and neighbours--aye, even relatives near as brothers and sisters,
compete against each other, and eagerly force up the price. Every
Irish land agent will tell you of underhand intrigue in connection
with land. Not only do brothers secretly strive to obtain advantage
over each other by means of higher bidding, but bribery is tried. Mr.
Robert Hare, of the Dublin Board of Works, said:--"My father was an
agent, and on one occasion he was weighing the respective claims of
two brothers to a piece of land which was about to become vacant and
perhaps considering their respective offers, when one sent him a
ten-pound note. He cut it in two and returned one-half, with an
intimation that on receiving a receipt he would forward the other." I
never met anyone in Ireland who would not readily admit that high
rents were mainly due to the action of the tenants themselves, who,
being actuated by what is called land-hunger, which is nothing more in
the majority of cases than the necessity to live, had in their
desperation bid more than the land was worth. Mr. Thomas Manley, of
Trim, County Meath, said:--"The tenant farmer has cried himself up,
and the Nationalists have cried him up as the finest, most
industrious, most self-sacrificing fellow in the world. But he isn't.
Not a bit of it. The landlords and their agents have over and over
again been shot for rack-renting when the rents had been forced up by
secret competition among neighbours and even relations. Ask any
living Irish farmer if I am right, and he will say, Yes, ten times
yes." As an Irish farmer and the son of an Irish farmer, living for
sixty years on Irish farms, and from his occupation as a horse-dealer,
claiming to have an intimate acquaintance with the whole of Ireland,
and with almost every farmer who can breed and rear a horse, Mr.
Manley is worth a hearing. Continuing, in the presence of several
intelligent Irishmen, some of them Home Rulers, but all agreeing with
the speaker, Mr. Manley said:--"Rents have been forced up by people
going behind each other's backs and offering more and more, in their
eagerness to acquire the holding outbidding each other. Landlords are
human; agents, if possible, still more human. They handed over the
land to the highest bidder. What more natural? The farmers offered
more than the land could pay. But why curse the landlords for what was
their own deliberate act?" Mr. Manley's knowledge of England enabled
him to say that "the Irish farmer is much better off than the English,
Scotch, or Welsh farmer, not only in the matter of law, but also in
the matter of soil." The legal point is demonstrable. Let us see how
the Irish tenant stands. The disinclination of the Irish for factory
work, as exemplified in the closing of the Galway jute factory,
because of irregularity of attendance, and the refusal of the starving
peasantry of congested Donegal and Connemara to accept regular
employment in the thread factory of Dunbar, MacMaster and Co.,
notwithstanding the most tempting inducements, as set forth in my
letters from Ireland, has strangled enterprise, except in the North.
The ceaseless agitation of the revolutionary party has given rise to a
feeling of insecurity which deters capitalists from investing money in
Ireland. And it is only fair to say that a large majority of the most
intelligent men of every political colour concur in attributing much
of the poverty of Ireland to unrestricted Free Trade. Thus a variety
of causes have created land hunger, with its resulting land clamour,
which has brought about extraordinary legislation--extraordinary
because going far beyond the principles recognised by Republican
America, which in the first article of its Constitution draws the line
thus:--"_No State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of
contracts._" Well might Lord Salisbury, in extending the Land Purchase
Act, carefully dissociate the Conservative party from the principle of
interference with free contract in the open market. In England a thing
is worth what it will fetch. It is not so in Ireland.
A tenant can never be evicted unless a whole year's rent is due. The
landlord might want the land for himself or for his son, but he cannot
have it. The tenant must have six months' notice of eviction, and when
actually evicted can recover possession by paying what he owes, and in
that case the landlord becomes liable to the tenant for the crops on
the land, and for the profits he (the landlord) _might_ have made. In
America the length of notice preceding eviction varies from three days
to thirty, the latter only in the State of Maine. Yet in Ireland, where
we hear so much of brutal evictions, six months' notice is required, a
year's rent being due, this boon having been conferred by a "Coercion"
Government. An Irish tenant even when voluntarily leaving his farm must
be compensated by the landlord for all improvements made by himself or
his predecessors, or must be permitted to sell his improvements to the
incoming tenant. The tenant-right of a small farm is sometimes a
surprising sum. The moonlighting case I investigated at Newcastlewest,
Co. Limerick, arose from a tenant-right transaction, William Quirke
having bid L590 for the tenant-right of forty-nine acres formerly held
by J. Dore who was selling, as against L400 bid by Dore's cousin.
