The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-12
r MEANS PEACE IN IRELAND
.,nru.RLEs BEREsFORD SAYS
rms or THE LAND BILL.

W" ,ne irish question and Fair to Both
,.,alord and Tcnant-He Hopes n
viii Remove One Bar 70 Ameri.
"a, Friendship and Consequent.
!, Preserve Peace In the World.
roxpoy April i.-On the nth inst.
,irIral Lord Charles Beresford will hoist
-. esg as commander Of the Channel
ne ,,dron. That date marks his retirement
,hs present from the ,s,litical field
""abs return TO the duties OF flag officer
,he active list. Then he becomes. &C.
o Do,dins to the Admiralty regulations,
.o.g,e. led y It'll respect to matters politi-
cal or controversial
pu, Lord Charles's intimate knowledge
=, ali phases Of the Irish question-he
s.ing an Irishman and a landlord-has
!sdnoad him to make use OF his remain
;,s freedom TO give q SUN representative
soSoe expression OF his views on this engross-
ing topic OF the day
When the reporter called at his town
,ssidence in South Audley street, Lord
n,arles was discussing with his secretary
engagements to have an Lish piper aboard
~ flagship in the Channel squadron. The
oolv difficulty confronting the Admiral
vas as to whether Irish pipers were as
.uitable for military purposes a. those OF
scotland That they were far sweeter
and more musical Lord Charles was firmly
onvinced
Turning with enthusiasm TO the pro-
visions Of the pending Land bill and the
benefits he believed would result to Ireland,
which he kept affectionately calling my
country" the Admiral discussed the matter
in these terms:
The bill is q courageous, statesmanlike
attempt TO solve the Irish question. 1t Is
the first real measure which treats Ireland
ma whole. which deals out equality tn both
classes and at the expense OF neither; that's
the landlord is not sacrificed for the tenant
nor the tenant for the landlord. For this
reason the measure must appeal to every
Irshman who desires to sec peace. unity
and a settled constant prosperity established
in his country.
L am enthusiastic about the measure.
believe it must solve ell the troubles and
difficulties which have beset Ireland. be-
cause it is fair and satisfactory to all parties
concerned. II is fair to the landlords,
who have been In . position Of great loss
owing to the Interference OF the State.
which did away with the right Of contract
between man and man. 1t Is fair to the
tenant. and it doesn't put the taxpayer to
any great expense.
OF the many acts that are on the stat
ute book, dealing with the relations be-
tween landlord and tenant. all have been
more or less failures because they have
only encouraged litigation. They have
been OF profit to but one class In Ireland
the lawyers. They have put landlords
and tenants apart instead OF bringing them
together: have made their interests dia-
metrtcally opposite, instead Of making
them synonymous.
Agriculture Is the main industry Of
Ireland, and previous land legislation for
Ireland has done little but throw a heavy
load Of litigation on the agricultural In
dustry. After the union England ruined
all the other Irish industries by hostile
tariffs, with the result that when agJicul-
,ure failed there was nothing for an irish
man but emigration. There were no homo
industries to which no could turn to find a
living
This is why the land question has always
been 30 vital to Irishmen. and why the
failure OF its settlement has been such .
ranking sore for generations. The people
Of the United States know this better, per-
haps. than they do In England. for they
have had for years among them men and
the children OF men driven from their homes
on this account. The Land act Of 1870
gave compensation for disturbance but
Il could not efYaoe the feeling Of bitterness
that centuries OF unjust land tenure had
engendered. The hatred Of England to
he found to-day among many Irish-Ameri-
As 10 proof Of bow that feeling has sur
vived.
Nor do I wonder,- continued Lord
Charles, for. though I was born a land
lord and loyalist. have often said that
had been born a tenant. before 10 II Is not
unlikely would have been a rebel Before
the 20 act the Irish tenant was much In
the same category rs . Chinaman or .
Turk in his respective country. where
any improvement In property results In
increased taxation.
If the Iriah tenant improved his prop
erty. which was done frequently. the land
lord could raise the rent or put the farm
in the market and get q new tenant at q
higher rental. which higher rental was
obtainable solely through the improve
ments made by the tenant. This. Of course
was manifestly unfair TO the tenant Yet
one couldn't blame the landlord. He was
within HE legal riehts in obtaining the high
~ possible return on HE property. You
must remember there 10 no sentiment In
business.
I don't cay that the Irish landlords
always did raise the rents or put their
tenants out, but they always had the power
TO do so: the potentiAlities were In their
hands In my own experience ! remember
an instance happening several years ago
had lost some money and wired my agent
10 Ireland to AK II he had any money for
me. His reply was that he could get some
by raising the rents on my properties-
wired back. 'nont do anything until sec
the conditions for myself
4 went TO Ireland and found that my
lands were far below The Grifith valuations
onefarm Of forty acres, by illustration. wa
paying me half q crown an acre. and fol
this same land the agent had been offered
BY parties other than tho tenant 10 shillingl
n acre. The tenant himself offered mo II
hillings II would vt him continue hi
tenancy. But I found that ths increased
valuation Of this land was due solely to the
improvements which the tenant bad mad<
N bis thirty years OF occupancy. Il would