■^- .^of 4? o ^ ^ •^ ' ^&Aiivaan-^^^ '^quonvsov^^'' %a3Aii ^Mf"N"VF'?5-/A ^vvlOS-MCElfj> :'-fr.. ^ '^.f -C-* '1 "'0U3,'\I, J ij.;':'.^ur ' ISANCElfj^ •CALIFO%, ^Of-CA ''^Advaci %30NVS01^- vc \tnv \nv ^n.'3MY_ 3'' M'./j I I r J JV» -jig.;ii» JUS ' j u j; VI; M I J V >■ ^. r /- 1 1 I -,ir-. .-, r r A 1 1 i-A?-. ,,1 r i:iii\/rnr, . incui/'cir,- ^'JlrJi'iTOiyi" ■ % . ^WE UNIVERS"//, vANCEl£r-/ ^^.OFCA[IF0/?.(/^ , A-OFCAIIFO/?^ ^, y IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. LONDON : PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQDARI AND PARLIAMENT STREET IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT: LETTERS CONTRIBUTED TO THE 'STANDARD' NEIVSPAPER , WITH AN APPENDIX OF LEADING CASES UNDER THE ACT, GIVING THE EVIDENCE IN FULL, JUDICIAL DICTA. &c. BY E. CANT-WALL, BARKISTER-AT-LAW CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY. 1882. 'All ri^kli yeserved. TO THE EDITOR OF 'THE STANDARD' THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATEH. PREFACE Towards the end of September last, I was entrusted by the Editor of the Standard with a special mission to Ireland, for the purpose of watching and reporting impartially upon the working of the latest Land Act. How I should go about to fulfil this general instruction was left to my absolute discretion. At first it seemed possible that my duties would mainly be to attend the sittings of the various Sub Com- missions, and to observe the effect of their decisions upon the public mind. The apparently hostile attitude of the Land League towards the Commission, however, seriously altered and complicated the problem to be considered. Whether the leaders of the League, in the course they pursued, really aimed, as they stated, at extracting, for their clients, the greatest possible amount of benefit from the new legislation ; or whether, as the Government ultimately assumed, they were striving to defeat a measure which might have some influence in the direction of reconciling the people to the British connection, I shall not pretend to determine. But I made it my business forthwith to request from the popular leaders a statement of their views and intentions in the matter. This was at once accorded me ; and I was further permitted, not only to attend the de- monstrations and conventions of the Leaguers, but even to accompany an expedition in .search of the mysterious ' teat- viii PREFACE. cases.' To Mr. Parnell, M.P., Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., Mr. Healy, M.P., and their associates, my acknowledgments are due for the ready courtesy and kindness upon every occasion extended towards me. The gentlemen named were, I believe, of opinion that my letters showed an anxious desire to be fair. I cannot, of course, hope that I have pleased everybody, in a country where, as seen sometimes even upon the Judicial Bench, men usually entertain very strong con- victions of the entire justice of one side cr the other in the old quarrel. Indeed, I have at different times been made aware that I have seriously offended the Leaguers, the land- lords, and the Government itself If, therefore, I have been unfair all round, it is clear that the balance of political credit has been upon the whole left undisturbed by such impartial malice. I owe sincere thanks to the Chief Com- missioners, and to various members of their staff, and par- ticularly to their Under-Secretary, Mr. Micks, for information cousfcantly and cheerfully afforded me. I am under equal obligations to several of the Assistant Commissioners ; and to many unofficial gentlemen, including Mr. E. Dwyer Gray, M.P., Mr. O'Donnell, M.P., and Mr. Gyles, Secretary of the Irish Land Committee. I have added to my work a selection of the leading cases under the Act, exemplifying its main results upon the relations between landlord and tenant in Ireland. They have been selected, and carefully edited, chiefly from the admirable reports contained in the Dublin ' Daily Express.' In the letters, which the authorities of the ' Standard ' have generously permitted me to republish, the utmost pains have been taken to ensure accuracy ; the more so, as no other coiTespondent of a London newspaper happened to be in Ireland with a similar mission. Government officials, high dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church, the most PREFACE. X powerful among the leaders of the League, distinguished Irish statesmen, great landed proprietors, agents, merchants, shopkeepers, and last, but not least, Irish tenants themselves — have all in turn contributed something to the following pages. The picture offered to the reader is, it must be confessed, a painful one. Up to the present time I cannot detect the faintest glimmer of hope in the prospect. I was, as will be seen from what I have written, early impressed with that horror of the inhuman system of night outrages which is perfectly natural to a man fresh from our own happy shores ; but which, I fear, many Irishmen, accustomed to the spectacle of such outrages upon every outbreak of popular discontent, regard as somewhat overstrained and afFected. I still believe that but small advance will be made in the re-establishment of necessary social conditions until those outrages have ceased. It is with deep regret that I feel called upon to notice the (to me) inexplicable neglect of those who have influence with the people to denounce the commission of these crimes. Mr. Gray, M.P., has lately done his utmost in this direction, through the columns of the ' Freeman's Journal ; ' and one eminent Leaguer has gone so far as to pro- test against the maiming and wounding of brutes. But tlin mass of the people are cowed by the knowledge that such deeds as the murder of O'Leary, and the shooting of old Keefe, have practically gone unreproved by the leaders of the agitation ; and that the sympathies of those leaders are notoriously withdrawn from men who obey the law. The Roman Catholic Bishops, moreover, with a few noble exceptions, have scarcely acted up to a merely mundane conception of their duty in such circumstances. Either they have no influence over the people, or they have too long abstained from using it to save from mutilation a X rUEt'ACK. wretches, whose sole crime was to observe the injunction 'Owe no man anything.' Where are the historic terrors of the Church ? Are-they fables ? Or are they put away in the Vatican, like birch-rods, as useless to coerce the grown, set and hardened intelligence of these latter days ? It naay be that Ireland will one day resume her long lost place among the great and prosperous sisterhood of nations. But, as yet, she chooses rather to dwell chained among the tombs of vanished wrongs. E. Cant-Wall. The Tbmplb, 6th February, 1882. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Organising the Commission 1 II. The Policy of the League 8 III. The Policy of the Landlords . . . .17 IV. Feeling in the South 2?> V. The 'Test Cases' HO VI. Mr. Parnell in Prison 3!> VII. The Arrears 43 VIII. The Opening of the Commission . . . . 52 IX. The First Cases 59 X. The Evicted Tenants 6i XL Archdeacon Crawford's Cases . . . .71 XII. Archdeacon Crawford's Cases 7ft XIII. Archdeacon Crawford's Cases .... 84 XIV. The Cork Butter Trade 91 XV. The Courts and the Country 99 XVI. Surprising Decisions 105 XVII. 'English-managed Estates' Ill XVIII. A Commissioners' Inspection 117 XIX. Mr. Evelyn Ashley's Tenants 126 XX. The Castletown Evictions 135 XXI. DuESEY Island 142 XXII. Outrages 152 XXIII. The State of the Country ..... 160 XXIV. The Constabulary 165 XXV. Christmas Eve 170 XXVI. The Dangerous Area 179 XXVII. Life in County Limerick 185 XXVIII. The Dunseath Cases 194 COXTEXTS. APPENDICES. A. The Latest Views of Mr. Parnell . . . B. Proclamations ..... C. Extracts from the Two Land Acts J). J.UDioiAL Dicta • . 15. The M'Atavey Case . . . . . F. The Crawford Cases ■ (i. The Tennent Cases . . . H. The Enright Case. . - . L Blake v. Lord Clarina . . .J. Taylor v. Arran ... . . .' • • K. Creighton v. Nelson. . . . L. Flahive ». Hussey . " M.. Cleary r. Gascoigne . . . . . N, Carmody v. Talbot Crosbie O. The DiTnseath Cases P. The Treatment op Labourers . . . . Q. Decisions by the Chief Commissioners 11. Judge Fitzgerald's Charge . . . . S. Accounts of a ' Paying ' Farm T. The Alleged Secret Instructions to the Commissioners ,,..... U. The Solicitor-General for Ireland V. Compensation to Landlords . . . . W. The Land League Ticket .... X. Mr. Evelyn Ashley's Defence . . . . Y. The Dunseath Case Z. Hasty Criticism r.\i;B 199 201 202 20« 207 215 22a 232 235 236 238 244 245 246 248 249 250 251 256 La: 257 259 260 263 264 209 279 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. CHAPTER I. ORGANISING THE COMMISSION. Dublin: Saturday, September 2i, 1881. In a few days the Commissiouers will enter upon the admi- nistration of the new Land Act throughout Ireland. The Bill received the Royal Assent on August 22 last. Without delay the Commissioners established their headquarters at 24, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin — a fine old mansion, formerly used by the Church Temporalities Commission, and full of large, well-lighted rooms. Here, during the past month, a large staff of writers has been employed in preparing for the actual business of the Commission. It was necessary, in the first place, to communicate with those officers of the different Civil Bill Courts, who, upon their districts being visited, are, under the Act, to attend the Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners in the local Court-houses. An extensive correspondence has proceeded with enquirers eager to cora- ■mence proceedings of one kind and another, or desirous of information about the meaning of particular clauses of the Act. The technical language, the interminable provisions, lost in a maze of exceptions, the length and large scope of the measure, fairly bewildered the honest farmers who attempted to master it. It was therefore decided to draw up a full, clear, and accurate explanatory statement, to be printed and n IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. circulated at a nominal price. This document has been found of great service in spreading and popularising a know- ledge of the new law. But the most serious labour of the Commissioners has undoubtedly been the devising of a complete set of Rules, over one hundred in number, making provision for the various proceedings which may be taken before them. These Rules, which have been submitted to the County-court Judges for suggestions and amendments, will probably be issued as finally revised and approved on, or shortly after, Monday next. They are framed in direct, simple terms, so that a shrewd tenant, too poor to employ legal assistance, may, at least with the help of his priest or a friendly schoolmaster, appreciate and claim all the benefits intended for him.^ There will be no pleadings, to protract j^roceedings unduly, or render them vexatious. Forms have been prepared to be used — (1) by a tenant desiroiis of selling his tenancy in a holding ; (2) by a landlord, or tenant, or both together, intending to apply for the fixing of a ' fair rent.' In these forms the following particulars must be accurately stated : — Name and residence (if known) of the landlord ; name and residence of landlord's agent, if any ; name and residence of tenant ; post-office from which tenant receives his letters ; county. Poor-law union, and electoral division in which the holding is situate, together with the area in statute measure, rent, and gross Poor-law valuation of the holding. Directions are appended showing how the forms are to be filled up, and these are so minute that there can be no difficulty in preparing notices in the proper manner. As soon as a notice has been sent in, by either landlord or tenant, a copy, together with the ' The Catholic Bishops and clergy of Ireland ■would appear to have missed, owing doubtless in some degree to the action of the Land League, the opportunity of rendering a rare service to their countrymen. The pro- ceedings before a Sub-Commission are as informal as in an English County Court ; and if the priests had undertaken the filling-up of notices, and to advise their parishioners about the conduct of their cases, the Commis- sioners would have made all necessary allowances. Thus a large sum spent in law costs might have been saved. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. S application founded upon it, will be sent to the Registrar of the Commission, and when a number of such notices and applications have been filed in Dublin, suflBcient to warrant the despatch of a Sub-Commission to the neighbourhood, that course will be taken. Each of the four Sub-Commissions will be presided over by one of the legal gentlemen already appointed — namely, Mr. Robert Reeves, Q.C., Mr. Kane, Mr. J. G. MacCarthy, and Mr. Greer. "With the one who out of these four happens to be selected for a particular Sub-Com- mission, will be associated two other lay Assistant Commis- sioners. These have not yet been named by the Lord Lieutenant ; but it is understood that there will be at least eight chosen, and that they will be selected solely on account of their practical knowledge of farming operations and of the value of land. These lay Assistant Commissioners will, in all probability, be employed only in the province or district with which they are best acquainted. The Sub-Commission, thus constituted, will proceed to some large town in the neighbourhood of the properties owned and occupied by a group of litigants. It will sit at the place which can be most conveniently reached by all the parties, regard being had, of course, to railways and other means of locomotion. It is, for instance, proposed to send Sub-Commissions to Omagh, Galway, and Belfast. There will, of course, be one for Dublin, and even Kilkenny may be similarly honoured. To each, of the dozen or more towns thus constituted local centres of jurisdiction, will be referred the business from the surrounding district, perhaps even of several counties. In one further particular the Commissioners will themselves personally illustrate the spirit of the new legislation, by bringing justice to every man's door. Incon- venient as it may be, they intend, as a rule, to go down and hear appeals from Sub-Commissions on the spot. They will thus put needy suitors on an equality with rich ones, by rendering unnecessary expensive journeys to the capital. Many persons expect that the tenants will prefer to resort to the Sub-Commissions rather than to the Civil Bill Courts ; and in that case the number of Assistant Commissionex's must b2 4 IRELAXD UNDER THE LAND ACT. be largely augmented.' If the Rules really are published next Monday or Tuesday, it is certain that from some parts of the country, where the Land League influence is not very powerful, there will pour in an immediate stream of ' applica- tions,' and no delay whatever will be made by the Sub-Com- missions in getting to work. It is improbable that appeals will be taken for at least three months afterwards.^ The question of greatest interest here is to what extent or upon what system will the Commission reduce rents. Few persons seem to expect that rents will be, except in rare cases, raised, in view of the presumed disinclination of landlords to encounter the inevitable outcry attaching to such a proceed- ing. It is, in Dublin at least, admitted that three better chief appointments could hardly have been made. Serjeant O'Hagan is a popular favourite, and his elevation is moreover a, delicate compliment to the Catholic Bishops, who unani- mousl}^, and almost regretfully, recall the uprightness, geniality, and learning of their late standing counsel. Mr. Vernon's name is known over many counties as a synonym for just dealing and impartiality ; and a Court to arbitrate vipon the question of rents has long been advocated both by him and by Mr. Litton. Mr. Vernon, for an agent, holds singu- larly liberal views. His excellent relations with the tenantry under his control are well known ; and have probably qualified him in the eyes of the Premier (who is understood, to be solely responsible for the selection of Mr. Vernon) to represent the landlord interest with discretion upon the Commission. He has a frank, cordial, at times almost playfal, mauner, yet is keen to seize upon a point, and dignified ' This expectation has been only too thoroughly justified. Amongst other causes contributing to the comparative nullification of the Act of i870, must be reckoned the stinting, unsympathetic administration of its provisions by the County Court Judges. The suspicion and odium into which those Judges consequently fell have in turn imperilled, at the out- set, the success of the bolder measure of 1881, by throwing all the work upon the Sub-Commissions. ^ The Commission first sat to hear appeals ac Belfast on January 16, 3 882. IRELAND UNDUE THE LAND ACT. 5 in the discharge of his duties. He is growing grey ; but his eyes are still bright and clear, and twinkle merrily when, as now and then happens, he finds occasion to illustrate his subject with an Horatian maxim. Mr. Litton is a polished lawyer, of not unkindly disposition, but frigid and reserved in temperament. His appointment was not so welcome to the landlords as Mr. Vernon's, but it is believed that his legal training will act as some check ujjon him. His vievis upon the subject of 'fair rent' may, perhaps, be best gathered from the definition of it in his ' Fixity of Tenure Bill.' It runs as follows : — ' The rent to be deemed the fair rent shall be that which a solvent and responsible tenant could at the time of the enquiry afibrd to pay, fairly and without collusion, for the premises, after deducting from such rent, first, the addition to the letting value of the premises referable to any unexhausted and suitable improvements made by the tenant or his predecessors in title, and after deducting, secondly, any increase of letting value referable to the ex- penditure of labour or capital of the tenant, whether the same be capable of being specified in detail or not ; and the Judge shall further take into consideration any valuation in the average price of agricultural produce or stock which shall have taken place since the holding was last in the possession of the landlord or his predecessors in title, if evidence of the same be ofiered.' It is admittedly impossible to define in common terms, universally applicable, what is a fair rent. But it is obvious that Mr. Litton, himself a landlord, who has drawn up such a clause as that now cited, entertains very advanced views as to the tenant's interest in the matter. Mr. Parnell's sus- picious, not to say hostile, attitude towards the Commission may not, therefore, be justified by events. It is not supposed that every heated utterance at the recent National Convention of the Land League is to be recorded as the settled, unalter- able conviction of the speaker and of the League. Indeed, it is very doubtful whether the fourth and fifth resolutions passed at the Convention, restraining the tenants from resorting to the Commission until the decisions in certain tes^ 6 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. cases, to be selected by the 'Executive,' are known, will have more than a partial and temporary effect. At all events, several bodies of tenant-fai-mers in Ulster have bound them- selves together, under a new name, for the express purpose of working the Act. Curiously enough, a pamphlet just published by Mr. Healy, who may be considered the ' Law Adviser ' of the League, explains the Act in the clearest way, points out its advantages, and even gives the tenants elaborate advice about the prosecution of their claims, which, to the poorer class of them, will be of the greatest encouragement and service. Mr. Healy's pamphlet is almost a suggestion to the tenantry to give the Act a fair trial. It is consequently possible that Mr. Parnell may yet be moved to relent. But it must be admitted that there is no sign, so far, of any concession, on his part, to the growing feeling in favour of the Act. It might without unfairness be suggested that Mr. Parnell has, like Mr. Healy, unwittingly counselled his followers to accept the Act. At the Convention he advised tenant-farmers, first, to avoid statutory terms. He again recommended them, in the interest of the labourers, to take advantage of the 31st Section of the Act, and to borrow money from the Government for the erection of labourers' cottages. It may be remarked, in this connection, that the Commission will in all likelihood only make advances under that Section upon the borrower's accepting a statutory tenancy. The Section, however, authorises a loan upon the tenancy, ' or other security, or when the landlord joins the occupier in giving security.' Mr. Parnell perhaps supposes that the Treasury may consider the latent right of the occupier to obtain the statutory tenancy, or to sell, a sufficient security. At first sight he would certainly appear to have sj)oken without due consideration. The Land Commission may also expect to be utilised as a selling agency. This department of its business is under the special charge of the late Acting Secretary, Mr. Murrough O'Brien, who enjoys the reputation of being a highly ex- perienced valuer, and has one of those names which inspire confidence in Ireland. He is necessarily well acquainted IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 3 with the condition and capabilities of Irish land, from having discharged for many years the duties of Inspector of Estates to the Church Temporalities Commission, Numerous in- stances have been mentioned in which landlords wish to sell their estates through the Land Commission ; but no one so far seems able to point out a case where the tenant has positively declared his intention to buy. This curious fact may be accounted for by the recent injunctions of the Land League, or it may be due to the unsettled state of parts of the country. Hents are still being collected by horse and foot. ' Boycotting ' is going on every day to a greater and greater extent, and such circumstances are not favourable to the investment of capital in the soil. The first decisions of the Sub- Commissions are naturally awaited with the deepest anxiety. The Land League have selected their test cases for the pui'pose of exactly estimating the benefits conferred by the Act. From what has been already said, however, it is manifest that the Commission may not, after all, take these selected cases first. They are not bound to fall into the trap. lliELAXD rXDER THE LAXD ACT. CHAPTER 11. THE POLICY OF THE LEAGUE. Dublin : Tuesday, September 27. It was feared that there might be some farther delay in issuing the Rules of the Land Court. This delay has not occurred, but if it had, it would have been in no degree due to the staff of the Commission. The forms of notice, apjjlica- tion, and conveyance have been cut down and simplified into one sentence each ; the Commissioners and Assistant Commis- sioners have mapped out their districts ; and all over the country we hear of cases being ready for the Courts, and crf evicted tenants clamouring impatiently for redress. Mean- while certain itinerant orators of the Land League are making the most of every hour that is given them to discredit and discount the advantages of the new Code. Conventions, pro- cessions on a grand scale in the large towns, are supplemented by incessant local meetings in the provinces ; and the lesson sought to be enforced on all these occasions is ' distrust of the Commission.' In view of the impending crisis the Govern- ment have resolved to delay matters no longer, and to allow the publication of the Rules. But the publication is provi- sional only, and the text is issued subject to the sanction of the Treasury. Much disloyal nonsense is uttered on the one side, provoking from the other even wilder nonsense about the necessity for dragooning the country into quietness. Mr. Forster walks restlessly to and fro in the Castle ; while Mr, Parnell is drawn in state through the capital of Ireland, like a conqueror returning to his palace.^ Impartial men seem to be ' Mr. Parnell's triumphant progress through Dublin had been made on Sunday, September 2.5. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 9 of opinion that the Act is the only remedy for the distemper of the body politic ; and that it cannot be administered too soon. One small diflSculty is said to bar the way. The 50th Section requires the sanction of the inevitable ' Treasury ' as to the amount of fees to be charged to suitors ; and it is said that the deputation of solicitors which waited on the Commis- sioners on Saturday, although they had some trouble, were finally successful in persuading that body to deal with the ominous subject of ' fees ' to the satisfaction of the profession. But many good fees must be lost and sacrificed for every day that elapses before the Commissions begin to sit ; and it is to be hoped that one or other of ' my Lords ' may have the wisdom to telegraph from London an immediate authorisation of the scale, after reading it, and before going through the custo- mary etiquette of long discussions, conducted tlirougli the medium of Channel steamers. There is very little fear of the scale of fees being too high ; for the obvious reason that nothing could give to the Land Leaguers a more plausible and even justifiable theme for denunciation. ^ The Commissioners are in a position of great dignity, power, and resjionsibility ; their hands can shape for good or for evil the future destinies of their country ; and it is therefore pleasant to find that the utmost confidence is felt by both parties carrying on the rent controversy in their fairness and impartiality. I have heard this feeling expressed, with the utmost candour, even by eminent Land Leaguers, especially about Mr. Vernon, whom they regard as the ' strong man ' on the Commission. But mere impartiality will not be sufiBcient at the present crisis. The Commission, powerful as it is, has to reckon with a far more powerful body— the most united, the most skilfully governed, and perhaps the most representa- ' The delay of eight weeks -which ehipsed before the Act was put into operation had deplorable results. The tenants -would have gone readily enough into Court at first, and a -week ought to have been sufficient to pre- pare and issue a few necessary rules. Time was, however, given to the League to mature and even fully to execute their plans. "While the Lords of the Treasury were haggling about fees, the fate of a nation was trembling in the balance. 10 IRELAND UXDER THE LAND ACT. tive organisation that Ireland Las ever seen. No direct intimidation in the shape of demonstrations near the Sub- Commission Courts, or otherwise, will he resorted to, or indeed would recommend itself for a moment to the leaders of the League, or, again, would be permitted by the Government. But now, by men of all classes, landlords, leaders of the League, journalists, lawyers, and men of business, there is but one opinion expressed, which is this, that unless rents are reduced, on the average, by a very considerable amount, say 25 per cent., the Commission will be playing into the hands of Mr. Parnell dui'ing the coming winter.' If, on the other hand, the Com- mission, using the large discretion vested in them by 'the Act as arbitrators rather than as judges, and throwing con- ciliation into the wavering scale, should resolutely cut down rents everywhere, except, of course, where they are merely interest on capital expended by the landlord, then it is as confidently asserted that the Land League will soon become paralysed and disintegrated. The recent addition to the title of the League is a clear sign that all this has been foreseen by the astute Executive of that Association. The National Convention, the torchlight procession, and the reiterated warnings against rushing into Court have not been resorted to without some sufQcient end in view ; and that is plainly the offering of terms to the Com- mission. The plan of action which has been finally decided uj^on appears to be the only one possible to the League in its present circumstances. A moment's reflection will show that the shrewd but jooverty- stricken Irish farmers were not likely, in any case, to plunge as one man into the dangerous gulf of litigation. Each would pause, look ahead, and try to dis- cover, first, the fate of a bolder neighbour. The League have accordingly appealed to this cautious spirit with the offer of test cases, to be fought at the expense of the League, by which the farmer can tell, without one penny of expense to ' The writer Avas severely reproved, in tlio cohimns of certain news- papers, for venturing to name so large a reduction. It was undoubtedly a bold statement, but it has been justilied in the event ; the average rate of reduction of rents at the end of the year being 25 per cent, all but afraction. IRELAXD UNDER THE LAND ACT. 11 himself, wliat Tvonld be the result of an application in his own case. It is obvious that if these cases be fairly selected, if they be average representative cases, there can be no objection whatever to the adoption of a course so convenient both to the litigants and to the Courts. If, on the contrary, the selected cases were those where common justice required that a good landlord should not be robbed of all return for the capital he had spent in real improvements serviceable to the tenant, the League would succeed in seriously aggravating the present state of things. We have plenty of evidence, however, that independent tenants will bring their cases before the Court, regardless of what the League may enjoin upon the subject ; so that there is little fear entertained that the Act will not, in a very short time, have a fair trial. Several such cases have been mentioned which are to be brought before the Court at its first sitting ; and it is not im- probable that one of the first rentals to be pared down will be that of property belonging to a City Company in county Londonderry. The programme of the League, which has been imparted to me on the best possible authority, is plain enough. It must be remembered, in order to understand it, that the League, like other political associations, has a moderate and an advanced party. The former is the more numerous and re- spectable ; the latter, contrary to the general rule, has the money, and is mostly domiciled on the other side of the Atlantic. The American subvention is essential to the work of improving the position of the Irish farmers and labourers ; but the ardent Republican subscribers expect a little more for their dollars, and they must be humoured. This is the meaning of the Stars and Stripes being adopted as a conspicuous decoration at the Convention, and perhaps, also, of Mr. Sexton's con- fusing statement on Sunday night that ' the City of Dublin had broken loose from the Lion and the Unicorn.' Such rousing utterances are cabled weekly in liomoeopathic doses to America, where they serve to ensure the steady return of subscriptions. The moderate party, to which every Land Leaguer of any real influence openly or secretly belongs, are 12 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. believed to be, In their hearts, as hopeful of good results coming from the Act as Mr. Grladstone himself. Everybody knows that the leaders of the party in Parliament were equally surprised and delighted with the Bill at its first produc- tion ; and the reasons of their present apparent hostility to it have been sufficiently indicated. They propose, then, to select all through the country a number of test cases of unfair renting, and to bring them immediately before the Sub-Com- missions. These cases, it is stated, will be fair ' average ' cases ; not rack-rented cases, where any Court would be sure to reduce rents, but, as defined in one of the resolutions, the cases of ' tenants whose rents hitherto have not been con- sidered cruel or exorbitant,' rents 'neither very high nor very low.' The tenants whose cases are selected will be repre- sented at the cost of the League by the most able counsel that can be procured, and the recommendations upon the subject of preparing the tenants' evidence, contained in the pamphlet recently published by J\Ir. Healy, will be carefully attended to. That pamphlet, by the way, is maintained by the League authorities to be merely the embodiment of Mr. Healy's own views about the Act ; against which view may be set his close and confidential relations with Mr. Parnell, and the fact that he is now upon an official mission in the South of Ireland for the selection of test cases. The League consider the tenants as being divided into two classes ; first, those who are able to prove in each instance that the improve- ments to be set off against rent have been made by the tenant or his predecessors in title ; secondly, those who are unable to offer such proof It is said that the number in the first class is but small. At all events, the League cases are to be selected mainly, in the first instance, from the second class. And here arises an important question. It is well known that the great body of the smaller cultivators keep no record of farming operations ; while every penny spent by the landlord in improvements is entered in his agent's books at the time, and the books are preserved with care. The consequence of this state of things was that in litigation under the Act of 1870, a tenant claiming compensation for improvements gene- IRELAND rXDER THE LAXB ACT. 13 rally brought loose, inexact, and imperfect evidence before the Court, and was at a great disadvantage as compared with the landlord, whose evidence was ready, precise, and complete. Under the Act of 1870, however, by Section 5, all improve- ments on the holding made Avithin twenty years before the passing of the Act were to be presumed to have been made by the tenant. The new Act contains no such provision. It is matter of regret that it was not thought of at the time ; but it was not possible, it is said, to think of everything. Mr. Parnell regards this as a very important flaw in the Act, restricting its benefits to a very small class of tenants ; and thinks that the presumption of law will be, in the absence of legal evidence, that the improvements were made in eveiy instance by the landlords. The matter is not, however, so very clear. The principle embodied, in the special case of fixtures, by the maxim Quicrpikl solo plantatur, solo cedit, is difficult of application to land, where the issue is a secondary or collateral one — namely, the fixing of a fair rent between two persons admitted to be part owners of the same plot. The Commissioners, who have the widest discretion, and who are to consider ' all the circumstances of the case, holding, and district,' may rule that in a district where tenants usually make the improvements, the presumption must be that the particalar tenant before them also made those in question. Again the presumption will work both ways. If the Commis- sioners rule that the claimant, or plaintifi", whether landlord or tenant, must produce proof of improvements made by him, in order to have them considered in fixing the fair rent, then the very large number of landlords who, according to Mr. Parnell, will bring their tenants into Court, will be restrained by the rule equally with claimants Avho arc tenants. It is just possible to contend that the point is settled by the recent Act. The last words of Section 57 are ' The Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, except in so far as the same is expressly altered or varied by this Act, or is inconsistent there- Avith, and this Act, shall be construed together as one Act.' There would appear to be nothing inconsistent with the new legislation, so favourable to tenants, in the provision referred U IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. to in tlie Act of 1870 ; and it may be that the Commissioners will take that view, and so remove one ground for the renewal of a dangerous agitation. These, then, are the two principal points to be established by the test cases ; first, the rate of reduction of rents ; secondly, the principles upon which evidence will be required and admitted. The League profess that they have no desire to select cases merely in order to found grievances upon them ; that their desire is fairly to test the Act. Their atti- tude has, however, on behalf of the tenants, so far been effectually hostile, and the task of winning the immediate confidence of the tenantry has been thus rendered, to the Commission, one of sheer impossibility. It has been supposed that the Commissioners, in the exercise of their discretion, might postpone the Land League test cases to others con- sidered more representative and urgent. But it is probable that no favour will be shown. Cases will be entered, heard, and decided strictly in order of date ; and, as the Land Leaguers are using great diligence, they will probably in many districts head the list with their selected cases. These will be taken all over the country, in numbers suflBcient to give every tenant the knowledge of at least one case similar to his own, and in his own neighbourhood. If the Courts lower rents considerably and generally, the League will re- commend tenants to effect arrangements with their landlords npon the basis of those decisions. But, in any event, no serious disturbances, such as have been feared in some quarters, are expected to occur during the winter ; though there may be a renewal of agitation for a stronger Bill. As a rule, it is expected that the tenants will prefer the Sub-Com- mission to the Civil Bill Courts, the Judges of which have not in all instances the reputation of being popular in their districts. One significant step has just been taken by the League, ■which may have very important results. Two tenants are to be appointed in each district, to assess the fair rent of the farms in it, in accordance with ' Healy's Clause,' and having strict regard to the necessity of ' a more improved IE ELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 15 mode of living, better food, better clotbing, and better houses.' The amount is to be registered by the local branch of the Land League, and no greater rent is to be paid. If this plan be universally adopted at once, it must pave the way for general dissatisfaction and disappointment with the decisions of the Commission, which has no authority whatever to take the aspirations of the tenantry after greater comfort, natural as they are, into consideration, in settling what is due to the landlord. It is, in fact, a most ingenious device for giving every tenant in Ireland the certainty of a special private grievance, apart from general grievances, in which he may sympathise to any extent, against the Land Commission and its Courts. He will come to regard the League-registered rent as the ' fair ' one, and to compare it constantly with the inevitably higher sum fixed by the Sub-Commissions. After this, therefore, it may be assumed that even though the most intelligent Leaguers foresee, with other men, the ultimate success of this beneficent measure, they will leave no stone unturned in the endeavour to find means of thwarting, hin- dering, and baffling those who have to administer it. Another instance of this is the refusal of tenants to allow the hunting rights expressly reserved to the landlords by the Act ; a policy which has been endorsed by the most influential leaders of the League. The efiect can only to be exacerbate the sore relations between landlords and tenants, and to send huntino- men to spend their money elsewhere than in the country which is most in need of it. The attitude of the Government during all this turmoil of agitation and intrigue is purely passive. The impression I find prevailing is that a fatal mistake was made in not re- leasing all the suspects upon the passing of the Land Act. Now it would be too late to liberate them gracefully. The immediate release of all the prisoners, although it would be put down to weakness and alarm, and a desire to conciliate the League, would not, however, affect the present state of affairs in any appreciable degree. On the other hand, Mr. Fotster seems to be perfectly aware that the wisest course is to keep the peace, and to leave the Land League to be indi- 15 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. rectly suppressed by tlie Land Commission. Any interference on his part at this stage would be eagerly -welcomed by tlio League as a means of discrediting the Courts ; and the more severe his measures, the better would it be for Mr. Parnell. He has, therefore, rightly or wrongly, decided to leave a clear field to the formidable organisation, which he would fain hope has been mortally stricken, and must soon cease from troubling him. Notwithstanding the hostile criticisms to which he is subjected, he has one important qualification for his ungrateful office — he knows his own mind in the present crisis. He has a settled policy, and will insist on giving effect to it. IRELAND I'NDER THE LAND ACT CHAPTER III. THKrOLICY OF THE LJNDLOIWS. Dublin : Saturday, OctoLer 1, Until the beginning of the present crisis the nnfortnnatc owners of land in Ireland have stood up stoutly for their- rights, or for the constantly diminishing residue of them. But it is strange that, at a moment like this, when the- numerous forces of the League are working as one man, and making one supreme effort for their destruction, the doomed' class should display but a nominal union and an uncertain purpose. Half a dozen of them, good men of business anc^ devoted to their order, are, in fact, just now attempting to do* the work that should be undertaken by hundreds. But thi.'p little band can accomplish little ; and by the time that the- bulk of their class are aroused to the performance of their- duty, the new Courts will have decided the test cases ; irre- vocable precedents will have been finally set, and the fate- of landlordism in Ireland virtually determined. There are in existence several associations for tlie pro- tection of the landlords' interests, the most important being- the Property Defence Association, the Irish Land Committee, and the Emergency Committee. Of these, the first has been- the most active, and its operations have been best understood and appreciated. It has undertaken, since its formation in December last, a variety of dangerous and troublesome busi- - ness, including the service of writs, purchasing of holdingR- and stock at eviction sales, buying the goods of ' Boycotted ' persons, supplying such persons with sturdy, fearless labourers- when the old labourers have fled, affording legal and other - assistance to the victims of the League, saving their crops, ancL c 18 IRELAXD UXBER THE LAXD ACT. supplying tlieni with the necessaries of life afc mai'ket prices. These duties have been performed by a brave and capable body of officials ; assisted by labourers (all, by the way, with- out exception, Protestants and Ulster men), who, taking their lives in their hands, have deserved and received high pay. The Association begins by consideinng applications for aid in conncil. If a case — purchasing at a sale, for instance — is taken up, secret arrangements are made with the police and soldiers ; agents go down to the spot, are met at the railway station by their armed protectors, and return after the busi- ness is over, usually accompanied by a fierce and excited mob of local Boycotters. The expeditions are successful. Yet every possible obstacle is thrown in their way, as may well be expected, when a small body of armed strangers insult and challenge, by their proceedings, a whole countryside. The wonder is that so few lives have been lost, and so few bones broken, in these excursions. Surprise is the essence of the ' Defence Association ' policy. On one occasion an emergency