The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-11-21
FRESHMEN HOPE
FOR LAND BILL
Measure Contains Several
Great Benefits.
GOVERNMENT MAY OBJECT
Question Of Congestion de Mssl
Significant.
ne csa.situsse- u And Fu.es,sss ii
the Cs.sessea Dsssrfst Bears, ~
Provided ~ Ls.s hin.
"a Mea.s aIuch to
Ireland.

Dublin, Nov. ao.-Lord Macbonneil.
referring to reports that the govern
ment will propose to the House OF
Commons the rejection on bloc Of the
Amendments made by the House or
Lords to the Irish land BILL says:
II sincerely trust that His Majesty.s
government will not expose Ireland 10
the Irish land bill will certainly en-
tail. / venture to think that the bill,
as passed by the House OF Lords.
though In some respects not so good
as the bill sent up by the House OF
Commons. Is IN other respects Q better
bill; while absolutely. It Is. as It
stands. very valuable supplement to
the act OF 1908.
1.-THE CHIEF points on which the bill.
as amended by the House OF Lords,
differs from the bill as 1t LEFT the Conn
mons may be classed under four
heads:
Cal The maintenance Of the zone
system without any qualification;
(b) The exclusion OF the general
power Of Purchasing land compulsor-
lilly which the original bill provided;
| (c) The treatment OF the great guess
tion Of congestion; and
(d) The constitution and functions
of the Congeated Districts Board
On the first of these points / SUBJ
NIT that. while on the one hand the
original bill went perhaps too far In
the direction Of interference with the
cones (Which IL Is the governments
professed policy to preservep the
House or Lords have. on the other
hand. exposed the Exchequer to great
danger of loss from such coilnsive
agreements as had been executed In
the past and will doubtless be con-
rTuAaH arN fs,+ m tir<t. srsao far
numbers. However that may be-. the
question at issue IL one which more
Immediately affects the treasury. and
only affects ireland in SO far as those
oppressive sales may lead to ultimate
repudiation OF anuuities. That, dam
ger, however, lies In the future. and
as II arises from the terms of the
act OF 1903. It obviously affords no
reason for rejecting the bill.
The rejection by the House OF Lords
of the general power OF purchasing
land by compulsory process affords
equally little justification for reject
ing the bill. In view of the present
situation IN ireland. Il Is Impossible to
produce any conclusive arguments In
support OF the necessity OF general
ecmpulsion. How can general COM
lpulsion be necessary when. admittedly.
landlords have been SO eager to sell
and tenants have been SO eager to bs1y
ttiiRf ~ Ad1s Tor prols-
To pay advances In cash FOR ali the
land that has already been soid7 Ia
some parts OF Ulster landlords may
have been less forward In selling. bur
It is unreasonable to claim general
power because In limited areas its en-
pioymepts might be useful.
It may indeed come to pass that.
some ten or fifteen years hence, q
clear necessity may arise for taking
this general power to purchase land
compuisorily in order 50 complete the
extinction of landlordism in ireland
and the establishment there OF that
peasant proprietary which Mr.. Bal
four lat Btrmingham) was so Justly
proud or having helped to extend in
Ireland and which he hopes to intro
dnce into England. But all this is on
the lap OF the gods. For the present,
who can reasonably say that the ex-
clusion OF, compulsory purchase from
the Irish land bill Is a ground for the
rejection Of this bill by the House or
Commons7 sgs
It Is true, I regret to say. that the
treatment by the House Of Lords OF
the question OF congestion has been
lamentable. Outside the areas sched-
uied as congested. the bill. as II now
stands. gives hardly any more encour-
segment TO the Improvement of con-
gested holding than the act Of 1903
gave. while, apart from the questions
OF finance (Which Is common to both
bilfs) and the constitution of the
congested Districts board, the parts of
the bill connected with congestion
compare most unfavorabiy with the
bill as 1t came from the House of
t.0EITnnnA
Prevents Aid 10 Congestion.
In non scheduled areas the bill, as
II now stands. precludes the Estates
Commissioners from helping congesteJ
estates: I'D by making the expendi-
ture OF public money on such esta tes
depend on the will OF the owner and
not on the will OF the government:
and cd by refusing the power to
acquire land compulsorily for the i'm
provement OF congested holdings In
point of fact, the bill here leaves nm
touched the act OF 1903 with ali the de.
fects which six years experience of
II have brought to light, and as dur
ing that period the Estates Commits
sioners have practically found II i'm.
possible TO deal with congestion. n Is
to be expected that in the future thew
will be equally impotent
And the case is almost as bad I'm
the areas scheduled as conrestad
Here the essentials of success are the
certainty that the Congested District
Board will get possession at a fair
price, OF congested estates where and
when they want them. and also pos
session OF the untenanted land where-
with to enlarge congested holdings.
But the House Of Lords. by rejecting
the clause OF the original bill which
gave. the Congested Districts Board
priority of claim to purchase congested
estates and untenanted land, have left
open the way for the sale of congested
holdings to their occupiers whereby
improvement OF such holding is barred
for ever; and for the sale untenanted
land to landless men; but their treat
ment of the original bill on this head
must surely have delighted the heart
OF Mr., Ginneli. so 49,
The only point In connection with
the relief OF congestion. excluding the
matter OF, finance. on which the bill.
as It now stands Is an Improvement on
the Act of 1908 is the admission OF the
principle OF compulsoIy purchase. 1t is
true that the admission is hedged
round with precautions which i ven-
ture to think are unnecessary. but sttlI
the power Is there, and II should not
be undervalued. Irishmen should take
what they can get: u they find II in
SUFFICIENT they can ask for more.
From my point of view the great
merits OF the bill, as IT now stands,
like in its treatment OF the Congested
Districts Board and of finance. The
original bill had converted the Con-
gested Districts Board into q politi-
cal Organization richly endowed with