The San Francisco call., 1909-08-08
By HUGH SUTHERLAND
Eleventh Letter.

n government which now rules the
British empire has decided to ap-
ply the final remedy-the only remedy
for the deadly land disease which so
long kept the people of Ireland in
economic slavery. The first successful
step in the treatment. taken after sew
ersl generations of agitation. was the
establishment of the tenants right to
a certain ownership in the improve
ments made by his own labor. The
second was the establishment of the
principles Of land purchase. by which
the tenants are being made actual
owners Of their lands. Now comes the
last move-compulsion.
To effect a complete and permanent
cure a vigorous dose is needed, and
the country is going TO get it. 1t may
be called an allopathic dose of homeo-
pathic remedy. Compulsion-by fire
and sword. and the dreadful enactments
Of greed and prejudice and race hatred
drove the people from the lands they
had occupied. Compulsion-by carefully
and justly framed statutes-is to re-
store them TO their own.
Correcting the Weakness
Lack Of power to compel the set
tlenent of the land problem has been
the chief weakness of legislation here
tofore The principle Of land purchase
and the urgent necessity for it were
advanced more than SO years ago. and.
through successive statutes, won by
arduous agitation in and out Of par
lament, the principle has been made
widely effective. The hundreds of pros
porous farms have seen during the
last week, where seven years ago I
saw empty plains. testify eloquently to
tile success Of the plan.
But most of these improvements have
been made through consent of the
landlords. It has been possible for the
estates commissioners and the congest-
ed districts board to purchase many es-
tstes and resell them to the tenants
because the landlords whether through
good nature or want of funds, or
sheer WEAKNESS with the endless
struggle against public opinion-have
agreed to dispose of their huge hold
ings Of land to the authorities.
Many Landlords 0bdurate
There have been, however, and are
stiI. many landlords who remain obdu-
rate. They are rich, and money does
not tempt them; they are prejudiced,
and argument does not move them; or
they are rspacious. and fair offers do
not satisfy them Hence, they cling to
their broad acres of fertile land, while
ali around them, or. at least within a
few miles Of their domains, land
hungry peasants wear out their lives
in a hopeless fight with poverty.
The land bill now in the house of
commons-presente by the liberal gov
ernment after consultation with the
Irish parliamentary party-proposes to
apply the obvious remedy compulsory
sale.
This measure. dealing with a prob
lem so vast and complex as the Irish
land question. is necessarily complex
itself. but its main intent is TO enlarge
the powers and increase the effective
ness of the authorities engaged in
transferring the land from the land
lords to the tenant proprietors. We
shall discuss only its bearings upon
the work of the congested districts
board. the body which for several
years has been working valiantly to
solve the huge problem presented in
the poor or scongested" districts of the
west.
Work of Readiustment
These districts. as has been explained.
form parts of the counties of Donegal,
sligo. Leitrim. Roscommon. Mayo. Cal
way. clare Kerry and cork-some 81
100000 acres. with population of
more than 500. 900. The board has re-
arranged and enlarged farms too poor
for the support Of the holders, and
by the purchase of untenanted lands
has been enabled to do this work. and
also TO move the occupiers Of useless
tracts to districts capable of producing
decent crops
But. besides the inability TO enforce
sales Of big estates. the board has been
hampered by the fact that its powers
were restricted to the congested dis
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