man arrived at his station before the little army that was marchino- to meet him, and had to walk a considerable dis- tance alone, through a furious mob, before he found the soldiers. Immediately afterwards the mob (juarrelled among themselves upon the question of who were to blame for his escape, and many heads were then and there broken over the discussion. Such work has, of course, greatly increased at the present time, and heavy expenditure has been incurred. About a month ago some hundred and fifty noblemen and gentlemen who are members of the Association resolved to contribute cue-half per cent, upon their valuations towards the expenses ; but it is notorious, and a subject of taunt by the compara- tively wealthy League, that the Association is now, finan- cially speaking, in very low water. Whether English landlords contribute I know not, but perhaps they do not perceive their own interests to be immediately involved. This condition of impocuniosity becomes important just now, when the new Act is coming into operation. It is known that the League have already prepared some three hundred and fifty test cases, IRELAXD UNDER THE LAND ACT. 19 selected in about equal proportions from every Irish county, with the view, doubtless, of occupying the cause lists for at least the opening month. Now, although both the Property Defence Association and the Land Committee profess to take up, in the sense of watching these test cases where it is advisable, and even to initiate their own, it is remarkable that no clear and systematic course lias been as yet decided upon by either body. The Land Committee may be still resting, breathless, upon its Parliamentary and literary laurels. If, as is expected, th.e Register of the Commission be opened on Monday, it is easy to foresee what chance of entering test cases for speedy hearing remains to the landlords. Perhaps the explanation of this apparent backwardness is that few landlords will venture to take their tenants into Court, and that may be, for the present, good policy ; but it would only apply to the initiation, and not to the defence, of applications under the Act. The coolest and most experienced landlords with whom one meets are of opinion that the most pru- dent attitude of their class at this juncture is one of full and ready compliance with the letter and spirit of tlie new legislation. If this be so, the wisest example has been set by the Carlow landlords, who have recently, under the persuasion of Mr. Bruen, M.P., declared their intention to abide loyally by the Act ; and the least wise by Lord Meath, who writes, in somewhat pettish terms, flatly declining to assist his tenantry as heretofore. That letter has been of considerable service to the Leaguers, whilst if the Carlow declaration be re-echoed in the other counties the ' policy of exaspei-ation ' would be to some extent checked. Many of the great landlords, however, appear to be com- paratively indiflTerent. Such as have been good landlords think that the reduction of rents will be but small, and they would willingly lose more for the sake of peace and order. They will, it is expected, instruct their agents everywhere to make statutory agreements as to rent upon the basis of any cases first decided by the Court, But the smaller landlords, numbers of whom expect to be half ruined, ai'o despondent, and apprehensive of the worst. The prevalent impression 20 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. expressed by tliem is that Mr. Pai'nell will succeecl in making the Courts unpopular and odious, and so in defeating the Act. Then anarchy is to come ; a rising in the winter ; the sooner the better, that the League may be extinguished with it ; and so forth. One gentleman of advanced age told me, with trembling voice, how he had offered his tenants large reduc- tions in vain. ' And now,' he said, ' I go about among them, and they still touch their hats to me as before, but they dare not pay me. And I won't force them, for I don't wish to be driven away from the old place.' Another landlord confessed in so many words, that he had advised a threatened tenant to take out his League ticket. ' I was safe at night in my castle,' he observed, ' but the poor man had only his thin Avooden door to protect him.' There is not to be found in Dublin a person who does not admit at least the possibility of an outbreak in the event of general dissatisfaction with the first decisions of the Courts ; and many, as already stated, fully expect it. It is improbable, however, for several reasons. The Land Leaguers will not, perhaps, have it all their own way before the Sub-Commissions, and may even find their daring scheme for blocking and choking the Courts frustrated, at the last moment, by a courageous exercise of discretion on the part of the Commissioners. This is, of course, pure speculation, but many persons think it may happen. Suppose, for instance, that a particular Sub-Com- miission finds on its list ten League cases, where only small reductions are possible ; and at the bottom of the list a couple of rack-rented and evicted tenants. Public opinion among the shrewd Irish farmers would almost to a certainty acquiesce in the last two cases being taken first, and the efficiency of the Court's action would then be at once manifest. The only chance for the League is to take up every case everywhere, which is impossible. They will, nevertheless, attempt it. The other day they commenced negotiations with some rack-rented tenants who had been evicted, with a view, no doubt, to keep them back. But another and stronger reason for disi-egarding these fears of an outbreak IRELAND UXDER THE LAXD ACT. 21 is to be found, in the character and policy of tbe leader of the League. Personally, nothing has been more painful to Mr. Paruell than the loss of life, or the infliction of bodily suffering, in the course of this long agitation. And it is clear that the smallest disturbance which could be magnified into an insurrection would be seized upon as a reason for repres- sive measures, severe enough to prevent all agitation of any kind and. for any object whatever, including, therefore, the intended agitation for that cherished project of every Irish leader — Ireland politically independent, and ruled by a Par- liament in Dublin. The landlords' fears for their rents in the ensuing litigation would also seem to be of an exaggerated character. Doubt- less, it must be borne in mind that the Commissioners will sit as Arbitrators, and not as Judges. A Judge, having ascertained the state of the facts, is bound to apply a positive principle of law, unalterably pre-assigned to that state of facts. An Arbitrator, on the contrary, may act upon any principle he pleases, varying it according to the requirements of abstract justice, or, as the Act says, ' considering all the circumstances of the case, holding, and district.' Very often, therefore, a gentleman who is a landlord may find his income suddenly reduced, without, so far as he can tell, having deserved it by faults committed in that character. It may even be deemed right that the Commissioners should take the peace of the ' district ' into consideration. But no sensible landlord can fear that where he has put his money into the land the returns will be handed over to his Land-Leaguing tenant ; and no reasonable tenant can expect that if his family have paid with ease the same rent for half a centuiy he will have it reduced by half or a third. The follovv'ing view, therefore, which is that of many ex- perienced persons of the landlord class, may be considered well founded. For some period, perhaps extending to months, the tenantry may be kept from resorting generally to the Courts, and the Commission itself rendered temporarily un- popular. But gradually the prominent, solid advantages of the Act will be perceived and grasped here and there over the 22 IRELAND VKBER THE LAND ACT. country ; agreements will bo largely entered into in order to secure like advantages ; and the net result of the agitation to the Land Leaguers will be the discovery, during the work- ing of the Act, of a few ' shocking examples ' of landlordism, fit for the illustration of American lectures. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. CHAPTER IV. FEELING IN THE SOUTH. CoEK. : Monday, OctoLer 10. Mk. Parnell has reason to be fairly satisfied with the results of his recent visits to Cork and Dungarvan. He is playing a game of skill, for large stakes, and against heavy odds ; and it would be foolish to ignore what is the fact — that he is playing it with dexterity, coolness, and courage. The autho- rity and the very existence of the League depend just now upon the conduct of its chiefs. They are irf Ireland generally pdmitted to have suggested, if not dictated, to a powerful Ministry a great measure of redress and reform. But the very completeness of their success is an embarrassment and a hindrance to their farther schemes ; and an enterprising brotherhood of young Irishmen is beginning to fear that it has, after all, been outwitted by a crafty old Saxon. The one sore grievance of their countrymen has been suddenly done away with, before it had been properly utilised for what they regard as their country's further good. The honest farmers who have followed wearily for so many years in the wilderness the guidance of their chosen prophets can hardly understand why, now that they have been brought into actual sight of the promised land, and are gathering eagerly to take the brief plunge into litigation, from which they hope to emerge with the prize of tcr.ant-right in their grasp, they should be sternly warned and driven back by the leaders of the League. Omi- nous murmurs of diseontent have been heard, and it was therefore necessary at all hazards to preserve, for future con- flict, the discipline of the host Avhich Michael Davitt orga- nised, and Mr. Parnell directs. It was for this reason that the SI IRELAXD UXDER THE LAXD ACT, policy of presentinor ' test cases ' was decided upon ; whereby, under the coloui' of an obvioas conveuience to the Courts, and a, saving of expense to the suitors, the power of the former and the anxiety of the latter might be appropriated to the prestige and service of the League. Some number of inde- pendent applications, however, were found to have been for- mulated by farmers in various parts of the country, and it was feared that this selfish example might be largely followed. It was, moreover, whispered that, given a sufficient number of independent cases, the Commissioners might, in the in- terests of fair play, begin at the unconventional end of the icause list, and so win for themselves popularity in despite ^f the League. It was clear that something must be done, both to restrain the straggling ranks of the League, and to .impress the Commissioners with a due sense of the undi- •miuished power of that organisation ; and, from this point of view, nothing could be more eflfective than, demonstrations in great centres of population well affected to the League. For the bulk of the citizens of such towns as Dublin and Cork, •being oppressed by indigent circumstances, and finding little diversion in the dull mental atmosphere of their obscure slums, may safely be trusted at all times to attend in full .-numbers, and with noisy manifestations of approval and delight, the progress of ten or twenty bands of music, .escorting banners of gay device. They will readily make a procession an excuse for an extra holiday. But the simple .farmers, summoned in from the country to hear an address, ■or to attend a Convention in the town chosen, will, without fi'ellecting how the mob has been called together, as certainly be ■awed and convinced by the spectacle of so many admiring and applauding thousands — and the awe-stricken state of mind is .known in Ireland to be conducive to obedience and tractabi- lity. There can be no question, however, about the sincerity .find fervour of the national feeling which sways the vast crowd when assembled. It has been too much the habit to ignore, or pass lightly over, in our public prints, any manifesta- tions of popular feeling- in favour of Irish ideas. Nothing can he more unfortunate and dangerous for two peoples, one of IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 25 whicli holds the other in subjection, than that the real feel- ings and aspirations of the governed folk should be concealed from their ralers. Such demonstrations as those at Dublin and Cork were really historical events of the first importance. Her Majesty the Queen never had from her faithful subjects, in London itself, a reception distinguished by greater unani- niifcy, reverence, and affection than were lavished on the great Irishman the other day. One could wish that Select Committees of both Houses had been snugly ensconced at the two bow windows of the Conservative Club at Cork. At the Sunday meeting, for instance, it was impossible to avoid being deeply impressed by the enthusiasm that roared like a torrent through the streets of Cork. The English newspapers, confined to comparatively short telegraphic accounts of the day's proceedings, altogether failed to con- vey the significance of the scene. Five city Associations, twenty-five trades, and twenty-nine contingents from as many country villages, each with a silken banner handsomely worked, and nearly all with bands of music, marched past !Mr. Parnell's carriage. TJiis procession of trades occupied nearly an hour ; during which time Mr. Paruell remained near the bridge, bowing to his passing admirers. The Cor- poration, with the exception of the Mayor, were present in state to receive him ; three hundred yeomen, wearing green rosettes, rode after him ; and from one end of the town to the other stood dense masses of spectators, brandishing green branches a,nd wildly cheering. Every window was filled with Sadies, many of them more than justifying the reputation of the Cork women for beauty, and all waving their handker- chiefs with as much zeal as that displaj^ed by the mob below them. On the steps of one chapel, and in front of it, stood at least five hundred persons, and the total number of those present could not have been less than fifty or sixty thousand. The meeting in the Park was less numerously attended, for by the time it was held it was growing dark, and most of the country people had to catch the early trains, or to start on their long car-drives home. The guests at the banquet amounted to about a hundred 26 lUELAXT) rXDER THE LAND ACT. and sixty, and tlie long corridors of tlie Victoria Hotel were lined on both sides Avitb ladies and gentlemen as Mr. Parnell ^vas conducted to his rooms. The crowd was very dense throughout the evening, but it was from first to last well behaved, good humoured, and orderly, and no policeman or soldier came out on duty during the entire day. The most striking feature in the proceedings was, however, the complete organisation and marshalling of so many different elements in the procession. Much of the warmth of welcome evinced by the populace was no doubt due to the presence of Father Sheehy, who had been providently invited to accompany Mr. Parnell. The Father, a man of slight figure, with a pinched face, ruddy of complexion, and with dark, piercing eyes, more than divided the honours with his leader; and his speech, full of fiery, passionate eloquence, received the loudest applause of all from the mob. His angry denunciations of English rule, however, like those of Mr. Redpath, were con- sidered unwise and even deplorable by the great body of the middle-class Leaguers ; and as for Mr. Redpath, whether he snuffled out sickly sentimentalism or vented bar-room bluster, the greater part of his audience remained coldly critical. The reception at Dungarvan was of course on a smaller scale ; but it was in its way as remarkable as that at Cork. The town contains about seven thousand inhabitants, but has little trade. One after another of its industries has died out ; yet it remains a kind of market and store place for the sur- rounding agricultural districts of the county of Waterford. A Convention of delegates from the fifteen branches of the Land League in the county was summoned for the afternoon. In the morning Mr. Parnell arrived by train, and was con- ducted round the entire circuit of the streets, with cheering and rejoicing, as at Cork. About a hundred of what they call the League ' cavalry ' rode in the procession, which finally halted in the market-place and gathered itself about a huge platform. About three thousand persons, consisting largely of agricultural labourers, stood there to hear the addresses. The sun shone brightly over the restless throng, falling con- spicuously on the scarlet hoods of the rustic matrons who IRELAXD UXDER THE LAND ACT. 27 Lad assembled to see wliat was going on, and revealing strips of green ribbon on the hats and throats and breasts of their husbands, sons, and brothers. It was remarkable that here, as at Cork and in the country districts, the peasantry carried no sticks. The Englishman's notion that no Irish- man stirs abroad without his shillelagh would seem to be, in this part of Ireland at least, without foundation. The speeches made to the crowd were principally addressed to the all-absorbing labourers' question, and the hit of the occasion was made by Mr. Healy, in advising the tenants to pay their labourers increased wages, not out of their own pockets, but out of the landlords' rents. Loud cheers followed this modest suggestion, sent up not only by the farm workers present, but by their employers. This question of the labourers will give the Land League much trouble. On the one hand, the labourers are every day becoming more and more pressing in their demands, and if, as I hear is true, the Board of Works has decided not to lend money to occupiers, under Section 31, for building labourers' cottages, unless they are leaseholders, the matter may become immediately serious. The explanation of this report, however, probably is that the Board have required the tenants applying first to provide themselves with statutory terms. Now it is notorious that the Irish tenant- farmers are a close-fisted race, and that they have been accus- tomed too often to treat their labourers without considera- tion, and hardly with humanity. The League will therefore have much difiiculty in persuading their tenant followers to give up land for the labourer, receiving from him no more than the rent paid by themselves for it. The labourers who, including those possessed of small holdings, probably amount to about five hundred thousand, have already begun to com- bine ; and a Labourers' League will probably be shortly established. After the open-air meeting came the Convention of dele- gates. Hei-e various cases were stated which the local branches wished chosen as test cases. In one instance, the representative of a branch was soundly rated by ]\Ir. Parncll before the meeting for having demanded the costs incurred by 28 IRELAXD VXDER THE LAND ACT. a tenant member wlio had paid his rent at the last moment, to escape eviction. The President said that the tenant ' might as well have yielded first as last,' and refused the application with some show of indignation. Here, as in many parts of the two counties of Cork and Waterford, was remarked the great desire that each tenant had to get his own case made a test case, and thus to enjoy the glory and excitement of a law- suit without risk of expense. Instant obedience, however, is shown by members of the League to the orders of their superiors on this or any other point which has to be settled. In the evening there was a banquet at the Town Hall ; when, as no labourers were present, and many shopkeepers were, Mr. Parnell confined himself chiefly to stating the great things which the League was to do for Irish trade. Needless to say, this part of his address was warmly applauded, as was also a reference to Michael Davitt. It was noticeable here, as all over the country, that whereas any mention of the ' suspects ' generally was little attended to, the name of Michael Davitt was fervently applauded. No one of the provincial Leaguers and tenants to be met with in the South ever refers to the incarceration of the ' suspects ' as a grievance ; and the reason, perhaps, is that it is known that the prisoners, most of them taken from a humble rank in life, are well nourished and looked after. But there can be no doubt about the keen and general interest felt by the Munster men in Davitt's fate.' The decorations at Dungarvan were numerous and elegant. Flags I'an over the ships, drooped from the Avindows, and were suspended across every street ; evergreens covered the walls. At night every house, except five, was illuminated, the average number of candles to each house being about fifty, costing a penny a-piece. With respect to the five, a priest at the dinner expressed his surprise that the occupiers of them had not been Boycotted ; but this sentiment w^as received with sounds of disapproval from many of the guests. ' JMr. O'Donnell, M.P., afterwards delivered an oration of remarkable eloquence, in which ho passionately recalled the fabled glories of the as yet iinconqucred Irish race, while Mr. Parnell sat coldly smiling. IB ELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 29 The police, however, who at Dangarvan are on excellent terms with the people, kept near the unsympathetic and un- illuminated windows nntil the crowd dispersed. This did not happen until after much practice by the local band, before a large audience, following the musicians through the streets. The Land League owe very much to the influence of their musicians. Whenever a new branch is to be formed, the first thing done is to provide it with a large drum ; and a powerful member is forthwith insti-ucted in the use of it. Other in- struments are added at intervals as the funds will allow ; and thus, by means of brass and vellum, a great quantity of patriotic frenzy finds harmless vent and expression. 30 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. CHAPTER V. THE 'TEST cases: Coek: Tuesday, October 11. So mucli attention is being paid to the course adopted by the Land League of selecting test cases to go before the Commission, and so uneasy has the public mind become upon the subject, that the facts relating to a few of these cases cannot be altogether without interest for English readers. One evening last week, Mr. Healy, the Law Adviser of the League, set out from Cork for the purpose of investigating the statements put forward by the branches of the League on the north-eastern Ijoundary of the county, and I accompanied him. The third member of tlie party was a young French- man, travelling in Ireland for his own impi'ovement, and meditating the instruction of his countrymen in the pages of a well-known Review. The district we had to visit was the notorious Galtee estate, near Mitch^elstown ; and to reach it wo took tickets on the first evening for Fermoy, the railway town nearest to our destination, intending to strike north- wards by car on the following morning. As Ave waited at Mallow, on the way, we little thought that at the distance of a few miles an armed band were roaming about, holdinc: pistols to women's breasts, threatening all who should venture to pay rent, and in the end wantonly murdering, in the darkness, without provocation, or offence of any kind, an honest young fellow, the son of one of its own leaders. This atrocity, which has excited the utmost disgust and indignation in Cork, could not be accounted for by the hostility of .the people to the opponents of the League. The victim, and most of his assailants, had been present rejoicing, side by IRELAXD UNDER THE LAND A CI. S] side, at Mr. Parnell's triumphant entry into Cork on the previous day; and the deep impression produced by the demonstration of Sunday has been ah^eady, to a considerable extent, neutralised by this senseless crime. Unconscious of all tbis, we were carried on to Fermoy, a pretty little town of ten thousand inhabitants, and the headquarters of two or three regiments. In a very short time the news of Mr. Healy's arrival had spread. Although most of the towns- people had gone to bed, a large contingent brought tar-barrels before the hotel, and a fierce bonfire soon blazed, ten or twelve feet high ; round about which, to the great delight of the young Frenchman, the crowd danced, raising shrill whoops and hurrahs. Mr. Healy discreetly slipped away to business, thus avoiding a speech from the window, and after an hour or two the crowd quietly dispersed. Next morning, soon after nine, "we ascended a car, and drove away along the ]\Iitchelstown road. It was the finest day of an Indian summer, and the bright morning rays brought out the full beauty of a succession of charming land- scapes, changing with each turn in the road, but all over- topped b}^ the purple masses of the distant Gal tee JMountains. At ]\ritchelstown we were joined by the local secretary of the Land League, and by Mr. Casey, the famous ' Galtee Boy,' whose prosecution in 1877 for libel, at the suit of ]Mr. Bridge, the agent of Mr. Buckley, owner of the Galtee estate, will be remembered. Mr. Bridge's life had been twice attempted, and Mr. Casey boldly attributed these crimes to the agent's alleged harshness towards the tenants. Mr. Casey, who was defended witli great eloquence by the late Mr. Butt, was acquitted on two counts of the information, and on the remaining charges the jury, unable to agree, were discharged. The first visit we paid was to a tenant, said to be the most prosperous on this estate, npon which the eye of the irre- pressible Casey, in spite of all the little diiEculties he has experienced at the hands of the law, still rests vigilantly. I will call the tenant A. B., as it would not be fair to men- tion the names of those who gave me information. Ho was described as a man of excellent character. He had 32 IRELAXD VXDER THE LAXD ACT. succeeded in getting for wife a Limerick "woman, with a * fortune,' which fortiine was bestowed forthwith npon one of his brothers, to start him also in a farm. Another brother had gone to America, and sent home regularly something towards the rent. A third brother lived with A. B. as a labourer, and our French comjDanion was greatly shocked and concerned •when he was informed that this third brother was condemned, by local custom and opinion, to perpetual celibacy ; there being no 'fortune' left wherewith to start him in life also.' A. B. and his brother were framed on a great scale, like most of the Tipperary men. They both stood well over six feet high, and had handsome faces and clear blue eyes. But, in common with all the small tenants in this neighbourhood, at the base of the Galtees and on their barren slopes, they were gaunt and fleshless ; their cheeks were pale and their aspect sullen. The wife was a buxom, cheerful, healthy- looking woman, with four children running after her everywhere. It was the potato harvest, and two men, hired to help, were seated with the family at the kitchen table, on which was piled a huge heap of smoking ' champions,' with two pitchers of butter-milk. A. B.'s great-grandfather had reclaimed his thirty-seven acres, with the help of his sons, from the heath, and substantial buildings had been erected at different times by his descendants. The Government valuation for the farm thus laid out was 19?., but the old rent of Vol. continued to be paid until a former agent raised it to 20?. After some time another agent required 31?., but upon A. B.'s earnest remonstrance consented to take 27?., the present rent, on condition that the tenant accepted a long lease. Thus A. B. would be paying about 42 per cent, over the valuation for improvements made by himself and his ' predecessors in title.' The land was devoted partly to growing potatoes, and partly to pasture. After hearing thus far, Mr. Healy decided not to take this as a test case, as the rent was more than 20 per cent, above the ' Mr. Casey has lately sent me a letter in which he states that this ' third brother,' impressed by the contemplation of the fate foretold for him, has vowed shortly to be ■\vcd ; and, further, to advertise his wedding in the Standard. IRELAXD rXDER THE LAXD ACT. 31? valuation ; but he took pains to explain to the anxious farmer that, whether the case Avas made a test one or not, the renfe was certain to be lowered. I may here explain that the League profess not to object to cases of high rack-renting being taken into Court. But they contend that there is no need for them to take up and bring forward such cases, while large numbers of tenants, paying but little over Griffith's valuation, can, in their opinion, extract hardly enough to pay the rent, living, more- over, in such a way that the Court, considering their pitiful case, ought to lower the rents much below that valuation. They divide the different cases of hardship into five classes ; and it is proposed to bring before the Commission cases from each class, rigidly excluding those, like that of A. B., which I have now described, where the rent is very much over the valuation. The divisions into which the ' test cases ' fall are : — 1. Cases where the rent is not more than 20 per cent, over the valuation, but is yet thought to be too hard upon the tenant. 2. Cases of pure reclamation by tenants, without special reference to the amount of rent, but where a claim is made in order to establish principles of decision in such cases. 3. Cases where what are considered unjust leases have been forced upon tenants from year to year since 1870, pro- ceeding under Section 21 of the Act of 1881. 4. Cases where tenants have been evicted, for non-payment of rent, since Feb. 22, 1881. 5. Cases of evicted tenants whose holdings were sold and conveyed before the passing of the Act. In order to obtain a cas3 coming under one of these classes we climbed up to the dwellings of some tenants higher up the mountain-side. Tlie huts thei'C are perhaps the most repulsive shelters for humanity that have survived the bar- barous age in Europe. The floors are simply damp earth, and through holes in the battered thatch crawl starving cats in the vain quest for food. The people subsist on potatoes und Indian meal, with sometimes a little buttermilk ; meat D 3-i IliELAKD UNDER TUB LAND ACT they eat once a year, as a Christmas dainty. C. D. (again for obvious reasons the actual name is withheld), one of these tenants, hold five acres, at a rental of three pounds. He had a face even paler than that of A. B., and his eyes, deep- sunken in swarthy orbits, glared fearfully upon us. It is remarkable, and it suggests curious reflections, that the women and childx'en are not white and emaciated, like the men. At C. D.'s door, for example, lounged two of his ten children, handsome, blushing girls, with bare feet, each the picture of. health and modesty. The explanation probably is, that the poor starchy food which is sufficient to nourish the comparatively inactive bodies of the women and children, cannot make up for the muscular waste in the systems of hard-working male labourers. C. D. and his father had won their little patch from the furzy heath that ran by the side of it, on which huge stones still lay thickly strewn. They had enclosed, and dug, and carried up baskets of earth upon their backs to make soil upon the barren rocks, until at last the little shanty was erected, the simple furniture procured, and the family established. The son felt keenly that he should be required to pay a tax in the shape of raised rent upon the results of their united energy and enterprise ; and be com- pelled to maintain a very bad road which was cut beside his plot. But his rent also was much more than 20 per cent, above the valuation, and it was not therefore necessary that his should be made a test case. We now sped along the road to Ballyboreen, and after half an hour's drive pulled up at the door of the Rev. Dr. Delany, the parish priest. This gentleman has u.nder his care, in his immense parish, the majority of the poor tenants on the Galtee estate ; and he told us that he did not know of a tenant in the neighbourhood who was both a tenant from year to year and did not pay more than 20 per cent, over the valua- tion — so again our mission in selecting a ' test case ' was baulked. While waiting at the Doctor's to enjoy some light refreshment the local band assembled, and executed an occa- sional irregular strain of welcome to Mr. Healy, half drowned by the cheering of the mob. These ready musical honours IRELAXB UNDER THE LAND ACT. 35 are proffered in Ireland to distlnguislied visitors, where Eng- lishmen would ' think a solemn address and reply the correct ceremony. We drove, attended by the musicians, to the house of a widow woman hard by, who farmed about fifty acres, part under lease, part as tenant from year to year, and who was said to be struggling hard with a rent very much over Griffith's estimate. But the widow was unable to afford any exact in- formation. She could not tell what proportion of the valuation applied to the leased land, and what to the remainder. All she knew was that her husband and his father had gradually im- proved the land from barrenness into comparative fertility"; and she could hardly understand what Mr. Healy meant by asking about the required proofs. Were there any old persons employed by her or living in the neighbourhood who could tes- tify to the tenant having made the improvements, and erected the buildings which were visible around us ? She did not remember any. 'No,' said a bystander, gravely, 'the people here all die early.' In answer to another question, it appeared that the small shopkeepers, who sold nails, and hinges, and other apparatus used in building outhouses, pigsties, &c., did not keep books. The widow had no written record of these alleged improvements having been made, and it was obvious that if the Sub- Commission should require her strictly to pro^e them, she would lose the case. We had therefore to turn away again. After some further search, it being clear that no cases of the desired description could be here obtained, it was finally decided by the emissary of the League to take two of alleged rack-renting, and prepare them for entry. I would call particular attention to this fact, because, in confirmation of what has been previously stated, it shows that the League cannot, if they would, prevent cases of rack-renting from coming before the Commission, or hinder the administrators of the Act from establishing the remedial and beneficial cha- racter of the new legislation. Mr. Healy might have been desirous to keep those two cases out of Court, or not ; but my point is that he could not help himself. Round about him stood the anxious friends of these unfortunate tenants, and the intelligent officers of the local branches of the League. d2 i'O TRELAXD UXDEJl THE LA. YD ACT. If cases were not taken, the tenants would continue to suffer ; and they knew they need not continue to suffer, for every man in the district had bought a copy of the circular sent out by the Commission, explaining the benefits conferred by the Act on the husbandmen of Ireland. Mr. Healy, therefore, yielded to the inevitable ; and here, accordingly, as in other parts of Ireland, the Act will, after all, have the fair trial claimed for it. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that the leaders of the League will find that they have carried this doctrine of testing the Act too far. Time after time I have seen a sharp farmer's face cloud over doubtfully when he has been told that he should abstain from going into Court until test cases, not affecting in any way the principle upon which his own must be decided, have been heard. Such a man says in his heart, ' How can it be better for any other tenant that I should go on paying a high rent when I need not do so ? ' The League, it is true, advise him, further, to keep the rent in his pocket until the test cases are decided. Now, it is certainly improbable that the farmer can lose much in any event. Whether ho pay down or wait until he be forced to pay, there is no fear that the Land Act will be repealed. But the final determination of the test cases would take two or tliree months or more. And is it not possible that if, in the meantime, rents be withheld, and such ruffians as the mur- derers of Leary infest the country, the cry for coercion, which even now swells louder day by day, ruay force the Govern- inent to suppress the League — ;n other words, to declare all meetings and combinations for carrying out the programme of the League illegal, and to prevent them ? ' If Mr. Parnell and his coadjutors should succeed in bringing about such relations between landlords and tenants as would compel the Executive to stamp out the League, it needs but little obser- vation of the agricultural classes to discover that, after a little eulkiness, every rack-rented farmer in Ireland would accept relief as provided by the Land Act. It may therefore be ' 3Ir. rarnell was arrested two days after this was written. IRELAXD UXDER THE LAND ACT. H7 taken for granted that the power of the Leagne is already proved to be inadequate to the task of defeating the Act. The following are the particulars of a test case selectecJ by Mr. Healy in mj presence ; and I give it as an example' of a long series of improvements made by the tenant and his- ' predecessors in title,' and where the rent is not more tharv 20 per cent, over Griffith's valuation : — £ .?. f/. 80 perches of fences built, at 4s. per perch . . . . 16 ()■ 260 perches of fences levelled, at 2^-. per perch . . . 26 O 13 acres drained and reclaimed, at 12/. per acre . . . loG U 10 acres of waste reclaimed and fenced, at bl. per acre . . ."JO 50 perches of river filled in, at 105. per perch . . . 25 50 perches of new river-bed opened, at 26-. per perch . . 5 (C 60 loads of sand every year for 50 years, at 2s. per load . 300 Dwelling-house improved 40 (> Outhouses l)uilt 80 Work on labourers' houses 12 0. *710 Allowed by Landlord . . . . 46 i'664 The farm in question is situate in the County of Cork, but I have promised to give no further particulars whereby the spot may be identified. After some conversation with the claimant, however, I came to the conclusion that he was a shrewd and cautious man. His statement was that his grandfather had taken a lease of the farm, which consisted of 58| acres, at a rent of 30Z.- 16s. lOtZ. An unofficial valuation made it worth 22/., but Griffith's valuation was 2G/. hs. A great proportion of the holding was stubborn waste, flooded in parts ; but it was provided with a dwelling-bouse of an inferior description. As soon as the lease was signed recla- mation was undertaken, and at the present time the farm pays fairly well. The improvements effected were mainly building, draining, fencing, the application of sand, the diverting of a small river, &c. The tenant, it will bo seen,, asserts that these improvements, extending over fifty years, have cost no less a sum than GG4Z. after allowing for sums. 411928 38 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND A CI. amounting to 4GL, contributed during that period by liis land- lord. The value of the improvements, however, has obviously been greatly exaggerated. The statement will doubtless be cut down and remodelled when it gets into the hands of the solicitor appointed by the League. I may observe, with respect to the fourth class of test cases determined upon by the League — namely, of persons evicted for non-payment of rent since February 22 last, and whose period of redemption had not therefore expired when the Act came into operation on August 22 last — that the Commis- sion have resolved to give full eifect to Section 60 of the Act, making an application to them at their first sitting equivalent to an application made on the day when the Act came into force. The Commission itself intends to have one long sitting of a week in Dublin, nominally continuous, and before any of the Sub-Commissions sit, in order that no tenant of the class alluded to may suffer. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 39 CHAPTER VI. ME. PAENELL ly PRISON. Dublin: .Saturday, October 15. On Thursday morning, the 13th, at Morrison's Hotel, in Dawson Street, Mr. Parnell was arrested, taken away and safely lodged in Kilmainham Prison, before the citizens of Dublin were fairly awake. There was no disturbance in the streets, for no one knew why the four-wheel cabs waited so long before the hotel ; and it was not until some constables added themselves to the procession that suspicion began to be excited. The captive himself strictly enjoined secresy upon the servants of the hotel, as if he had known of the bodies of troops held ready to march, and of the cannon in the Castle- yard. I had an interview with Mr. Pai'nell in Kilmainham Gaol yesterday, but was prevented from sending by wire an account of my visit owing to the interruption of the telegraphic service by the storm. I drove early to the famous prison, which is a large castellated pile of grey stone, standing well out of the city, some two miles to the west. Once out of the streets, there were not to be met a dozen persons, exclusive of bare-legged little boys, during the drive. I had to wait in the guard-room for a few minutes until some visitors already admitted had been dismissed, and these presently appeared in the persons of Mr. Arthur O'Connor, M.P., and Mr. O'Kelly, M.P., the face of the latter wearing an expression of unwonted concern. In all probability their quick-witted chief had warned them that they would be immediately arrested, Mr. O'Kelly was, in fact, brought back to Kilmainham, a few Lours later, as a prisoner ; but Mr. O'Connor escaped, by 40 IIIELAXJJ VXBEli TJIK LAX I) ACT. Belfast, to England. Some delay ensued, there being it seems a rule limiting the number of visitors to two daily, but at Mr. Parnell's request an exception Avas made in my favour, and it is possible therefore to record some views and opinions of the imprisoned leader of the League at this crisis which may be worthy of attention. A good-humoured warder, bearing his keys of office, and an anxious-looking official looking like a secretary or under- secretary of the Governor, were present during the interview, but behaved with, the fullest respect and consideration towards the prisoner. Mr. Parnell was deadly pale. He was, as usual, carefully dressed, and wore a small round smoking-cap. He appeared to be cheerful, and through- out the interview abstained from any expression of hostility or resentment against the Government, or any member of it. What struck me most in his manner was an appearance of quiet satisfaction, sometimes passing into a triumphant smile, ■which was unmistakably natural and real. The room into which he was removed yesterday is that lately occupied by Father Sheehy, and is the warmest and largest at the Governor's disposal. The ladies of the Land League and others have filled it with books and briffht- coloured furniture, so that there is nothing to suggest the gloomy cell and clanking chains in which the American illus- trated journals were pleased to represent the fragile form of the imprisoned priest. A bright fire was burning in the old-fashioned fireplace, and before this we sat. Mr. Parnell said that he had expected, ever since reading the Premier's speech at Leeds, to be arrested, and that he had received certain intelligence of the determination of the Cabinet on Wednesday evening last. He had not attempted to evade cap- ture, as he was aware that it would have been almost impossible. I mentioned to him the excitement of the old retainers at Morrison's Hotel, who knew his people well, and some of whom had carried him into the hotel when a boy in their arms. 