board itself
should receive more public attention,
for modes of action were unsympa-
thetic and unbusincssllkc, and it
would be the duty of the members Of
parliament to bring up several of its
arbitrary decisions, and insist upon re-
forms being made. Local government
had come to stay, but they must see
that it was worked economically and
efficiently.
AS to the land question, he found
that landlords had still a little
power locally. for he, the elected rep
resentative Of South Tyrone, had been
refused the use Of the courthouse for
that meeting. That incident showed
that landlordism had the wish to
strike, if it had the means or power.
people speak Of landlordism as ex-
ercising civilizing influence, but let
them turn to the Charlemont estate,
in that neighborhood. where the i'm
mense mansion, built in his own day,
was falling into decay, the ceilings
falling down and the grounds overrun
with weeds. Where was the civilizing
influence there? Messrs. j. and r.
Stewart, the agents, came down from
Dublin twice a year and took away a
bag of money. Was that the civilizins
influence referred to?
''Then let them look at Dungannon
The landlord of that district, Lord
Ranfurly, was in New Zealand, and he
believed was doing very well. But
when the sacred cause of education
cropped up few years ago and the
royal school in Dungannon required
$4,000 to have it retained there, Lord
Ranfurly refused to give a penny
Oh, no; he offered to give a subscrip
ton If he would get strip of land II
return. The project of a town hall IL
Dungannon was also mooted, and hi
(Mr. RusselD had offered to subscribe
$500 for the purpose, but Lord Ran
rurly would only grant a site ovel
the butter market, with shops under
meath, for which high rents would b,
demanded. The project fell through
= 1.-The whole system Of landlordisn