The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-30
BY TIMOTHY ,. o'coNNoR.

T
 BY TIMOTHY ,. o'coNNoR- Dublin, May 2s.-The oovernment
 must have realized that the Budget | would arouse strong and widespread | opposition in the country. But the l fierce resentment excited in Ireland by
 the proposed increased taxation on licenses and on liquor, apparently apparently comes as an unpleasant surprise to Liberals and alrSUdy they
 must be feeling somewhat uneasy at
 the prospect of the entire Nationalist
 vote being cast against Lloyd Georges
 program. Redmond had declared his intention of offering to the Budget
 "the most vigorous opposition at every opportunity" That Free Trade has proved disastrous to Ireiand's indust- ries and development is e fact recog-
 nixed on all sides. Yet hitherto the National Party has not felt itself im-
 pelled to assit in the destruction of
 system damaging Irish welfare. It Is not until a Cobdenite Government is preparing to impose a liquor trade.
 that the Irish members are up in arms against Free Trade finance.
 1 The explanation of the furious indi-
 nation excited among Mir. Redmonds followers Is simple enough. They com- plain with good reason that the new imposts on licenses and spirits must fall with especial serverity on Ireland, and must increase materially the un- due burden of taxation now weighing
 down the country. Both Irish pro- ducers and consumers will be heavily
 mulcted. The brewing and disttliing | industries have fiourished greatly in | the country, very largely because they have not had to overcome the obstacles | which have stood in ths way of the | development of other forms of enter prise. Owing to the favor with which | the Nationalists regard them, these 1 trades have had no fearing of encount- ering agitation. boycotting. and in-
 limitation. Unfortunately for Ireland | 1t is also true that the consumption
 of liquor by the people is exceedingly large. No one who has been in the country can fail to admit that the i evils of alcoholism are very conspicu- ous and widespread in Ireland. The result of the new, taxation will be to | diminish the business and profits Of | the manufacturers of liquor and to
 increase considerably the cost of the | consumer.
 | sffu Another Class.
 But there is also another class that | will suffer heavily, and there can be | little doubt that 1t is the menace to | the interests of the retail dealers,
 which is largely responsible for the
 hostility of the Irish members towards | the Budget. The situation created by the Budget is full of diffGulty and em-
 barrassment for the Nationalists. Their | hostility cannot but excite antagonism in the Liberal ranks and diminish
 any lingering disposition which the Government may have cherished in | favor of placing Homo Rule in the 1 forefront of their program. On the l other hand the Nationalists have not
 been able to prevent the introduction
 of the new taxation. which is regarded with such hostility in Ireland. and their
 future opposition Is hardly likely to induce Lloyd George to stay his hand. The result must>be to render the Irish
 Members unpopular among their con-
 stituents. and so to add to the volume of discontent against the Nationalist
 Party. which is so significant Q sign of the times to-day.
 The Estates Commissioners sat this
 week for the purpose of hearing ob-
 jections to the compulsory acquisition l of estates. On behalf of the land lords objections were raised chiefly
 on financial grounds. Tn the case of the estate of Mir. Waiter Joyce, County
 Mayo. counsel said that one of the l obiections of the owner was that the
 land to bs taken should be selected
 with due regard to the general situa-
 tion and convenience any other
 property of the owner. so as not to 1 diminish the value of the property
 Another objection was that the land
 was not suitable for the purpose of
 creating tenancies. Mir. Joyce. coun-
 sel said had been made the victim of
 A system of boycotting among some | of his neighbors in County Galway,
 but his Mayo tenants had nothing to
 do with that. MT. Joyce was quite | willing to sell to his tenants in Mayo, and he thought the Congested Dis | tricts Board would hRve bought. but | they had no money to do so. His ob- | lection to the proposal of the Estates l Commissioners was that if they &C., | ouired the lands their doing so would | be prejudicial to the other parts of the | estate. There were about twenty-six
 tenants on the property. and they
 would require the lands to be dis
 tributed among them. MT. Waiter
 Joyce. the owner, stated that In 1sVo
 the Congested Districts Board ap-
 preached him with regard to purchase, but after making inquiries they de- ciined to make an offer, giving as one l reason that they had no funds An | other reason was that they considered
 the portion of the tenanted land large as compared with the part. but wit
 ness declined to ser1 without selling inc whole estate. If the lands were l acquired at all they ought to go to the tenants, as they had been good ten-
 ants. The Commissioners decided that
 It would not be right to take up the
 lands having regard to the Tact that
 n number of small tenants would re-
 ouire it to be divided among them when it was sold.
 II Serious Disturbance.
 There has been a serious disturbance at the Portnard turbary on the Lloyd
 estate, Cappamore. Negotiations are
 pending for the purchase by the Es-
 tates Commissioners of the Lloyd es-
 tate on which the turbary is situated.