'Yes,' he replied, smiling, 'somebody proposed that I should get out of the back Avindow, but I declined, as I knew the approaches were watched.' He said that Superintendent Mallon had behaved with all possible politeness. Although IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 41 troubled with a slight cold, he had in no way suffered from his imprisonment so far, but he anticipated that any long, continued imprisonment must have a very prejudicial effect upon one of his lively constitution and active habits. He thought it probable that he -would be kept prisoner for some considerable period. The arrest, oi', as he preferred to desci'ibe it, the retui-n to the policy of coercion, was, he thought, due to the misinformation of the Government, who were under the impression that the League would prevent tenants with really good cases from going before the Court. On the contrary, he said, the League had taken up great numbers of cases of every description all over the country, and his only object had been to prevent the farmers from indulging in needless litigation when, by watching the decision of similar test cases, they would be able to judge of the views of the Court about their own cases, and make agreements accordingly. He affirmed that he had Bot committed the offences named in the warrants, and denied the legality of those documents. ' I defy them,' exclaimed Mr. Parnell, ' to show one speech of mine made within the Dublin district, the disti^ict named in the warrants, in which I have given such advice to tenants.' I believe that Mr. Gladstone, by returning to this coercion policy, has seriously injured the prospects of his Act. The tenants will not after this go into Court so freely as before. And if they go, there are, after all, great defects in the Act. We have selected cases of rack-rented tenants — for instance, we have taken one case from the Galtee estate — but we are very apprehensive about the way in which the Commissions will administer the Act, under, Healy's Clause, in the cases of tenants whose reclamations have been effected during the last thirty years or so. Again, I do not believe that more than about ten thousand of the Irish leaseholders will receive any benefit, and in short, perhaps, one-half of the tenant-farmers of Ireland have nothing to expect from the Act. I don't know for certain who will be the leader of the party now, but I should think it will be John Dillon. It is possible that they ' Mr. Parnell -was shortly afterwards served -with a second warrant charging him -with being reasonably suspected of treasonable practices. 42 111 EL AND VXDER THE LAXD ACT. may arrest liim, however, as they have arrested Mr. Quinn, the Assistant Secretary of the League, this morning, and intend, I am told, to arrest Sexton and others. Dillon is more advanced than I am, and I have not hitherto held his views in full, but if the Government should suppress the League, as is rumoured, I should in that case feel it my duty to advise the farmers to pay no rent whatever. I told you a week before I was arrested that even if the Government seized me there would be no fear of disturbances, and I am still of that opinion. One effect of the course taken by the Government will be that every Irish voter in England will vote against them for the future. If I am released in time to attend the next Session of Parliament I shall support, and even, if possible, extend and improve, the Bill lately determined upon by the Farmers' Alliance for England. But, in the meantime, I shall practise in gaol carpentering, or some occupation of that kind. I was always rather inclined to mechanical operations for relaxa- tion. Thanks to the Ladies' Land League, I am, as you see, well supplied with books ; but I have not as yet come to the determination to write any work.' Here the warder announced that it was time to leave. At the same moment a janitor entered with a snow-white tablecloth for dinner, and I took leave of Mr. Parnell.' ' It was uot iintil after the publication of this letter that orders -were given to refuse newspaper correspondents permission to see Mr. Parnell. I should mention that before speaking to Mr. Parnell upon political sub- jects, I distinctly asked if there was any rule against conversing upon them, and the prison officials made no reply. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 41? CHAPTER VII. THE ARREARS. Dublin : Tuesday, October 18. Night after night, of late, the Dublin mob has rioted in the principal streets, assaulting the police, throwing stones, shout- ing, and otherwise misbehaving themselves, until long after midnight. By way of showing their displeasure at the arrest of the League leaders they have smashed thousands of pounds worth of glass in and about Sackville Street. The police them- selves were very violent and careless in the repression of these disturbances. Many of the rioters, however, were mere youths, and the crowds generally struck me, when I mingled with them, as rather merry than angry. So bold and significant a step as the arrest of the chiefs of the Land League movement would hardly have been resolved upon at the present moment but for some overwhelming necessity, clearly apparent to the Government. The time chosen seemed, at first sight, strangely inopportune. The Land Commission had published a notice, in simple and inviting terms, pointing out the advantages of the Act. This notice, which has been obtained by nearly every one of the tenant-farmers, was virtually a refutation of the attacks made by the Land League orators upon the Act, and it had done much to expose and defeat the League policy, in so far as it was hostile to the new Courts. Sub-Commissions had been appointed, and assigned their districts ; and the Rules and forms — which had been settled, thanks to the vigilance of Mr. Fottrell, the Land Court Solicitor, so as to be understood easily, and with difficulty abused — had been widely circulated. 44 JltELANI) L'XDEll THE LAXT) ACT. The Commission had in several instances, to which I have alluded in formei* letters, shown an anxious desire to consult the convenience, and even to court the confidence, of its intending suitors ; and the continuous sitting of a week or more, devised for the purpose of giving the most distant and belated litigant an opportunity of making urgent applica- tion, under Section GO of the Act, at the fix'st sitting of the Court, had been fixed to begin on Thursday next. ISTumbers of notices from all parts of the country had been sent in, and the flow of business doubled daily in volume. Then, just a week before the sitting, Mr. Pai-nell, the leader of the class for whose benefit the Court was constituted, was suddenly hurried into confinement, along with the more prominent of his lieutenants, the reason alleged for his arrest being the attitude he had taken up with respect to the Commission. In other words, the Government found it necessary to protect at its very inception the action of the Court. I am quite aware that large numbers of Irishmen, including, by the way, a few of those who have swelled Mr. Parnell's recent triumphal processions, are deeply thankful for these arrests. But with far greater approach to unanimity is the opinion expressed by the friends of the landlords, that the Government should have displayed at least an earnest of all this vigour in good time. If the new law, say they — that remarkable and unprece- dented device for conciliating a discontented, subject race — was really in serious danger from the operations of the League, how criminal was the neglect that suffered those operations so long to go on unimpeded ! , Where was the statesman- ship, or foresight, or common sense in looking frowningly on while Mr, Parnell busily organised the creation of Michael Davitt, week by week, and month by month, to such per- fection that, with him or without him, in public or in secret, it is now able to work out his purpose as mechanically as if it were a wound-up clock ? The Convention had been held, its resolutions, by countless speeches, and on all possible occasions, had been enforced on the popular mind ; all dis- coverable objections to the Act had been urged, and the last IRELAXn rXDEli THE LAXD ACT. 43 ' test case' had been selected. Then, and not till then, when the work of the Land League chiefs was done, when the country, in spite of them, nauseated with so much excitement, was turning towards the Court, and Mr. Parnell himself would ehortly have become de trop, his popularity is revived, his im- portance confessed, and his power for the future absolutely ensured by his imprisonment. Now, these complaints, which are very generally made here, are not a little unreasonable. I have discussed the ari'ests with very many persons, from landlords of the highest rank downwards, and heard all the reasons suggested for the unexpected onslaught of the Govern- ment upon the League. The general belief seems to be that Encrlish public opinion had at last roused the Ministry. Another prevalent opinion is that IMr. Gladstone really feared that tenants would be in large numbers forcibly deterred from o-oing into the Courts. The notion that the Premier was actuated by feelings of chagrin entertained personally towards Mr. Parnell, arising out of a supposed defeat in argument, or that the Government were desirous of bringing about some disturbance, as an excuse for giving the populace a severe lesson, is entertained by hardly any person worth consideration. The real explanation of the change in the Irish policy of the Cabinet — for it is a change — would seem, to be the follow- ing : — So long as the League upheld Griffith's valuation — in other words, from 25 to 30 per cent, off existing rentals — to be a measure of fair rents, there appeared to be no great danger in allowing it full play and development. It was, and still is, believed that in great areas in the south, west, and north-west, rents would be I'educed by the Land Commission, on an average, by 25 per cent. For a time the Ministry believed that the Land Commission would eventually destroy the League. But Mr. Parnell and his supporters, face to face with the prospect of seeing their organisation gradually dissolved, raised a new cry, and pi'oclaimed new grievances. Their followers were enjoined to pay only 'just ' rents — that is, according to the definition finally elaborated, the original yearly value of the soil before it was disturbed by human agency, less such an amount as would leave the culti- 4G IRELAXB TINDER THE LAND ACT. vators enough to secure improved dwellings, clotlies, and food. In the meantime, ' Boycotting ' was developed into a system of National Police, whereby half a dozen individuals, sitting at a table in Sackville Street, could direct the smallest actions of the agricultural population, and even control the trade and markets of small towns. Murders in a few cases, and numberless outrages, committed by the ruffianly and un- manageable element in the agitation, cowed the smaller land- lords, or drove them away. Still the Government, though goaded on all sides, hesitated. But September 29 came, when a large proportion of the half-year's rent was due. And it was at once apparent that the tenants in most cases had received directions to hold the money, and * starve out the landlords.' At the same time, it was established that the League had worked — but, as I have had occasion formerly to show, without success — to keep the tenants with cases of real hardship from going into Court. It was therefore deter- mined — partly as a warning to the tenants to pay up, partly as a means of clearing the avenue to justice — to arrest the leaders of the League. How far that step was politic time w411 show. Some landlords are disposed to regard the action of Mr. Gladstone as a parting blow at their order. ' He has irritated the people,' say they, ' just as our rent became due, and we shall not now receive one-tenth of it.' The peace of the country is involved in dealing with this question of arrears ; and it is plain that upon the action of the smaller landlords with regard to it will depend the safety of the lives and property of numbers throughout the winter. There can be no mistake about the attitude of the League. The Manifesto published to-day, at what may perhaps be the last public meeting of the executive of that body, commands the members to j^ay no rent while their leaders remain in prison. This Manifesto has, strange to say, been actually signed by Michael Davitt and Mr. Parnell, and was probably prepared long since in anticipation of the present condition of affairs.^ Its issue is undoubtedly the most serious and ' It is -widely reported in Dublin that Dr. Kenny, ;i popular and amiable physician, -who has, whenever necessary, freely exposed his life in IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 47 lamentable proceeding of tlae Land League since its estab- lishment ; and, taken in conjunction "with the attitude of the Government and of the landlords, may be regarded as dooming many thousands of persons to severe suffering, and ensuring the wholesale destruction of property in a country already poor enough. Now, from careful investigations, just concluded, I think that it may be considered as certain that the landlords will, in a large number of cases, immediately attempt to enforce their legal rights. Besides the encouragement afforded to them by the arrest of the chief Leaguers, it must be remem- bered that many of them are suffering from actual want, and are being ruthlessly pressed by mortgagees and other credi- tors. Ever since the bad harvest of 1877, abatements of rent have been largely allowed to tenants ; whilst, owing to the agitation, the money payable in the spring of the present year in respect of the half-year's rent due at the preceding Michael- mas was to a great extent kept back. Taking the agricultural rental of Ireland at about fourteen million pounds, the half- year's rent expected last spring would have been seven millions, but of this not more than half was probably paid. To the remaining three million five hundred thousand pounds still unpaid must now be added seven millions due in Septem- ber, and these sums, with fourteen millions sacrificed as abate- ments, and one million for other arrears, show that the Irish landlords have within the last four years virtually lost a sum of twenty-five million five hundred thousand pounds. To the rich among them, and to such as have property other than Irish land, the loss may have been merely inconvenient. Anothei', but very small class, who bought land as an invest- ment, and mercilessly racked the tenants, deserve no con- sideration. But there is a large number of owners of land, not rack-renters, whose condition is truly pitiable. Numerous the service of the poor, -was arrested upon suspicion of having obtained his patient, Mr. Parnell's, signature to the Manifesto. There is reason to believe that Mr. Parnell's signature was obtained in a much less romantic ■n-ay. and that Dr. Kenny's political position -was the sole reason for his arrest. is UlELAXn VXDEI! THE LAND ACT. cases Lave been brought to our notice during tbe last few days where Landlords, a few years since in affluent circumstances, are now almost beggared. Sometimes the sufferer is an eblerly lady, with a life estate ; sometimes a mortgagor, com- pelled to go on paying- interest on tbe debt, or a leasebolder, forced to pay Lis superior landloi'd tLe rent agreed upon to the last penny. One Lears of a gentleman in a western county, with a nominal rental of 2,000Z., subsisting on the produce of his poultry-yard ; of another receiving 40Z. out of IjOOOL due. A lady living in Dublin, with a jointure of a fair amount, is obliged to the kindness of a relative for bare ne- cessaries; and two ladies, also residing here, entitled to some 400Z. a year between them, are existing practically on the charity of their friends. Another numerous class of landlords have pulled through with difficulty, hoping that at the estab- lishment of the Commission the tenants would pay up at least a half-year's rent. Their disappointment at the refusal of the tenants to pay anything is intense, and they mean resolutely to put the law in motion. It is now Vacation, but on November 2 next, when the Courts sit, application will be made for a great number of writs for arrears of rent, and the various stages of litigation up to the final eviction traversed with the aid of soldiers and police. The larger landlords are at last beginning to subscribe freely towards expenses ; and the Property Defence Association is rapidly forming branches, affiliated to itself, in various counties, such as Cork, "Wexford, Wicklow, Sligo, Queen's County, and Monaghan. At the same time, the Irish Land Committee is establishing corre- sponding local associations in different parts of the country charged to report on test cases fit to be defended and appealed upon, in the interests of the landlords. Thei"e will be plenty to select from, for the Land League has taken one case each from nearly every one of its eighteen hundi-ed branches, although but few have been actually prepared and entered in the Registry of the Commission. The Government, for their part, will not parley with the League. The law is everywhere to be enforced strictly, and ■ every attempt to resist its execution will be promptly sup- JUELAXD UXBER THE LAM) ACT. 4^ pressed. If the tenants, many of "whom have the arrears in their pockets, will not pay up, they will have to go out ; and a trial of endurance will ensue between landlord and tenant. Any person openly inciting to the practice of ' Boycotting' or to the withholding of rent, will be imprisoned ; and it is hoped that by this firm treatment, steadily pursued, the agrarian madness may be finally tamed. In the meantime, however, the life of an obnoxious agent or landlord will be exposed to the rage of those bloodthirsty and unscrupulous half- caste ruffians, who, small in numbers, it is true, and against the Avill and conscience of their fellows, are yet sure of an asylum in every cottage even after the foulest murders. It may be suggested that the landlord and tenant should obtain part of the arrears by way of loan from the Courts under the 59th Section. But it is stated on all hands that tenants will not agree to join in the application, and without their participation it cannot be made. This requirement ol joint consent in the application is a fatal flaw in the Act. The Land Commissioners have been surprised at the smal? number of applications made to them under this Section. Is it equally certain that in most cases landlords will not now consent to make the sacrifices required oftliem by the Section ; that, in fact, as a gentleman said the other day, their * backs are up.' In Ulster, as a rule, and on a few large estates, there will be no diSiculty ; but great numbers of the Land- Leaguing tenants will resist to the last. The other day I heard a man swear that he would ' go out in the ditch before he would pay,' referring to what he considered an un- fair rent. There appear to be only two ways in which the troubles thus apprehended in the winter may be avoided- One would be to pass a short Act, enabling the Commission, during a period of six months to lend the landlord the amount, at present authorised by Section 59, with or without the tenant's consent. The amount might be, as under the exist- ing Act, repayable as increased rent, or better still, as a small redeemable tax. But this proposal, of course, would not bo- practicable until the meeting of Parliament. A second plan would be the formation of a large subscrip- E 50 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. tion fand, to wliicb. tlie Eaglisli and the riclier Irish landlords should liberally contribute, for making the loans just men- tioned to their poorer brethren. The great objection to both schemes is that they might possibly encourage the members of the League to continue withholding payment of rents. But this forbearance would be but temporary ; in all probability increasing numbers of tenants, seeing neighbours permanently settled on their holdings, at reduced rents, by the Land Commission, would be induced to avail themselves of its assistance ; the Act would be quietly, thoroughly, and fairly tried, and much suffering, perhaps bloodshed, averted. Some danger of troubles will, however, continue to exist while the tenants tamely submit, as they do in many cases, to the dictation of one or two Laud Leaguers. A landlord of rank told me on Saturday last that after some of his tenants had paid the agent, three Land Leaguers, not tenants, entered the room, and persuaded the rest to decline to pay without a large abatement, which was of course refused. The following letter was pro- duced on the same day by the agent of one of the kindest and most generous landloi-ds in Ireland. It speaks for itself : — , 'October 14, 1881. ' Dear Sir, — A meeting of j\Ir. tenants was held on the 12th inst., to consider the rent question. All of them either attended or sent representatives. The following reso- lutions were passed, with but one dissentient, and I was re- quested to forward them to you, which I hereby do : — '"1. Resolved — That we will never again pay a rack- rent. ' " 2, That in event of distraint, or other harsh proceed- ings, upon the part of the landlord against any one of us, we pledge ourselves \o pay no rent at all until the landlord shall have settled to our satisfaction with the aggrieved person. ' " 3. That in case of arrest of any of our leaders or friends we shall pay no rent until they shall have been released. ' " 4. That we demand an abatement of rent of 25 per IliELAXI) U.MJEn THE LAXD ACT. 51 cent., and will pay no I'ent until tliis shall have been agreed to. ' " 5. That in case of legal proceedings being instituted against any one of us, we undertake to pay any costs he shall be put to.'" 52 lUELAND VXDER THE LAXD ACT. CHAPTER VIII. THE OPEXING OF HIE COMMISSI OX. Dublin : Thursday, October 20. The crisis is upon ns. On Tuesday last the Central Executive of the League despatched copies of the ' Xo-Rent ' Manifesto to all the branches ; and to-day the Government have rejoined with a proclamation, suppressing the League. For the tenants' own sake one may be allowed to hope that the Manifesto may have small influence with them ; for it might strike even the present generous majority in the House of Commons that there was no raison cVctre for Fair Rent Courts in a country whose inhabitants denied the obligation to pay rent altogether. To- day, however, the Land Commission for the first time opened the doors of their Court to suitors, and already the telegraph wires are flashing its directions and requirements to all parts of Ireland. Provincial solicitors are industriously preparing affidavits for clients and instructions for counsel ; local asso- ciations of landlords are reporting to the Land Committee on cases suitable for defence ; and the whole country is lend- ing itself to the business of litigation. All the newspapers contain leading articles on the work of the Commission, differing of course widely in their tone, treatment, and lessons. 'One common opinion is, however, discoverable in these criticisms — namely, that cases of genuine grievance, such as rack-renting and confiscation of improvements, are absolutely sure of redress. This is an obvious result of the new legisla- tion ; and so speculation runs rather upon the question of the probable action of the Court in dealing Avith what constitute, perhaps, two-thirds in number of Irish tenancies — that is to say, cases of moderate renting. This question, which has been IRELAND VXD Ell THE LAND ACT. ' 53 sufficient to occupy the whole energies of the leaders, officers, and members of the League for the last two months, is one to which the Commission will have to devote its closest and most wary attention, conscious that one or two slips in deal- ing with it may discredit all the really valuable and efl'ective reforms which it may achieve. To this question, as if by instinct, Mr. Justice O'Hagan accordingly addressed the most telling and significant sentence in his inaugura^l address to-day ; and during the whole of the sitting it was arising again and again, and pressing itself importunately upon the Court. As regards the formalities and incidents connected with the opening of this unique tribunal, much that is interesting might be written. As soon as the porters and messengers had hastened to their posts at the Commission Offices, in 24, Upper Merrion Street, visitors with eager expectant faces began to arrive, and on presenting a card, or otherwise establishing a right to be present, were admitted to the Court. The house in which the Commissioners and their numerous staff are lodged is the old town mansion of the Earls of Mornington, and in it some hundred and twelve years ago, a child — after- wards the Duke of Wellington — was born ; curiously enough, on the same day upon which, in a Mediterranean island on the coast of France, Napoleon Bonaparte first, with clenched hands, appeared. It is a building of great size, and its rooms are lofty, gi\andly proportioned, and well lighted. The Commissioners have each a full-sized room on the first floor, and the Secretary, Mr. Dennis Godley, C.B., is established on the other side of the landing. Upstairs Mr. Murrough O'Brien has characteristically provided himself with some very wide tables, on which ordnance maps for a whole pro- vince may be spread, and he has secured — what he values most of all — -windows occupying great part of the sides of the chamber. An apartment of mysterious shape, approached by a winding passage, and which apparently has been the kitchen of the old mansion, is occupied by Mr. William Smith, the Registrar, whose laborious duties are shared by three as- sistants. All these rooms look comfortable, but the only 54 IltELAND VNDEU THE LAXD ACT. really pretty office in the entire building is tliat sheltering Mr. Fottrell, the solicitor of the Commission. Its mural decorations include a set of etchings, from which it may be gathered that the learned gentleman is a lover of the sea ; and the colours of the carpets, furniture, paper, and mouldings melt into a sombre harmony, which must be soothing in the highest degree to the irritable and over- worked legal bi'ain. The solicitor's office opens directly into the Court-room of the Commissioners, once the dining- room of the Morningtons, into which no doubt little Arthur Wellesley was sometimes led at dessert time, and provided with a chair at a corner of the table. How would the inflexible old veteran have frowned had he ever been told in his lifetime that, in response to a successful popular agitation, three gentlemen, neither judges nor officers, would take their seats in that room in order to transfer without compensation an indefinite amount of the property of landlords to their tenants ! The walls of the Court are covered with pale green jDaper, the ceiling handsomely moulded, and a large marble mantelpiece tops the fireplace. The dimensions of the room are aboiat thirty-five feet by twenty. At the uj^per end, between two doors, one opening into the spacious hall and the other into Mr. Eottrell's sanctum, is raised a dais with a plain canopy of crimson on which stand three chairs for the Commissioners, Benches are fixed down the room for the advocates and the audience, and along one side runs a seat for the press. At ten minutes to twelve the Court was filling rapidly. The spectators were many of them barristers or solicitors, with a priest or two, and some prominent merchants. About this time a group of ladies, in brilliant toilettes, entering from thesolicitor's room, converted for the nonce into a bower for their use, entered the Court and occupied a kind of box near the dais. Among them were Mrs. Forster, Lady O'Hagan, Mrs. O'Hagan, Mrs. Litton, the Misses Arnold-Forster and AV^aters, every lady in the circle being a connection of some high official. Mr. Herbert Gladstone, M.P., wearing a cravat of a brilliant crimson line, sat by the Registrar ; the IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 55 composure of bis manner contrasting strongly with the evident agitation of that officer. As the clocks chimed the hour of noon, Mr. Commissioner Litton appeared, attired in the every-day working robes of a Q.C., and wearing a small wig, which had evidently seen service at the bar. Then came Mr. Justice O'Hagan, in similar robes, but with a brand- new Serjeant's wig. Mr. Commissioner Vernon followed, in a cut-away coat and hunting tie, as if to mark the essentially non-judicial character of the tribunal. There was a short interval of rustling and settling. Then every whisper was hushed, and a deep sense of the solemnity of what will be a historical scene seemed to pervade the place. At last, in obedi- ence to a motion of Mr. Justice O'Hagan, the Registrar, Mr. "William Smith, an amiable gentleman of much learning, but gifted with a full measure of the national excitability, started to his feet and said huri^iedly, ' I declare the Court of the Land League to be now open.' A general titter, swelling instantly to a chorus of hearty laughter, greeted this in- discreet announcement, in which laughter the presiding Com- missioner, Mr. Vernon, and even the learned Registrar him- self, after hastily amending his statement, joined without restraint. Then Mr. Justice O'Hagan opened a manuscript, and pro- ceeded to read, in a voice of earnestness and power, an address in every way worthy of the occasion. After claiming for the procedure of the Court that it was ' of extreme simplicity, as free as possible from all the snares and pitfalls of technicalities,' and, further, that it was effective, the learned judge stated that certain mistakes made in the stamping of the notices would not be allowed to invalidate those documents. Inci- dentally remarking that it would not be possible to have a trial of any case for at least ten days, he proceeded to explain the 60th Section, which had really rendered necessary this sitting of the Court. And here he made an important an- nouncement, whereby a pet grievance of the League leaders, perhaps more warmly urged than any other, will be done away with. The GOth Section, said his lordship, rendered any application made on the first occasion on which the Court m lltlJL.iXD UXDER THE LAXB ulCT. aiiould sit equivalent to an application made on August 22 last, tihe day when the Act passed. And the effect would be, he said, that the judicial rent afterwards to be fixed would apply Kot only to the gales which might accrue after the date of the ■order, but also to those which accrued since August 22 last.^ He further laid it down that applications made during the present sitting, which would be a continuous sitting extending lip to Saturday, the 29th inst., in cases of ejectment under Section 13, Sub-section 2, would, with the aid of Section 60, t'utitle the tenant to have his time for redemption or sale ex- tended. He thought, however, that the power of extending the time for redemption under Section 13 in cases of eviction for non-payment of rent arose only when the tenant desired to sell. The next point laid down was that an application made to the Court, during the nine days' sitting, would be made in the words of Section GO ' on the first occasion which it sits,' and thus save the rights of the applicant, as if made on the day of the passing of the Act. The President next referred to the rare practice of private arbitration between landlord and tenant, and said that ' the rent fixed by them had been calculated so as to enable the tenant to live and thrive,' and he claimed that the Assistant Commissioners would really act as arbiters in this sense be- tween landlord and tenant. This is worthy of attention. It is the first declaration on the part of the Commission that they consider their office purely that of arbitrators, and more im- portant still, the use of the words ' live and thrive ' seems to point to the conclusion that the Commissioners are taking the view advanced by Mr. Parnell at Maryborough, and since adopted by Archbishop Croke — that the fair rent must be such as to allow increased comfort, better dwellings, and better food to the tenants. There is not, so far as can be discovered, anything in the Act entitling the Commissioners to entertain such consideration for the tenant ; but if they can see their way to ameliorate the lot of the wretched squatters on poor reclaimed bog and mountain land, without injustice, ' .Tudge O'llagan lias since di>clared that he did not mean to convey this opinion, and that the words c^uoted were inadvertently employed. IRELAXD UXniJR THE LAXD ACT. 57 so much the better for the peace of the country and for the reputation of the Court. The sensational part of the address, if I may use such an epithet in describing a solemn judicial deliverance, followed closely upon this passage. In louder, firmer tones the Presi- dent claimed for the Commissioners and their coadjutors the ' common human quality of courage to execute what we dis- cern to be right.' This observation was received with loud cheering. The impression, however, left on the mind by the address, as a whole, was that the Court were considering the rack-rented tenants' side of the question solely, and that they declined to commit themselves further than by the words I have quoted describing the duties of an ximpire as to the de- sirability of decreeing that general reduction of rents which is insisted on by the Land League. The cases, 108 in number, were then called. They were in nearly every instance applications for permission to record applications to fix fair rents under the two Sections referred to ; and the first noticeable characteristic of each case was the extremely loose and careless manner in which the instructions to the advocates had been prepared. Most of them were from Ulster, where the Act is growing in popularity every day. Mr. Parnell was safe in prison some two miles away while the Court sat. But the result of the teaching which had sent him into Kilmainham appeared when Mr. M'Gough, the solicitor to the Land League, rose, as the second case on the list was called, and displayed a huge pile of documents, each larger than a newspaper page, containing particulars of the test cases recently selected by the League. Time to procure fuller par- ticulars was accorded him, and the application was then to be registered, as in the other cases. From that moment to the rising of the Court the proceedings wei'e mostly in the form of a colloquy between the Registrar, Mr. M'Gough, and the pre- siding Judge. No landlord appeared as applicant during the day ; but Mr. M'Gough brought into Court, amongst others, the Marquesses of Bath and Waterford, the Bishop of Derry, Colonel Forster, Captain Irvine, of Donegal, and Mr. Evelyn Shirley, of Monaghan. To-morrow he has cases against Lords S8 IRELAND TINLER TUB LAND ACT, Leitrim, Bantrj, and Arran, and for some days to come lie "will almost monopolise the Court. There were, however, cases of independent application to the Court, including a test case on behalf of thirty-three tenants of Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, and another for three hundred tenants of Mr. Parnell, of Armagh — not the President of the Land League. At a quarter to two, the list having been exhausted, the Court rose. IRELAND UXDER THE LAXD ACT. CHAPTER IX. THE FIRST CASES. Dublin : Friday Evening, October 21. The Land Commission continued to-day their first sitting, ■whicli, undei" an order issued yesterday, is to extend to and include Saturday, the 29th instant. It must be remembered that the Court are not now exercising any of the arbitrating jurisdiction conferred upon them by the Act. ISTo landlord's rents, for instance, are to be cut down at this sitting, the sole object at present being to see that every tenant in the country who intends to try his fortune before the Commissioners, but whose case requires him to apply under Section GO on the first occasion on which they sit, has the fullest notice of that occasion, and all necessary time to take advantage of it. He has to appear before the three Commissioners in their new Court in Dublin, either personally or by counsel or solicitor. He must state and, if required, prove the facts upon which he relies. Then the application will be recorded in the books of the Commission as having been duly made under Section 60, and any rights which may depend upon his applying under that Section will be secured to him. In other words, up to and including Saturday week the Commissioners will merely sit to register these applications. There are three classes of persons whose rights depend upon a resort to the procedure under Section GO. First, tenants who have been evicted since February 22 last for non- payment of rent. Under the common law a tenant evicted upon this ground is allowed six months within which he may redeem his lost holding. In the class mentioned, therefore, the tenant would have been entitled if the Court had been 60 TIllJLAXD UNDER THE LAXD ACT. sitting on August 22 last, the date of the passing of the Act, to redeem now ; and it is intended that such a man shall not suffer the loss of his right in consequence of the want of a Court to which he might then have applied. The second class of tenants includes such as have been evicted for some cause, non-payment of rent or otherwise, since August 22, when the Act came into operation. The third class of appli- cants embraces all who wish to have a judicial rent fixed, so that it may regulate not only future gales, but any gale vphich may have accrued since August 22 last. It may natu- rally occur to one's mind that many of the poor tenants on the far-off Western coast, remote as they frequently are from railwaj's and newspapers, may after all I'cmain ignorant of the long session now benevolently held for their safety .and help, and there will doubtless be such cases. Such a misfortune, however, as the loss of right of sale or redemption by the omission to apply will certainly not be chargeable to the Commissioners. They have already gone to the utmost verge of legal conscience in holding that eight separate sittings of the Court on as many days constitute but one occasion — a decision which, but for the good intentions of those who have given it, might be described as a judicial bull of the purest breed. They have, moreover, caused their continuous sit- ting, and the object of it, to be advertised in all the Irish newspapers, which are now read by twenty j)ersons for one who read them ten years ago in Ireland. Yesterday there were over a hundred cases brought up coming under one or other of the three classes enumerated. Once or twice the facts were sufliciently established to allow registration in accordance with the 60th Section, but in nearly all the ignorance and heedlessness of the suitors were respon- sible for the postponement of their application in order to obtain necessary pai'ticulars. No important principle was laid down yesterday, however, for the guidance of tenants and the comfort of good citizens in these troublous times. The most conspicuous figure in the day's proceedings was again the solicitor of the late Land League, Mr. M'Gough, who brought into Court a great number of the printed forms on. lit EL Ay D T'SDEn THE LA XI) ACT. 61 ■wliich tlie officials of the branches had entered tlie particulars of their test cases. In one long line, running through many columns, were inscribed the tenant's name and that of his landlord, their respective addresses, the situation, extent and nature of the holding, with the name of the townland or elec- toral division, the amount of Griffith's valuation — by which particular it may be gathered that the form was drawn up some time since — the rent paid, or rather payable, and so forth. Of course it was impossible to discover from the mere title of the application, as stated in Court, what were the par- ticulars of the cases. But every one was a case of eviction. Mr. M'Gough named amongst others some tenants of Mr. M'Geough, county Armagh, as applicants for the fixing of a fair rent. This landlord is a country gentleman residing at Silverbridge, Castleblayney, whose estate is seven thousand two hundred and thirteen acres, valued at 4,070?. I think I may say that the following are the particulars of these cases : — James Small, Forkhill, nine Irish acres, 67. Is. lid. rent; 57. 155. Poor-law valuation ; 127. os. 10t7. arrears due to date of eviction. James Martin, of Cashel, eleven acres two roods Irish, 127. 15.5. rent; 127. 15s. Poor-law valuation ; 327. 7s. Qd. arrears due to date of eviction. Peter Qnin, of Colbrig, three acres two roods Irish, 37. IGs. 3c7. rent ; 87. 18s. Poor-law valu- ation ; 77. 125. Gt7. arrears due to date of eviction. Patrick KafFerty, ^lullabawn, nine acres three roods Irish, 97. 10s. rent ; 97. Poor-law valuation ; 197, arrears due to date of eviction. Thomas O'Hara, of Legahan, twenty-seven acres statute, 157. 17s. rent ; 207. Poor-law valuation ; 387. I85. ar- rears to date of eviction. James Kelly, of Ferlagh, fourteen acres one rood statute, 127. 17s. i-ent ; 127. 10s. Poor-law valuation ; 257. 