The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-06-02
The Present Land Purchase Act is FORCING
Exorbitant Prices From the Small
Farmers of Ireland.
The Brawny Armed Sons of Irish Hills and
Mountains Are Still Being Forced
From Their Homes.

tIl' present fackrtntS ana pay for the
labor of their holdings without sus-
tanning heavy loss by the transaction
Before 1908 there was ALWAYS Gov
crnlncntal inspection before the Treas
ury sanctioned IL loan To the tenants
;,s payment to the landlords for the
tenants holdings. and this for the
double purpose of protecting the ten
hnts. i'll many cases comparatively
helpless because of their being i'm the
power nf tn" landlords, and for tho
purpose of protecting. the nations
Treasury.
liut To-day We find that Statutory
equitable and precautionary method
abandoned ANA prohibited by the zone
system. sanctioned by the Act of Par
lament. Thus we have. through the
zones ana by the Act of Parliament.
established what is virtually culnpul-
sorry purchase, rocrcing the one side
"nly-tha, is the tenants sidc-nud
"bliging them in some cases to pay u$
high aS 81 years purchase.
Can ii be believed outside of ireland
that /, method is devised ANA legalizcd.
possessing the treble power of robbing
the Irish farmers by compelling them
I" purchase at cxurbitHnt prices, of
Sccllrlng double or treble prices for
the landlords property ANA at the same
time protecting the British Treasury
against all bad debts by compelling the
local ratepaycrs in the different dis
trcts of Ireland. especially the peas
antry. to make good to the Treasury
all bad debts arising from the over
hurlcnrd turner's being robbed. as /
have described at the time of their
land purchase and not able to pay the
cXorbi;lnt installmcnts ana nnnuitics?
r." me, at least, it seems highly i'm
polite as we'll as unjust for the British
Treasury i'm mlny cases to totally dis
card from consideration the very cle-
lnrits ana Foundation of every bind
ing contract. viz. free and real and
Voluntary consent To the substantial
I" be bound by its terms.
And this is not the only remarkable
Legislative boon enacted within the last
dozen of years in favor of Irish land
| lords, ANA at lrcI;,nd's heavy cost. Be
sides the .Gi5.220,OO that, as l have
shown. is given them by reducing the
Sinking Fund GO per cent by the bonus
ana by the zones. with nom Inspection
within the last few years Irish land
lords had c4o0.000 IL year voted To
them for their consent to the Irish
Local Government Act
We can gather from this what tools
the Irish landlords are turned into.
with :, few honorable exceptions, and
how well they are paid for their serv-
ices. This sum capitalized at 2M per
cent. amounts to more than 14%. mil
lions. E1,O00,00O was given them to
relieve them of all burden of tithes,
making from all those sources q total
of almost G6l 100000, and this is all
exclusive of the E10O,0OO,O0O which
their unsold tcnuntcd lands were val
ucd ut in 1908.
The interest on these millions ut
per cent. per annum would amount to
an annuity Of .c2,440,0OO. This i'm
mcnsc revenue after sparng u hand
some annuity for higher education in
Ireland would be sufficient to afford
G1O annually to each OF 100000 fam
lilies as an nucleus Of sustenance
Thus, at an average Of five souls to
the family of 1,15O,00O of our people,
recently banished from Ireland by mis-
government, could be restored to our
depopulated country whose rural dis
tricts have recently lost three quarters
of their population.
If such a sum were applied to foster
industries, in a few years they would
be self-supporting, when it could be
applied to new industries, and thus
Ireland, If well governed, could sustain
population relatively as large as we
find in well-governed Belgium
Most Of the brawny-armed sons of
the Irish hills and mountains, with
hearts and hands as firm as their
native granite rocks, are gone. And
though some unfriendly editors Of an