The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-03-07
ARCHBISHOP WALSH.
The, Dublin Prelate on the IiIrish
Land Question:!

AoAo VuSoklOus
The following letter from Archbish-
op Walsh on the Irish Land Con-
ference recently appeared in the Dub
lin Frccman's Journal and is worthy
of careful consideration:
Dear Sir: \ few weeks ago Ireland
was full of hope that IL lasting, if not
final, settlement of the Land Question
was ut hand. | should wish to point
out that, at least us l view the case,
there is just now Il serious danger of
all our hopes being wrecked as Il re-
suit of due attention not being given
to the views of the persons who, after
all, are primarily concerned in the
mlttcr--thc tenant farmers of Ire
land.
The main question, and, in my opin-
ion, the only question of practical i'm
portancc in this matter just now is
whether the tenant farmers of Ire
land are willing to pay the price
which, under the terms of the Man
sion House scheme, they may. be
called upon to pay as the price of
peace. If they are willing to pay it,
as they seem to be, let them pay it by
all means. The country, as every one
must recognize, has been kept in Il
state of turmoil quite long enough
over the grievances of the tenants. In
defense of those interests, IriSlmcn
of every class have made sacrifices.
and heavy sacrifices, of almost every
conceivable description. 1t is Il bles-
sing il an end of all this turmoil is in
sight at last. The price of it may be
a heavier one than some of us may
care to see paid. But, in so far as
that price is to be paid by the tenants,
what is it to any one else whether the
price is heavy or not, il the tenants
themselves are willing to pay it:
From the way in which the Irish
Land Question, apparently by common
consent, now stands before the coull-
,
ly impede the settlement of it, for our
time at all events is the amount of
the burden which the working out of
the scheme adopted at the Mansion
House Conference will put upon the
tenants.
In some way that, to me. was from
| the first, and still is, incomprehensiblc,
as three things seem to be accepted
by almost every Que in the country as
having been agreed to at the Confer
cnce and embodied in it's Report:
/. That the landlords were to get Il
permanent income equal in amount to
the net income at present payable out
of their Second term" rents, with the
notable addition that this income-in-
stead of being, as it has been, prccar-
io,is in many respects, and, at the
best, irregular as to the times of pay
ment-should be perfectly well Sc
cured, and should, moreover, be pay
able to the day.
=. That, on the other hand, the ten
ants were to get all that they, could
reasonably expect. Il notable reduction
of their second term rents--and
were to he enabled, ut all events in
the vast majority of cases, to purchase
their holdings ut the rate Of from
seventeen to eighteen years pur'
chase"
3. That, as all this plainly involved
the existence of very big gap-the
amount Of Il considerable number OF
years purchase, between the price
from seventeen 10 eighteen years
purchase to be paid by the tenants
and the price, say, twcnty-scvcn years
purchase, to he paid to the landlord.
this gap, representing ut least tel
years purchase of the "sccond term
rents of the agricultural holdings o
Ireland, was to be brIdged over by /:
grant of the requisite number of mil
lions of pounds sterling. contributed
by the large-handed generosity of til,
custodians of the British Treasury.
Now there seems to be great out
cry raised because. it is said, the econ
omical guardians of the British Treas