14s. arrears to date of eviction. It will be seen that these cases are not selected from the class of rack-rented cases. It is said, however, that Mr. M'Gough has a number of rack-rented cases to bring before the Court, and I am, indeed, aware from actual observation that at least in the south some rack-rented tenants were taken as applicants ; but it is just possible that Mv. M'Gouo-h may not again appear before the Commissioners, and that 62 UlELAXD UNDFAl THE LAND ACT. their cause list in consequence may be thinned. The tearing up of the outward visible League, root and branch, has de- prived him at an hour's notice of some thousands of clients. The cases were not sent up to him by the evicted tenants themselves, but by the secretai-ies of the local Leagues, who had entered the particulars on the forms supplied from Sackville Street. Now many of these secretaries are either captured or apprehensive of imprisonment. The local branches dare not meet, and the country officials cannot tell whether the despatch of a letter of instruction to Mr. M'Gough may not subject them to immediate arrest under the Lord Lieutenant's proclamation. It is therefore possible that what between the untoward championship of the League and the interference of the Government these iinlucky evicted tenants may come to grief. It is hard to expect that Mr. M'Gough should suddenly assume the dangerous responsibility of prose- cuting countless claims against rich landlords at his own risk. Perhaps the Commissioners, who have hitherto most anxiously consulted the interests of their poor suitors, will come to the rescue with some rule, entitling the tenants to obtain the security of the Act by a mere notice posted at the nearest town, or at any time by their giving evidence that they had been taken by surprise by the proclamation, and that their cases had actually been supplied to Mr. ]\I'Gough. To-day the Commissioners suggested in a case that came before them an opinion of great importance. "William Keogh, of Wicklow, complained that he had been forced to sign since 1870 a stringent lease exacting far too high a rent, and wished to have it broken on that ground under Section 21. I was greatly impressed by hearing Mr. Justice O'Hagan tell the applicant that a very serious question arose as to whether, under the Act, there was any power given to break such a lease by reason merely of the requirement of any rent, how- ever large. Some other wrong must be proved, such as a clause in the contract specifically depriving the lessee of the benefit of the Act of 1870. He, however, did not positively decide the point, so it would be irregular and presumptuous to discuss the question at present. It might be difficult, IRELAND VXBER THE LAXD ACT. C3 perhaps, to find one of these disgraceful leases imposed upon farmers, which did not contain a proviso, stipulating that the tenant should not be entitled to the benefits of the Act of 1870. And thus the reservation of rent and the clause of deprivation may, like footpads in the darkness, destroy one another. ei lEELAM) UKDEB THE LAXI) ACT. CHAPTER X. THE EVICTED TE-VAXTS. Dublin : AVednesday, October 26. A VERY small audience, consisting- almost to a man of law- yers and journalists, assembled this morning in the Court of the Land Commission. To the hands of Mr. Justice O'Hagan and his colleagues are committed the par- tition of property to an incalculable amount, and the peace of a nation. Yet those who attend the sittings of these powerful personages are as inconsiderable in point of numbers, behave with as much freedom at interesting moments, and yawn with the same ahanJon after the first half-hour or so, as if they sat in the dullest of London County Courts. Although it cannot be said that any decision seriously affecting landed property has yet been pronounced, it is already sufficiently appai^ent that every section and sentence of the Act will be vigorously contested by the advocates of the landlords. The L^ish barristers are not a whit behind their English brethren in technical learning and dialectical aptitude. The most complicated mass of facts and figures is unravelled by them with ease and smoothness, the Judges never inter- rupting, and the diction of the Bar is certainly purer than that of Westminster Hall. But the Irish ' counsellor,' as a rule, lacks repose of manner. He does not, as in England, usually confine himself to one branch of practice out of the many — criminal, common law, equity, parliamentary, eccle- siastical, and divorce — which, in a rising scale of emolument, invite his services. Mr. Whiteside and Mr. Butt could, like skilful actors, change the style as circumstances required, IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 65 speaking by turns in the dignified House of Lords manner, the winning Nisi Prius manner, and the furious State Trial manner. The last would seem to be considered by the pleaders to be most likely to tell before the Commission. The audience listens with grave appreciation. The average Irishman has much respect for legal ability, provided it be not directed against himself. I heard the other day of a solicitor in the County Cork, who in the course of his professional duties pointed out a flaw in a writ to his client — a neigh- bouring tenant served with it. The consequence was that a large number of actions against the tenantry were set aside, and the solicitor became a local hero. He afterwards, in the course of his professional duties, took out writs settled by himself against certain of those who had formerly benefited by his cunning. He was immediately denounced as a traitor, burned in effigy, and at last his life was attempted. The first leading case has now been decided by their Lord- ships. An application was made to transfer a case of ' Knipe V. Armstrong ' from the County Court of Armagh to the Commission Court. Knipe, the applicant, as administrator of Alexander Mulligan, deceased, claimed 270Z. compensation for disturbance, or, in the alternative, for improvements. This claim was made under the Act of 1870, and was filed in the Armagh County Court in April last. To understand the application to transfer it, it must be borne in mind that the County Court Judges as a body are considered by the tenants to have interpreted the i^ct of 1870 in a manner illiberal, so to speak, towards their interests. Many of the tenants expect that the Land Court, impressed by the spectacle of the League, still threatening and terrible, even at its last gasp, will be inclined to give decisions more favourable to the cul- tivators of the soil. Hence an application like the present was looked for as a matter of certainty so soon as the Com- missioners should sit. Mr. Knipe, however, had no reason to offer for desiring to change his forum, and Judge O'Hagan was inflexible. He acknowledged the compliment paid to the Court, but held that the 37th Section of the Act of 1881, CR IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. enabling the Commission to transfer into their own Conrts proceedings commenced in the Civil Bill Court, only applied to proceedings properly initiated before the Commission, such as applications to fix a fair rent, and not to proceedings in ejectment, as in the present case. The Commission, he held, had no jurisdiction in ejectment, and the two Acts were not to be read as one, except where the sections and provision;? of the first were expressly incorporated in the second. Mr. Litton, in a masterly judgment, sustained this view, and the landlord's advocate therefore triumphed. Some days ago I called attention to the position of the evicted tenants. Large numbers of farmers in the West and South, who had suffered eviction since February 22 last for non-payment of rent, or who had been evicted on other grounds since August 22 last, the date of the passing of the Act, were induced to place their cases in the hands of the solicitor to the Land League, Mr. M'Gough. Those who had been evicted for non-payment of rent since February 22 would, of course, have had the right to apply under the Act on August 22 to the Commission, if then sitting, for relief. The Court by its present continuous sitting is carrying out fully the letter and spirit of the 60th Section, which makes an application on the first occasion on which it sits as efficacious as an application would have been if it could have been made on August 22. But on the very first day of the continuous sitting the Land League was dissolved by procla- mation. This proclamation warned all persons to ' disconnect themselves' from the League, and declared the intention of the Government to ' save the process of the law from hindrance or obstruction.' Now, on the 20th inst., when without a moment's interregnum the Land League was pulled down and the Land Court set up to reign in its stead, some hun- dreds of evicted tenants and a large number of tenants who were dissatisfied with their leases had left their interests in the hands of the legal department of the defunct organisation. This fact was well known to everybody, and if the League had confined its care to the cases of eviction coming before the Court there would have been less reason to complain of IRELAND rXDEE THE LAND ACT. f? i^. For weeks together the agents of tlie League went about the country collecting elaborate particulars of the intended ' test cases,' and despatching those particulars when complete to the ' Central Executive.' The account given of a progress of Mr. Healy's for this purpose may, perhaps, be remem- bered. But this method of choosing the cases was ultimately changed for another. In order to save time, representatives of the League were stationed at central places, and to them resorted the secretaries of the neighbouring branches of the League, each man bringing in the proposed 'test cases' selected from his branch, and in some instances, but not in all, the tenants who.se rights were to be brought forward also attended. All this was openly done. It was reported in the newspapers, and, so far as any action on the part of the Government was concerned, the tenants were left at liberty to believe that the Association and its proceedings about ' test cases' were perfectly lawful. The condition of the tenants who stood out of their holdings on February 22, and even of some who were evicted later, is now rendered very perilous. It could not be expected that Mr. M'Gough should take up on his own responsibility, and after being, like everybody else, warned by proclamation to ' disconnect ' himself from the League, the very business which had drawn down the wrath of the Government upon that body, without even the incentive of perhaps getting his costs. No solicitor in his senses would, single-handed, take np on speculation an overwhelming mass of doubtful cases, and fight them against the combined wealth and power of the baited landlords of Ireland. Moreover, the Court required strict proof of service of the originating notices, and in the scattered state of the I^eague officials, most of them fearful as to arrest, it would have been very difficult to communicate directly with the tenants, and obtain the required proof in time. Many of these men, living on lonely hill-sides, and in unfrequented wilds, rarely visit the post-town to fetch their letters. Many are without money, and few can read and write. Up to to-day nothing had been f2 nA IHELAXD UXDEE THE LAND ACT. done to wai'n them that henceforth there was no one to look after their cases for them, and that they must by Saturday next, three clear days only, serve the originating notices, pre- pare the necessary proofs, and move in Dublin to have their applications registered. The Government were quickly aware of the hardship they had unwittingly caused, but it was not in their power to apply a remedy. On the other hand, the Commissioners were in no way responsible for the event which had thus virtually rendered their long sitting useless to the most helpless and ignorant of the class intended to be accommodated by it. They saw, besides, the extreme diffi- culty and inconvenience of delaying the sitting of the Sub- Commissions at the present crisis. Some of those tribunals will probably sit on the 31st, and it could hardly be held with propriety that an application made to the Commission in Dablin after Sub-Commissions had actually sat in the country was made on the ' first occasion ' of the Court sitting. The Commissioners were at the same time anxious that no unfortunate suitor with a good case should hereafter find the doors of the Court, from no fault of his own, closed against him. Accordingly, there appeared yesterday morning in the columns of a popular journal a mysterious notice in leaded type in these words : — ' Notice to tenants evicted since February 22, 1881. Bring your case before the Court of the Land Commission before October 29. If you omit this all your rights are lost. The priests are requested to make the evicted tenant aware of this fact.' Mr. M'Gough, on his part, has sent to-day a copy of the following notice to every one of the hundreds of persons whose names are entered on the Land League forms, addressing the envelopes according to the description found on those forms : — 33, Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin, October 22, 1881. ' Dear Sir,— I regret to inform you that in consequence of the action of the Government in arresting Mr. Parnell and the leading members, officials, and organisers of the Executive of the Land League who were engaged in working up the de- IRELAND UXDim THE LAND ACT. 69 tails of yonr case, as well as the others with which I was charged for presentation before the Land Commission Court, it becomes absolutely impossible for me to proceed further with your application. I therefore take this, the earliest possible opportunity, of informing you that I feel compelled, as well in your own interest as injustice to myself, to retire from the conduct of your case, and that on Wednesday next I shall feel it my duty to inform the Court of the Land Commission. It will now be necessary for you, if desirous of continuing proceedings before the Land Commission, to place your case in the hands of some solicitor whom you can personally in- struct. On receiving an intimation from the solicitor you appoint, I will at once transfer to him any papers connected with your business that may have reached this office, and will be happy to afford him any information or assistance I can give. — Yours truly, P. C. M'GoUGH.' It is obvious that without some further extension of the ' first occasion,' most of these persons, together with a number of others whose cases were not entrusted to Mr. M'Gongb, will apply too late, and serious scandal, if not danger, will arise out of the first proceeding of the new Court. An ordi- nary court of justice can aflTord to disregard such attacks as are likely to be made upon the Commission if the unhappy subjects of the ' test case ' experiment are ruined. But the Commission, apart from its economic and legal function, has to fulfil a political and social purpose — the contentment of the agricultural interest in Ireland, and it, therefore, cannot afford to despise public opinion. An evicted tenant, who has lost hundreds of pounds by a legal technicality, will be at once provided in every district, to enforce and illustrate by his miKfortunes the warning lessons of the Land League. Whatever benefits — and they must be immense — the Com- mission may confer generally, the recollection of the misery inflicted upon these evicted tenants will spoil all, and throw the Parliamentary system into greater discredit. It is, there- fore, to be hoped that the Commission will make a new rule, 70 TRELAXn Z'XDEP THE LAND ACT. under Section 50 of the Act, extending the duration of the preocnt sitting.' ' Being deeply impressed with the necessity of this extension of time, I supported the suggestion here made by making respectful representations to the Commission authorities upon the subject. It was by some persons maintained to be ultra virex, but ultimately the time was further extended up to the 12tli of November, and a number of helpless evicted tenants thus enabled to take advantage of the Act. I must here acknowledge tha courtesy with which, upon this, and every otiier occasion, I was treated by the authorities referred to. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. CHAPTER XL ARCHDEACON CRAWFORD'S CASES. Belfast : Monday Night, October 31. To-DAT two Sab-Commissions sat for the hearing of cases — one at Castleblayney, and the other at Belfast. The first, after going through the cause list at Castleblayney, will visit other towns, in various districts of the counties of Armagh, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Londonderry, and Donegal. Its members are Mr. Kane, Mr. Bay ley, and Mr. Garland. Mr. Gieer, Mr. Baldwin, and Mr. Ross form the other Sub- Commission, which sits first at Belfast and afterwards at Newtownards, Downpatrick, Larne, Antrim, Lisburn, Bally- mena, and Banbridge. Other Sub-Commissions will begin work next Tuesday week ; one, consisting of Mr. Reeves, Mr. O'Keefe, and Mr, Rice, will have jurisdiction over Clare, Limerick, and Cork ; and another, including Mr. J. G. M'Carthy, Mr. Houghton, and Mr. J. J. O'Shaughnessy, will hear cases in Gal way. Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, and Leitrim. The Assistant Commissioners will not, therefore, as has been already pointed out, be sent into districts where they might have to resist personal and social inflaences, adverse to the maintenance of the judicial temper. They will not accept hospitality from any person, however dignified, lest the fairness of their decisions be questioned, or even sus- pected. No one, however slightly acquainted with the feel- ings and opinions of Irish farmers at the present moment, will wonder at the sturdy determination of the Assistant Commissioners to pay their own expenses wherever they go. 72 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. The Act is now to all appearance, and contrary to the expectation of many interested politicians, to have, at least in some considerable portion of the island, the fair trial demanded, and even enforced for it by its framers. But it must be remembered that, as the strength of a fortress is that of its weakest work, so the reputation of the Commission, in other words its power for good, is altogether dependent upon the disci'etion of the least wise and careful of its members and subordinates. The Assistant Commissioners act in the presence of popular criticism such as might well enervate the strongest judges, and they bear individually a responsibility such as has rarely been placed upon judicial authorities. Most of them, without any experience of such duties as they have now to discharge, enter upon business that will tax their utmost energies and capabilities. They met in Dublin, and arrived it is said at some agreement upon the general principles of their decisions, so that it is not likely that a hasty pronouncement upon some point of wide interest can bring the new Court into disrepute. But, to make assurance doubly sure, it is now intended that appeals from the Sub-Commissions shall be entertained as soon as possible after the decree in the first instance. The delicate question of the breaking of leases made since 1870 will be altogether withdrawn from the cognisance of the inferior tribunal, and will be determined by the full Court of Commissioners. Thus the most remarkable power conferred by the Act, namely, that of annulling numbers of agreements made in the most solemn and binding fashion known to the law, will be retained in the hands of those to whom Parlia- ment first committed it. The Commissioners have, moreover, taken the precaution to retain the power of dismissing an in- competent or wrong-headed Assistant Commissioner, as will be seen on examining the following copy, the delegation of authority to Sub-Commission No. 2 : '■ Sub- Commission No. 2, Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881. — The Land Commission hereby forms and appoints a Sub- Commission in and for the counties of Antrim and Down. The Sub-Commission shall consist of the following Assistant IRELAND UNDEB THE LAXD ACT. 73 Commissioners, namely, Edward Greer, Esq., Thomas Bald- win, Esq., and James M. Ross, Esq. The Land Commission delegates to the Sub-Commission power to hear, decide, and make orders in the cases under the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, mentioned in the schedule hereto appended, and such other cases within the said counties as may from time to time be sent to the Sub-Commission by the Land Commission for decision ; and further delegates to the Sub-Commission all powers, "except as to appeals," which the Land Commission itself possesses for the purpose of hearing, deciding, and mak- ing orders in all such cases as aforesaid. The powers hereby delegated shall be in force for the period of two months from the date hereof, but the Land Commission may, by order, extend or abridge the said period or any extended period. The expiration of the said period of two months, or such other period aforesaid, shall not prejudice any pending case which may be continued and dealt with by any subsequent Sub- Commission, as if such period had not expired. The Land Commission reserves power in case of sickness of any member or members of a Sub-Commission, or for other sufficient reason, to appoint any other person or persons who, under the Act, is competent to be a member of a Sub- Commission, in substitution for any present or future member or members thereof, and no pending proceedings shall abate, or be in any way affected by such substitution. — Dated this 27th October, 1881.— Seal. ' Schedule. ' Landlord, Tenant. County, No. of Case.' Notwithstanding all these precautions it is sufficiently obvious to every person brought into contact with the land- lords that the Commission is not possessed of the full confi- dence of that class. The use of the words ' Live and thrive ' in the written address by Judge O'Hagan describing the ideal condition of successful applicants, has caused much surprise and alarm. The extension of the ' first occasion ' at which ten- ants must apply to the Court for relief under Section 60 is felt 74 IRELAXD UNDER THE LA\D ACT. as a serious blow by the rent- receiving classes. I believe I was the first to point out the absolute necessity of this extension, on behalf of the evicted tenants, whose interests had been jeopard is(d, by the sudden suppression of the organisation which had undertaken their cases ; and it is probable that the Commissioners will, if need be, extend the time still further for the benefit of such tenants. But it is clear that the case of tenants who, having in many instances the money in their pockets, are applying in large numbers under that Section, stands upon a very difierent footing. There are now over 8,000 apf)lications before the Commission to fix a fair rent, of which upwards of 4,000 came in on Saturday, and it is no exaggeration to say that the existing machinery of the Com- mission is blocked for years to come. The Treasury have telegraphtd full powers to engage temporary assistance, and the staff are working night and day to keep abreast of the business. Mr. Smith, the Registrar, climbs to his office over piles of applications not yet read. In most cases these are to have a fair rent fixed. The Commission seem to have in- timated that the Court would receive applications under Section 60, and record them so as to make the rent payable on the first gale day after the passing of the Act, subject to the reduction, if any, to be afterwards effected by the Court. I have not heard any member of the Court hold this view in any particular case, and it is certainly one altogether at variance with the 2nd Sub- Section of Section 8, which runs thus : ' The rent fixed by the Court in this Act referred to as the judicial rent shall be deemed to be the rent payable by the tenant as from the period commencing at the rent day next succeeding the decision of the Court.' There is no fear of the Court overlooking this sub-section, but the following passage from the speech of Judge O'Hagan, at the opening of the Commission, no doubt gave some colour to the unfortunate view of their rights under the section, which so many of the farmers entertain : ' The judicial rent will apply, not only to those gales which may accrue after the date of the order, but to those IRELAXI) UXDEB THE LAND ACT. 75 which have accrned since August. 22, 1881, the date of the passing of the Act.' This language, it will be seen, is opposed to the plain con- struction of the passage just quoted from Section 8 ; and one cauiiot be surprised to find that it has since been withdrawn by the learned judge. Another complaint of the landlords is that the list of cases for trial is not published beforehand. It is said that this is as great a grievance upon the tenants as upon the landlords. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the landlords might lose millions a year by a deci- sion suddenly given at some out-of-the-way place by a Sub- Commission, which decision would be immediatelj^ quoted to other Sub-Commissions, acted upon, and irrevocably estab- lished. Hopes are entertained, however, that Sub-Commis.sion No. 2 will put a list of their cases in the newspapers every morning iu the usual way.^ Sub-Commission No. 2 has not been idle to-day. Professor Baldwin and Mr. Downing, the Registrar, came up from Dublin this morning by the early mail, and reached the Imperial Hotel at about half-past eleven. After a short con- sultation Mr. Greer and Mr. Ross, with the Professor, drove away to the County Civil Bill Court, and took their seats shortly after twelve. The Court was about half fall of farmers, all looking anxious, and a little scared. The front rows were closely packed with solicitors and their clerks. On the left hand of the Court sat two ladies, and a number of reporters wei"e busily whittling their pencils at the other side of the solicitors' table. The Court room was cold and gloomy, and a little mist had been wafted in from the streets. A door opened, and the audience rose as the three Assistant- Com- missioners filed in. After a few words from the Registrar declaring the mission of the Court, the first case was called. Isabella Sims Campbell brought her landlord, the Rev. Archibald Crawford, into Court, to have a fair rent fixed for her farm. The Defendant, who has clerical duties to perform in Australia, did not answer to his name, but Counsel appeared ' This suggef?tion was, after some opposition, finally adopted upon all the Sub-Commissions. 7fi TRELAXn UNDER THE LAXD ACT. for the agent, Mr. MacaulifTe, and admitted service of the originating notice. Mr. M'Mordie, a local solicitor, repre- sented the applicant, and stated that he was also the legal adviser of two thousand other tenants about to apply to the Court. This is not a surprising number for a north-country Commission to have upon its lists. Last Saturday I saw fourteen thick bundles of Ulster applications borne in to the Central Offices of the Commission at a single delivery. The bundles of applications lying on the tables sorted into pro- vinces from the envelopes, in post bags on that day, were, however, of very different thickness. The Leinster heap was about three inches thick, including one sheet from County Dublin. The Munster file was perhaps five inches thick, the Connaught bundle seven. But Ulster applications were not less than two feet three inches in thickness. To return to the Belfast Court House. The dispute was at first confined to a discussion as to whether the Sub-Com- mission should adjudicate in the absence of the Defendant and of his wife, who is possessed of a life estate in the lands, but it ultimately became a simple question whether the tenant was paying too much rent. Mrs. Isabella Campbell is the widow of James Campbell, who, with his father, grandfather, and more distant progenitors, had lived and died upon the family holding of five acres three roods and thirty-five perches. James had a lease, dated 1842, at 5L 15s. ; but in 1866, at the end of the term, the rent was raised to 9Z. 4s. 4fZ. The valua- tion is 6L It was admitted that the tenant and her family had rebuilt the dwelling-house, but it was contended by Mr. Overend, an ingenious and ready advocate, on behalf of Mr. Craw5 it passed to his widow, and upon her death to her son, Mr. Cowper-Temple, now Lord Mount-Temple. A few years since Mr. Cowper-Temple gave it to the present owner, his relative, the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, M.P. The estate, which amounts to over twelve thousand acres, begins at the village of Grange, and extends along the sea-coast for some ten miles to Bunduff", on the borders of Leitrim. There are, I believe, about 689 tenants upon it. The rental is 3,600?., and the valuation about 8,700L Daring Lord Palmerston's lifetime the landlord and tenant agreed very well together ; 2O,00uZ. was laid out upon a small harbour at Mullaghmore Point ; relief works were undertaken in the famine years ; the I'ent was never raised, and the adoption of improvement schemes was rewarded. If the tenants had one complaint against their landlord, it was that he did not respect their notion of part-ownership in the soil. All round his new har- bour and elsewhere he set back the tenants to lands further from the sea, leaving them, however, an ancient way to shore, for the seaweed which some of them sold as ' kelp ' for the extraction of iodine, others used as manure, and some wretches were even foi'ced to eat. Mr. and Mrs. Cowper-Temple, as might have been expected, were indulgent and generous towards their tenants, and their names are honoured there to •this day. Mr. Ashley has also in many respects shown him- K 130 IBELAKD UNDER THE LAXD ACT. self considerate towards the numerous families who were transferred to him with their holdings. He has not evicted the tenants ; he has given them time, and last year excused half-a-year's rent. But in other respects his conduct has hardly been conciliatory. He refused to concede what his tenantry regard as their immemorial rights ; he maintains officials who are justly obnoxious to them ; and he has refused this year to allow any abatement of the rents. When the agent the other evening attended at Mullaghmore to receive the rents, which are paid yeai'ly, the tenants, by their spokes- man, required the grant of the following conditions : — Firstly, an abatement of one-third ; secondly, the transference of a certain head gamekeeper to some other sphere of usefulness ; and thirdly, according to one account, the release of the sus- pects. Looking at Mr. Ashley's position in the Ministry, it is clear that if this demand were seriously made, the tenants, who are to a man Land Leaguers, have been receiving bad advice. It is probable, however, that the concession of the first and second demands would have satisfied them, and it is by no means certain that this concession ought not to have been made. I left Sligo this morning in a violent storm of wind and rain, behind a horse of excellent speed and temper, but piloted by a morose, cross-grained driver, the very opposite of honest old Michael of Ballina. Before we had passed through the town, he had engaged in a recriminatory dialogue with a market woman, ' off" her side,' which, for range and pungency of epithet, recalled the famous encounter between Mephisto- pheles and Bellona, in Dr. Kenealy's poem ; and with as signal a victory for the lady. We pursued the Ballyshannon road as far as the old church of Drumcliff", once the seat of a bishopric, and where yet stand two exquisitely carved Irish crosses, and the remains of one of the ancient round towers, into which the owner must have entered by escalade. Here we made all fast, as we had presently to tui'n the corner of the King's Mount. King's Mount and Benbulbin were dimly seen like a faded picture through the mist ; and a succession of furious blasts, accompanied by hail and rain, bore along each chain full upon us. J li ELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 131 At tlie village of Grange we came upon Mr. Ashley's estate, and the road began to look rather English. Lord Palmerston planted ornamental trees on both sides of it, and placed here and there a slated cottage all neatly whitewashed. I drove straight to the residence of the venerable and dignified parish priest, the Very Rev, Canon Malachi Brennan. His curate, the Rev. Mr. Cummins, was also present, and both gentlemen greeted me cordially. Having explained the object of my visit. Father Brennan, or, as he is commonly called, Father Malachi, related to me the grievances of the tenantry. The first cause of estrangement was the refusal to allow the tenants the use of the old road to get their seaweed. They were directed to use a new road which took them so long to traverse, and was in other respects so inconvenient, that one-half only of the seaweed brought in could be secured. One of them was prosecuted for using the old road, fined some small amount, and in default of payment committed to prison. By advice, however, the question was taken before a higher tribunal, and ultimately the use of the old road was re- stored to the tenants. The second head of complaint referred to the conduct of a gamekeeper, an Englishman, imported by Mr. Ashley to guard his preserves. This man is stated to have shot one person by the reckless use of firearms, to have fired at or over another, and generally to have conducted him- self in an overbearing, ofiensive manner towards the tenants. Father Cummins told me that he one day, hearing a shot fired, went into the road, and found a number of persons expostulat- ing with the gamekeeper. It appeared from the discussion that the man had met a boy carrying a gan in the road without a licence, and that the boy, fearing him, dropped the gun and fled. The gamekeeper immediately fired after him as he ran, fortu- nately without cfiect. Father Cummins heard him admit the fact, and state that ' he only wanted to frighten him.' This man is rigidly Boycotted, and has a policeman with him wherever he goes ; and it is probable that if anyone fired at him with the excuse that ' he only wanted to frighten him,' the matter would be treated very differently by the landlord. The charges against the gamekeeper had been drawn up by k2 i:]2 inELAXD UXDER THE LAXD ACT. Fathei' Malaclii and his two curates, at tlae request of the tenants, and sent in to Mr. Asliley, withont effect. On the contrary, he wrote in a cold tone of rebuke to the aged parish priest, suggesting that the Father had been persuaded to sign a memorial, and that it was the work of some new-comer. Father ]\Ialachi, who has a real regard for Mr. Ashley, was deeply moved while he was relating all this, and said that he had immediately applied to the landlord, urging at length the views of the tenantry, and assuring him that he had never put his hand to anything which he did not approve of and under- stand. Mr. Ashley returned a petulant and haughty reply, putting an end to the correspondence. The letters were fehown to me, but as they contain evidence of a hasty and un- reasoning temper, I have done no more, in accordance with Father Malachi's wishes, than indicate the general character of them. Father Cummins was kind enough to drive with me to some of the tenants' houses. Not far from Father Malachi's we met a young man, wdio had actually been struck M'ith shot fired by the gamekeeper referred to, fortunately without injury. He told me the whole story ; from which it appeared that the man had fired at a dog belonging to my in- formant with such recklessness as to send a shot into the latter's face. As we drove along, after hearing this, I noticed that the holdings were of a wretchedly poor description, mostly boggy, and the houses surrounded with mud and filth. One proof of the poverty of the people is that during the entire day I did not see a single pig. If a tenant has ten or twelve shillings to spare when the early potatoes come in, he always buys a pig to fatten on the diseased tubers ; and here they could not afford to do that. I walked on to Terence M'Gargle's farm, which consists of about seven Irish acres, mostly pasture of a rough description. Hisrent is 3Z. 9s. He grows enough potatoes for the winter, a scanty crop of oats, for which the land is alto- gether unfitted, and he keeps two cows. He and his only child, a son, with a little assistance from his wife, work the farm. The soil of the potato field was fairly good. ' But come farther, sir,' said he ; ' the soil is but two inches deep on the IRELASD UNDER THE LAXB ACT. I.IS rest.' Aud when we tried the ground nearer to the sea, we did indeed find but the scantiest turf thinly covering hard rock. Looking into the house I could see no bacon hanging from the rafters, only a great heap of potatoes in one corner, beside which stood a cow and her heifer, while a few hens fluttered about the room at their pleasure. The tenant's wife and son were sitting before a fire of turf, and they rose to greet us. 'Well, Terence,' I said, after other particulars had been discussed, 'and how do you live?' ' Indeed, sir, bub very poorly.' ' You get a little meat now and then, I suppose ?' 'Is it meat, sir? Sure it's not more than once a year, at Christmas, we can taste it.' ' You get some American bacon then ? ' ■' No, sir, the bacon's not for poor folks like us ; but we have the praties, thank God, and the sup of milk.' ' Do you ever eat one of these hens, Terence,' inquired Father Cummins. The whole family laughed together. ' No, indeed, your Riverence ; but we sell the eggs, and it helps to pay the rent.' ' Have you any sons in America ? ' I inquired. ' I have none but this boy, sir.' ' Now, what do you think would be a fair rent for the farm, Terence ? ' He thought for a time. 'I think I could pay the two pounds nine, sir.' On a farm occupied by another tenant we found a large field in a state of swamp, and I inquired of the tenant why it was in such a condition, ' Sure, sir,' he said, ' I drained it with six drains, into the pipe in the road forninst you ; but the pipe burst, and they made a new one higher up the road ; and the farrum is too low to run water out into it.' John Farrell had two acres, on part of which he grew potatoes. He was a thin, haggard, anxious-looking man, and his house, or hut, was repulsive to enter or to walk about. He told the same story as the rest, of poverty and bad soil, and struggling to pay the rent. ' How many children have you, John ? ' ' Three at home, sir, and a boy and a girl in Ameriky.' ' And do they send you something for the rent ? ' ' Sure they did, sir, but sorra a penny have they sent this year.' I inquired what animal occupied a low shed built under the Ice of his cabin, ' Sure it's me sisther, sir,' said he apologetically ; ' it's the best I could make for her.' In this hut, more like a wheelbarrow 134 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACl. slied than anything else, the old man's maiden sister had been housed for years. After seeing quite enough of these hovels we drove to the harbour at Murraghmore, where the houses are more preten- tious. It is certainly well situated for fishing, and the moun- tains towering out on both sides of the bay into the Atlantic, with lines of breakers dashing endlessly at their feet into clouds of spray, are as grand as any in the kingdom. But the enter- prise has failed. The fishermen have bad seasons ; the streets marked out for villas are yet unbuilt, and the castle that crowns the hill, and was to be the highest pinnacle of a stately town, still looks down on a waste where stand a few melancholy- looking lodging-houses. All the tenants on this estate have refused to pay their rents without a reduction of 65. Sd. in the pound. It is rumoured that Mr. Ashley is about to exercise ' firmness ' — in other words, to enforce the law. But he is practically helpless. He cannot evict seven hundred men with their families in the midst of winter, and nothing less would be of any avail. Quidquld multis peccatur inultum est. A poor-law collector in the neighbourhood declares that the tenants are ' more fit to go into the poor-house than to pay rent.' There is perhaps a little moral for other landlords in all this. I have not the slightest doubt that Mr. M'Carthy's Commission will lower the rents upon this estate from 20 to 30 per cent. If a member of the Ministry so well informed as Mr. Ashley refuses any permanent abatement to his tenants, is it not probable that he is aware of some scheme of compen- sation for diminutions of rent which are effected by the Com- mission, to which compensation a landlord making voluntary permanent reductions would have no claim ? IRELAND UXDER TUB LAND ACT. 135 CHAPTER XX. THE CASTLETOWN EVICTIONS. Castletown Berehaven, Co. Cork Saturday Evening, December 3. Tee accounts -which reach one of the varying influx of ' origi- nating notices ' from different counties suggest a feature of rhe present situation which is of somewhat evil omen for the ruture. Wherever the League has waxed popular, a doubly- discomforting result can now be traced. ISTot only do the farmers in a county under the dominance of the League refuse in a body to pay rent, but, except in the poorest tracts of the West, they hang back from the Courts of the Land Com- mission. A man might as well hope for rent from a sub- merged island as from an estate in County Cork, and no one m his senses would buy an acre of land, unless as a family burying ground, in County Limerick. The owners of the ■^oil fare miserably in Counties Clare, Cavan, King's, Louth, Wicklow, Tipperary, and Kerry. In most of these counties the proportion of cases entered for trial by the Commission is lamentably small, and shows no sign of increase, although, it may be remarked that none of them is so backward as Dublin County. On the other hand, Tipperary, with about a thousand, and Limerick, with eight hundred and fifty cases, evince some glimmering reappearance of that quick sense of self-interest in this matter which was thought to have finally vanished from the minds of the Irish farmers. The tenants in Kerry are also flocking to the Registry, while the appli- cations from ]\Iayo and from Galway are coming in three times as fast as those from Ulster, which has nearly exhausted the list of possible litigants. The general rate at which 130 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. ' orisfinatincf notices ' are received is about five hundred a. day, but of course there is considerable fluctuation. It is surprising that there are only seven or eight hundred appli- cations to break leases, but this may be due to the prevailing impression, that the Commission vpill only exercise their jurisdiction on this head in extreme and flagrant cases of tyranny or deception. It is probable that a certain number of the poorer Western cultivators, encouraged by the reduc- tions recently eS"ected in their midst, will resort to the pro- cedure nnder the Act, and that the total number of applications recorded may in some three or four months be a hundred thousand. Adding to these the cases of about a hundred thousand tenants claiming to be either actually, or by con- struction of law, leaseholders, and two hundred and twenty- three thousand known to be fairly rented, or to be held back by Land League influence, the genuine agricultural tenants of Ireland will ultimately be nearly all accounted for. It is customary to argue such questions upon the assumption that the tenants number more than six hundred thousand; but the assumption is based upon an insuflicient examination of the facts. It is true that the agricultural holdings of the king- dom amount to six hundred thousand and more. But after deducting from the calculation the large number of cases in which a person occupies two or more holdings, we should perhaps estimate about five hundred and twenty-three thou- sand as the figure truly representing the number of the cul- tivators. Of these at least one hundred thousand hold land for pleasure, as town parks, or for the purpose of occupying super- fluous time not I'equired for other more remunerative business. We should then have a reduced number of 428,000 tenants, dependent for their subsistepce upon the cultivation of land in their occupation, that being the exact number of persons calling themselves tenant-farmers in the Census returns for 1871. From the subsequent yearly returns it is clear tliat the number of pure tenant-farmers must have been even less at the time when the Census was last taken. The campaign between the landlords, who are now begin- ■ning to demand their arrears, ai\d the League, has opened IltELAXD UXDER THE LAXI) ACT. i:37 in the Soutli by the evictions upon the Castletown estates belonging to the Earl of Bantry, and on those of Mr. Puxley. The result, it will be perceived, is in this case a drawn battle. Some significance was attached to the proceedings by the fact that Mr. Herbert Gladstone accompanied the Sheriff. I believe I am correct in stating that the Chief Secretary, who is perfectly alive to the peculiar hardships of tenant life in the West, desired that young Mr. Gladstone should see for himself what Mr. Forster had painfully realised thirty years before. Mr. Gladstone was particularly enjoined to visit the wretched inhabitants of Dursey Island ; but this, as will be hereafter shown, was impossible. A body of about fifty police, under Sub-Inspector Maxwell, and about a hundred and fifty foot soldiers, were assembled at Castletopn on Tuesday last, and supported the work of eviction on that and the three following days. