Ireland under the land act: letters contributed to the 'Standard' newspaper; with an appendix of leading cases under the act, giving the evidence in full, judicial dictam &c

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Preface

TowATiDS 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- Commissions, 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 coarse 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 demonstrations and conventions of the Leaguers, but even to accompany an expedition in search of the mysterious ' testviii 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 belieTO, 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 convictions of the entire justice of one side or the other in the old quarrel. Indeed, I have at different times been made aware that I have seriously offended the Leaguers, the landlords, 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 lefb undisturbed by such impartial malice. I owe sincere thanks to the Chief Commissioners, and to various members of their staff, and particularly to their Under-Secretary, Mr. Micks, for information constantly 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 resnlts 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 correspondent 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. nc 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 con^jributed something to the following

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 protest against the maiming and wounding of brutes. But the 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

X PREFAOJU.

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 may he 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 Temple,

eth Febriuwy, 1882.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Okganisikg the Commission . . , . 1

II. The Policy of the Lbagub 8

CHAPTER I. ORGANISING THE COiimSSION

Dublin: Saturday, September 24, 1881.

In a few days the Commissioners will enter upon the administration 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, Dablin — 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 pi-oceeded with enquirers eager to commence 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

B

3 IRELAND VNDER THE LAND ACT.

circulated at a nominal price. This document has been found of great service in spreading and popularising a knowledge 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 proceedings unduly, or render them vexatious. Forms have been prepared to be used — (1) by a tenant desirous 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-ofl&ce 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 diflBculty 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 proceedings before a Sub-Commission are as informal as in an English County Court ; and if the priests had undertaken the fiUiug-np of notices, and to advise their parishioners about the conduct of their cases, the Commissioners would have made all necessary allowances. Thus a large sum spent in law costs might have been saved.

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, sufficient to warranfc\ the despatch of a Sub-Commission to the neighbourhood, that course will be taken. Each of the four Sub-Commiasions 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-Commission, will be associated two other lay Assistant Commissioners. 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. Inconvenient 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 Commissioners must

B 2 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 ' applications,' and no delay whatever will be made by the Sub-Commissions in getting to work. It is improbable that appeals will be taten 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 landlbrds to encounter the inevitable outcry attaching to such a proceeding. 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 unanimously, and almost regretfully, recall the uprightness, .geniality, and learning of their late standing counsel. Mr. Verndn's name is known over many counties as a synonym for just dealing and impartiality; and a Court to arbitrate upon the question of rents has long been advocated both by him and by Mr. Litton. Mr. Vernon, for an agent, holds singu- Sarly 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 Comnaission. He has a frank, cordial, at times almost playful, manner, 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 1870, 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 outset, the success of the bolder measure of 18S1, by throwing all the work upon the Sub-Commissions.

2 The Commission first sat to hear appeals ac Belfast on January 16, 1882.

IRELAND VKBER THE LAND ACT. 5

in the discharge of his duties. He is growing grey ; bnt Lis 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 hia legal training will act as some check upon him. His vievis upon the subject of 'fair rent' may, perhapp, be best' gathered from the definition of it in his ' Fixity of Tenure Bill.' It runs as follows : — ' The rent to be deemed the fairi 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 improveraents made by the tenant or his predecessors in title, and after deducting, secondly, any increase of letting value referable to the expenditure 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 variation in the average price of agricultural produce or sbock 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 offered.'

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 suck a clause as that now cited, entertains very advanced views as to the tenant's interest in the matter. Mr. Parnell's suspicious, 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, unalterable 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 fromi resorting to the Commission until the decisions in ceitain test 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-farmers in Ulster have bound themselves 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. ParneU 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 spoken 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 experienced valuer, and has one of those names which inspire confidence in Ireland. He is necessarily well acquainted

■with the condition and capaHlities of Irish land, from having discharged for many years the duties of Inspector of Estates to the Church Temporalities Commission. Numerous instances 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. Rents 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 j the purpose 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.'

IRELAIS'D UNDEU THE LAND ACT.

Chapter II. The Policy Of The League

Ddblin : Tuesday, fieptemter 27.

It was feared that there might be some further 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, application, and conveyance have been cut down and simplified into one sentence each ; the Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners have mapped out their districts ; and all over the country we hear of cases being ready for the Courts, and of evicted tenants clamouring impatiently for redress. Meanwhile 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, processions 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 Government have resolved to delay matters no longer, and to allow the publication of the Rules. But the publication is provisional 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 25.

' IRELAND VKDER THE LAKD ACT. 3

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 difficulty 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 Commissioners on Saturday, although they had some trouble, were finally successful in persuading that body to deal with tho 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 bo hoped that one or other of ' my Lords ' may have the wisdonx to telegraph from London an immediate authorisation of the scale, after reading it, and before going through the customary etiquette of long discussions, conducted through 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 responsibility ; 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 suflicient 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 elapsed 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 hare been suflBeient to prepare 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 hagghng about fees, the fate of a nation was trembling in the balance.

10 IRELAND VNVBR THE LAND ACT.

tive organisation tliat Ireland has ever seen. 'So 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 during the coming winter.^ If, on the other hand, the Commission, using the large discretion vested in them by the Act as arbitrators rather than as judges, and throwing conciliation 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 sufiicient end in view ; and that is plainly the offering of terms to the Commission. The plan of action which has been finally decided upon appears to be the only one possible to the League in its present circumstances. A moment's reflection will show that the shrewd but poverty-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 discover, first, the fate of a bolder neighbour. The League have accordingly apj)ealed 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 -was severely reproved, in the columns of certain newspapers, for venturing to name so large a reduction. It was undoubtedly a bold statement, but it has been justified in the event ; the average rate of reduction of rents at the end of the year being 25 per cent, all but afraetion.

IRELjU^^B under the ZAND ACT. 11

Mmself, wliat would be the result of an application in Lis 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 improbable 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 i 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, I 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 confusing statement on Sunday night that ' the City of Dublin had broken loose from the Lion and the Unicorn.' Such Tousing utterances are cabled weekly in homoeopathic 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 believed to be, in their hearts, as hopeful of good results coming from the Act as Mr. Gladstone himself. Everybody knows that the leaders of the party in Parliament were equally surprised and delighted with the Bill at its first production ; 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-Commissions.

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 considered cruel or exorbitant,' rents 'neither very high nor very low.' The tenants whose cases are selected will be represented at the cost of the League by the most able counsel that can be procured, and the recommendations upon thesubject of preparing the tenants' evidence, contained in the pamphlet recently published by Mr. 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 improvements 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.