Quirke and three of his family were therefore shot in the legs, by way
of impressing the advisability of joining in the Onward march to
Freedom. But although the tenant is settled on the land for ever, and,
so long as he owes less than a year's rent, cannot be molested, it must
not be supposed that the rent he agreed to is unchangeable. Suppose the
tenant to be paying a judicial rent, which is decided by three persons,
one of them a lawyer, the other two acting respectively in the
interests of landlord and tenant, having examined and valued the farm.
Assume that the tenant gets more than a year behindhand. The landlord
desires to evict. Even then the tenant, by applying for another "Fair
Rent," can stay eviction. But while the rent may be lowered, the
landlord can never raise it under any circumstances. The law is
decidely one-sided. Leases may be broken. All leaseholders whose leases
would expire within ninety-nine years after the passing of the Land Act
of 1887 may go to Court, have their contracts broken, and a judicial
rent fixed. No countervailing advantage is given to the landlords. When
a tenant's valuation does not exceed L50, the Court before which
proceedings are being taken for the recovery of any debt, whether for
beef, bread, groceries, clothes, or whiskey, is empowered to stay
eviction, can allow the debtor to pay by instalments, and can extend
the time for such payment without limit. To the average British mind
this will smack of over-legislation, and serious Irishmen make the same
complaint. And still, to quote Father Mahony, of Cork, "still the Irish
peasant mourns, still groans beneath the cruel English yoke." The fact
is, he is almost killed with kindness. He is weighed down by the
multitude of benefactions. He reminds you of the tame sparrow you once
suffocated by overfeeding. So much has been done for him that he
naturally expects more, and instead of being grateful he grumbles more
than ever. He regards Mr. Gladstone as having acted under compulsion,
and as being an opportunist. The peasantry of Ireland have no respect
for the Grand Old Man. "Shure, we bate the bills out iv him. Shure, he
never gave us anythin' till we kicked it out iv his skin. Divil thank
him for doin' what we ordhered him to do."
But perhaps the Tory Land Purchase Acts are most promising in, the
direction of finality. Lord Ashbourne's Act, as it was called (1885),
conferred on Irish tenants opportunities of purchasing their holdings
of quite an exceptional kind, and its scope and advantages were
enormously increased under the Land Purchase Act passed in 1891. If a
tenant wishes to buy his holding and arranges with his landlord as to
terms, he can change his position from an ordinary rentpayer into that
of a payer of an annuity, terminable in forty-nine years, and actually
less in amount than the rent! Most Irish landlords are willing to take
less than twenty years' purchase, but the tenants are by their leaders
advised not to buy. Otherwise the Government is prepared to advance
the necessary purchase money, to be repaid at the rate of four per
cent. per annum, which covers both principal and interest. Suppose the
tenant's rent to be L50, and that he agreed to buy at the seventeen
years' purchase so strongly discountenanced by the priest quoted in my
last. His rent or rather the annual payment substituted for rent,
would amount to L34, being a reduction of thirty-two per cent. If he
bought at fifteen years' purchase, rent L50, he would only pay L30 a
year, a reduction of forty per cent. If he bought at twenty years,
rent L50, he would have L40 a year to pay, being a reduction of twenty
per cent. In forty-nine years the holding would belong to him, or to
his children. In any case he must largely benefit. His rent is lower,
his share in the ownership is always becoming larger, and, if he
chooses, he can at any time sell his interest in the concern. Mr.
