The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-24
The Irish Land Bill.

The Irish land bill comes up in the
house of commons to-day for passage
or rejection. Debate may be protraoted
and there Is a possibility that the Irish
party may be foolish enough to expand
its demands for amendments and obstruct
the passage Of one Of the most Important
measures that any English parliament
ever undertook to place on the statute
books. ...
several times from downfall by the vote
Of the Irish nationalists, has effected a
compromise on John Redmonds amend
ment proposing to lower the minimum
purchase price Of land and that difficulty
has been removed.
The government has no disposition to
take any risks on this measure. The lib
eral party even under Gladstone was I'M
able to settle the land question, which
embodies largely the pacifcation Of Ire
land. The liberals gave up all efforts
to settle it some years ago, and their
old conservative antagonists, who had for
a settled policy the dragoon1ng Of the
island and the passage Of mutiny and
conspiracy acts and the amplifcation Of
jails for Irishmen convicted under such
legislation, began to legislate to extend
the electoral franchise and introduce
larger county autonomy and followed it up
by astonishing liberals and conservatives
by a scheme to buy out the landlords Of
Ireland for half a billion dollars or more,
and transfer some 900 holdings to the
tenants who may make small payments
on long time, while there is a free grant
Of $60,000,000 to be expended In paying
a percentage Of the purchase money to
the landlords. distributed SO that the
largest estates will get the smallest pro-
portion and the smallest estates the
largest proportion. AS John Morley said
in a speech last April: "This gigantic
Offer this wise offer, to abolish landlord
ism, Is to acknowledge very serious
thing; is to acknowledge that the whole
Of your policy In Ireland for the last 100
years has been on completely wrong
lines"
The fact is, however, the policy Of Eng
land to Ireland for centuries was to re-
gard the Irish always out of the protec-
subjects. There was time when the
Irish really desired to be admitted to the
benefit and protection of the English laws.
but they were not permitted to get such
benefit. It is on record that petitions
from the Irish people were often pre-
scented for benefit and protection from
the time Of Edward III. to the reign Of
Henry VIII They were every one re-
jected and this stupidity Of the British
government has proved most costly
kind of stupidity to which British states
men are now opening their eyes and see
the advantage Of dropping all the shift
ing, patchwork, fair rent, settle-nothing
policies which have only increased the
trouble, and by a. formidably big financial
coup, as now in sight, restore peace and
promote the substantial prosperity Of the
Irish people.
The late Duke of Argyll once said he
hoped to see the time when the British
government would be able to retire from
the duty Of "dry-nursing every Irishman
in the making Of his bargain for a farm -
The time has apparently arrived when the
state parliament consenting, may rid It.
self of the half-hearted dry and wet nurs-
ing process and by a stroke Of delayed
justice, eliminate effectually the bette
noire of Observation-Disclosures,