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Under Sheriff, accompanied by the agent, Mr. Payne, and three bailiffs, and surrounded by his armed escort, methodically evicted tenant after tenant of the thirty-nine selected for the operation, as regularly seeing them restored by Mr. Payne as caretakers, or occupiers at will, upon a promise to pay the arrears. Mr. Ptxyne, however strange it may sound, is not a man of ungentle disposition, and his object in the whole affair was merely to give a lesson to the numerous tenantry of Loi-d Bantry and Mr. Paxley upon these mountain. sides, most of whom owed two or three years' rent — in other words, it was his desire to get in a little money. On Thursday this prospect was somewhat marred by the advent of a fair Land Leagueress, distinguished by spectacles, and a fluency of speech more than feminine. The lady followed the march of the column, and, stealing into a house about to be invaded, persuaded the occupiers to submit to actual eviction, upon her promise that a house should be built for them on a neighbour's farm, and that they should be supported from the funds of the Ladies' Land League. Yes- V terday, upon starting for the evictions, another Sister of this \ somewhat obtrusive Cliarity appeared. The car of the two ladies followed immediately after one upon which I happened 138 IRELAND UXDER THE LAND ACT. to be. The troops and police had already inarched to the scene of action, but we overtook them at a few miles' distance from Castletown. The advance of the ladies was looked for, and the gallant major in command had made ample prepara- tions for repelling it. It was raining smartly, and the bogs on either side of the road were so soaked with water, that nothing heavier than a fairy conld have tripped across them safely, to say nothing of the frequent and slippery mud fences that had to be scaled. The wily Commandant had therefore halted his force at a particularly sloppy spot, where the road branches in two directions. He had extended the police two deep across the road, while the soldiers, grasping their rifles, stood further back as a reserve. Our car was allowed to pass. Then came sharp words of command, ' Left turn,' ' Quick march,' ' Halt, front,' and a sectiorv^ promptly filled the gap. A select body of constables was following the Sheriff over the hills towards the threatened holdings upon Mr. Pux- ley's estate, and I trudged after them, leaving the two ladies face to face with a hopeless superiority of force. For an hour it seems they sat expostulating with the Constabulary upon the unpatriotic character of their service, and finally returned at full trot to their hotel — I sincerely trust without catching cold.i The Constabulary climbed the hill in skirmishing order. The first house the Sheriff reached was that of Margaret Walsh, 1 Mr. Forster has been severely blamed for the prosecution of the spectacled patriotess, "who was held to bail, but preferred to go to prison. The lady, however, appears to have exceeded the license tacitly alloAved to the Ladies' Land League. The state of things in many parts of Ireland is analogous to a condition of war, in which neiitrals are allowed to suc- cour and relieve the non-combatant element of the population. So the Ladies' Land League have been permitted to look after the families of sus- pects, and of evicted tenants ; and even to administer to the wants of the imprisoned Leaguers. But the lady in question, by inciting the tenant to endure eviction, threw oif her neutral character, and became, so to speak, a combatant. In the most dangerous times of the French Eevolution, such sensible, placid Tricotenscs as restricted their Eepublican zeal to the pro- duction, sustenance, and comforting of patriots Avere never interfered ■with. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 139 of Crumlong, high up on the mountain. The widow received us weeping. Four frightened young children stood by the hearth, pale as the ashes upon it, and a grown-up son lay dying of consumption in the after-room. A few words were sufficient. The agent's nephew and the Sheriff conferred apart with the poor woman, who made a promise to pay something soon, and then she was directed to go outside with the children for a moment. It was but a moment, while the Sheriff, fulfill- ing the accustomed ceremony, extinguished the fire on the hearth ; 3-et the little group stands before me as I write more vividly than any that was ever arranged upon canvas. The children, with their bare legs half buried in the filth of the dungheap, held their peace ; but their eyes were brimming with sympathy for their mother, as with her face working strangely before the circle of armed men, she clasped her youngest child more closely in her scanty shawl, to protect it from the driving rain. Four other tenants, owing, like Widow Walsh, about two and a half years' rent, were similai'ly evicted, and then re-admitted as caretakers ; and in each case there was something indescribably mournful in the spectacle of the utter and hopeless poverty of those mountaineers. A thousand feet above the ocean that laved the shores of the bay below them, they had driven their hardy cattle out daily to eat the sweet grasses from the crevices in the rocks ; and had laboriously dug and planted their tiny plots with potatoes, with but one result — a bare yield of food, hardly enough to keep life in their lean bodies ; unless, indeed, as another result I may be allowed to reckon the growth of that despondency, due to the struggle with an unkindly soil, which is here grimly described as ' The breaking heart.' Their families were very large ; in some cases the husbands were in America, sending home what they could spare from their earnings. After completing the evictions on Mr. Puxley's holdings — obtaining, however, nothing in the shape of hard cash — the Sheriff' made his way back down the road, towards the houses of some tenants of Lord Bantry. The bugler occasionally played a lively march, which swelled and eddied away in echoes from the mountain ranges all about us, and the troops, HO lUELAXB UXDElt THE LAXD ACT. marcliing at ease, cteered their solitary musician. Scarcely a human being could be seen in this dreary wilderness. The Sheriff again left the road with some police, and stopped at the house of one Widow j\I'Carthy. It was empty; the fui'niture had been carried out, and the door borne away. The party next reached the honse of John Cronin, a returned emigrant ; who had spent all the money he had bi'ought back Avith him in building a very good house, and some outhouses. He is a passionate man, and on seeing the police, seized a hammer and furiously smashed his furniture into pieces. He then tore the door from its hinges. At this moment Mr. Payne, senior, who had joined the Sheriff, accosted him, ' What are jou doing that for, Cronin ? ' — 'To get in and out when I wish,' he re- plied sternly. ' Xow, do be reasonable, and go in again as caretaker like the others.' — ' I will not. I must leave the farm, for I can't get a living on it.' 'Take the penny now, and shelter your child.' — ' I will not.' The penny was put into another man's hand to give him, but he still obstinately re- fused to touch it, and so did his wife ; and the family were accordingly left in the yard outside the house. The same course was pursued with the Widow Conroy, who likewise declined to be put in as caretaker, or to promise to pay the rent. This morning I called early at Mi^s. Conroy's house, and her story in full is as follows : — ' I am the widow of Jerry Conroy, who was killed at Mr. Puxley's Castle when at work, and Mr. Puxley gave me ten shillings. I am forty-six years of age, and shall have been widowed fourteen years next May. The old rent was 5?. I85., and I had four milch cows. Then the land was stripped, six years ago last September ; and the rent raised all round. Some of my land was taken away, and eight and a half acres left. I pay 8Z, 10»\ rent. I have three- quarters of an acre in potcxtoes, no oats, and two cows ; but one belongs to my mother-in-law. I had one firkin of butter this year, but none last year, when we all had to take the re- lief. I have one daughter, nineteen years old, in America, in service. She has had the fever, and can send nothing. I have three at home ; two children and one boy grown up ; he IliELAXD UXDER THE LAXD ACT. 141 ■works at tlie farm. I had a little pig this year, but I had to sell it, and I owe a great deal of money in Castletown. My mother lives -with me, and my mother-in-law next door. The land is poor and wet. I think I could pay three pounds. I owe three years' arrears.' John Cronin is a powerfully built man of 40 with a hard, set face. I noticed that his hat was worked round with, the word ' League.' He had eight and three-quarters acres, and the rent was five guineas. With two cows lie made but one firkin of butter this year, and his potato crop was a poor one. He had four boys, three of them being still young chil- dren. His house is the best in the district for miles round, being substantially built of stone, slated, whitewashed, and fitted with good windows and doors. He had spent sixty pounds upon it, and had drained his land with unceasing in- dustry. He thought he could pay two pounds rent, but he could not, or would not, pay the arrears. The man was walk- ing moodily up and down before his house to-day, his wife watching him anxiously. The broken bed and other furniture were lying in a confused heap, the young children playing about them, and the sun shone brightly down upon all. Catherine ]M'Carthy, aged 24, was a comely widow, with one child, six months old. Her husband had suffered from erysipelas, and had died but three weeks before. Her rent was IQl. 5s., and the valuation 8Z. 15s., her farm being of ten or twelve acres in extent. Three years' rent was owing. She thought that 6?. would be a fair rent. The agent had already put in a neighbour as caretaker, and the new comer had al- ready his cows on the farm. These three evicted tenants had all seen the Land League ladies on the evening of Friday to report their conduct, but stated that they did not yet know what would be done for them. They had respectively lodged with their families at the neighbours' houses. I was struck with the fact that each of the three complained with bitterness that the agent had refused to allow an abatement or ' settle- ment.' This is, however, denied by Mr. Payne. 142 IBELAJSD UNDER 2 HE LAND ACT, CHAPTER XXI. DUIISEY ISLAND. Castletowx Berehavex : Monday, December 5. Yesterday, not without mucli difficulty, I effected a landing on the jealously-guarded Dursey Island, and thoroughly ex- plored it. This tiny part of Her Majesty's dominions, which lies off the western coast of County Cork, has but rarely been trodden by a stranger's foot, and, owing to the unfortunate relations subsisting of late between the islanders and their landlord, Lord Bautry, it has for some time back been main- tained in a state of siege. It is impossible even in this town, the nearest to Dursey, to obtain any exact information con- cerning it ; and I have only discovered one townsman who ever visited it. Lord Bantry has never been over it, and it is twelve years since his agent was there. That is, perhaps, due to the fact that after taking a short walk on a sheltered plateau in the island, he went home and promptly raised the I'ents of the inhabitants very considerably all round. For some two years, however, I believe, the Dursey people have paid neither rent nor taxes, and without a naval expedi- tion it is difficult to see how any legal obligation can be enforced against them. The process of the law cannot be personally served there, for the simple reason that there are no boats to be had, except those of the island fishermen, who decline to lend them for any such purpose. There are, moreover, only two landing-places on the coast of Dursey, both so dangerous that any boat steered by an inexperienced and unskilled hand would inevitably be dashed to pieces against the sharp edges of the slate cliffs, and all the writs and notices whirled away upon the angry waves of the Atlantic. It was in the early IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 143 morning wlien I started for Dursey, with two gentlemen who wished to accompany me. The weather had been frosty during the earlier part of the night, but now the wind was rising from the south-west ; the rain poured heavily down, and we reached Garinish only to find a gale blowing, and the waves roaring furiously. Of course all hope of rescuing the lighthouse men that day had been given up ; but I found the daring boatman Shea confident that he could still carry me across the Sound to Dursey. It was about half- past six o'clock in the morning, and as dark as midnight. My two friends absolutely refused to make any attempt to cross. They accordingly drove back again to Castletown. The descent to the water was by winding steps cut in the cliff, ending in a small cove, into which successive billows rolled with a terrible noise, tossing the great boat, 25 feet in length, high up in the air, as if they would fling her against the rocks. It was very difficult to hear the directions shouted to me. The four oai'smen, however, pulling hard, kept the boat near the steps, and seizing the moment when she rose nearest I sprang safely in, with no more mishap than a roll over. Pulling well together, the men brought me over the Sound, the bow of the boat sometimes rising high in the air, and then settling down with horrid persistency into the yawn- ing jaws of a huge wave. The landing place on Dursey Island was even more dangerous than the starting place on the main- land, being merely a shelving cliff. There, however, a number of men caught a rope and dragged the boat up, so that we could safely disembark. The rock was so slippeiy that I should probably have shot back into the boiling torrent raging round us if I had not been assisted up by two men. At these fearful places the people of Dursey have to cross and recross if they would visit the mainland. When they have a cow to sell they fasten a rope to its horns, force it down a shelving rock into deep water, and then drag it after the boat to the other side, where the exhausted beast has to clamber up another steep ascent. Pigs can only be carried across when young. A porker is carried in a man's arms down to the boat, flung in, and tossed out again on landing. Sometimes a cow 144 HIE LAND UXBEIt THE LAND ACT. is lost in making the passage, and I saw a horse with its off hind-leg so seriously injured by this dangerous system of ferrying as to be useless. Sometimes a band of Dursey folk returning from Castletown find a gale blowing, and have to wait for a week before they can cross. In the meanwhile they of course subsist on charity. Again, a man having a pig or cow to sell may be delayed in the island until the fair day is past, and in that case his chance of selling it is gone. The last person to visit Dursey, save myself, was a Mr. Joynt, who came with a supply of food for the starving inhabitants ; and he was so impressed, I am told, with the danger incurred in crossing, even in fine weather, that he generously promised a hundred pounds towards building a kind of quay, but nothing in that direction has yet been done. The weather is here as a rule tempestuous throughout the greater part of the year. Last week, however, the most terrible storm known for thirty years occurred. The Calf Rock Lighthouse, built on an islet at the south-western angle of Dursey, was destroyed, and several of the fishermen's boats were crushed. A number of the poor people, attracted by the sight of a stranger, followed me and my conductors up a road, hewn and blasted out of the rock, to one of the three villages, known as Ballynacallagh. The island runs from the north-east to the south-west, and is about four miles in length, being in the middle nearly a mile across. It is simply a long mountain range, the rock being slate, with veins of quartz. This, I believe, is the formation on the opposite coast, at the copper mines of AUihies, and it is therefore possible that copper might be also found in Dursey Island, and some remunerative work provided for the people. I could not, however, find that any experiment had ever been made with the ' corrie,' as they called the quartz. The population once amounted to three hundred, but at least one- third went to America in the year of the great famine, and from these emigrants I find the Dursey people derive their chief means of support. At Ballynacallagh I called on Jerry Harrington, one of the three richest men in the island. He came out clad in a tattered flannel shirt, an old broken hat, frieze trousers, IRELAKD UNDER THE LAND ACT. 145 and a pair of boots which an English beggar would not pick up, half of his right foot and half the toes being exposed as he walked on in the heavy rain. There are eight or ten houses, of the poorest Irish type, in the village ; and the ruins of a little church, believed to have been built by the Spaniards centuries ago, but containing no inscriptions. The number of souls on the island is now two hundred and nine, and they have neither priest, doctor, nor schoolmaster among them. There is no magistrate, bailiff, or official of any kind. The little community governs itself, and strives, with poor success, to feed itself. No shop is kept, and a wheeled vehicle is un- known. About twice a year the islanders usually contrive to go over the stormy Sound to hear mass ; and mothers carry across their infants for Baptism when they are a month old. If a man is too sick to bear transportation he dies, and is laid to rest in a little graveyard looking far out on the expanse of ocean, whose sad ceaseless rhythm is his requiem. There are twenty-three farms on the island, the cultivators ekeing out their produce by fishing ; and there are twelve households solely dependent on the ocean stores, the number of boats being five. This has been a bad season, and all the boats except one were knocked to pieces by the recent storm. The farms are almost entirely devoted to grazing, a little space in each being reserved for potatoes, or sometimes oats. Tlie potato crop this year is a total failure. The fields are the steep sides of the mountain, and run down to the clifis at a dangerous gradient. A cow grazing at a distance from the sea is apt to slip, roll over and over, and fall at last several hundred feet into the gulf ; and so frequent is the loss from, this cause — eight or nine this year — that the children of the farmers find their chief employment in watching the cattle, and driving them away from the steepest places. I descended the sloping pasture until my friends warned me that it was dangerous, in such a gale, to approach any nearer to the clifi's. Below me, at a distance of five or six hundred feet, the waves were rushing upon the reefs that stand up all round the island. I could distinctly make out the carcase of a bullock in the surf, appearing about the size of a small cork. L 146 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. ^licliael Shea lias a large farm, with grass sufficient to support four cows. His old rent was fifteen guineas, but it was raised to seventeen pounds odd after the memorable visit of Mr. Payne, the agent, twelve years ago, on the valuation of a person employed for the purpose of readjusting Lord Bantry's rental. Michael was all the more annoyed at this, because he had built and slated a good house, and drained and reclaimed his holding — one of the few mai-shy localities. He is also the owner of a fishing boat, and was for many years a ' tender man ' at the Lighthouse which has just been destroyed. He has ten children, and he feeds them on Indian meal and fish, a most unsavoury but not absolutely non-nutritious diet, occa- sionally supplemented with a little buttermilk. The fish found are mackerel, ling, and scad. Michael Shea had caught next to nothing this year. He has sent two firkins of butter to the tradesman who sells him Indian meal, salt, and other necessaries, but he is still forty pounds in his debt. [I heard a great deal from the people of this tradesman in Castletown, and I paid him a visit to-day. He confirmed all they had said, and showed me his ledger, from which it was clear, as he stated, that if he pressed his claims not a beast would remain in Dnrsey for any other creditor. I noticed two things in examining his books. Fii-st, that he had allowed over 3Z. a firkin, which is a fair price ; secondly, that there were apparently no payments in cash.] Michael Shea, of Dnrsey, is, like very many of the farmers in the West, a timid reserved man.^ But he waxed warm over the story of the wholesale ' From a high point of the island I was able to look down upon the ruined lighthouse, in which the keepers were still imprisoned, with the sea ■washing right over it. Captain Boxer had promised that I should accompany the expedition, intended to bring oiFthe men, on that wild Sunday morning ; but the weather, as I hare said, was such that no boat could approach the rock. A few days afterwards, while the sea was still very dangerous, it seems that Michael Shea, stripping naked, went out in his boat with Timothy Dudley, Daniel Healy, Bath Lynch, Jeremiah Brohel, and Jere- miah Lowney as oarsmen, and, at the imminent risk of his life, rescued the six starving wretches from the Calf Rock. If these brave men, as I fear, have small chance of any other reward, they will have the lifelong grati tudo of the iighthouseman's wife, whom I saw on shore at the station. IRELAND TINDER TUE LAND ACT. 117 raising of the rent, and declared, ' Sir, I stood out for four years against it. I would be a dead man to-day if I depended on the farm. I have made a living out of my four bones.' The people have to fetch everything they want from Castle- town, fifteen miles from the Sound, and one of their bitterest complaints is that they have to pay poor rates, although the Dursey folks pride themselves on never allowing one of the islanders to go into the poor-house. They have to pay county cess, for the making of county roads, while half their island is impassable for the want of one. On reaching Jerry Harrington's farm, I found that he had a little land, from which he had taken a crop of oats, but the greater portion was pasture of a poor quality, the turf being about two inches deep over the hard rock. The soil of the tillage varied from three to six inches on rock ; and I may say at once, that after at least twenty times digging out the soil in various parts of the island, these measurements of two inches for pasture and three to sis for tillage represented the average depth of the surface. Jerry and his brother Tim held a farm in common. They paid together 44Z. \0s., the old rent having been 35L The valuation is 31 L All through the island the rent is considerably above the Poor-law valuation. The grass was poor, thin, and choked in many places with heath and furze. It is, however, impossible to judge of the value of such land in the winter*, and the profits, if any, realised by the tenants are, perhaps, the safest guide at that season. JSTow, I can testify from actual observation that the people are living as poorly as is consistent with keeping life in their meagre bodies ; and, from the inspection of the mealseller's books, that they have paid no money, and are heavily in debt for food. The cattle are small Kerrys, thin and wiry ; the few pigs, however, fed on household refuse, looked plump enough Jerry Harrington, the ' richest ' man in the place, whose ' farm ' Her face was swollen with six days' and nights' weeping. Evci-y night tho poor woman kept candles burning at her bedroom window, in the hope that her husband might catch their distant gleam, and know that lie was not forgotten by one, I saw the light as I was being rowed over to Dursey in tho darkness. L 3 148 III EL AX D UNBER THE LAXD ACT, is four hundx-ed feet above the sea, tlioaght he could pay lOZ, for his half of the holding, notwithstanding his burden of nine young children. Patrick Sullivan's farm had grass for three cows ; the valuation was hi. 15s. ; the old rent 11. Vis. %d.^ and the pre- sent rent 9L 5s. He had six young children, and said he thought he might manage to pay 4tl. Humphrey Sullivan's holding was of the same extent, and held at the same rent as Patrick's, his nephew. The old man had a son and four young grandchildren living with him. Florence Leary had grass for one cow ; his valuation was 4Z. ; his rent 8/., and he stated that he could not pay more than 3?. He, however, does some fishing. Peter Leary has nine children ; he has the grass of four cows, his valuation is 9Z. 15s., and his rent Vtl. 5s. James Leary maintains a wife, two children, father, mother, and four young brothers and sisters ; he has grass for two cows, his valuation is fixed at 7Z., and his rent at 12?. Tim Harrington has the best house in the island, built by himself ; and for which, except the slates, which Mr. Payne gave him, he provided all the materials. I went into his kitchen to-day and rested myself, wearied as I was by scrambling and falling along the steep and dangerous path leading from the middle village, Kilmichael, to the western one, Kilcharinna, and by climbing the frequent fences. Tim has an intelligent, active old wife, two girls in service in America, and six children at home, two of whom ai'e grown up. His eldest son, John, is a helper in the Lighthouse, and is now imprisoned there, and to his earnings the comfortable appearance of the household may be attributed. For poor Tim is also hopelessly in debt both to landlord and shopkeeper. His rent and valuation are of about the same amount as his brother Jerry's, ah'eady men- tioned. The only food hanging up in Tim's place was dried conger, but he had a small stock of potatoes, the largest measuring two and a half by three and a half inches. At my request his wife made some Indian meal into a cake of bread, such as they commonly eat. She took three or four handfuls of the meal and poured boiling water upon it, and then kneaded it with her hands, using all her strength, for about five IRELAND VNBER THE LAND ACT. 143 minutes. She shaped it into a flat circular plate of about an inch thick. It was then baked on a round iron plate such as the Scottish people call a 'girdle,' which was laid on the fire of heath-root turf, used here for want of bog turf. In a quar- ter of an hour I was offered a piece of this cake, smeared with sour butter ; an Q^^i and a cup of hot tea. I ate the piece of corn cake, and I brought away a piece with me ; but I am bound to confess, with all respect for Mrs, Tim's skill, that I have never known anything with the name of bread, not even the vilest variety produced in South Germany, which re- quired so much mental resolution and strength of jaw to finish. It was hard outside ; pasty and bitter inside. With- out the fish and buttermilk it must be utterly unsuitable, especially with so short a period of cooking, for nourishing the human frame. One of the few pleasant incidents of my visit occurred here. I was informed that a Miss Matilda Dudley, of Bally nacallagh, taught the island boys and girls to read and write, I had in forthwith Tim's two children — Pat, aged thirteen, and little Mary, eleven. I opened a large old-fashioned reading-book, and gave jMary a passage to read. To my astonishment, she read it rapidly and correctly, going over such words as ■' privilege ' and 'division ' without a pause, but of course with a rich brogue. I tried her in another passage, with the same result, Pat, who was terribly frightened, did nearly as well, and could certainly have read a newspaper aloud without much difficulty, I found them, especially Mary, thoroughly well-grounded in the Multiplication Table, On my way back half the population of the island accom- panied me, the rain having ceased, and from one and all in the crowd I gathered the same story, Nearly every man owed from two to three years' rent, and all were evidently apprehensive of the evictions said to be intended by Mr, Payne. It seems that orders for substituted service of writs have been obtained, and that numbers of them are now lying at the Allihics Post-offices, for which reason the tenants of holdings fear to venture there to ask for letters. Many and anxious were the questions put to me on this and other 150 in ELAND UNDER THE ZAND ACT. subjects, and especially as to the probable action of the Land Commission Court. The islanders have all entered that Court, and they were much cast down when I told them that the arrears could not be thus wiped out. ' If,' said one, ' he wants the arrears, he may as well take the turf itself; there is no- thing else for him.' I asked whether, if the landlord employed them to make the badly- wanted road over the mountain to the western village, they would work off the arrears in that way, and the proposition was eagerly embraced. It is my firm conviction that these poor people would be willing to pay the arrears if they had the means ; but it is clear that they cannot pay in money. In Ballynacallagh a young woman stood waiting, rather better dressed than the rest, her hair neatly brushed back and bound with a riband, but of course, with bare feet, boots belonging here rather to the class of implements of labour than to dress. This was Miss Dudley, the school- mistress, who may be said to represent civilisation in this lonely island colony. I had a conversation with her, from which I learned that she taught sixty out of the eighty chil- dren on the island, and that they were generally as far advanced as Tim Harrington's son and daughter. She had been four years at a convent school, I was sorry to find that she thought of giving up her office very soon, as 'the Board* would not make any addition to her earnings. The ordinary charge is a shilling a year for reading, writing, summing, and geography, but she charges up to half-a-crown a quarter for a few of the ' finishing ' studies. Formerly the Board — that is, the Commissioners of National Education — paid 201. yearly to an old schoolmaster, and allowed him a house ; and it would be a great pity if the services of this excellent instructress should be sacrificed for want of so small a sum. She said that she badly wanted elementary reading and spelling books for her pupils, as well as copybooks for practice.^ After ' I belieA'e that parcels of books and other school necessaries, addressed to her at Ballynacallagh, Dursey Island (the cost of carriage being, of course, prepaid), -vvould reach her safely, and she would probably be IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 151 a General handshaking with the men, women, and children pressing about me, I embarked for the mainland. The storm had abated ; the long green billows sparkled like huge sea-serpents in the rays of the declining sun ; and when I was fairly out on the open water, the people of Dursey bade farewell again in two or three hearty cheers. encouraged to stay in the island. Surely this is a case in which the Com- missioners, with their large discretion, might see their way to making an annual grant. 152 IRELAXD UXDER THE LAXD ACT. CHAPTER XXII. OUTRAGES. KILLAE^rEY : Saturday Evening, December 1 0, About a fortniglit ago, after long and careful observation, I recommended an increase of the police force, for patx'ol and search duty in certain disturbed districts, as the best means of preventing those dreadful outrages by which the ' ISTo Rent ' Manifesto is enforced. Martial Law and Trial by Commission, instead of Trial by Jury, could not, as I then pointed out, in existing circumstances be effectively applied. The Government have adopted the plan suggested in every particular ; and, if it be vigorously carried out, the best results may be looked for. At the same time it must be still kept in view that if, after a fair trial of the patrol system, the outrages are not reduced in number or in ferocity, a temporary suspension of Trial by Jury may yet be rendered necessary in a few districts, in the interest of the miserable tenants exposed to such brutality. The importance of this question cannot be overestimated. A very slight examination of the facts will show that for want of a sufficient check to these atrocities the situation in Ireland changes daily and rapidly for the worse. A disposition to murder and maim obnoxious individuals, if unable to defend themselves, has been a com- mon and disgraceful feature of every Irish agitation (no matter what political or religious faction promoted it), in the wilder parts of the country, and therefore the promulgators of the ' No Rent ' policy are the more blameworthy. The rustic Irishman of the West has a limited intelligence, fitted for the consideration of but one idea at a time, to the exclusion of everything beyond and outside his narrow field of view. He is anxious just now for nothing but the improvement of IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 153 his material condition. I have often, in conversation with a small Western tenant, been struck with the keen anxiety he has shown to have his rent reduced ; and at the same time his almost total indifference about Home Rule. The desire for a native Parliament at Dublin is the cherished emotion of an Eastern tenant, from his youth upwards ; but it is hardly to be met with in the West, except among public-house loafers in the small towns. Mr. Parnell in the Eastern counties appeals to the hearts of his hearers ; in the Western, to their stomachs. For a year past the tenant in the West has paid no rent; and on the average he owes at least eighteen months' arrears. It cannot be too frequently repeated that there is very little chance of this money ever being recovered. In some cases, no doubt, a dishonest farmer, not resident in a district afflicted by outrages, who declines to pay his rent, has the money, and much more ; and in such cases, after due proof, something like the English method of imprisonment for wilful refusal to obey an order to pay a debt might be usefully introduced. But, as a rule, the Western tenant is a poor man, reckless and improvident, and the little sum scraped to- gether after the harvest has already found its way to the publi- can's till, or the safe of the ' Gombeen man ' — that is, the village usurer. The people w^ere led to believe, if not positively told, for months together, that they need not pay more than they wished; and this doctrine was generally accepted in the widest sense. Now no such idea was ever sanctioned by the famous agitators of the past. The nearest approach to it was when the late Archbishop of Tuam took a holding in order to be liable for Tithe, intending to refuse payment as a protest against taxing Catholics for the support of what they regarded as the worst of heresies. But from the teaching which has now brought about such great evils the Romish Bishops have held resolutely aloof Here and there, indeed, a Prelate is to be found taking a conspicuous part in current politics, who, like the famous Geordie Graham, when reproved by James VI., in the course of his sermon, for maintaining error, ' will neither speak sense nor come down.' But as a rule the Clergy have been represented in the agitation mainly by the younger 154 IRELAXD UNDER THE LAND ACT. curates ; although it is unfortunately true that some priests have, in order to retain their influence over the people, joined in the movement. The Bishop of Elphin, however, pre- vented the establishment of a Land League branch in Sligo, and it does not always do a priest good to join the Leao-ue. One who had resisted it stoutly told me the other day that he had got in all his dues, while a neighbouring Leaguer priest had been compelled by his flock to abate considerably in his demands. What with the eloquent instigation of patriots, the tacit countenance of their priest- hood, and it would seem, the politic sufierance of the Government, the deluded tenants were at last persuaded that they had the power to withhold their rents ; and there is no doubt whatever that for a time they had such a power, the ordinary machinery of Government being wholly inappli- cable to the difiiculty. In course of time the country would have righted itself, for the people have in large numbers neglected to pay the shopkeepers, just as they had refused to satisfy the landlords' claims, and the value of contract obligation would very soon have been brought home to them. Another incentive to hold out against paying rent lies in the tenant's consciousness that on making any regular settlement he will have to pay the arrears, and unhappily he has spent the money that would enable him to do so. It is unfortunate that power was not given to the Commission to pay to the landlord, on behalf of the tenant, with or without the latter 's consent, say one-half the arrears ; repayable by a redeemable land-tax of small amount, ultimately recoverable from the tenant. The necessity of a measure conferring this power being taken in an autumn Session has already been pointed out. My belief that the necessity was and still is most pressing is confirmed by the anxiety expressed upon the subject by every tenant, and many of the landlords with whom I converse. The landlords are now very many of them in desperate circumstances, partly from the non-pay- ment of rent, and partly from the large and by them unexpected reductions effected or threatened by the Sub- Commissions in their incomes. They have therefore begun IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 155 evicting on a large scale, and the money for which the Lord Mayor of London is now applying will go to pay bailiffs and emergency men ; indeed, it will do much to ease the pockets of the rich landlords, who up to this time have generally left their poorer brethren to their own resources. On the other side, the tenants, if they dare to pay rent in certain districts, are threatened with the fearful vengeance of ' Captain Moon- light.' Until this personage is hunted out of his accustomed beats, there can, therefore, be little hope of a better state of things. For this purpose not only must rewards of a large amount be paid for information, but informers should be offered a free passage to any place out of Ireland in which they might feel it safe to settle ; as was done in the Fenian times. The areas of outrage to be operated upon are fortunately neither many nor extensive. Bat as a means of economising, it might be as well to mount as many of the new police reci'uits as possible, in order that the largest space might be commanded by a given force. Whenever a tenant pays his rent, or is for any reason obnoxious to his neighbours, the fact should be confidentially notified to the Sub-Inspector by the agent or the priest, and a special guard maintained near his house from sunset to dawn. Every road in a disturbed district should be heavily patrolled all night, four men walking together at every third of a mile, and every third party con- sisting of half-a-dozen mounted men ready to gallop in any direction. This would, no doubt, cost a great deal of money, which, with full compensation to the victim of every outrage, or in case of death to his family, should be exacted from every person in the district, landlord or tenant, able to pay. No one could complain, for the landlord would get his rent, the innocent tenant protection, and the guilty but a small part of his deserts.' Every gun and pistol in the possession of a man who has not paid his rent should be taken from him. ' I havf reason to believe that the Government are doubtful -whether the example of injustice ■which would be .set, if they passed a statute rendering the property of numerous innocent persons liable to make good damages inflicted by the guilty few, would not increase the existing de- moralisation of the peasantry. 156 IRELAXD UXDER THE LAXD ACT. Such precautions would probably be effectual in most cases, and they would certainly save much bloodshed. Let it be remembered that it is only in a few districts that they are required — for no greater mistake can be made than to talk as if the whole island were ungovernable. By way of illustrating these remarks let me relate what I have just witnessed within a few miles of these lovely hills and lakes. A few days ago Mr. Hussey, Lord Kenmare's agent, published an account of the shooting of three men who had paid their rent to him. In the Kerry Sentinel, of yesterday's date, I find the following observations: — 'Mr. Hussey's letters are composed of a tissue of disjointed falsehoods We do not wish to impute cowardice or laziness to any of the priests or local patriots in this matter concerned, but why did not some one say to Mr. Hussey long ago ' — and then follows a reference to some unfortunate eviction proceedings of Mr. Hussey, said to have resulted in the death of a child. It is a habit with some Irish news- papers to describe all reports of outrages as untrue, and I therefore yesterday visited the place for myself. After passing through the towai, and across the outlying hills, my carman turned down the Raheen Road, eastwards. For twenty miles on every hand was a vast extent of gently undulating land, here and there reclaimed, but part still in its original state of brown bog. The houses were few in number, and at first, on Lord Kenmare's land, of a miserably poor description. But on The O'Donoghue's estate the farmhouses were generally large and well-appointed, and the fields iu good condition. At the Raheen school-house, the school- mistress directed us on our way, and gave me some interesting information about her pupils, from which I gathered that they are receiving a sound elementary education. Some miles farther on it became necessary to inquire again, and here a great change took place. The shadow of some mysterious dread was visible on every face as soon as my words of inquiry were uttered. One poor girl blushed painfully as she denied that she knew where the first man shot could be found; although she belonged to the same IRELAXD rXDER THE ZA.YD ACT. 157 village. We were within a few miles of Mill Street, and in the notorious district extending from Castle Island on the west to Mallow on the east, in which no man's life is safe for an hour if he pays his rent. ' Captain Moonlight ' and his ruffians here act in bands of sometimes thirty or forty together, under the command of a leader, and are members of a sworn confederacy. I then passed through Maughantoorig. The people rushed to the doors to view the unaccustomed sight of a stranger on a side car. The country is so poor and un- frequented that my driver, constantly employed for the last twenty years in excursions about the neighbourhood of Killarney, did not even know the main road. Daniel Cronin's dwelling is in a lonely spot, half a mile from the village, faced by the house of a neighbour. He is a man of about fifty, tall, spare, with a ruddy complexion. I was informed at the agent's ofiice that he holds under a lease dated March 10, 1873, for forty-one years, and a life, at a rent of 10/. ; the valuation being 9^, 5s. He has always paid his rent punctually, has steadily improved his holding, and refused to have anything to do with the League. As is well known, the tenantry with a very few exceptions on Lord Kenmare's estate have refused to pay their rents; but Daniel Cronin unfortunately paid. Such being the case, there is great blame somewhere for not having the poor man properly protected, I need not say that I had the utmost difficulty in getting any information from him, his wife, or the family. They were certain that the attacking party did not belong to the neighbourhood, but came from a distance ; and not one word of repining or accusation escaped their lips. Cronin was lying in great pain in the back room of his comfortable farmhouse. Another person present told me the sad story of the outrage, while the victim occasionally clasped his hands and murmured feebly, ' I forgive them, whoever they are.' At about eight on Sunday evening, November 2, the family were preparing for bed, with the exception of the son, a fine young man, who was, as ill-luck would have it, away, when a party of armed men, with blackened faces, rushed in. 158 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. The leader immediately knocked the lamp off the table, and then stood with his back to the fire, giving directions. First Cronin was strictly questioned as to whether he had paid his rent. His book was called for, and his denials taken down. ' What's this woman doing here ? ' said the leader, suddenly ; and the screaming wife and children were forced into the bed- room. Immediately afterwards they heard a loud report ; the door of the bed-room was released, and they hurried back to find Daniel Cronin staggering and fainting, with a great wound in his thigh. The charge of shot had passed sideways through the muscular part of the thigh, half-way between the hip and the knee, behind the bone, fortunately without shattering it. The surgeon had extracted a circular piece of corduroy two inches square, and all the shot, from the opposite end of the wound. Daniel's pulse was firm and regular, and he seems likely to recover ; but he is still in deadly fear that the assassins may return. His wife told me, with a choking utterance, that her husband went regularly to mass, and had that fatal day attended it.