Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-10
||RELAND'S BEST LAW
|Wyndham Act of 1903 Re-
generates the Irish People.
LANDLORD A DRAWBACK
Soil Ownership Has Brought Peace
and Self-Respect.
FARMERS HAVE CREDIT NOW
Bills Are Paid, Farms Improved and
Living Conditions Bettered.
Erin's Renaissance.
LANDLORD A DRAWBACK
FARMERS HAVE CREDIT NOW
RY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.


to obtain from Mr. W. F. Bailey of the
commission that is carrying out the land
act of 1903 in Ireland a very interesting
review Of the situation there and the
condition of the people who have pur-
chased farms with government assistance
upon the estates of the great landlords
which are being rapidly broken up into
small holdings.
THAT the farms of the tenant pur-
chasers have largely improved in all
parts Of Ireland, as regards cultivation
and general conditions, is unquestion-
able" said Mr.. Bailey. 1.-THE exceptions
to this rule are so few and of such a ma
ture as to emphasize rather than detract
from the good effect Of the land reforms.
as shown by the general condition Of the
farms we have been able to visit.
Tenants Improve Their Holdings.
In the great majority of cases we
found that the purchasers have devoted
their energies and their savings to the
Improvement of the land and of the
buildings. In many districts, especially
those in the provinces Of Leinster and
Munster, the tenants have hitherto been
more anxious to increase the productive
power of the soil than to add to their
houses or to make permanent improve
ments. But we found improvements In
fencing, draining, In the cleaning OF
fields, in the remaking OF farm roads.
creasing the Fertility of the soil by ma
nuring and top dressing. We found. also,
that the actual productiveness OF the land
in many cases had been increased since
it's purchase by improved management.
ION some estates conditions have not
NJ REASONS.
Some lazy people, unfortunately. have no
desire to change. They live dull. conf
monplace life, without enterprise, energy
or ambition. Some of them are affected
by their environment, as In the case OF
small farmers, who are in the midst of a
community of large cattle growers.
Again, the cost of labor is SO great that
many cannot afford to hire help to do
what they cannot do themselves, and
have postponed improvements until
However, that the dwellings, out
houses. stables and barns of tenant pur-
chasers have materially improved through
out Ireland Is certain. The testimony on
this point from every part of the four
provinces is uniform and conclusive.
considerable number of new buildings
have been erected, either by home labor
or capital already in hand. and many
farmers are taking advantage of the
loans offered by the board of works. This
Cork, Kerry, Limerick. Tipperary. Water
ford and Wexford. On some estates there
is a great deal of rivalry among the new
purchasers as to which shall make the
best showing in the way Of buildings In
other cases, I regret to say, the houses
and barns continue in . very neglected
state.
Credit Of Tenants Has Improved.
'It is also gratifying to be able to say
that in the large majority OF cases
throughout Ireland the credit of the ten
ant purchasers has improved very con-
siderably since they bought their hold
ings Such Is the universal testimony of
local bank managers, shopkeepers. minis
tiers of religion and other representative
persons whom we have consulted. And
this improvement in credit is perhaps
most marked in localities where farmers
were worse off in former times The ex-
PLANTATION Is that the farmers have now
been started on new careers free from OBJ
legations, and are able to devote all their
attention and energies to improving their
condition without being worried by finan-
cial and other troubles.
THE 'gOmbeen man., the money lender.
Ireland. has actually disappeared from
many districts, and in others he is rapidly
losing his business. The men who have
bought their farms under the Wyndham
act do not ask for credit. They pay In
cash very generally. and wherever they do
borrow they are able to get better terms
because they have something substantial
behind them, and are not likely to be
thrown out into the street at any time
as formerly. Those who are borrowing
money now want 1T for improvements
and not to pay off old mortgages or meet
previous obligations.
1--WE heard of a great many farmers who
were able to save money from the last
II. - H. r.
exaggerations and the sanguine disposition
of the people. the benefits which the farm
ers have derived from the act Of 1903 and
recent legislation, stand forth clear and
undeniable.
THE first. and in many respects the
farms. Is the contentment 1t has given the
people. Their minds are at ease. Their
anxiety as to their future treatment from
the landlord or his agent has vanished
md the misfOrtunes which often distressed
them have disappeared. In their investi-
cations the commissioners and the in
spectors employed by them have met very
few tenant purchasers who have any fault
to find with the conditions under which
they are now living. We have met several
men who had lost their cattle by disease,
and others whose crops had failed, but
they seemed to be cheerful, and were con-
fident that with care and industry they
would soon be on their legs again.
Poor Tenants Do Not Complain.
In the poorer districts on the west
coast of Ireland little improvement has
been made, and little more can be ex.
pected for a generation; yet there has
been progress, and the congested dis
tricts board is doing a great deal by its
liberal policy The people are very poor
but they do not complain of their pow.
erty. They freely admit their standard
of living has improved of recent years
and more especially since they became
the owners of their farms. They have
no envy of those whose wealth permits
them to enjoy the luxuries of civiliza
| ton. A genial woman who had beer
able to purchase her holding in Roscom
mon said that she had a fine family
but did not have much money to Spend
on them. She was consoled, however
| with the reflection that abundance i.
often misfortune I am poor, but l an
| happier than many millionaire. Every
calf to the rearing On an estate il
| Galloway, where the people are among
the poorest In Ireland. our inspector re-
ports that a securer feeling has grown
| up among them which has done then
/ great good, and has replaced the paralyz
| ing insecurity and distrust that has pre-
vailed for generations On an estate IL
Roscommon tenant purchaser said
land we will not spare ourselves In maxi
| ing improvements which will be our owr
| for all time On an estate in Cavan
where there had been chronic state OF
turbulence, a parish priest told us there
| had not been a trace of agitation since
| the farmers had been allowed to buy
the land they TILL
Purchase Has Brought Peace.
Purchase has brought peace he said