Palmer, of Tuam, said that those who had purchased under this Act were
happy and prosperous. Lord Shannon's tenants bought at twelve years'
purchase. In other words they exchanged their rent for one-half the
amount, payable to Government, the land to be their own in forty-nine
years. Lord Lansdowne's tenants agreed to buy at eighteen years'
purchase, all arrears to be forgiven on payment of half a year's rent.
These buyers are quiet and apparently contented. Their payments are
regular, and if they were left alone they would doubtless continue in
the path of rectitude. But the agitators, who find nick-names for
everything, have already begun to call this repayment of
purchase-money a Tribute to England; and the past history of Irish
leaders leads honest Irishmen, as well as Englishmen, to the
conviction that, once an Irish Parliament were established, with an
Irish constabulary under its rule, a No Tribute campaign would ensue,
which would lead to deplorable results. The privileges of Irish
tenants are far more numerous than I have space to indicate, but
perhaps enough has been said to give a clear idea of the chief causes
and effects of land hunger in Ireland.
The remedy, in the opinion of many advanced and enlightened Home
Rulers, must come from a Tory Government. From the multitude of
counsellors I met in the thirty-two counties of Ireland, I will select
two who represent the vast majority of able men of every political
party. Mr. Thomas Manley said:--"Settle the land question, reform the
Poor Laws and the Grand Jury laws, and reclaim the land, which would
pay ten per cent." Mr. Mason, of Mullingar, said:--"The whole
agitation would be knocked on the head by the introduction of a
severe land measure. Previous legislation has been very severe, and I
do not say that a further measure would be just and equitable. I
merely say that the people do not want Home Rule, but that they want
the advantages which they are told will accrue from Home Rule." And so
said everyone.
To settle the land question is to settle everything. Religious
animosity would be silenced by self-interest. The operation of the
Land Purchase Act has undoubtedly done much to turn the people using
its provisions into good Conservatives--law-abiding and
law-supporting, as having a stake in the country. The people have not
the land for nothing but they look forward to its becoming honestly
their own, and meanwhile they enjoy the security insured by the
Government of England. In any attempt to settle this great problem, a
Conservative Government would probably be largely supported by the
landlords themselves, while the rank and file of Ireland would look
with respect and confidence on any bill bearing the honoured name of
Balfour. But how shall we decide the scope and character of such a
final Land Bill? I do not hesitate to say that it must contain a very
strong infusion of the compulsory element. The great measure of 1891
is generous to a fault, but it is voluntary, and the result is that
the tenants who give greatest trouble--the poor, idle, ignorant dupes
of a scheming priesthood and a corrupt political conspiracy--never
come under its benefits, because they unquestioningly accept the
advice given them to wait until an Irish Parliament lets them have the
land for nothing.
Compulsion is not required for the landlords half so much as it is for
the tenants. The conclusion arrived at may be stated in a few words.
Perhaps it may be worthy the consideration of our brilliant and
far-seeing Unionist leaders:--
The Land Purchase Act, 1891, should be amended by a Bill
providing (1) That the existing Land Commission shall be
strengthened in order to form a Court to which either Landlords
or Tenants shall have the right to apply for an order of the
Court placing them under the provisions of the Act of 1891, or
such extension of that Act as may hereafter be made. (2) It
should be the duty of the Court to inquire into the relations of
landlord and tenant, the condition of the estate and of the
tenants, and such other circumstances as may in the wisdom of the
Court seem necessary. (3) If the Court decides to issue an order,
the parties shall at once be placed in the same position as if
they had entered into a mutual agreement under the Land Purchase
Act, 1891; but it shall be the duty of the Court to fix the
number of years' purchase; and it shall have power either to
restrict or to enlarge the number of holdings over which its
order shall take effect.
This is offered as the mere germ of a suggestion. I am familiar with
the arguments that may be brought against it. For the most part they
can be urged with equal effect against the whole system of
interference with that freedom of contract which prevails in England
and Scotland, but which, as I have pointed out, has already been
destroyed in Ireland. What I claim is that there _must_ be a means of
defeating such a conspiracy to make the law inoperative as that
practised--to the grave detriment of Irish tenants' interests--by the
omnipresent agencies of the National League, ever since the Unionist
party set itself to solve the agrarian sources of Irish discontent.