* With a few cheering words, uttered very much against the grain, I left them. After another half-hour's drive over the desolate bog I reached John. Keefe's house at the further extremity of Lisheen ; a village containing, I should say, as much filth, raggedness, and misery as are distributed over a large English town. The inhabitants seemed to be all either fi'ightened, or gloomy and discontented. One morose-looking man stood out with his hands in his pockets ; but kept his eyes fixed on the ground until I had passed, refusing to meet my glance. I found poor old Keefe very seriously ill. I felt his wrist, but could not perceive any pulse. Laying my hand over his heart I detected its faint, rapid beating, and could observe that he was extremely weak and feverish. His unhappy wife, ' It is remarkable how often outrages are committed on Sunday night. The reason is, strange as it may appear, that the superstitious peasantry will not, if they can avoid it, take the life of a man who is unprepared for death. A man who has paid his rent trebles the risk he runs by going to mass. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 159 over sixty years of age, had done her best for him, from first to last, but he was getting weaker. The villains who had shot Cronin reached here after the old couple were in bed, and broke a pane of glass in order to wake them. Keefe opened the door in his night- shirt. Two boys were kept in the back room while the stern examination about the payment of rent went on. The pass-book and the lease were inspected, and the old man was cuflFed about until he leaned, almost stupefied, against the table. Then, while his wife cried wildly to spare his life, and offered to do or pay anything for mercy, a shot was fired before her face. Her husband sank to the ground, which was red with his blood, and the ruffians ran off with shouts and laughter into the darkness. I was shown the hole in the table into which the shots finally penetrated in one mass, and two were extracted and handed over to me. The weapon must almost have touched the man, and the charge tore away the greater part of the calf of his leg. The gang then went on to the eldest son's house, but the old dame told me, and folded her hands with gratitude as she said it, ' He was away, sir, by the mercy of God, and our blessed Lady the Virgin.' The band, however, afterwards injured a third person, and then dispersed. After all this was over the police, stationed at Rath- more, four miles away, commenced their nightly patrol of three hours. I have it on the best authority that the three roads by which the scene of the outrages could be approached were all watched by scouts, planted to give due warning of the approach, of the police. To my surprise my carman drove me back to Killarney by another route, and it was only after closely pressing him that he acknowledged he did so for my safety. At Killarney I went to the police station and found the men who had shot Cronin and Keefe locked up there. But no person woiild give evidence against them; although an intimation had been received by the constables that if Keefe died evidence would be forthcoming. They were all neigh- bours of the victims. Eventually they must be discharged for want of evidence. ICO IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. CHAPTER XXIII. THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. Killaeney: Saturday Evening, December 17. The situation grows more and more serious as the winter advances. In certain districts, thinly populated, but of con- siderable extent, the ordinary administration of the Govern- ment has temporarily ceased. Rents, county cess, and other local rates are not paid ; and, as I was told to-day by a priest holding office in a disaffected part of the country, even the incomes of the clergy are beginning to suffer. Whether a supplementary cry of ' No dues ' would not, however, assist the restoration of order is a fair subject for speculation. The large number of Irishmen who, though they can well afford to do so, now refuse to pay rent, may persuade themselves that by devoting money contracted to be paid to the owners of their lands to the purchase of spurious whiskey, and to the maintenance of one or two exiles at Paris, they are doing more for Ireland than O'Connell and all the other departed patriots. They may be, as they believe, escaping from the bondage of centuries, but it cannot be denied that they are crawling to freedom through an exceedingly dirty sewer. N"o gi'eat Revolution has ever been accomplished hitherto upon the basis of petty theft. Be that as it may, the Government must face the certain prospect of a large number of attempts being made to murder and injure well-disposed persons during the next three months. The measures already adopted, if carried out by capable officials, ought to render altogether unnecessary the abolition of Trial by Jury, and the institution of some more stringent procedure. But if so, the additional police must be selected from men of mature age and full discretion ; not likely in the IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 161- searches for arms to be guilty of any unnecessary intruaiou, or outrage upon susceptible people — and Ireland is populated by susceptible, not to say irritable, people. The Inspector- General, therefore, should be allowed to accept the services of that large class of reserve men over forty, the age limited in the I'ecent circular, who have been settled in the midst of the people ever since their retirement from active duty. The recruits, moreover, must be quickly drafted into the disturbed parishes, and in sufficient numbers. I refer to these particu- lars because they are, at least in some district stations,. im- perfectly recognised as essential. For instance, I was told by a spruce young sub-inspector the other day, that he thought it was useless to increase the police force, as ' the roads by which they could operate would always be watched at night,' The idea of patrolling those roads in sufficient force to impress ' Captain Moonlight ' with the necessity of staying at home had evidently not occurred to this gentleman, and when it was .suggested it was by him superciliously pooh-poohed. Again, it will be of small service to law-abiding citizens to organise, with great pains, an additional force of police ready to take the field when the winter and the winter outrages are past. Only a day or two ago I was told how a retired policeman had applied for leave to join the force in his district, and had been sent off with the excuse that the county Inspector was away for a few days, and that nothing could be done until his return. Much has been made of some verdicts recently found by Juries at the Assizes, in order to argue that intimidation is on the decline. But this reasoning is somewhat fallacious. The case most relied upon is that of a band of ruffians, who in England could hardly have been preserved, in the strongest gaol, from being lynched. They were convicted of breaking into a woman's house by night, firing into a bed full of children, and wounding her little daughter. Apart from the unmanly brutality of their conduct, peculiarly odious to the average Irishman, there was this additional fact to account for the verdict of ' Guilty ' — namely, that the ofPence was in no sense whatever one against the Land League. And M 162 IRELAND U.SDEIi THE LAyB ACT. against tlie verdict in this case raay be set the case reported yesterday, where, after the clearest evidence of an agrarian crime committed as part of the ' No Rent ' programme, the Jury have refused to convict. No one can blame a Juror for taking this course. It is no exaggeration to say that, in the great part of four counties at least, the payment of rent, or the return of an apparent assassin as ' Guilty,' subjects a Juryman to the danger of immediate murder. At Cork the Jurors have found a fair proportion of verdicts against the prisoners. But at the Cork Assizes the Juries are regularly packed by the Crown with Protestant shopkeepers, who are smarting under the loss of trade resulting from the operations of the League. Catholic after Catholic is ordered to ' stand by.' I have read the evidence in these cases, and believe the verdicts were right, and the punishments by no means too severe ; but it is absurd and dangerous to rely upon verdicts thus obtained, in a populous city, where no retaliation is possible, as evidence of a change of feeling in the country. Of course this state of things has brought, and is bringing, retribution. A few days ago I read a report in several news- papers that the Earl of Kenmare was about finally to dis- charge his labourers, and to leave the country. I saw Lord Kenmare yesterday evening, and in the course of conversation ascertained from him that this statement, though not strictly correct, had suiEcient foundation to justify some reference to it. It appears that his Lordship is in the habit of spending weekly something like 400L in wages to labourers upon his Kerry estate, a very small proportion of that expenditure being connected with the preservation of the demesne. Over 100,000^ has from first to last been laid out upon this property by the landlord. It is Lord Kenmare's invariable practice to present slate and timber to any tenant desirous of erecting a cottage for himself, and generally a kindly superintendence would appear to be extended over the tenantry and their con- cerns. Lord Kenmare adverted in a tone of courtly regret to my somewhat depreciatory description of his village of Lisheen, and gave an explanation of its condition, which, in all justice, ought to be reproduced. The estate, which is of great size, IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 163 was leased in former days to middlemen, who, looking npon the tenants merely as rent-producing animals, allowed them to fall mostly into the pitiable condition of life still observable at Lisheen. From this state of misery it is Lord Kenmare's laudable ambition to rescue +hem, and, so far as his income will allow, he is devotio'^ If to the gradual but material amelioration of their If as true, he said, that he had been compelled to give \ bourers warning that he must discharge them at thp month, and the reason was a prudential one. Oui. o thousand tenants, only a score or so have pai^ he consequence is that no fund has been providea lo oayment of the labourers. Lord Ken mare, however, sa. chat as soon as the present terrible state of things had come to an end, it was his inten- tion to return immediately, and resume his duties as one of the few great landlords resident in Ireland. At Tralee the other day, I was told by Michael, the old waiter at the principal hotel in the town, that he had paid for the outfit and passage to America of his son and his niece last winter, with the most happy results. The son was a carpenter in the employment of Lord Kenmare, earning 11. 8.?. a week. He obtained work the day after landing in America, and his earnings have since averaged 3/. \'2s. a- week. The niece, who was a dressmaker, is now making about lOOZ. a-year, or more than three times the income of a Western farmer in this country. Stories of this sort, circulated from homestead to homestead, not only stimulate emigration, but make people discontented with their lot in Ireland. The decisions of the Commissioners now sitting here have, as a rule, given satisfaction to both sides. There are, how- ever, some judgments open to question. In a case of ' Flahive V. Hussey,' the landlord had bought the farm under the Encumbered Estates Act. He had not raised tlie rent above the amount paid in 1834, namely, hbl. The farm, which was pasture, bad obviously increased in value, since the price of dairy produce is higher by about two-thirds. Upon these facts the Commissioners have reduced the rent to 45/. In one of the conveyances by the Court 1 find the following passage in 164 IRELAND ZrXDER THE LAND ACT. the authorised particulars of sale: — 'The tenants are respect- able and most comfortable ; the rents are exceedingly moderate, and may be readily increased.' Now, I am informed, that although not a shilling has been added to the rents, every one of these respectable and comfortable tenants has dragged the unlucky purchaser before the Commission. In a case of ' Shanahan r. Dennv,' the tenant holds a hundred acres, prin- cipally pasture. He has not, during fourteen years, drained a single acre. He has borrowed nearly a thousand pounds from his friends ; he has ten children, and is deeply involved. His rent, which was reduced from 75L to o5Z. when he took the farm, has been lowered by the Commissioners to 44Z. In both these cases I made a private inspection of the holdings, and I can testify- that Flahive's consists in the main of good sweet pasture land, that much of Shanahan' s is equally good, and nearly all would be extremely valuable if scored with a few simple stone drains. Facts like these certainly invite comment. IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 161 CHAPTER XXIV. THE CONSTABULARY. Dublin, Wednesday Night, December 21. The men of the Royal Irish Constabulary, in respect of discipline, loyalty, and, one may add, length of limb, will compare favourably with any armed force in Her Majesty's service. To their vigilance and devotion a great number of persons, too honest and too shrewd to engage in vain rebellion, are indebted for the safety of their property, and the pro- longation of their lives from day to day. Their duties are primardy those of police ; but they are ready at a moment's notice to act as efficient infantry soldiers, and in some districts just now they are practically what I think Mr. Bright once styled them, ' an army of occupation in disguise.' The character of the Constabulary for sobriety is well established. Their dress is the dark green tunic with the spiked helmet of the 60th Rifles. Their arms are a short snider rifle, a sword bayonet, and, in some cases, a revolver. The force consists of an inspector-general, with four assistants, thirty-fiyre county inspectors, about two hundred sub-inspctors, two hundred and thirty-two head constables, and nearly eleven thousand constables, acting constables, and sub-constables. The Government has very wisely ordered a large temporary addition to be made to this body ; but recruits have not come in very rapidly. There is a smouldering dissatisfaction felt at the order that soldiers from the reserve may join and wear the Constabulary uniform. The constables highly resent this; and anyone who knows how superior their character and education are to those of private soldiers can hardly be surprised at their feeling hurt. They fear that the old uni- 166 IRELAND UXDER THE LAND ACT. form would be disgraced, and desire, that if the soldiers join, they shall wear their military uniforms. The cost incurred in maintaining the force, amounting to about a million pounds per annum, is paid out of the Consolidated Fund, and a further sum has of late years been levied for extra police. The Con- stabulary are very unequally distributed over the country, and it is noticeable that in four of the most disturbed counties the proportion of police to population is -lower than in any part of Ireland. Although the constables are drawn from the ranks of the peasantry, they are, of course, extremely unpopular in the disturbed districts. So much depends upon their zeal and energy, that it is obviously a wise policy to keep them contented, and some consideration of their grievances, which they are now very seriously pressing on the attention of Government, may not be out of place. It is under- stood, indeed, that a commission of officers is now sitting, or is about to sit, for the purpose of reporting upon the matter, and great speculation is indulged in as to what they may have to say on the subject I had lately an opportunity of ascertaining the men's views in an unexpected way. Sitting one evening in my room at an hotel in Castletown, during the West Cork evictions, I was somewhat surprised to hear that three con- stables wished to see me. There was handed me a sealed envelope, containing the following document ; — ' Castletown, December 2, 1881. ' Sir, — We, being elected as a deputation for the purpose of bringing under your notice the position and claims of the Royal Irish Constabulary, respectfully request you to grant us a hearing. ' The Special Commissioner of The Standard.' Three stalwart fellows were forthwith ushered in, the smallest of whom was nearly six feet in height. They had intended to apply to Mr. Herbert Gladstone for an audience, but he had suddenly left Castletown before they could communicate with him. The grievances mentioned to me by these men IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. 1G7 appear to be typical, and they may be classified as follows : — First, on the subject of pensions. It seems that up to 1866 a constable or sub-constable was entitled, under a Statute passed early in her Majesty's reign, upon completing thirty years' service, to retire on full pay. A new scale of pensions was, hov/ever, laid out in April, 1866, applicable to the cases of men joining after that time. By that scale a man under the rank of sub-inspector, upon retiring after thirty years' service, is only entitled to, or rather qualified for, a pension equal to three-fifths of his pay, with a decreasing scale for a shorter period of service. One condition require4 as a qualification for a pension is the payment of 1^^ per cent, annually from the men's pay. It is very difl&cnlt lor the retired men to exist upon these reduced amounts, many of them being broken in health, burdened with the weight of years, and the expense of large families. What they wish is to revert to the old system, to give back two per cent, from their annual pay, and be entitled, as their fortunate pre- decessors were after thirty years' service, to full pay as pension. ' We are no less loyal or worthy,' argued the spokesman, ' than those who went before us ; and why are we less deserving of the consideration of the Government aud of the country we faithfully serve ? ' The second grievance concerns allowances to married men. The Government gives a bachelor constable his pay weekly, provides him with uniform, arms, aud barrack-lodging; but each man has to buy for himself food, boots, and linen. A married man, not being accommodated in barracks, has to pay from 12Z. to 14/. per annum for house-rent and fuel. Though a soldier has cheap rations and canteens, free libraries, recreation- rooms, and useful literature provided for him, the Constabulary are not thus favoured. The married man, more- over, cannot, like a soldier, command free education for his children ; or remember, as he lies wounded, that his wife will be pensioned if he dies, and his little ones carefully placed in life. Another complaint is, that the system of promotion is unfair. When vacancies occur in the ollice of sub-inspector J 68 IRELAND UNDER THE LAND ACT. ihey are filled almost exclnsively from the sons of the inferior squirearchy, a small number only being given to the sons of old Constabulary officers, upon the nomination of the Inspector- General. Only about a filth are chosen from the ranks of the head constables. General dissatisfaction, I was informed, also prevails with respect to the promotion of sub-constables to the grade of acting constable and constable. It depends entirely on the sub-inspector and county inspector whether a particular man shall be admitted to the examinations, and it i.s said that this plan results in favourites of the local gentiy obtaining the good graces of the officers. What I am informed the Constabulary desire is, that all promotions to the rank of sub-inspector, or to any lesser rank, should be made from the members of the next lower rank, after a competitive examination restricted to men who f-hall have served a certain number of years ; a few Tacancies Ireing reserved, on easier examination, for deserving men of long service. This plan is already adopted in the case of promotions from the rank of constable to that of head con- stable, and, so far, is stated to give great satisfaction. Another point to Avhich the three men who visited me at Castletown attached much importance, was an increase of lodging allow- ance for service out of a man's district, from 2s. 6d. to 3s. a day upon all occasions. One of the men — a bashful giant, well over six feet high — seemed to think, further, that it was r were you told the amount of valuation to make ? I drew out the document myself. Mr. Commissioner Bailey — You were told the amount to put down ? Yes. Patrick M'Atavey examined by Mr. Ross, said he wan the claimant in this case. And your father was Edward M'Atavey. Witness — So 1 was informed (laughter). Did you sign this agreement ? I signed it against my will. Mr. Smith objected to this question, but the witness added — I signed this agreement after notice had been served upon me and the decree had been got. This first receipt for rent was dated the 24th December, 1877, to the representatives of Edward M'Atavey, 71. 16s. 2d. There was an abatement of rent of 17s. i)d. allowed to him on a subse({uent receipt. A portion of a garden, tlie rent of which was included in the agreement, was, before he got it, rented at 3s. Qd. When he took it it was raised to 5s. Witness had been 210 APPENDIX E. in America, and until lately had been in England, from where he sent money to his wife for the purpose of paying the expenses of the farm. Portion of the bog was reclaimed, and some portion of it was not yet reclaimed. Some of it would give a very poor crop. What rent could you afford to pay for this farm, and live upon it as a respectable citizen ? I should say about half the rent. Could you give the half of it and live % Not as I could live abroad in any other country — tliat is, and live upon nothing else. There were two holes in the field which had to be filled up, and there are rocks which I can't put soil upon, for I have not a horse or cart. Cross-examined by Mr. Smith — Why could you not live on the farm without going away to America or England ? My wife was there. She labours it, and I sent her money to labour it. The agents there were the most tyrannical agents that ever were in that part of the country. He, the witness, sent the particulars of this case to Mr. Leek, the member for South Lancashire, and he wrote to the Manchester papers about it. Do you know what rent your grandfather, or father, paid for it? No. On what authority did your solicitor state that the rent of this holding was raised within the last two or three years ? They told me that the part that was added was never rented. They took another piece from me, and they did not reduce the rent. Were you not served with a notice at the time the writ of eject- ment was served that the object was to lead to the recasting of the fencing with your uncle ? No. I do not remember. I got letters from time to time. I firmly believe that if I had not signed that agreement I would have been turned out of the farm. Witness, in reply to further questions, stated that last year he had five pecks of flax in the crop. There was a crop of corn in the field. It contained 1 acre rood 38 poles. He sowed 24 stone of corn at lOjd. per stone. 4L 3s. hhd. was the cost of the crop, and including the expense of sale, &c., 4i. 13s. lOid., which did not include the rent, or cess, or rates. He got 5Z. Is. 3d. for the corn. Peter Mulligan — 4L or 5L would be a fair rent for the farm. Mr. Commissioner Kane — Will you be able to prove, Mr. Ross, that the tenant-right exists in this case 1 Mr. Ross — Yes, in the whole of that district. Patrick M'Nally deposed that he did not believe he could get a living out of the farm and pay more than 5/. or GL Henry Moran deposed, in answer to the Sub-Commissioner, that he could not say what the price of the tenant-right in that district was. Mr. Smith said 10?. per acre was the price fixed by the oflice. This concluded the tenant's case. Mr. Joseph Wright, solicitor, examined by Mr. Smith, said APPENDIX E. 211 that he was agent of the estate since 1874, and at the time the survey was made by Mr. Smith. There was not one single particle of truth in the statement made by Mr. Smith about the valuation. He believed that Mr. Smith was told to go out and make a fair valuation, but witness believed he had not himself given him any instructions one way or other. There had been a dispute about the boundaries, and the valuator was sent to regulate it. A notice to quit had been served and ejectment proceedings taken, but after- wards an arrangement was made between the present tenant and his uncle. Neither directly nor indirectly was there any coercion used with reference to the signing of the agreement. Unless pro- vision was made the whole of the county cess would have to be paid by the landlord. Mr. Ross — This is an agreement by the tenant to pay the whole of it. Mr. Wright added that he did not know anything about the holding. Mr. Ross — Don't you know that the signing of the agreement was an infringement of the Ulster tenant-right ? I do not knoAV. Don't you know that it prevents free sale ? I do not. After the passing of the Act of 1870, were there a number of these agreements proposed ? No, there were not. The landlord is an absentee. Mr. Foster Dunwoody deposed that he was in Mr. Wright's office. The claimant's holding was capable of producing good crops. \Mien he went into possession the farm was in good condition. It was totally untrue that Smith was directed as to the value to be put on farms. As a matter of fact, Smith himself said that the rent of the farms was too low. Witness had at one time pressed the claimant to take lOOL from the old man, his uncle, but he refused to do so. Michael Langhran deposed that he thought M'Atavey's land was better than the land he held himself, and he would not take 1 OL an acre for his farm. This closed the evidence for the respondent. Mr. Ross — I can give evidence with reference to the townland of Coolartra, in which my client's holding is, and which belongs to the same landlord generally. I will show that in 1861 the rent was raised when the mining was in full operation. Mr. Smith — This has no bearing upon the case of Patrick M'Atavey. Mr. Commissioner Kane — We cannot receive it, Mr. Ross. Tf you can prove the raising of the rents on the whole of the townland, that, of course, afl'ects the holding we are dealing with ; but you cannot prove it by proving the raising of the rent on any particular holding. Mr. Ross — The entire townland of Coolartra belongs to Coote Bond. If I am in a position to pr llit Pinpalalion ihti/ art capaliiepf supporiing. Ktf 3<. M. pn cvf. irtM/, idl.^ rut. FUm.H lliuprrncf. tUf.iLSt. frr Urn. SierA Turaipi, Iti. ptrUm. Orau Srri, ii$. ptr m*. Graiif, It lOt. pt aen. : ptrmanent ImpromiMaU vf lie Lumd anJ BhU. '■^V*.)<,/«■d^^ rnctt,kmfirD^t^ Utrl^. :S It",..! 'l^ j»S...-™.u KiS yr , \ii, z l# I cj CaUuMtK^FrlH rf Oatt. J:f*rn I I I o APPENDIX G. 223 APPENDIX G. The Tennent Cases. Before Sub- Commission No. 2, sitting at Belfast. Robert Cooper, tenant ; Robert Tennent, landlord. This was an application to fix a fair rent. The tenant holds 19a. 2r. 5p. at Dundonald, County Down. The old rent was 281., which was subsequently reduced to 181., and raised to 301. in 1875, in consequence, as the tenant alleged, of his improvements. He stated that the land was hilly, and he was unable to make a living out of it. The only flesh meat he could afford to eat was a bit of American bacon occasionally. When he became tenant the land was in poverty and the houses dilapidated. Hill Magee, tenant ; same landlord. This was a similar application. The tenant holds 18a. Ir. 9p. at Hollywood, County Down. He stated that he succeeded his father in the farm five years ago, and that the rent was then raised from 271. 10s. to 32?. His three sisters lived with him, and none of them tasted butcher's meat from year's end to year's end. William Larmour, tenant ; same landlord. The tenant in this case made a similar application. He holds 18a. Ir. 9p. The old rent was 20/. , and the present rent 211. ; Poor-law valuation, 25Z. 10s. He stated that all the improvements were made by him and his predecessors in title. He was unable to live on the land at the present rent. On cross-examination by Mr. Overend, the witness admitted his father got some compensation for the erection of the buildings. Orr Shepherd, tenant ; same landlord. The tenant in this case holds 15a. Ir. 39p., and the applica- tion was similar to the previous ones. The rent is 27/., and the Poor-law valuation 18/. 10s. Tlie applicant stated that he had been ten years in possession, and that he was a spirit-fjrocer and pro- vision dealer. He paid most of tlie rents and farm expenses out of the shop, and but for it he could not live on the farm at all. His wife was in possession when he married her. To Professor Baldwin— I employ a man and a boy constantly on the farm. In reply to Mr. Overend, tlie xmtness stated that he had another farm of four acres, on tchich the two lahunrers also worked. John Barry, a retired farmer and land valuator and auctioneer, stated that Cooper's and Larmour's land was very steep and inac- cessible for labour. He considered 10s. an acre would be a fair rent for both farms. Cross-examined by Mr. Overend — I never take the tenant- right into account at all, I find it so fluctuating. If the tenant- 224 APPENDIX G. right were taken into account I think the farms would not sell at 5?. an acre. To Professor Baldwin — I took nothing into account but the land. Tlie witness added that he estimated the fair rent of Hill Magee's farm at 12.s. an acre, and Orr Sheppard's at I4s., the latter being more easily laboured and more accessible. On behalf of the landlord, Mr. Henry Fox, agent of the property, stated that Mr. Tennent came into possession on the death of his father, about two years ago. He 2)roduced the rent book, which showed that some abate- ments had been made and some compensation paid for improve- ments. Mr. Commissioner Greer said it was unnecessary for him to recapitulate the evidence given in the four cases in which Mr. Robert Tennent is the landlord. They had had the opportunity of personal inspection, accompanied by the landlord and the tenants. In the course of their visit they believed their attention was directed by both parties to every circumstance connected with the farms, of which it was desirable they should be informed. Taking everything into consideration, they had determined to make the following alterations in the present rents : — Robert Cooper, tenant ; old rent, 18L ; present rent, 30L ; valuation, 27^. 10s. ; judicial rent now fixed, 20L 13s. \d. Hill Magee, tenant ; old rent, Til. 10s. ; present rent, 32L ; valuation, 26Z. ; judicial rent, 24L 4s. 2d. William Larmour, tenant ; old rent, 20L ; present rent, 27^. ; valuation, 24/. 10s. ; judicial rent, 23i. 9s. Of/. Orr Shepherd, tenant ; old rent, 24^. ; present rent, 27L ; valuation, 18/. 10s. ; judicial rent, 23/. 4s. M. Mr. Commis.sioner Greer intimated that in these cases the tenants should get their costs. Mr. Overend, for the landlord, said he did not ask for a recon- sideration of the decision, but, having regard to the importance of the question as regarded costs, he thought it would ])e well if some princijjle were laid down for their future guidance. In this par- ticular instance he did not see why the landlords should be obliged to pay the costs, inasmuch as there had been a large reduction of rent. Mr. Commissioner Greer — We have fully considered the matter, and we have come to the conclusion that he ought to pay their costs (applause). The total reduction of Mr. Tennent's property is 24/. 8s. (5f/., whicli in the fifteen years will amount to 366/. 7s. ^Sd. I have lately received from Mr. Fox, the agent for the Tennent and other estates in the North, some very interesting and useful ' farm reports ' given in evidence before the Commissioners upon appeal by Mr. Tennent, showing the capabilities of the farms in (question ; also the reports of the assessors, Mr. Murrough O'BrienI and Mr. Grey, and an explanatory letter, all of which I have here! set out. It would seem, however, that Mr. Fox has valued the Lcoodwill at too low a rate. APPENDIX G. 225 WILLIAM LARMOUR. Gross value of produce as cropped in 1881 Gross cost of labour Seed Manure Superintendence, 10s. per acre 5 per cent, on 200Z., or lOl. per acre. Capital 10s. per acre Repairs, 4«. per acre Insurance and contingencies, 2.5. Gd. per acre . Taxes Present rent .... £52 23 51 7 13 11 14 40 9 12 6 9 12 3 17 2 8 1 2 17 9 27 127 17 4 25 LO 1 29 17 9 £ 253 183 5 2 Net Profit 1881, average prices 5 per cent, on loOZ., goodwill n per cent, on 201., permanent improvements 5 per cent, on llOl., total interest of tenant in holding. i\ per cent. Sinking Fund, to recoup 20Z. in 15 years ....... 25 per cent, business profit on 101. per acre on 2001. invested as working capital Rent, short charged Present rent Future fair rent The tenant, if he and his family do the manual labour of the farm will have for maintenance, per Col. 14 . Superintendence, per Col. 15 . Interest on working caj)ital, per Col. 16 Interest on goodwill, as above Interest on permanent improvements, as above Business profits, 25 per cent, as above . 70 3 4 40 9 9 7 1 50 18 50 59 8 10 15 27 4 37 10 4 117 18 (J The whole manual labour on this farm annually is represented by 1 man, 189 days, and 1 woman, 376 days. lOZ. ])er statute acre is tlie sum taken as working capital. Two years of net annual profits (70Z. '6s. 4rf. x2 = 140Z. &s. %d.) are taken to be what the goodwill should sell for as a commercial trans- action, and that sum added to 20Z., the amount expended on permanent im])rovcments, gives lOOZ. 65. 8re fairly let to an average fai-mer at a higher rent than may be considered their present letting value to the farmers who occupy them. I therefore exclude competition rents as well as the ignorance or apathy of the occupier, and value them at tohat I shmdd put on them if I were letting them to one of the many fairly intelligent small farmers whom I have knoivn during the last thirty years, and whom I have seen and should wish to see prosperous and contented. APPENDIX G. 231 My valuations are as follows, presuming tliat the landlord pays only half the poor's rate. Result of Appeal D€nrary reclamation of iomt rough gi-ound b^' the clearing away of £ X. d. 9 Orr Shepherd 22 11 Wm. Larmour 24 13 Hill Magee ... 24 10 14 R. Cooper 24 94 10 Decision ot Chief Commissioners. £ s. d. . 23 4 9 . 23 9 6 . 24 4 2 . 24 94 18 5 232 APPENDIX B. furze and scrub, but this can scarcely be considered permanent or profitable work, as constant outlay would be required to keep it under cultivation. It does nut seem to me that the tenants can claim to he credlied with any improvements which have added to the letting value of these holdings. In fact they have not done justice to the land, which, situated (IS it is ivithin easy reach of Belfast, is cajmhle of great improvement. My valuation of these farms is as follows :— Res'ilt of Appeal No. I assimne that the landlord pays half the poor rate but no other taxes. (Signed) Murrough O'Brien. December 31, 1881. APPENDIX H. The Enright Case. Before Sub- Commission No. 4, at Limerick. William L. Enright, tenant ; Timothy Byan and others, landlords. Mr. Ryan, solicitor for the tenant, said the tenant's farm was lield under a lease, dated July 7, 1869, made by Cornelius Nash, since deceased, to John Enright, also deceased. The lease was for the life of Cornelius Nash, and at his death it expired. The present tenant succeeded in possession John Enright, to whom the lease was granted. The holding was described in the lease as containing 2a. 3r. 33p. Ir'ish plantation measurcj iuid3r. 19p., in all 3a. 3r. 12p., the rent of which is 191. 2s. Qd. The lands are situate within about three miles of Limerick, at a place called Ballyclough. John Nolan, examined by Mj*. Ryan — I aan an extensive farmer living near Limerick. I know the lands of Ballyclough. They are in two divisions. The first is very light land, with six inches of surface. On the second the skin is fair enough, with other parts wild, and a muddy, retentive subsoil. A great portion of it is waste. The honest letting value of both divisions would be about 21. per acre, Irish. "We don't understand English acres here. To Mr. Atkinson, Q.C. (for the landlord) — I have no claim here against my landlord. The whole j)lace I only value at 6i. APPENDIX H. 233 thougli the tenant paid over 19L The present claimwit keeps a re- spectable hotel at Castlecoiinell. I saw about three roods of the farm tilled — the remainder never was, to my knowledge. I would not put 21. an acre value on the place only that it is so near Mr. Banna- tyne's Mill at Ballyclough. Butchers would pay 51. an acre, but that is no criterion. Butchers and shippers have raised the price of the land near the city, but that is done up. Mr. Bannat3^le might jiay 101. an acre because he has his flour mill there. I know other land near the city let at 21. per acre and even less. I make no al- lowaw.e for the 2)lttce being 'within three miles of Limerick citij with 45,000 inhabitants. I know that proximity to a city has raised land by 12s. an acre. To Mr. Ryan — Mr. Alexander Bannatyne has a mansion on the ground. He pays Al. per acre for it. Mr. Timothy Ryan was examined to prove the expiration of the life in the lease. John Ryan examined — I reside in the neighboiu'hood of the fai'm at Ballyclough. I would value this farm at from 35s. to 21. per acre. To Mr. Atkinson, Q.C. — I have a land claim myself. Mr. Atkinson, Q.C. — You understand 'scratch me and I'll scratch you ? ' Witness — The land toas meadowed for tvxnty years. I admit that VMS hard on it. Mr. Atkinson, Q.C. — Yes, he scourged it till it was worthless and now he wants it at a reduced rent. Witness would make no allowance on account of the farm being only thi-ee miles from Limerick. A fair rent is one that will let the poor tenant live on it. Mr. Atkinson, Q.C. — And Mr. Enright is the ' poor' tenant ! Witness — Oh ! no. I don't know, if put up to auction, that the land would bring 61. an acre. I would not say that. Mr. William Enright — I am the tenant. I hold other lands at Castleconnell. I am in possession since 1871. I have meadowed it since, except for two years, when I grazed over it. I value the land at 21 an acre. I kept it for convenience, but knew it was en- tirely too deroving. It was not stated that the landlord had remonstrated with the tenant for not making improvements, and, on the other hand, it was not alleged that the tenant had applied to the landlord to drain or otherwise improve the lands. Mr. Atkinson had ably contended that the tenant having brought the land into an inferior condition by bad hus- bandry, should not now get his rent reduced. They did not intend to give any advantage to the careless and negligent tenant ; neither would they set a premium upon bad husbandry. The estimate they had arrived at appeared to be a fair one, as to the rent the tenant in tliis case should pay in future. Two of the witnesses for the tenant said the lands were worth from about 30s. to 21. per acre, whilst a witness produced on behalf of the landlord, said 21. 10s. per acre would, in his opinion, be a fair rent. After the hearing of the case, they (the Sub-Commissioners) made a careful examination of the place, and taking into account its situation, its close proximity to Mr. Bannatyne^s mill., and every other advantage connected with it, they declared that a fair rent to be paid by the tenant to the land- APPENDIX I. 235 lord would be 9i. lis. 3d. per annum, which was at the rate of 2Z. lOcf. per Irish acre, said rent to commence to run from next gale day. With regard to costs, no costs would be given. They thought that before the tenant entitled himself to costs he should be in a position to show that he had asked his landlord for a reduction before coming into court, and there was no evidence in this case that the tenant had done that. They did not say anything in theu" order as to county cess or poor rate. Tlie tenant would get his declara- tion of a fixed rent, and the liability at law would attach as it now is. The whole spii'it of the Act was that the tenant had an existing right, because otherwise he would have no locus, standi in court. In every case in which the letting was before August 1, 1870, the liability as to county cess would be as it was before. Notice of appeal was given on behalf of the landlord. On a subsequent day, Mr. Commissioner Reeves said he was afraid their tirst decision was very much misunderstood. Where a tenant by systematic bad husbandry had brought land into a bad state, they would not give him the least benefit. They would treat the lands as if they were in a good state from proper industry and proper husbandry by the tenant. The reason they made such a substantial reduction in the first case was because they took that view, and dealt with the farm as if the lands had been properly treated. Tlie land had not, Jioweoer, been properly drained, and that icas a duty ivhlch devolved on, the landlord. APPENDIX I. Blake v. Lord Clarina. James A. Blake, tenant; Major-General Lord Clarina, landlord (heard at Limerick). The tenant in this case was examined by Mr. Dundon (who ap- peared f(}r him), and stated that his farm held under Lord Clarina contained 38a. Or. 9p. , statute measure, or alxnit 23 Irish acres. The rent is 52?. 15s. 2d., and the Government valuation is 39/. 5s. He thought 1/. 5s. per acre would be a fair rent. After paying the working expenses of the farm he found that last season the proceeds from the farm were less by 1/. 6s. than the rent. Mr. Atkinson, Q.C. (for the landlord) — Were you offered 1501. for your interest in this place / I was, and would not accept of it. Lord Clarina offered that sum to me in August last, when he was about to take up possession througli the Sheriti". I paid GOO/, for another farm. How much of that did j'ou save / About half. And you saved that although you were going 1/. 6s. each year to the bad / When did you get possession / In 1863. I never asked an abatement from Lord Clarina. Wlien I spoke to him lie told me 236 APPENDIX J. that his lands were all let too cheap. In some places the soil is only two inches deep. I would not take 150L for the farm now. I have here some of the strata that I picked up from under the surface. (Witness produced a handkerchief full of stones which he handed to the Sub-Commissioners.) Tl\e farm was not adapted for dairy purposes. It would pay better as a tillage farm. Witness had given lOOL for another farm. He got 450T. as a fortune with his wife, hut had paid 3001. to his sister's. A witness named Finnucane said he thought 1?. an acre would be a fail" rent for this farm. The cost of production had in- creased in some instances 300 per cent. In reply to Mr. Atkinson, Q.C., witness said he had acted as secretary in this district of the Land League. John B. Houston, J. P., stated that the value of the produce of the tenant's farm would be about 121. to ISl. per acre, and the cost of production and harvesting would be about 3L per acre. The land was worth 21. 2s. ^per acre. John Hugh Massey also valued the rent at 21. 