The Irish standard., 1903-09-12
The Bill Partial Settlement of Question
Which is Settling Itself, But
A Landlord Measure.
Holds That Irish Party Ought to be Blamed
For Not Pressing For the
Convention Amendments.

, property at thirty-two millions above
the market value.
s. Not a single amendment adopted
by the national convention is found in
the BILL in the terms or spirit in which
the convention demanded such an
amendment; neither the omission of
Clause 1, nor the congested districts
amendment, nor those relating to the
agricultural laborers; nor did the
Irish Party attempt to divide the COM
mittee of the House of Commons in
behalf of a solitary amendment press
ed for by the assembly which spoke
for Ireland in that convention.
8. Two of these amendments, one
demanding that representative from
each congested districts county coun-
Gil should have a seat on the con-
gested districts board, and the other
calling for the provision of home
stead law, as a guarantee against fu-
ture dangers of eviction for debt or
other causes, were deliberately boy
cotted by the Irish Party in Westmin-
ster, after having been cheered by
them in Dublin. One was abandoned
amidst Nationalist cheers" according
to the newspaper reports, while a
prominent member of the party intim-
ated, in a speech the night previous to
the discussion Of the congested dis
tricts representation amendment, mat
what was wanted on the congested dis
tricts board was the inclusion of men
like Sir A. Macdonald and Mr.. Micks,
two government officials. And this is
the representation" the board will
now receive, in addition to it's exist.
ing pro-official majority. In other
words, the castle kicks out the pro.
posed national representation called
for by the convention.
! 10. The bill will be partial settle
ment of a question which was and is
settling itself; but the measure is q
landlord bill, on the lines of the Dun
raven scheme; brought forward by q
landlord government; to be admins
tered by officials nominated by sucl
government, with powers of compul
sion given to landlords to force tenants
to buy, which are in no sense given t.
the latter to compel the landlord tt
dispose of his land. And
II. The bill does nothing whatever
for the agricultural laborers.
These are some facts about this
much-vaunted measure which may no
be pleasant to insist upon, but sof
words and Parliamentary flattery ant
unlimited flapdoodle will not lessen til.
number Of years. purchase which Irisl
farmers must now think of offerin.
for their holdings. On the contrary
this language of gush and exaggera
tion-this tireless and tiresome tall
about "blessed revolutions" trans
formations, cancellations, and all tn,
rest, is directly responsible for the op
position which it encouraged Mr.
Wyndham to give to the convention'
amendments. 1t will also tempt tn,
House of Lords to insist upon putin,
back into the first clause the minimum
and maximum prices which they cal
easily discover over the signatures o
Messrs. Redmond, O'Brien and Russell
in the precious Dunraven compact.
Mr.. Redmond is not justified il
blaming the government for the dc
fects in the bill; nor is he warrante,
by the facts in asserting that Their
would have been no bill but for tn
land conference. I hold that tn
Irish party are rightly to be blame
for their tame submission to the Dur
raven-Wyndham influence in no
pressing for the convention amend
ments. Every one of these amend
ments could have been obtained /
fought for. The landlords woul
never forego the $4,000, 900 they wer
promised in the bill over the marke
price of their property for the mer
savage satisfaction of wrecking til
evicted tenants hopes or Of thwartiu
those of the agricultural laborers. T
imagine otherwise is to credit thf
mercenary class with being blind t