The Irish standard., 1903-04-25
He Looks Upon 1t as a Courageous, States
man-Like Attempt to Solve the
Irish Question.
Industrial Development to Follow That
Will Bring Contentment and
Happiness to Erin.

category as a Chinaman or a Turk In
his respective country, where any i'm
provcmcnt in property results in in.
creased taxation.
"lf the Irish tenant improved his
property, which was done frequently.
the landlord could raise the rent or
put the farm in the market and ret n
new tenant ut Il higher rental, which
higher rental was obtaimbe solely
through the improvements made by
the tenant. This, Of course, was mani
festly unfair to the tenant. Yet one
couldn't blame the landlord. He was
within his legal rights in obtaining
the highest possible return on his
property You must remember there
is no sentiment in business.
II don't say that the Irish land
lords always did raise the rents or put
their tenants out; but they always had
the power to do so; the potcntialities
were III their hands. In my own ex.
perience l remember an instance hap
pening several years ago had lost
some money and wired my agent in
Ireland to ask if he had any money
for me. His reply was that he could
get some by raising the rents on my
properties. / wired back, Don't do
anything until see the conditions for
myself
II went to Ireland and found that
my lands were far below the Griffith
valuations. One farm OF forty acres,
by illustration, was paying me half
crown an acre. and for this same land
the agent had been offered by parties
other than the tenant 18 shillings an
acre. The tenant himself offered me
IL shillings If l would let him con-
tinue his tenancy. But found that
the increased valuation Of this land
was due solely to the Improvements
which the tenant had made in his
thirty years Of occupancy. 1t would
have been manifestly unfair to have
raised the rent under these conditions,
and so I didn't. My action was only
typical of that Of many Of my brother
landlords.
"The question naturally arises, Why
didn't the landlord make the improve
ments? The answer is that the tenant
refused to let him, knowing that i'm.
provements cannot be made without
giving the landlord some return for
his investment, which meant more
rcnt-as is customary in England.
"On the other hand, every act that
has enabled the tenant to become the
purchaser of his holding has been in
variably successful. Both landlord
and tenant have been satisfied, their
interests have been made identical,
$4,000 tenants have purchased, and
the state has not lost one penny. Mr..
Wyndham's bill is measure which
both landlord and tenant should be
preparing to accept loyalty. 1t brings
into line politicians Of every shade Of
opinion, whose only connecting link 10
pride in, and love of, their country,
and anxiety for it's welfare.
"This Is where Mr.. Wyndham's
chivalrous and statesmanlile measure
stands out far ahead Of any that has
preceded it, 1t is bold and wise ef-
fort to grapple with the root Of the
problem and to secure, as he himself
phrased it, some lasting basis Of agra.
rian peace The bulk of crime in Ire
land is crime engendered by agrarian
discomfort. To put it in an Irish way,
when Irishmen are at peace with the
law they are the most law-abiding peo.
pie ON the face of the earth.
"1n the past, however, all the en-
thusiasm, chivalrous sentiment and
generous impetuosity Of my country
men have been guided in the wrong
direction. Both parties Of the govern
ment have unwittingly set landlord
against tenant and intensified instead
of minimizing class animosity. 1t was
only recently that it was an infraction
of discipline for Irish soldiers to up.
pear on parade wearing their coun-
try's emblem. But now, on st. Pat