The Irish standard., 1905-04-29
life: |f|:j:: in GALWAY
Conditions Existing on tie
CIanricarde Estate.
Landlord Ignores Petitioners
g.. Request to Sell.

evicted tenants in Ireland was
brought to the notice of Parliament
in debate initiated by the Irish Par
ty Mr.. John Roche. in seconding the
resolution moved by Mr.. Kendall
O'Brien upon the subject, pointed out,
in the course of very able and
argumentative speech. that when the
Act of 1908 was before the House of
Commons everyone understood that
the restoration and settlement of the
evicted tenants would be one of the
immediate results when the Act be-
came law. He quoted speeches made
by Mr.. Wyndham. the Marquis of
Lansdowne, and by the Prime Minis
ter, all breathing forth the same
measure of hope and consolation for
the evicted tenants. There were one
hundred and forty evicted families,
Mr.. Roche pointed out, on the Clan
ricardo and Lewis estates who were
practically in the same position, if not
worse, than before the passing of the
Act of 1908 Within the past week
l visited the districts in which the
Clanricarde property is situated, and
l regret to say my experience ct the
actual condition of things not alone
bears out the views expressed by Mr..
Roche, but leaves a still darker out
look. There is no disposition on the
part of the people in authority in
connection with the Clanricarde
estate to facilitate the restoration of
of the evicted, or to restore peace and
harmony to the district. says the
special correspondent of the Dublin
Freeman.
The spirit which has marked the
career of the Most Noble the Marquis
of Clanricarde in dealing with his
tenantry in the past, remains unalter-
ed. He cannot be accused of parti-
cipating in the new conciliation policy.
He is an absentee, and in the memory
of not one single inhabitant has he
once been seen in Co. Galway since
he succeeded to the property. He has
been memorialised with a view to
purchase by the tenants, but he has
not deigned even to acknowledge the
petition. The marquis is man of
mystery and of inscrutable ways. His
IN, {e, hnv t>
landlords may sell. and their tenants
enter on a new era as peasant pro-
prietors. but he, apparently, is de-
termined that no change shall take
place on his estates. The occupiers
on his property must not indulge in
the hope of ridding themselves of his
yoke and the evicted tenants must
suffer on Indefinitely.
Are there any really insurmontable
obstacles on the Clanricarde property
towards final settlement under the
Land Act of 1903? believe that
therd arc not. outside, of course, the
obstlnacy of the landlord himself and
of his agent. Mr.. Shaw Tener 1t may
ber of evicted tenants claiming rein
statement. and that their holdings are
now in the possession of planters.
That is quite true. but it is by no
means a barrier to sale and purchase.
Everybody knows that one of the
great features of the Wyndham Act
is the reinstatement and re-settlement
of the evicted tenants. But what about
the planters: Whatever may be
thought about the planters on their
status as tenants. there are provisions
in the Act that meet the difficulties.
A good deal, of course. depends upon
the planters themselves. and the dis
position they evince when the Ques-
tion Of purchase is being negotiated.
II they are willing to accept compen-
sation their interest may be bought
out. believe it is perfectly true to
say that there is hardly single plan
ter OH the whole of the Clanricarde
estate who would not willingly and
gladly accept compensation and sur
render the farms on which they live.
Very few, if any of them, are bona
fide tenants at all, and except for the
purposes of ensuring compensation
very few of them pretend to be such.
The slightest disposition on the part
of the landlord and agent to terminate
the existing state of things by sale
to the Estate Commissioners, under
which the planters would receive
adequate compensation. would. have
tcnths of the planters. They regard
themselves as temporary .occupiers-
as people holding the farms for the
landlord until such time as the re
adjustment, which they always antici
pated, should be brought about. They
make no pretense at bona fide work
Ing the land, and they look forward
to, their release from an unsettled and
unsatisfactory condition, as a deliver
ance from an irksome bondage. The
planters are not the insurmountable
difficulty. Nothing stands in the way
of final settlement on the Clanri
carde property but the hostility of the
Marquis of Clanricarde and his agent
That. to say the least of it, is 9
lameptable condition of things. i.