The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-03-06
THE CONGEsTED DISTRICTS,

MAP OF IRELAND, SHOWING THE CONGEsTED DISTRICTS.
= WAITER WELLMAN, of the Chicago RecordHerald, is assured by
~ Sir Anthony Macdonald, the new Under Secretary for Ireland,
" that the whole land question will be settled soon. on terms not
only satisfactory to the Irish people and to the landlords, but In
a manner which will greatly strengthen the British empire. In
brief the plan is the wholesale turning yer of the soil of Ireland to the
been made on the lines followed in India, where the land rents were fixed
upon the basis of the price of produce in the actual market. This plan has
worked vel In India, but it Is too late TO adopt that method in Ireland. 1t
will not satisfy the aspirations Of the people for actual ownership of the SOIL
So another plan must be devised. a plan which involves the actual removal
of landlordism. There will be n conhscatin of property, n compulsory
sale except under conditions which may make it necessary for the good of the
state.
The vital point Of course is the price. Naturally the landlords desire to
secure as high prices 8 they cad, while the tenants an equally anxious to
buy s cheapy as possible. Between these two stands the Government,
which is deeply concerned In devisng a practical plan and ne which will
involve az little cost Is possible to the imperial treasury. Probably q nw
valuation of the land will be made.
1tise estimated that this project will cost the imperial government 1T the
outset f15OOQOOO sterling; this sis 75OO0OOO0-a large u of money, but
not to- much to buy peace and order and prosperity in Ireland.
In many instances the price will probably equal the rent covering a
period II fifteen to twenty or twenty-five years. Where the purchaser and
tn ndlord cannot agree the government must aid in reaching a settle
ment. 1t may buy out entire estates and then sell back to the landlord his
hemeteads and castlesy preserving much of the outlying land for the people.
The scheme contemplates the. thilndng out Of consested districts where
decent support to the number of people dwelling thereon. The yale Of the
estates will bring into use large areas now given up to parks and hunting
preserves, and in many instances wide stretches of pasture land which have
been too sparsely stocked with cattle, will be Observation-Disclosures farms
and homes for the people. 49,
The landlords. It appears in most instances. re ready to submit to this
scheme: Under existing land laws. where rents may now be determined in
the courts the exorbitant rents heretofore exacted cannot ALWAYS be- necured
and land holding is losing It's attractions.
1t is lessf fascinating, alo for another reason. In 1896 parliament rave
the people If Ireland the right to elect their own county councils. Hereto
lore ne landlords held the local Offices without dispute, but under the act
II " the honors passed in many cases from the lord. By the suffrage Of TN
people. to the former tenant Ousted from local places Of dignity and honor,
and subjected to the official jurisdiction of his social interiors, the landlord
Where the unwnHngness of the landlord Il sell bis lands tt he peone
creates a condition unfavorable to public order and the general welfare # ia
proposed that the state exercise it's right Of eminent domain, fix a price upon
his property buy it from him and sell it again to purchasers from among
the people.