Birmingham, August 14th.
No. 61.--CLERICAL DOMINATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
Those who play at bowls must expect rubbers. The Roman priesthood of
Ireland having assumed the manipulation of Irish politics, have laid
themselves open to mundane criticism. Said Mr. Gladstone:--"It is the
peculiarity of Roman theology that by thrusting itself into the
temporal domain, it naturally, and even necessarily, comes to be a
frequent theme of political discussion." Priestly pretensions to
authority are without limit. The Catholic clergy of Ireland claim the
right to coerce the laity in political matters, themselves remaining
exempt from public criticism. They also claim to be exempt from civil
jurisdiction, and to have the right of overruling the law of the land,
with every moral obligation, when clashing with the interests of the
Church. They distinctly teach that every political question is a
question of morals, and that to vote against the priest's instructions
is a deadly sin. Such being a few of the claims advanced by the Irish
priesthood, let us see on what rests the hope of these extraordinary
demands being recognised. A.M. Sullivan, a Roman Catholic Nationalist
M.P., says:--"Of all Catholic nations or countries in the world--the
Tyrol alone excepted--Ireland is perhaps the most Papal, the most
ultramontane. In Ireland religious conviction--what may be called
active Catholicism--marks the population, enters into their daily life
and thought and action. The churches are crowded as well by men as by
women, and in every sacrament and ceremony of their religion
participation is extensive and earnest. Reverence for the sacerdotal
character is so deep and strong as to be called superstition by
observers who belong to a different faith; and devotion to the Pope,
attachment to the Roman See, is probably more intense in Ireland than
in any other part of the habitable globe, the Leonine city itself not
excluded." In other words, the Irish are more Roman than the Romans
themselves. Here we have on the one hand the claims of the Romish
priesthood, and on the other the disposition of the Irish people. But
as the alleged claims will to the majority of Englishmen appear
monstrous and incredible, it becomes necessary to prove that these
claims are actually made.
The fall of Parnell brought the clergy into striking prominence. The
powerful personality of the Irish leader, his great popularity, and
his determination to rule alone, had to some extent forced the Church
into the background. Parnell once removed, the Church at once aimed at
undivided rule, directing all her energies to this end mercilessly and
without scruple. Her instruments were worthy of the work. The modern
Irish priest is usually low-bred, vulgar, and ignorant. The priest of
Lever's novels, brimming over with animal spirits, full of _bonhomie_,
sparkling with wit and abounding with jovial good-nature, is nowhere
to be found. The men of the olden time were educated in France, and by
rubbing against the cultured professors of Douai or Saint Omer, had
acquired a polish, a breadth of view, a _savoir faire_, denied to the
illiterate hordes of Maynooth. The olden priest was loyal, just as
cultured Irishmen who have travelled, whether in America, England, or
elsewhere, are loyal and averse to Home Rule. The modern priest,
usually the son of an Irishman such as visits England at harvest time,
brought up amidst squalor and filth, is in full sympathy with the
limited ideas of the peasantry among whom he was reared. The
conversation of his parents and associates would relate to the burden
of the Saxon yoke, and his surroundings would perpetually re-echo the
stories of Ireland's wrongs and woes. Any literature he might absorb
would be a priest-written history of Ireland, with the rebel doggerel
of 1798 and the more seductive sedition of later years. At Maynooth he
meets a crowd of students like himself, crammed to the throat with his
own prejudices, viewing everything from the same standpoint. He
returns to the people a full blown ecclesiastic, saturated with a
sense of his own importance and the absolute supremacy of the Church
he represents; knowing nothing of mankind outside his own narrow
sphere, profoundly ignorant of the world's political systems, and
intensely inimical to England. Average Keltic priests fully bear out
the description furnished by a loyal priest of Donegal, who, on
alluding to their social status and Maynooth course, said:--"They are
merely shaved labourers, stall-fed for three years."