2s. per acre. It was further proved that the same rent had been paid in this case for forty-three years past. The Commissioners, however, re- duced the rent to 4AI. APPENDIX J. Taylor v. Arran, Matthew Beresford Taylor, Tenant ; the Earl of Arran, Landlord (heard at Ballina). Mr. O'Malley (instructed by Mr. Alfred Kelly) appeared for the tenant ; Mr. Bird (instructed by Mr. M 'Andrew) appeared for the Earl of Arran. Mr. Bird informed the Court that this was an English-managed estate, under the terms of the 4th sub-section of the 8th section of the Act. Matthew Taylor (tenant) was examined by Mr. O'Malley, and deposed that his farm contained 111 acres and 27 perches statute measure. The I'ent was 57^. lis., and the valuation 271. 10«. He was in possession of the holding for the past eight years. When he returned from Australia the place was all in ruin, with the excep- tion of the house. He then proceeded to make improvements on the farm. He made permanent French drains, put up iron gates and stone pillars. Two acres were moor bog reclaimed, now worth about 12s. an acre. He spent 145/-. out of his own pocket on labour. Twenty-one acres were shaking bog, pure morass, and twenty-six acres had been tilled for some time, but was in a reverting state. He spent 101. on the house. In reply to Mr. O'Shaughnessy, the witness stated that he APPENDIX J. 237 believed the farm was not worth more than the valuation. An extra hi. might, perhaps, be added fur the house. Mr. Wm. Camjjbell, who said he was a practical farmer, gave evidence as to the condition of the farm. He (Campbell) believed that 2'il. lbs. would be a fair rent, without buildings, or including them, 35?. 15s. a year would be a fair rent. Mr. John Crean, agent for Lord Arran, was examined. He became agent in '70. Tliere was a drainage scheme carried out on the estate, and there was a cut made by the landlord in connection with the di'ainage, for which the landlord paid 14/. Is. 2d. every haK-year to the Board of Works. In the year '54 Ryan, the estate superintendent, commenced the work on it, and continued to improve it till '65. When he left the agency there was then 903/. expended, excluding the putting down of crops. The house was burned in TO, when Mr. Hunter, the late tenant, was in pos- session. It had been built at the landlord's expense. In August '74, 75L 10s. was expended on the house. In December 1876, they commenced improvements which cost 50Z. In 1879, 21. 10s. was paid for repairs to the house, and 10/. for drainage. Witness further deposed that he was never asked to do work by the tenant that was not carried out. When the former tenant left the farm was in good condition. The estate gave rape, turnij^s, oats, parsnips, and cari-ots. It was not true that the tenant made reclamations. The present tenant told witness tliat he took three crops of oats otf the land. On cross-examination by Mr. O'Malley, the agent said that three or four landlords had joined in carrying out the drainage when in tlie district. The last agent sold carrots off the land. He did not know how many cattle were on the land. Mr. O'Malley — Why did Hunter leave the farm ? Was it not because he was a pauper ? He left it because he got a better farm in the county Sligo. How much money did Hunter lay out upon it ? I cannot tell. Mr. James Ward, examined by Mr. Bird, stated that he knew the place in 1864. He was then superintendent of the estate, and always did anything in the way of improvements which lie was asked to do by the tenant. On one occasion he allowed 10/. for scouring a drain. The tenant erected gates and built fences. The gates were worth 121. He never knew the tenant to make fences, but admitted that, to his knowledge, the tenant reclaimed about an acre of land. The CJiairman, in giving judgment in this case, said the evidence disclosed a peculiar state of facts, and raised, he believed, for the first time under tlie Act a (question of farms managed under what was called the English system. In 1854 tlie landlord, tlirough his estate superintendent, who is described as an experienced agri- culturist, got possession of tlie holding under circumstances not given in evidence, and worked it till 1864, expending during tliat period 903?. on improvements. The liolding was then let to a man 238 APPENDIX K. named Hunter. In 18G9 or 1870 the dwelling-house was burned, and was rebuilt by the landlord at an expense of lOOL In 1871 Hunter ceased to be tenant, and the applicant, who had recently returned from Australia, became the tenant. It was not necessary to describe whether or not Hunter was the legal predecessor in title under the 17th section of the Act, as they had no evidence that Hunter made any improvements. Neither was there any evidence to show that the applicant was in any way coerced to take the hold- ing or have his rent increased, or that he was otherwise badly treated by the landlord. He seemed to have taken it of his own free will on his return from Australia, and he still so held. His evidence went to show that he made some improvements, but this evidence was denied except as to scouring drains, which would appear to be the duty of the tenant, and erecting gates valued at 121. It is sworn that he would have been recouped tliis last sum if he had api^lied for it. In 1875 the landlord expended 75L on a bam and 50L on the sheds. Last October, some injuries having been done by the storm, the tenant looked to the landlord to have them repaired, and orders were given on behalf of the landlord to have these repairs effected. The landlord contributed annually 14L to a drainage by which the holding was said to be benefited. Under these circumstances tlie learned counsel for the landlord asked the Court to disallow the application on the ground specified in the 4th sub-section of the 8th section of the Act — namely, that these im- provements were made and substantially maintained by the land- lord. Counsel for the tenant in an able argument, urged that a special agreement in writing was necessary to bring the case under this section, but was unable to bring any words of the Act or any authority to sanction the contention. On the u-hole, therefore, the Commissioners felt bound to rule that this application be disallowed on the ground specified in the Mh sub-section of the 8th section of the Act — namely, that the permanent improoements had been made by the landlord, and had been substantially maintained by him. As to costs, they thought the case a proper one to submit to the Court, and would, therefore, order each party to pay his own costs. APPENDIX K. Cbeighton v. Nelson. Before Sub- Commission No. 2, at Lisbnm, on Nov. 24 : — Alexander Creujhton, Tenant; Horatio Nelson, Landlord. This was also an application to have the rent fixed by the Court. The tenant holds 25a. and 35p., at 27^. 4s. Poor Law valuation, 26L The Lands are situate at Leopoghes, near Dromore. Mr. Nelson resided in Downpatrick. Mr. M'lMordie appeared for the tenant, and Mr. Wellington Young appeared for the landlord. APPENDIX K. 2:l'J Alexander Creighton, the tenant, was examined, and said he thought the Poor Law vahiation of liis lidding was 2(j/. , inckuling 10?. Vis. on buildings. He believed that the valuation was too high. Chairman — Yo%i need not trouble yourself about that. We don't attach any importance to it. We never look to it. The witness then said that he had been in joint occupation with his father from 1849 to 18G0, when he gave his father 150/. for his interest in it. His father had bought the place from a man named Carroll for 40?. , and he had made a great deal of improve- ments. There had been an old scutchniill on tlie farm, and his father built a cornmlll on it. His landlord then was Mr. Edward Turner, of Newry. Witness's father made the outlay without assist- ance from the landlord. He believed his father spent about AOOl. on it in the. year 1851. The mill was worked by water fi-om the Lagan, which was the boundary between this and the Marquis of Down- shire's estate. The millrace and the weir had been in a broken- down state, and it took a good deal of labour to i>ut them right. He could not exactly say what expenditure there was on the race and weir. The dwelling-house had to be partly rebuilt, and they drained and fenced and they quarried over 2,000 yards of stone, and so made an acre of land, Irish, arable. About one-third of the farm consisted of rock and river, and was waste. He had to repair the banks of the river every year. What was the rent of the farm before the mill was built ? There was no change in the rent these t]d7'ty years. Mr. Nelson told him that the waterfall was worth 121. a year. To the Chairman — His rent had always been 271. 4s. since he bought the place. The landlord did not increase it in respect of the waterfall. Mr. Nelson said he valued the land then at 15?. Does the landlord charge you 12?. a year for the water ? No, but he said he had a right to it. Mr. Commissioner Baldwin — We may be asked to increase the rent in this case. Mr. Young — Yes, I will ask you to increase it. Mr. Baldwin (to the tenant) — Is it 1?. an Irish acre you pay i 11. an Irish acre. The landlord wanted me to let him sell the weir, and said he would throw 12?. a year off — that he would let me have the land at 15?. Mr. Baldwin — Would not that destroy the mill altogether ? It would unless I put iq) steam. Does the Marquis of Downshire's property near or run up to your mill 1 Yes ; on the opposite side of the river. Has the Marquis of Downshire any control over the water that runs by your mill ? Yes ; so he said. Who ov\na tlie land on each side of the water that turns your mill ? My landlord. Tlie entire race runs through Mr. Nelson's land. Which do you consider tlic more valuable — which would you 240 APPENDIX K. give up if you were called on to give up either ? I would give up the mill if I were compensated. What would you take for the mill with the water power ? I never took that into consideration. Would you take 211. for it i Yes, I would. If I have a purchaser for you, how much less than 27Z. a year will you take and give up your interest in the mill and the race as they stand ? I am not disposed to let it. If an agreement were prepared to let this mill at 211., would you take it ? No ; I don't know that. In reply to further questions. You do not eat American bacon ? Some. What cattle have you ? Two cows, a heifer, a mare and foal, two sheep, two sows, and two other pigs. We feed a deal of pigs. Are you a farmer ? I was reared up to it. Are you not a millowner ? Yes. Would you be surprised to hear that this assignment contains only 5 acres 1 Yes. Would you be surprised to hear that the rent was only 9L a year ] Chairman — And he gave 150L for it 1 Witness — Yes. Chairman — You have 15 acres of arable land ? Ten. And your landlord put upon that an estimate of Ibl. a year ? Yes. And 121. on the water 1 Yes. And you would not take 2*11. a year for this mill ? Well, I never took that into consideration. Mr. Young said he would ask the Court to raise the rent in this case. The Chairman asked for the assignment, which was handed to him. In reply to Mr. Young, witness denied that in 1862 he stated in court, in Downpatrick, that he estimated his loss, by a temporary stoppage of the mill, at 11. a day. Mr. Jardine was examined, and estimated the fair rent of the farm at 111. 12s. 3d. Mr. Young then opened the case for Mr. Nelson. He said that none of the lands about which they were now inquiring were within tifteen miles of where they were. He complained that the Land Commissioners in Dublin had selected cases for the early sittings of the Commissioners in the North with a view to induce the tenants to come into the courts. Mr. M'Mordie — A conspiracy on the part of the Commis- sioners ? Mr. Young said he did not know why those cases were sent downi by the Land Commissioners to be tried here unless the Com- missioners appointed by the present Government were to play battledore and shuttlecock with the APPENDIX K. 241 The Chairman — We will not go into that now. Mr. Young said there would be a day of retribution, and that cases would come before them in which they would have to increase the rents. If ever there was a case in which the rent should be in- creased it was this. He then proceeded to speak of the operation of the Land Act, and of the number of claims entered under it, and said that not only English, but Irish cajjital would be driven out of tlie countiy. Mr. M'Mordie — This is an undelivered speech for Derry. Mr. Young — I am not going to Derry. Mr. Young then stated that this land was sold in the Incumbered Estates Court in 1852. A man named Turner had to part with it at that period, and lie believed that as a i-esult of the operation of the present Act a number of landlords would have to part with their property. Mr. M'Mordie — I hope so. Mr. Young said that at the time of the sale in 1852 the rental was 322Z. 145. 6(Z. The estates consisted of 333a. 4r. 5p. Chairman — Do you know what your client paid for it ? Mr. Young — I do not. The land was cheap at the time. Mr. M'Mordie — Your client can tell you. He is beside you. Mr. Young — So are you. Mr. Young then said that the pur- chaser, Mr. M'Gaw, was the grandfather of IVIr. Nelson. He not only did not increase, but reduced the rents, so that the rental, in- stead of being 322L, was reduced to 276L As to the value of the Creightons' farm, he said that Carroll, who formerly held it, had made 2,000Z. out of this corn-miU. Mr. M'Gaw reduced the rent because of some injury to the mill ; and though the reducticm was only intended to be a temporary one, the tenant had had the advantage of it for thirty years. The rent was reduced from 2Gs. 2>d. to 21s. Sd. an acre. Mr. Commissioner Baldwin here observed, with resjject to the valuation, that he knew himself the letting value of land in Ireland, and he was in a position to say that, knoioincj the system on which the poor law valuation was based, it was no test of the letting value of land. The Chairman, in the course of a discussion which followed, said that whatever property, mill or otliervnse, ivas mentioned in the Landed Instates Court conveyance was conveyed to the landlord. Mr. M'Mordie — Do you say, sir, that the Landed Estates Court conveyance overrid the tenant's improvements ? I do. In this case the improvements were made by the predecessor in title to tlie , present tenant, and he allowed Iiis rights to lajise. He might have tiled an objection to the rental in the Landed Estates Court, and have said, 'The mill is mine.' Mr. M'Mordie — The tenant here says he spent 4001. on im- provements. Chairman — It is a point of law that is involved. Mr. M'Mordie said if that were tlie way the Act was to hv administered it would be all moonshine. S 2i2 APPENDIX K. Chairman — Your clients have already got a substantial benefit under the Act. Mr. Nelson, the landlord, was then examined in support of the statement made by Mr. Young. He never raised the rent on Creighton. Mr. M'Mordie referred to the Land Act of 1870 for the purpose of showing that the chairman's ruling was incorrect, and that the sale of the jH-operty was subject to the tenant's property in his im- provements, of which he was not deprived by the Act of 1870. The Chairman adhered to his opinion that the interest under the conveyance passed to the landlord. Mr. M'Mordie — If so the Act failed to protect the interest of the tenant. Chairman — If I am wrong I should be glad you would bring the case before the Court above ; but if you were arguing till morning you would not change my mind. I am perfectly conversant with the matter in my own practice, and I will facilitate you in every possible way. Mr. M^Mordie said they would only have to take to the platforms in Ulster again to get their property. Chairman — Let us go on with the case. This is not business. Mr. Young said he had closed. Mr. Nelson said, in reply to the Chairman, that he would have been satisfied with the rent he was receiving, but he would now leave the matter in the hands of the Court. Mr. Baldwin asked Mr. Nelson whether he would expect the Commissioners to exclude from their consideration the expenditure of 400L made by the tenant if the law required them to exclude it. Mr. Young said they should give their decision according to law, and not press on the feelings of a landlord. Mr. Baldwin — If the question be not strictly legal I withdraw it. We are expected to be judges of fair dealing. I do not profess to be a judge of law, but I profess to be a judge of fair dealing between man and man. Mr. Nelson said he did not expect a large, but he expected a small increase of rent. The Chairman then intimated that they would deliver their decision in this case to-morrow. The Chairman, in pronouncing the decision of the Court, said — The case in which Horatio Nelson is the landlord, and Andrew Creighton is the tenant, and in which we have been asked by the tenant to fix a fair rent, is somewhat peculiar in its circumstances. The tenant's father bought the holding in 1849, when he gave a sum of 50L for the farm, which then contained 30a. 3r. 14p., and which was held at a rent of 44L The late Mr. Edward Turner was then the landlord. The present owner derives from his grand- father, who purchased Mr. Turner's interest in the proj^erty in the year 1852, on tlie occasion of a .sale of the townland in the Incum bered Estates Court. The estate so sold consisted of 330a. 2r. 25p., APPENDIX K. 243 producing a rental of 322?. 14s. 6(7., or about 20.s. per statute acre. Immediately after the purchase by Mr. Nelson's predecessor a re- valuation of the property was made with the full consent and cognizance of the tenants, and the rental was reduced from 332L 14s. 6fL to 276?., at which it has since remained. The rent of the present holding was then abated 25 per cent., and the rents of the other tenants 20 per cent. Now, vipon this holding there is a valuable scutchmill, worked by water power, which water, so far as the evidence before us goes, is the property of the landlord. The tenant was examined, and he said that for the mill alone he would not like to accept a rent of 27?. Mr. M'Mordie contended that the mill and right to the water are the property of the tenant, and as such he is entitled to have the value of it deducted from his rent as a tenant's improvement. Mr. Young, on the other hand, has argued that it was never contemplated by the Act that such a holding should come within its provisions, or be regarded as an agrictiltural holding. Upon that question we are relieved from expressing any opinion at present, inasmuch as during the progress of the case Mr. Young put in evidence the Incumbered Estates Court rental under which the property was sold ; and, upon the face of it, opposite the description of this particular holding, is the following observation : — ' On this holding there is a flour mill.' Now, the effect of that observation upon the rental, as also upon the schedule attached to the Incumbered Estates Court conveyance, is, in my opinion — and I have so advised my colleagues — to vest any interest that the predecessor of the present tenant had in that mill and loater in the purchaser under his deed, and consequetMy the tenant cannot now, under the provisions of the Land Act, ask for any abatement of his rent in respect of either. This I believe to be the law ; but if I am wrong in the opinion I have expressed, and on the basis of which our decisions will proceed, I will only be too glad to be set right by an appeal to the Commissioners, and the tenant shall have every facility given him by the Court to procure a judicial decision upon the point. We feel strongly that for the foregoing reasons this is a case which the tenant should never have brought into court. His landlord has, in our ox)inion, acted fairly and consider- ately with him, and were it not that Mr. Nelson told us yesterday that he would be content with a small increase of rent, we would have considered it our duty to make a substantial addition to tlie present rent. The effect of our fixing a judicial rent in those cases is to relieve the tenant from tlie payment of half of the county cess, amounting in this case to about 1?. 12s. 6(?. per annum, and if we allowed the rent to remain at 27?. 4s., we would in eti'ect be mulcting the landlord to the extent of that amount annually. We will, J^lierefore, fix the fair rent at 21)?. 2s. (id., and give the landlord his costs. R 2 244 APPENDIX L. APPENDIX L. rLAHIVE V. HUSSEY. Michael Flahive, Tenant ; Samuel Murray Hussey, Landlord. The claimant held 33 acres statute measure at a rent of 55^. , the Poor Law yaluation being 371. 10s. He fell into arrears with the rent, and was evicted in July last. He sought to have a fair rent fixed, with a view to redemption. Mr. D. B. Sullivan (instructed by Mr. Maurice Horgan, soli- citor) for the tenant, and Mr. Hickson, Q.C., for the landlord. The tenant's case was that the farm was originally held by his father at a rent of 401., which was afterwards increased to 551. On going into possession of the farm he gave 501. as security for the last gale, and he had never received it back. He fell into arrears during the last three years, being unable to make up the rent out of the land. He believed that 271. or 281. would be a fair value for it. He was evicted in July, and was readmitted for some time as a caretaker. In reply to Mr. Hickson the witness denied that he signed any agreement, or that any agreement was read to him on going into possession. Mr. Hickson read an agreement to the effect that he had that day paid Mr. Hussey 551. for getting possession of the lands, and he agreed that it should be held by Mr. Hussey as his own property without interest or repayment. The tenant added that he had an old house, and he once asked Mr. Hussey for some timber to roof it, and his reply was, if it does not answer you may give it up. (Groans and yells in Court.) Mr. Commissioner M'Devitt directed the constables to watch the occupants of the gallery, and if any of them misconducted themselves, to bring them before him. it was to the credit of the pe APPENDIX P. During the delivery of a judgment of the Sub-Commission sitting at Manorbaniilton, county Lcitrini, ilie chairman, Mr. Roche, said : — ' Before leaving these cases, there is one incident of a painful natui-e to which I desire to refer publicly. On the farm of William Mulholland we were not informed of the existence of a labovner's dwelling. A chance question elicited the fact. On our insisting to see this dwelling — or rather this ruin — we found the wife of the unfortunate labourer, Andrew Keriigan, in tears. The labourer 250 APPENDIX Q. himself had been purposely removed from the land by the tenant on the day of our visit ; but n(jt content with this precaution, the tenant, on the morning of our visit, came to the house, and threw water on the few sods of turf which were smoking on the hearth, for fear the smoke might reveal to us the fact that the hovel was inhabited. There is little cause to wonder at this anxiety to con- ceal the existence of such a stye. I say it, without fear of contra- diction, that on a well-regidated farm such an erection would be thought an unsuitable shelter for a cow or a pig. Without a window, without a chimney, almost without a roof, it was and is an outrage to humanity that two human beings shovild be expected to support life in such a place. I can only say, I don't envy the conscience of William Mulholland and his son. W^e order William MulhoUand to erect, before the next gale day, a habitable house for a labourer, containing two rooms, with one window in the room and two in the kitchen, with one rood of ground attached, at Grf. per week.' Mr. Commissioner Morrison wished to say a few words also. He s \id the farm he visited on Lord Massey's property, if drained, would be much of it good land. The lioldings were compact, conveniently situated as to bog suitable for tiu'bary, and — what would in his country be considered of immense advantage — an unlimited supply for mixing with lime and manure for agricultural purjDOses. ' My neighbours consider that about two-thirds of their manure is made by this way of using bog. I have been over the lands, with one or two exceptions in every enclosure, and had the soil dug up where I thought it necessary. Their produce was mostly hay. I was in the dwelling-house, and saw their mode of life. In the offices I saw their stock. The office houses scarcely deserve the name. The lands appear no better, if no worse, than when in a primteval state. The same remark applied to a large district of country as far as the eye can reach ; the only appearance of life is some cattle in the fields, and smoke from the dwellings. The why and wherefore I cannot tell. I state what I saw. What I saw before leaving home I thought was not to be seen in Ireland. On the same day I visited two farms about six miles distant. On the farm of M'Gowan, tenant (Johnston, landlord), I saw very great improvements, and much done under more difficult circumstances.' APPENDIX Q. October 25, 1881. In Semple v. Hunter and wife, the Chief Commissioners held that the county court, and not the commission, must be applied to restrain a plaintilf from executing a decree for ejectment obtained in the county court pending a notice to fix a fair rent. In Knij^e v. Armstrong, the Chief Commissioners decided that a claim for compensation for disturbance, under the Act of 1870, will not be transferred from the county court to the commission court. APPENDIX R. 251 November 2, 1881. In Cooper v. Duigenan, it was decided by the Chief Commissioner that a tenant under lease cannot have a fail' rent fixed untd he has got his lease set aside. November 10, 1881. In Baillie v. Montgomery, the Chief Commissioners decided that a tenant has no right to have the time for redemption or sale ex- tended without jjrejudice to the right to have a fair rent fixed as a ' present tenant ' under the Land Act ; the two rights being incon- sistent. In Stack v. Plummer, Mr. Reeves, Q.C. (Assistant Cominis- sioner), held that where the tenant had allowed his tenancy from year to year to be taken in execution, and sold, before the Act passed, he had lost his tenancy, and the benefit of the Act ; although the conveyance from the Sheriff to the purchaser was not executed until after the passing of the Act. Decembers, 1881. In Bligh V. Kirwan, Mr. Justice O'Hagan said that ' in order to break a lease, they must find (1) that the applicant was a tenant from year to year at the making of the lease ; (2) that the lease contained conditions unreasonable or unfair, having regard to the Act of 1870 ; (3), that the lease was obtained by threats of evic- tion.' And in Ewart i). Gray (December 20) Mr. Commissioner Litt(m said that ' the reservation of an exorbitant rent was in itself a term of the lease which might be unfair and unreasonable to the tenant, having regard to the Act of 1870.' APPENDIX R. Judge Fitzgkrald's Charge. When opening' of the Munster Winter Assizes, at Cork, on December 6, 1881. the Right Hon. Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, in addressing the Grand Jury, said : — ' Mr. Lyons and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury — This is the second occasion upon which I have the honour of opening the Queen's Commission for the Munster Winter Assize county, and as I addressed many this time twelve months wlio are now on tlu' Grand Jurj', and explained then the nature and extent of your jmisdiction, it is unnecessary to detain you by doing so now. Your duties 252 APPENDIX R, embrace four great counties of the province of Munster, large in terri- tory, and having a population somewhere altogether of 1,200,000, of which one half belongs to the city and county of Cork. Gentle- men, upon the occasion on which I addressed you here last year I called your attention to the statistics of crime in the district, and the observations I then made to you were subjected to some adverse criticism ; it is now twelve months after that time, and, with the additional experience which that time has given me, I have nothing to retract, nothing to alter, nothing to wish unsaid of these obser- vations. I have now lying before me the criminal statistics of this wide district, consisting, as it does, of four counties and two cities ; and, in calling your attention to them in detail, I wish to say that I do so on entirely official sources. I have before me the reports of the three Crown Solicitors — IVIr. Gregg, of Cork ; Mr. Morphy, of KeiTy and Clare, ; and Mr. Roche, of the county of Limerick — three gentlemen of great intelligence ; but these reports only give the cases now for trial, and do not represent the state of the dis- trict. There are other reports, the reports of the county inspectors, on w^liich I place great reliance, and which are all carefully prepared, and examining these documents, and looking over the cases in them, excluding altogether from consideration ordinary ones, and refer- ring to those which are agrarian, I will bring before you the state of this extensive district. The period over which it will extend is the four months since the last assizes. In the East Riding, I am sorry to say, and I say it with great grief, that with the exception of the City of Cork, there is no diminution of crime, but on the contrary a substantial increase. In the four months 233 indictable oflences are reported to have occurred, against 127 in the four months preceding the Winter Assizes of 1880, and these are ex- clusive of all common assaults and petty larcenies, and include only major offences. There was one case of murder, 35 cases of threats to murder, in addition to 63 cases of ordinary threatening, 4 cases of firing at the person, 20 cases of malicious burnings, 12 of maim- ing cattle, a crime that alienates from us all sympathy, and it ought. There are malicious injuries to property 18, and 10 cases of seizing arms, of levying contribution by armed parties, 14 of assaulting dwellings at night. We are now so used to threatening notices that ice are beginning to disregard them, but, nevertheless, they make a person exceedingly uncomfortable, and drive respectable people from amongst us. llie 2>erpetrators of these things are seldom brought to justice, and theg can only be put down by the people themselves. The case of murder was that of Patrick O'Leary, who was attacked by an armed party and shot because he paid his rent. A person named M'Carthy is threatened with death because he paid his rent. Another person is threatened with death because he employed the horses of a boy- cotted farmer. I then come to the case of a gentleman named Hartnett. I don't know what his offence was, but, for some reason or other, he was boycotted, and the dastardly course is pursued of sending letters threatening to kill and murder his household, his APPENDIX R. 253 servants, if they don't leave liim. Six ur seven letters were served upon persons within his house threatening tliem with death if they did not leave Mr. Hartnett's service, the object being to completely isolate hiui, to subject him to that social isolation which is almcjst worse than death. I hnd also a case — I will not mention the locality — in which the dispensary doctor was removed by the dis- pensary committee for some reason or other, and every member of the committee has got a letter threatening him with deatli in conse- quence. I tind also a notice served on Lord Shannon's tenants threatening them with death if they paid any rents to him. Afjain, a person named C(yrnelius Donovcut gets a letter threatening him vnth death if he allowed his son to join tlie Gonstabrdary . Again, I hnd that five farmers having paid their rents, there was a general notice threatening with death any one who would hold any communication with them, their only ofience being that they were honest enough to pay their rent. Then, turning to the cases of firing with intent to murder, I find that four shots were fired into the bedroom of a family named Mahony, where there were three jiersons at the time, but happily no one was injured. Then there is the case of a justice of the peace returning from petty sessions fired at, and his offence was that he had assented to the conviction of some parties who had assaiilted the poHce. Tlien there are cases of persons being intimidated and, threatened because they did not subscribe to a testimonial to the outgoing chairman of the local Land League. Next I find that a bomb or some dangerous explosive Avas thrown in through the window of a solicitor's house, because he had issued some writs to compel the jjayment of rents. Going to the West Riding I find its condition to be quite as deplorable. For the four months pre- vious to the Winter Assizes of 1880 the number of indictable offences reported was 107, but they amount to 240 this year. Of these one was a murder, but I will not dwell on that, because it was not of the class known as agrarian. It was not one of those crimes that strike at tlie foundation of society. There are in the West Riding reported 1!J cases of letters threatening to murder ; killing and maiming cattle, 11 ; sending letters tlireatening to injure, 21 ; wilful and malicious injury to property, 28 ; seizing anus and levj'ing money or goods, 30 ; and the expression generally used when the money is taken is that it is ' for the good of the country.' There are also 22 cases of assaulting a dwelling-house, and 4 of tir- ing into dwelling-houses. As to the threats to murder, it seems that a man named Ryan, who intended to emigrate, sold tJie interest of his farm to a man named Sheffield; some hiyher authority, Jiowever, steps in and threatens Sheffield that if he tnkrs the farm he u^iU be tnurdered. Another threatening notice is found {)osted uj), warning all persons not to work for a Mr..Lyne, and oflering 10/. reward to any one wl; V "ould lill Lyne. As to tlie c'lses of malicious burn- ings in the West Ridi;';r, the county inspector in many cases re- ported that they were not m,')icious, but accidental. In two cases, there are attempts to blow up hou.js, one with dynamite and the 254 APPENDIX R. other with gunpowder, which is a new form of crime amongst us. Then there are cases of seizing arms, a species of offence which recently had its rise in Kerry, but which has now extended to the East and West Ridings of this county. To show the terrorism to which the j>e,ople have been reduced, I may say that in nineteen cases out of twenty the people attacked have refused to make informations or to prosecute. In the county Kerry there are now 223 offences re- ported by the covmty inspector, as against 15G repoi'ted for the four months previous to the Winter Assizes of 1880. Amongst those are 2 cases of murder, 11 of letters threatening to murder, 1 of wounding, 11 of arson, 11 of killing and maiming cattle, 23 of seiz- ing arms and levying contributions, and 72 of ordinary threatening letters. In one case some women have been made amenable — a case in which they stripped a process-server stark naked, forgetting sex and decency, and, having daubed him with mud, drove him in that state tlirough the country. In some cases about 100 men armed and disguised ivent round the country at night, warning the people not to pay rent until Parnell and his confederates were released. Turning now to the county of Limerick, I find that at the Winter Assizes of 1880 there were 141 cases, while at the j^resent assizes there are 191. There were six cases of threatening to murder, 6 for firing at the person, 57 for arson, 3 for assembling armed, 32 of armed parties levying contributions, not to mind printed notices threatening. A mn.n is threatened with murder because he did not join the Land League, and another because he gave a lift on his car to a person who was boycotted. To show how carefully these re- turns are made up, there are several cases set down as accidental, and others are arising out of family quarrels, and not being con- nected with agrarian matters, but these are exclusive of the cases quoted. The house of Capt. Lloyd, a country gentleman, is at- tempted to be blown up because he acted as deputy-slieriff. Another man is visited by an armed party because he sent his cows to graze on the lands of the Rev. Mr. Westrop, who, I suppose, was boy- cotted. A valued friend of mine, Mr. Ferguson, the Chairman of the West Riding, who is so resjaected for his fairness, impartiality, and kindness, has the misfortune of having a property in the county of Limerick, and his house was wrecked. In the county of Clare, in whose welfare I am a little interested, I find that the condition of things has not improved. This time last year the number of cases from Clare was 75, now it is 174, of which 3 are cases of murder, 17 cases of threatening to murder, 7 firing at the person, 18 arson, 17 firing into dwellings, and 65 ordinary threatening letters. The city of Cork, I am glad to say, is an exception to the general rule, and, with the exception of the threatening letter sent to the Rev. Dr. W^ebster, a valued Christian minister, who imported some matters from England, and whose life was in consequence threatened so that he was obliged to leave the city for a while, there was no- thing discreditable in the city. The city of Limerick, however, was not satisfactory. There were tlu'ee cases of murder, of, however, the ordinary kind, and not such as are calculated to create alarm APPEXDIX R. 255 for the public safety. In Limerick there was a tendency towards resistance to the hiw, and several serious and aggravated riots oc- curred there, and, as usual in such cases, the innocent suflered. The general deduction from the statistics which I have laid before you seems to be that in mamj and large parts of the four counties which constitute the Munster Winter Assize Commission, life continues to be insecure, or is rendered so miserable as to be ivorthless — right is disregarded, and property is unsafe— the spirit of lawlessness and dis- order, marked by an insolent defiance of law and of authority, con- tinues to prevail. It is only by the aid of an overwhelming military force that the process of the law can be executed. The humbler classes continue to be oppressed by an odious tyranny. It has been said or written somewhere that the duty of a judge on occasions like the present is great reserve ; but I, on the contrary, think tliat his duty is to speak out and direct public attention to the condition of the district as it appears on reliable official information. It is, gentlemen, my duty on the present occasion to confer with you, the grand inquest of the province, on the maintenance of peace and order, and to ask your aid in upholding the majesty of the law. The reports of crime and outrage which I have been obliged, most unwillingly, to bring befoi'e you, even when reduced by a large de- duction for mistakes, exaggeration, or ccuicoction, and by eliminat- ing all cases of ordinary crime, still leave a list of outrages so for- midable as to be inconsistent with public peace and security, and which, if suffered to continue unchecked and unsuppressed, threaten the very existence of the fabric of society. When I had the honour of addressing you in December, 1880, I ventured to pass the strict line of duty when I said ' that you and I and all well-thinking people were prepared to make any sacrifice if doing so could procure the re- storation of peace and prosperity.' The sacrifice has since been made and consummated by the Legislature in a measure so large and un- precedented that even the most sanguine advocate of tenant-right could not have anticipated it twelve months ago. But has the public (jbtained the fruits in the restoration of ])eace and order \ Certainly not as yet in Munster. The experience of tlie last tliree months tells us so in unmistakable terms. Are we, therefore, to give way to despondency ? It is too soon to despair ; and I enter- tain the hope that there is a better prospect before us. I have learned — and on authority whicli I am inclined to trust — that in- telligent farmers fully appreciate the benefits c(uiferred on them, and are, as a class, inclined to withdraw from the trammels of ille- gality and crime. It is not undeserving of remark that in the official reports noio before me the parties suspected or accused of crime are not of the firming class. This is an element of hope. If they take advantage of the vast benefits conferred on them 1)y the Legislature to aid in the maintenance of law and order, they may j)rove to be the truest conservators of the country. The people at large too cannot fail to [)erceive that tlie resiilts of the present state of the country are that capital has fled — even Iri.iJi capital n})resented. bij banking deposits is, to the extent of man.y millions, entirely employ d 256 . APPENDIX S. in England. There is no industrial enterprise, no employment for the labouring classes. Trade does not flourish, and I sliould fear to estimate the immense depreciation in all Irish securities and Irish property, caused by insecurity. The humbler classes are those who sutfer most from the prevalence of crime and disorder, and they must continue to sufler and be subject to most grievous oppression until with their aid tranquillity shall have been restored. I appeal to all men, on the low ground of self-interest, to join in the resto- ration of peace and order and the maintenance of tranquillity, and T have no doubt that from you, gentlemen of the grand jury, I'll receive now eflective aid in repressing crime by a fair and impartial but firm and determined enforcement of the law in the many and varied cases to be submitted to you. APPENDIX S. The following is a farm report of a holding novp in cultiva- tion by a skilled farmer. It shows what may be done : — Farm in county Tyrone containing . . . 160 acres Less, roads 3 acres, garden 4 acres, planta- tion 13 acres = ..... 20 ,, 7 fields of 20 acres each = . . . . 140 , , Fields Acres £ £ 1 of 20 in Lea oats at 61. per acre . . . 120 oat straw, 40 tons at Is. 8d. per cwt. 66 20 ,, green crops : — • potatoes, 10 acres, at 15?. . . 150 turnips, &c., 10 acres at 201. . 200 186 350 1 1 „ 20 „ 20 1 1 „ 20 „ 20 20 ,, wheat, at 91. per acre . . . 180 wheat straw, 40 tons at 2s. per cwt. 80 260 clover and grass, at bl. per acre . . 100 hay, 30 tons at 2s. 6(1 per cwt ... 75 grazing, at 21. 10s. per acre . . 50 ditto, at 21. 10s. per acre ... 50 100 7 140 Butter, 20 milch cows, average 6 lbs. each per week = 120 lbs. per week X 52 weeks = 6,240 Ihs. at Is. per lb Buttermilk, say ^ of value of butter Gain on sale of strippers when springing, 10 at 51. 1,513 APPENDIX T. 257 Deduct : — £ Wages, at Al. per week .... 208 Seeds, viz. : oats, 9i. ; potatoes, 10/. ; turnips, 3Z. ; wheat, 13/. ; and clover, 15/. 50 Keep of 4 horses ..... 80 Flax seed and malt combs for feeding of 30 cows ...... GO Blacksmith, and repairs to harness, &c. 15 Artiticial manure . .... 10 Taxes, say ...... 20 Consumed on farm for feeding : — Oat and wheat straw as above . 146 Hay, as above. ..... 75 (J razing for summer months, as above . 100 Turnips as above ..... 200 443 521 964 Total profits £&49 Out of which the rent of ISO/, is to come, or about l-.3rd of ret ]>rofit8. APPENDIX T. The Alleged Secret Instructions to the La^d COMMlSSI()NEi;S. Mr. Korster published the following letter, addres.ied to Mr. A. M. Kavanagh : — ' January 5, 1882. ' Dear Mr. Kavanagh, — T have to-day had an ojifwrtunity of reading your speech of last Monday, and in y(nir remark.s abon so im])(>rtant a matter as this 1 cannot allow a gentleman of your liigli autliority tipon Iiisli atl'airs, and fi>r whom 1 have so mucli personal re3])ect and regard, 258 APPENDIX T. to labour under a misapprehension. Let mc, therefore, at once contradict this statement, for which there is absolutely no founda- tion whatever, and respecting which you have doubtless been mis- informed. ' I am, dear Mr. Kavanagh, yours sincerely, ' W. E. FOKSTER.' Immediately upon returning to Dublin 1 wrote to the Standard as follows : — MR. KAVANAGH AND THE LAND COURT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'STANDARD.' ' Sir, — Mr. Kavanagh, at the recent landlords' meeting in the Exhibition Palace, Dublin, stated that there had been given to the A.ssistant Commissioners by the Government, "secret instructions of a very grave nature, their acceptance of which and their com- ]^liance with which were conditions of their appomtment." Mr. Kavanagh went on to illustrate the nature of these *' instructions " from my account, printed in the " Standard " of December 26 last, of the principles supposed to have guided the Assistant Commis- sioners in arriving at their decisions. This very serious accusation lias since been repelled bj' the Chief Secretary in emphatic terms. ' I am desirous of pointing out that there is no justification to be found, in the letter of mine referred to, for Mr. Kavanagh's charge against the Government and the Commission. The " prin- ciples " were stated by me to have been arrived at in an entirely independent manner— that is to say, by comparing and discussing together various views by the general body of the Conmiissioners, Assistant Commissioner.s, and their staff, after the general ability of the Assistant Commissioners to perform their duties had been tested by the Chief Secretary. These principles were not compulsory "instructions." Each Sub-Commission remained at liberty to select one or to reject them all. I append the words used by me, from which it will be seen that Mr. Kavanagh has, innocently, of course, confounded the preliminary examination with the subse- quent independent discussion of principles. He has also omitted, of course accidentally, all reference to the last and most important of the Rules — namely, that they should be subject to modification after inspection of holdings by the lay Commissioners. ' I quite appreciate the difficulty of Mr. Kavanagh's position, he being largely responsible for the intro'^'uction of the principle of compulsory arbitration which has proved so disastrous to his order ; but I must decline to be made the mouthpiece for a charge improb- able in itself, and highly insulting both to an eminent Statesman and. to a number of honourable gtntlemei\. Mr. Kavanagh's own APPEXDIX U. 259 countrjTnen, among whom I am proud to number many personal friends. ' The following is the passage referred to in my letter of Decem- ber 26 : — "No doubt what has been going on for the past two months is a kind of clumsy re-valuation of Irish land, in course of which injustice may have been done in a few special cases. But it is notorious that, before leaving Dublin for their districts, each uf the Assistant Commissiont-rs had to pass strict examinations, in which the Chief Secretary himself took part ; and, further, that the necessary jjrinciples for determining fair rents were agreed to at a general meeting of the Chief and Assistant Commissioners and other officials. These principles are easily discoverable from their decisions, and were something like the following : — First, to carry out Healy's Clause as liberally as possible ; secondly, where neitlier landlord nor tenant had improved the holding, but the landlord had, without apparent cause, raised the rent, to restore it to the old figure ; thirdly, where there were no improvements nor raising of rents, and no other distinct index of value, to fall back upon Griffith's valuation. All such rules were to be subject to modifica- tion upon the inspection of each particular holding by the lay Com- missioners." ' I am. Sir, 'January 9. 'Your Special Correspondent.' APPENDIX U. Daring the Derry election contest, in November last, Mr. Porter, the Solicitor-General for Ireland, said at Maghera, on November 15: — I think it in of great importance to you, not as theorists hid as practical men, to say in whose hands shall the working of the Land Act be put in future. Will you have it worked by the Tories, who have always been your enemies, or ivill you hare it worked by men who are in sympathy vnth the people ? That is the practical ques- tion we have to deal with. At Magherafelt on November 17 he said : — Was it (the Land Act) passed because the rents were too low 1 No ; it was passed because the fact was forced on the attention of the Legislature of Great Britain that the vast bulk of the land in this country was excessively over-rented — in many cases, as experi- ence had shown, doubly rented. What was to be done with tfw administration, of tliat Act of Parliament ? The administrators had been appointed to fix a fair rent. Were they to fix it at the existing rents ? If the present rents were fair there would he no need for a Land Act. It was simply because it was demonstrated that tl»e s2 5!oO APPENDIX V. rents throughout the country were too large, that it became neces- sary to pass the Land Act at all. . . . llie tenants had just cavsf: fur tjreater red'urtions than had been made; and this being so, ivhutn would they send to Parliame)it to represent tJteni, ] Suppose a change of Ministry took place, and they had a Cahinet composed of Lord SaHsbnry, Sir Stafford Northcote, Mr. Gibson and others to appoint the men who ivould administer the Land A ct, what would that Act he worth ? The chances would be, judging from the recent speeches, that that Act ivoidd be administejed by yersons who would nii'ke it a dead letter, a measure that would be worthless to the tenant-farmers. At Cookstown on November 26 be said : — He had seen in some cases v:here the Sub-Commissioners reduced the rents, it appeared to him they had not reduced them sikfficiently ; hut v:ha.t vjere they to do l They could not control that, an4 they could only take care that propter and efficient persons vjure appointed under tlie Act, and if these person,s went astray in point of law there ivas an appeal. APPENDIX V. Compensation to Landlords. The following remarkable letter appeared lately in the ' Standard ': 'Sir, — As the ' Standu will permit me, wlio have tlie misfortune to belong to tliat uuhap})y class, to state, thnjugli your columns, a few facts connected with my own position, for I am sure it is by no means an exceptional one. as tending to illus- trate the justice of your views. I am a landlord in a southern county ; the rental of my estates is four thousand pounds a year I succeeded to them thii-ty-tive years ago, upon the decease of my uncle, who was tenant for life, as 1 myself am also, with power to appoint them amongst my sons in such svnns as I think tit. The leasing power attached to these life estates not only enabled, but c jmpelled each tenant for life — in the very words of the power — " lo make leases without fine or forcgift to solvent tenants, either from year to year, or for any term not exceeding thirty-one years, at the best and most improved rents that could be obtained for the same," and when I entered into possession I found tliat yearly lettings had been made by my predecessor, pursuant to his power, upon by far the greater portion of tliis pro})erty, exceeding Griffith's valuation by about one-third. Soon afterwards there came the APPENDIX V. 2.; I great potato blight and famine, and during the unfortunate yeare of its continuance twenty farms were surrendered to me, which re- mained upon my hands until the times improved, wlien I relet them, as 1 was bound by my leasing power to do, to solvent tenants at the best and mi»st miproved rents which I could obtain, and these rents also, which I obtained without the least difficult}-, exceeding Griffith's valuation by about one-third. Here I may nien- tinn that I was intimately acquainted witli the late Sir Richard Griffitli, who himself informed me (and no one can deny that he was the very best autliority in Ireland as to the letting value f>f Irish land) that as a general rule its fair letting value — not a rack rent, but its fair letting value — was about one-third over his valua- tion, which, as Mr. Gladstone stated in his speech at Leeds on October 7 last, " v\as a valuation much below the value in by far the greater number of cases, and framed for a different purpose." ' I may also mention that letters have lately been wiitren to the puV)lic press by 8ir Richax-d Griffith's daughter, Mrs. Bramsty the Reverend young Meiihistopheles, his curate. If the jiarish priest forwards a dignified remonstrance on behalf of the tenantry to their landlord, Mr. Ashley, detecting the handwriting of the tempter, sees throTigh it all in a moment. He cannot, however, reply all at once — his feelings are too much for him. For a whole month he remains silent amid the Swiss mountains, offering the elevated .spectacle of a man, conscious of the obligation to discharge a painfid public duty, struggling with those natural ' feelings of re- spect ' for a venerable culprit which the latter's blameless tenure of a sacred otiice for half a centur}' and more have engendered. Then rousing himself, he sternly ' answers as he ought ' He suggests that ' pressure ' was put upon the Canon to sign the letter ; and that in the memorial wliich the Canon had contirmed, 'all that was true was trivial, and all that was serious was false ; ' ' firmness must .take the place of misunderstood conciliation,' &c. Mr. Ashley describes himself as ' soft and yielding ; ' and upon these letters (produced by himself), asks his readers ' to judge ' whether his cor- respondence with the priests was ' petulant and haughty,' as I had alleged. The Canon is a tall, broad, hale old man, of powerful intelli- gence, massive in mind and body, courteous, amiable and straight- forward ; with the can-iage of an ambassador and the heart of a child. He at once disclaimed the position of being a mere puppet in the hands of his curate. Mr. Ashley would now transfer the stigma to me. He brands me as a victim to the ' inexhaustible imaginativeness ' of the ' curate ' members of the ' tenant class. ' Whether Father Cummins has risen from that humble class, I know not ; but it is no discredit to him, that he was not so lucky in his ancestral connections as the Secretary to the Board of Trade. T must, however, pi'otest that I am no more his dupe than Canon Brennan was. What I saw I described ; what I heard I verified by assiduous inquiry, addressed to Mr. Ashley's OAvn agents, amongst others. Nothing stated by me has been disproved ; Canon Brennan has since written to say that ' every statement made can be fully corroborated ; ' and my principal complaints, to the effect APPENDIX X. 265 that Mr. Ashley had unreasonably refused to make any general abatement of rent, and to remove the gamekeeper, have been admitted, but not answered by him. With respect to the game- keeper, as Father Cummins's accvisation and express statement are discredited, and suggested to be only lately ' tliought of,' I should add that I myself saw a youth (not the one referred to by the Father), who described to me the cruel shooting of his little dog by the gamekeeper ; and who was struck in the forehead by one of the shots. He took oti' his cap and touched the place. Mr. Ashley'.s explanation of his tenants' poverty is that they will ' continue to vegetate on two or three acres of land.' Now, considering that the Ministry of which the Hon. Evelyn Ashley is a member have passed an Act based upon the fundamental principle of the tenant's part ownership of his holding, and that tlieir whole policy is to ' govern Ireland according to Irish ideas,' including the idea of ' sticking in the ould counthry,' this explanation (the abstract reasonableness of which I cannot question), seems a little incc^u- sistent and insufficient. I recognise, as much as anyone, Mr. Ashley's high qualities : his indnstrj', firmness, devotion to the public service, and politicjil integrity. But I remain of opinion that a landlord who, at this crisis, after the decisions of the Sub-Commissions, maintained such an attitude towards his tenantry, is largely responsible for the lamentable state of the coimtry. And I still consider that Mr. Ashley is fairly open to this censure. MR. EVELYN ASHLEY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE '.STANDARD.' Sir, — The ' Standard ' of yesterday brings forcibly before mc, that among the numerous ills to which Irish landlord.^ are now a jfrey, not the least is that of being gibbetted by Special Correspon- dents who have not learnt the inexhaustible imaginativeness of the Irish tenant class when any special object is to be attained, ichetlwr ihi: member of that, class be curate or farmer. I will be as short as 1 can, but the detailed list of statements and charges made about me and my estate gives me a right to ask for a little of your sj)ace. it is not my fault if undue prominence is given to my private affairs. Your correspondent holds me out as a wretched example of the evils which may arise from 'a haughty and dehant demeanour.' I cannot possibly plead guilty to this. The language of my tenants is, refer not to con- iinue a correspondence with you on such disagreeable topics as we liave been writing about, I am obliged to send one more letter in consequence of a paragraph in your letter of the 7th, which is quite a model of the unfairness with which things are artificially blown up just now in Cliflbney, and which really makes one de- spair of the character of people with whom such statements are current. You say, as illusti'ating the change in behaviour towards the people, *' of old they were never sent to prison for trespassing on tlie sands of Mullaghmoi'e." Now I am not going to enter on the rights and wrongs of the story, which are beside the point, V)ut nobody was sent to prison for trespassing, &c. ' You know well that a nominal fine of (id. or Is. was imposed, and they were sent to prison by the court for refusing to recognise its authority by payment. You know also well that of old they would have paid at once, and that even in this case some would gladly have paid if they dared. But really this is waste of ink ; I know Magna est Veritas et prevalebit, at last. This I believe, though it may be late. Yours. I (Signed) ' Evelyn Ashley.' APPENDIX T. The Dunseath Case. 'I'he {ollowiugr i>* a report taken from the Fre'-man's Juurnal and the Times of the case of Adams i>. Dunseath, upon tlie a[)peal by way of rehearing before the Chief Cornmissicni, sitting at Belfast in January 1882. havid Adams, TetLatd ; Mrs. Jane Dunseath, Landlord. In this case both tenant and landlord appealed from a decision given at Ballyinena by Messrs. Greer, Baldwin, and Ross, The tenant held 22a. Ir. 5p. statute, at Glhirryford, county Antrim, tlie rent being 3')/. JO.s., and the valuation 24L lO.s. The Sub-Com- inissioneis reduced the rent to 30L lo.s. Mr. W. H. Dodd appeared for the tenant ; Messrs. H. Holmes, C^.C , Orr, and Overend apjieared for tlie landlord, David Adams, the tenant, de])osed that James M'Kee had tlie lioldiiig before him. There was a lease of 20a. 2r. 31j,. Irish, for 270 APPENDIX Y. twenty years, from November 1845, at a rent of 2(il. lis. OcZ. There was also unreclaimed land at lbs. the Irish acre, which amounted to 44i. lU.s. Whrn the hn)€ fell in abotd six years ago the rent- was increased to-'Siil. lOs. Witness and his father had made a great deal of imjii'ovements. I'/tey had reclaimed 18 acres on one farm and fenced them. In addition part of nine acres of bog icas reclaimed. He had also made 70 perches of a farm road. James M'Kee had built the mansion house on the holding, and witness's father had built some offices and a boiler-house and shed. James M'Kee was paid 20?. for his interest. The assignment was dated October 27, 1846. His father collected county cess, and witness himself shipped potatoes, butter, and eggs. Witness could not pay the I'ent without these other aids. Cross-examined by Mr. Holmes — I am 3G years of age. I re- member the farm 30 years ago. When I remember first I believe there was 18 English acres unreclaimed. The work on these 18 acres commenced when I was live years of age, and I was working on it last season. I asked for a piece of bog from the landlord to square up a field. The hrst piece, I think, you got about 1858 for 7s. 6(/. Am I not right abovit that ? I suppose so. In 1861 you got a piece more for 7s. 6d. 1 Yes. In 1863 you got a piece more for lis. Sd., in 1866 anotlier piece for lis. 3d., and in 1874 a final piece for 21. 12s. 6d. , the aggregate being 41. 10s. Do you remember Mr. Raphael when he came to value the lands saying to you, ' I will leave the bog exactly as it was, and my new value will be confined to the leased land ? ' That is not true ; he did not say that to me. When did your father build the boiling-house and shed ? About 18 years ago. And except the boiling-house and shed all the buildings were there as long as your memory goes back and before it / Yes, but I believe not long. Andrew M'Kee deposed he had farmed this land for twenty years. His father and brother had also farmed it. When he had it, which was just before the lease, the rent was about the same rent as now, but the tenants had the cut away bog for jjasture free. Adams had made vast improvements. He thought the reclamation was worth 20/,. an acre. Cross-examined— He thouglit tenant right was as high in 1840 as it was now. Prices were not as high now as they were then. He was getting 12s. and lis. for corn then. Mr. Orr — That happened to be a famine year ; there was no corn to be sold. For that very reason were not rents much lower than they are now ? They were. Before that landlords had not power to raise them ; the old leases kept them in. The old land- lords had more discretion and honour. Mr. Dodd— The landlord at that time was Lord Mountcashel ? Yes ; he was an honourable old gentleman. APPL'XniX r. 271 How much do you think it cost to build the house ? It cost my brother, I heard him say, a great deal more than 24:01. To Mr. Vernon— He would value the reclaimed land at 7*'. M. an acre, although 201. an acre was laid out on it. 201. is what Adams should pay to his landlord for the farm as it stood. Alexander Robinson deposed that he valued this farm. It was one of the first farms he valued, but he valued famrs since then. The landlord's rent for the land should be 221. 2s. '3d. , leaving the improvements to the tenant. Cross-examined by IVIr. Overend — Do you include or exclude the tenant's improvements ? I exclude the tenant's improvements. We consider the value of the tenant-right over the entire holding would be worth about 121. per acre. That contained nothing for the good-will. So the tenant's improvements are value for 121. an acre ? Yes ; we were informed by the tenant that when he went there the only portion of the land arable was 13 statute acres. Do you put the same value on the tenant's interest in the 13 acres that you do in the 29 acres ? We estimated the 29 acres at 111. per statute acre for reclamation. Then upon the 29 acres there should only be the 111. for the tenant's improvements i For that I can't say ; that is what we estimated the reclamation at. Now, is there anything that gives value to those 29 acres but the reclamation 1 Except the proportion of the buildings. What value did you assess per acre upon the old arable ? 16s. Is the tenant's interest in the portion that he got at the time of the lease in a laboured condition, with a house upon it, greater or less than his interest in the reclaimed acres ? I should say, taking these and everything, it would be greater. Greater by the ditierence that would raise the average to 12/. all round i I think so. You say the value of the 29 acres is }M. an acre, therefore the value you put upon the 13 laboured acres must be considerably higher to make the average 121. 1 It may have been. In making up your calculation of the 1 H. for the reclaime, having regard to all the changed circumstances of the countrv. He contended this case did not come within the 9th clause, and therefore was it not reasonable that in this case the landlord should be precluded from what was up to the time his right, viz. — to have rent placed on the improvements. The rent hxed in tliis case by the Sub-Commissioners was 30L 15s., which, taking into account the 4/. 10s. , would make it less than the rent was in 184(5. Mr. Wm. Raphael, valuator, examined by Mr. Orr, deposed that Lord Mountcashel's estate comprised nearly 200,000 acres of land. In 1844 about one-third of it was valued, and the valuation was all conducted upon precisely the same principles as in the first valuation, in 1842, of David Adams's holding. The latter was divided in this way. No. 1 on the map, consisting of 9a. Ir. 35p., was valued at 20s. an acre, or 9/. 9s. bd. No. 2, consisting of la. 7p. described as arable pasture, at 2os. or \l. 6s. Id. Another section of (5a. 2r. 2np. was valued at 32s. (Jd. or lOL IGs. (5(/. Another portion, la. Ir. 28p. at 22s. dd. per acre, or 11. 12s. ^d. ; and another portion, la. 2r. 29p., at 22s. (St?., or 2s. 14s. (5d. In the valuation then made no valuation was put on the houses. Tlie rent fixed in 1842 was a reasonable rent for that time. In 187(5 lie made another valuation. At that time he was not in the employ- ment as agent or otherwise of the landlady, but was employed by the agent. There was then held by tlie tenant a piece of bog for which lie was paying 4/. 10s , and tliat was not increased — in fact, he was desired not to look at it. There were loa. Ir. 14p., which he valued at 16s. per acre, or 12/. os. od. ; la. 2r. 32p. at 18s. an acre, or 11. lOs. Qd. ; 10a. 3r. Cp. at 23s., or 12/. 2s. 4d. ; 2a. Ir. 9p. at IBs., or 21. Is. Qd. ; 2a. 2r. 36p. at 2t)s. iSd., equal to 3L 19s. ; total, 31/. I7s. Gd. , to which was added 4/. lOs. for the bog. That valuation was made exactly on the same basis as the former valuation, and that increase was put on in consideration of the value of produce, putting on what he APPENDIX Y. 273 considered to be a fair increase of the letting value, believing that the increase in prices of stock justified him. Did you put on anything in respect of houses or anything of that sort ? Nothing ; I did not look at them. Is that the invariable practice ] Yes. You consider the valuation you fixed a fair increase of the letting value ? Yes, that the increase in the price of stock justified me, and I fixed a fair live-and-let-live value. I believe there is tenant right at the rent. Cross-examined by Mi'. Dodd — I was a young man starting when I assisted in the valuation of 1842. My opinion was taken in the matter by the other gentlemen, wlio took me into consultation whenever a difference of opinion arose. If hat was that valuation for ? For an increase of rent. For an increase of rent ? Yes. For the purpose of sale ? I did not say that. And was every valuation made since this on tluit same principle, viz. — for an increase of rent ? Well, I came as near it as I could. I took no improvements into consideration, I put on additional rent because stock is selling dearer noiv. It was double. I think com is a little dearer, but not much. I sold a cow about two months ago for 221. , and in 1842 I would not have got 101. for her. To Mr. Vernon — In comparing 1842 with 1876 I put on 5s. an Irish acre. Judge O'Hagan — There is a most remarkable circumstance in con- nection with this increased rent. I see that to the old rent there was added exactly mie-fifth to make up a new rent. Mr. Dodd — Yes, it is a very remarkable and significant fact. Mr. Orr — The increase is just twenty per cent. Judge O'Hagan — Just as if instead of re- valuing, a man took his pencil and did it adding on one fifth. Mr. Holmes proposed to put in evidence as to the conditions under which two adjoining farms were held. Judge O'Hagan declined to admit the evidence, holding that it would open up an interminable field of inquiry. Evidence might be given as to the general value of the land in the district. Mr. Justice O'Hagan said^This case, the first appeal which has been heard before us, is one of the very greatest importance. The holding is not an extensive one, nor does the question of value present much difficulty ; but it so happens that several of the most serious and most debated questions of law which have been mooted on the construction of the Land Act of 1881 require decision in this case. I regard this as a fortunate circumstance, inasmucli as an opportunity will be given, not by our decision alone, but by that of the Court of Appeal, of setting these questions at rest, and of determining the princij)les upon wliich our Courts must in future act. The facts of the case lie within a sliort compass. The holding consists of 42 acres 1 rood 5 poles, statute measiu'e, which may be divided into two parts, one containing 20 acres 2 roods 21 poles 274 APPENDIX Y. Irish, formerly held under a lease which expired in 1875, and of about nine statute acres of bog taken from time to time by the tenant since the expiration of the lea'ie. The Sub-Commissioners fixed the judicial rent at 30J. 156'. Before approaching the ques- tion of rent, we have to discuss the principles upon which the rent is to be estimated, and, first, the conti'oversy as to how far improve- ments effected by the tenant are to be excluded in estimating such rent. Mr. Holmes submitted to us certain legal propositions on the part of the landlord in this and other cases which, as apjjlied to the present cases, are as follows : — (1) That the landlord is entitled to rent in respect of all improvements made previous to the expiration of the lease in 1875, inasmuch as such improvements were not made by the tenant or his predecessors in title. (2) If the Court declined to accede to his first requisition, that the landlord is entitled to rent in respect of all improvements made during the currency of the lease, except those made by the present tenant himself, inasmuch as his predecessors in occupancy were not his predecessors in title. (3) If the Court declined to accede to requisitions 1 and 2 then (a), that the landlord was entitled to rent in respect of all improvements made prior to the making of the lease of 1845, and (6) that the landlord was entitled to some rent in respect of improvements made during the currency of the lease, on the gi'ounds that under the first clause of Section 4 of the Act of 1870 some deductions must be made in ascertaining the tenant's interest in such improvements from the value thereof, and upon the further ground that by hold- ing under lease he has been, if not altogether, to some extent, compensated for his improvements. I now proceed to consider these propositions of law. Mr. Holmes's first requisition amounts to a demand on the part of the landlord of rent in respect of all improvements made prior to the expiration of the lease of 1845 ; and the legal ground is that these improvements were not made by the tenant or his predecessors in title. But it was proved in the case, and could not be contested, that some of the improvements were made by David Adams himself, the present tenant. The words of the statute are that no rent shall be allowed or made pay- able under this Act in respect of improvements made by the tenant or his predecessors in title. Is it to be seriously argued that David Adams is to be charged with rent in respect of improvements made by himself while in occupation of the land as tenant, because his tenancy under the lease has expired and he is now in possession under a tenancy from year to year, arising on the termination of the lease ] I shovild have thought that such a proposition bore on its face its own confutation for its overthrow. It hardly needs my authority. In the course of the argument I called Mr. Holmes's attention to the case of ' Murphy v. Mahony,' decided by Mr. Justice Lawson, and reported in 15 Irish Times Reports, p. 57. That eminent Judge held that, under the Act of 1870, changes in the nature of the tenancy did not affect the right of the tenant who had made them to claim for improvements. That decision is an express APPENDIX Y. 275 authority on the construction of similar words in tlie Act of 1881. I pass now to the second of Mr. Hohnes's propositions, which is of a more serious complexion. He calls on us to hold that the landlord is entitled to rent in resjject of all improvements made during the currency of the lease, except those made by the present tenant him- self, upon the ground that his predecessors in occupancy were not his predecessors in title. To sustain this proposition Mr. Holmes chiefly relied on the well-known case of ' Holt v. Lord Harberton.' That was a case arising under the 6th section of the Act of 1870, which provides that where either a landlord or a tenant is desirous of preserving evidence of improvements once made by himself or his predecessor in title, he may register those improvements in the prescribed manner. That is a case of the veiy highest authority, to which every Court in this country must explicitly bow ; but I am bound to say that it seems to me not to have decided the abstract principle contended for. What is contended for in the present case, as the consequence of the decision in ' Holt v. Har- berton,' is as follows : — ' That if a father, the lessee under a lease, makes valuable improvements and then dies, bequeathing the lease to his son, if the son, instead of at once sun-endering the possession and claiming for compensation continues as tenant from year to year at the old rent and then submits to a new rent, his right to compensation for his father's imiirovements under the Act of 1870 is absolutely gone and forfeited.' I do not think the case of ' Holt V. Harberton ' or of ' Darragh v. Murdoch,' or of ' Milhken r. Hardy ' goes that length ; and I should be slow indeed to hold it even on the construction of the Act of 1870. But we have not now the Act of 1870 alone. Urdir the express terms of the 7th section • )f the Land Law Act of 1881 no such dictum as is said to flow from tlie case of ' Holt r. Harberton ' can be any longer considered law. This is conceded by the learned counsel for the landlord so far as regards the Act of 1870, but they say that Section 7 of the Act of 1881 must be construed as strictly contined to the construc- tion of the earlier Act — that it is restricted to the case of a tenant quitting his holding. Therefore, according to their construction, when a tenant does not yield his holding, but seeks to have a fair rent 6xed under the Act of 1881, he is met by the same rigid and highly technical rule of construction which wa.s sujipo.sed to have intei'fered with the true intention of the Act of 1870, and which, therefore, the Legislature swept away. I cannot accede to this, nor think that under the 8th section a man is to be burdened with rent in respect of his father's imjirovements in precisely the same circum- stances, which the Legislature decreed shoidd not debar him from compensation for them. I now come to the second part of Mr. Holmes's third requisition, which in importance probably sui-passcs any other raised in this case. It arises on the latter part of Sub- section 90, Section 8, and is whether if a tenant building under a lease should, during the currency of such lease, eflect improvements his enjoyment of those improvements during the lease can to any '276 APPEXDTX Y. degree be considered as a compensation by the landlord for the im- provements so as to enable him to charge the tenant the same rent in respect of them at the termination of the lease. Section 4 of tlie Act of 1870 contains the following clause : — ' Where a tenant has made any im2)rovements before the i)assing of this Act on a holding held by him under a tenancy existing at the time of the passing thereof, the Court, on awarding compensation to such tenant in respect of such imjjrovements, shall in reduction of the claim of the tenant, take into consideration the time during whicli such tenant may have enjoyed the advantage of such improvements ; also the rent at which such holding has been held and any benefits which such tenant may have received from his landlord in considera- tion, expressly or impliedly, of the imjirovements so made.' In ci)nsidering this section, two things are to be observed — first, that it is confined to improvements made before the passing of the Act of 1870, and does not extend to improvements made since that Act ; and, secondly, that the enjoyment is to be taken into con- sideration in reduction of the claims for compensation, not saying in what manner or to what degree, but evidently implying that in no case could the tenant's enjoyn\ent of his own improvements be deemed a complete compensation for them. Now turn to the difference of language in the Act of 1881. Section 4 of that Act says : — ' A tenant on quitting a holding of which he is tenant shall not be deprived of his right to receive compensation for his improve- ments under the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, by reason only of the determination, by surrender or otherwise, of the tenancy subsisting at the time when such improvements were made by such tenant or his predecessor in title, and the acceptance by him of a new tenancy.' Whereas, in tracing a title for the j^urpose of obtaining compensation for improvements, it appears that an out- going tenant has surrendered his tenancy in order that some other person may be accepted by the landlord as tenant in his place, and such other person is so accepted as tenant, the outgoing tenant shall not be precluded from being deemed the predecessor in title of the incoming tenant by reason only of such surrender of tenancy by Jam. And here there is nothing said as to the tenant-right being affected by the enjoyment of his improvements. But in order to enable the landlord to claim rent in respect of those improvements, he must, so to speak, have bought them from the tenant, paid him for them, or otherwise compensated him. Such compensation may take a hundred forms, which it would be impossible to enumerate ; but it must, 1 conceive, be something given or done by the landlord as an equivalent for the impiovements. Take the case of two neighbouring tenants holding under leases from the same term, and at the same rent — say 30L a year each. One tenant by industry and outlay, effects improvements which make the holding worth QOl. Tiie other does not improve at all, and his holding remains worth 30L At the end of the lease, is the landlord under this Act to be entitled to assess the improving man at the full letting value of his holding, APPENDIX Y. 211 on the plea that he had compensated him ? It seems to me that this would simply be a judicial repeal of the clauses. In this view Mr. Litton concurs, but I regret to say that our colleague, Mr. Yemon, for whose opinion on all subjects connected with land — indeed I may say all subjects whatever — I have learned to hold the greatest esteem, does not adopt it. He thinks that this contention would work great injustice and hardship upon landlords. It is satisfactory to think that the Court of Appeal will soon put the question at rest. Having thus said what occurred to me on these very different and important questions of law, I now come to the ([uestion of value. It is not my intention to dwell upon it long, or to recapitulate the evidence which has been given. We found that the usual mode of valuing land in Ulster for the purpose of regu- lating rent was to put an estimate on the tenant's interest and the landlord's interest, and to fix a fair rent. The valuation in this case, Mr. Raphael said, was made on the basis of fixing in every cas^^e the acreable rent at such a figure as would not interfere with the- tenant's improvements. He adhered to his valuation of 1870, and declared that the rent of 31L 17*'. 6r?. with the addition of 4?. 10.>--. for the bog, making together 36L 7s. (Jc/., was now the fair rent. Mr. Edward Mui'jihy, a gentleman of high reiiutation as a valuei-, said that he valued the land in the same way, field by field, making in each case an exclusion in his own mind of the tenant's improve- ments as he valued. This estimate of the fair rent is 30Z. 2s. 11(/. for the land formerly in lease, which, adding 4?. 10s. for the bog, would make his estimate of a fair rent for the entire, 34L 12s. 11(/. On the other hand, the valuers for the tenant went far indeed in their reduction. Mr. Robinson says he conceives that the lands, if in the hands of the landlord, might be worth 44L, but in excluding the tenant's improvements, he brings the rent as low as 22/.. 2s. 3(/. Our official valuers, Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Grey, gentlemen of high ability and unimpeachable integrity, fix the letting value of the land at 37^. 10s. If this were to be deemed their estimate of a fair rent, there would be an increase of the actual rent fixed by Mr. Rapliael. But this is by no means so. They merely excluded the buildings from tlieir valuation in other respects, valuing the land as it stood, and from their valuation, therefore, if I be right in the construction of the statute, reduction must be made in respect of tenant's im- provements other than buildings. We confirm the judicial rent. There remains the question of costs. The Sub-Commissioners have given the tenant his costs against the landlord. This we conceive ti> have been an error. They thought it right, we suppose, to follow the general rule of our Coui-ts by which costs follow success. But this principle is, in our opinion, inapplicable to Courts such as ours. I do not term them Courts of arbitration. They would only in strictness be so if landlord and tenant came in together. They are Courts established by the Legislature to determine impartially a matter upon which various minds may reasonably differ in opinion ; Hiid exce])tional cases apart, it would, in our judgment, be unfair to visit either i^arty with costs in such a case. Of course, if the c'/. 5s. 4rf. , had been cut down to 2,731?. 9s. 3rf., making a reduction of 876?. 16s. Id, or 24:f per cent. The second list shows that on 290 farms the rent has been cut down from S,649?. 9s. lid. to 6,515?. 8s. -a reduction of 2,134?. Is. lid., or a trifle more than 24| per cent. The average rate of reduction shows remarkably little variation. The total result of the activity of the Sub- Commissioners is that rents on 432 farms, which formerly realized 12,257?. 15s. 3d., will in the future only bring in 9.24H?. 17s. 3d. — a reduction of 3,010?. 18s., or as near as may be of 24i per cent. If these cases are fair samples of the effect of tlie Act upon the rest of Irish t;states, which, however, there is no I'eason whatever to assume, the income of the landlords will be diminished by about four millions sterling — a figure it is ■ well to bear in mind when compensation comes up for discussion.' INDEX. Arrkaes, 46, 47 clause, 49 necessity for provision as to, 154,176, 184 Ashley, the Hon. E., M.P. his estates, 129 his demeanour as landlord, 130, 132 his defence, 264 Assistant Commissioners, the, 71 general agreement as to prin- ciples, 72, 171, 257 objections to journalistic obser- vation, 77 opinion of them, 174 alleged secret instructions to, 257 Baldwin, Professor, his dicta, 77, 88. 103, 105, 206 his agility, 84 Bishops, attitude of, 2, 176 Blake i;. Lord Clarina, 107, 235 Brennan, Rev. Canon Malachi, 131 Bruen, Mr.,M.P., 19 ButtL-r- trade, the, 91 brokers, their gains, 95 rules of the inarket, 93 suggestion concerning, 96 Carmody v. Talbot Crosbie, 246 Cases, test {see Test-cases) Castletown evictions, the, 135 Cleary v. Gascoigne, 245 Clergy, attitude of, 2, 176 Commission, organising the, 1 delays of, 9 opening of, 52 registrar of, his declaration, 55 Commission cases entered before, 135, 175 Commissioners, decisions of, 250 Judge 0'Ha:j;an, 4 Mr. Vernon, 4 Mr. Litton, 5 assist^int (see Assistant Com- missioners) Compensation, question of, 174-26U Constabulary, the, numbers of, 165 their grievances, 167 Convention, Dungarvan, 27 Cork, demonstration at, 25 butter trade, 91 Costs, 90 County Courts, unpopularity of judges, 4, 65. 109 Crawford cases, the, 71, 215 Creighton v. Nelson, 238 Cronin, John, 140 Daniel, 157 Cummins, Father, 131 Davitt, Michael, popularity of, 28 Dulauey, Rev. Dr., 34 Demonstrations, significance of, 24 25 Draining, want of systematic, 121 Dungarvan, demonstration :it. 26 Dunravon, Earl of, excellent exaninle of. 173 Dunsuath eases, the, 194, J IK, 260 Dursey Island, 142 dangerous landing-places, 143 steep pasture, 145 the schoolmistress, 150 282 INDEX. EME Emkkgency Committee, 17 Kmigration clause, useless, 171, 183 Knright case, the, 100, '232 Hvictcd tenants, 66, 139 Farm reports, 222-2.')6 Fitzgerald, Judge, his charge, 251 Flahive v. Hussey, 163, 244 l< orms, -2 Fox, Mr., letter from, 229 Galtee Bov, the, 31 Galtee estate, the, 31 (iamekeeper, a reckless, 131 Glenstal, the battle of, 188 Government, attitude of, 15 change of policy, ''5 Grey, Mr., valuation of ' Tennent ' holdings, 230 Healy, Mr., M.P. his pamphlet, 6 advice about labourers, 27 Improvements, 12 presumption as to, 13, 80, 81, 19.5 Inspecting holdings, 78, 117, 120, 123 Irish Land Committee, 17, 48 JU"Y, trial by, 110, 127 verdicts, 161 Kavanagh, Mr., M.P,, and the Chief Secretary, 258 Keefe, John, 158 Ken mare, the Earl of, discharge of labourers, 162 views of a landlord's duty, 163 Knox cases, the, 112, 114 Laboukeks, 27, 249 Lady Land Leagueresses, 137 Land Court {see Commission) I^and League Hunts, 1 85 Landlords, policy of, 17, 18, 173 poverty of, 48 superior, position of, 8 pot League, parties in, 11 policy of, 8, 21, 183 change of policy, 45 ' No Eent ' manifesto, 46 ticket of, 263 Leases, breaking of, 62, 72 Leinster, Duke of, excellent example of, 173 Litton, Mr. Commissioner, 6 Lloyd, Captain, 191 Lloyd, Major Clifford, 186 Manifesto, ' No Rent,' 46, 152 Mary, little (No. 1), 122 (No. 2), 149 M'Atavey case, the, 207 Mayo, character of, 118, 182 M'Carthy, Mr. Assistant Commis- sioner, his dicta, 106, 113, 206 his costume, 112 his impartiality, 124 M'Gough. Mr., his CHses for the League, 57, 61, 68 Meath, the Earl of, 19 M'llroy case, the, 106 Mitchelstown, 31 ' No Rent ' Manifesto, the, 46, 152 O'Brien, Mr. Murrough, 6 his office, 53 valuation of ' Tennent ' hold- ings, 231 O'Hagan, Judge, 4 his opening address, 56, 74, 128 Outrages, effect of, 102, 152, 157, 190 numbers of, 169 Pallas, Old and New, 190 Parnell, Mr., M.P. on evictions, 27 arrest of, 39, 44 interview with, in prison, 39 attitude towards Act, 41 charges against, 41 his latest views, 199 Police, need of more efficient sys- tem, 127, 155, 159, 160, 180 IXDEX. 283 PRO Proclamations, 201 Property Defence Association, 17, 48, 192 Purchase of holdings, 174 pKNTS, rate of reduction of, 10, 275) payment of, 109 Resident magistrates, 180 * Scheduled districts,' 181 Semple ik Hunter, 250 wNexton, Mr., M.P. speech at Dublin, 11 8hea, Michael, the brave, 146 Sheehy, Father, 26 Solicitor-General for Ireland, the, 259 .South, feeling in the, 23 Statutes, extracts from principal, 202 1870, s. 4, 202 5, 13, 82.202 1881, s. 7, 82, 203 8, 111, 203 9, 204 13, 204 21, 62 24, 204 31, 27 32, 200 57, 13 WAL Statutes s. 59, 49, 20') CO, 38, 59, 205 Suspects, releas-e of, ] 5 Taylor v. Lord Arran, 111, 236 Tenants' Defence Associations, 177 Tenantry, the, demoralisation of, 100, 116 their dwellings, 33, 115, 123 number of, 136 ideas and aspirations of, 24, 153, 246 purchase of their holdings, 174 terrorism of, 168, 191 Tennent cases, the, 88. 223 Test cases, 10,12, 14, 57,61 conjectured postponement of, 20, 109 selection of, 30 rules for choosing, 33 included rack-renting, 35 efleet of choosing, 36 number of, 48 Threatening notices, 101 Treasury, delays of, 9 VALrEES, want of official, 124, 1 7-3 177 Vernon, Mr Commissioner, 4 Walsh, Widow, 139 t0*I>O» : PnlSTKU BY ePOTTISWOOOU AM) to., NKW-STKKKT HQCAtt* A.NU PAULIAMRST 8TUKKT November, l88l. CHATTO & WiNDUS'S List of Books. NR W FINE-ART WORK. Large 4to, bound in buckram, 21J. Abdication, The ; or, Time Tries All. An Historical Drama. By W. D. Scott-Moncrieff. With Seven Etchings by John Pettie, R.A., W. Q. Orchardson, R.A., J. Mac Whirter, A. R.A.,CoLiN Hunter . R. Macbeth, and Tom Graham. 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