THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1881. THE LAND LEAGUE.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2240, 7 June 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1881. THE LAND LEAGUE.

In onr issue of yesterday is to be found a letter from a gentleman signing himself “ A Member of the Church of England,” advocating that the Irish in New Zealand should support, by subscription and otherwise, the Irish Land League. “It strikes me,” says the writer, “ that Irishmen here are acting in a very lukewarm manner in the face of such an important organization; ” and he goes on to advocate the calling of a meeting to which all Irishmen “ who have a spark of patriotism” should be requested to attend. Taken by itself, the letter is not one on which we should have felt called upon to comment, for it contains no arguments whatsoever, simply taking it for granted that the Land League are entirely in the right and quite above suspicion. But in connection with a circumstance mentioned in the opening of the letter, it may be well to say a few words in the hopes of preventing Irishmen here sending hardly won earnings to support an organization which cannot commend itself to right - thinking minds. The inhabitants of New Zealand are accustomed to pride themselves on their respect for the law. If they agitate, they agitate constitutionally. It would be a sorry sight to see sums of money leaving the country in support of a movement which tacitly advocates a system of terrorism in the country districts of Ireland, and which further obstructs Mr. Gladstone’s honest endeavours to find a modus vivendi between the Irish landlord and tenant. For, deny it as the members of the Land League may, they are answerable for the state of things that prevails at the present time. Let us take the facts of the case, which were well arrayed by Sir W. Harcourt when introducing the Peace Preservation Bill on the Ist March. The small amount of crime to be dealt with in the Summer Assizes of 1880 was a subject of very general remark with the Irish Judges. But at the return from the summer vacation, at the end of October, things were entirely changed. Mr. Jnstice Fitzgerald, speaking of the alteration, in his charge delivered at the Winter Assizes for Munster, said : We found that gome organization—l do not profess to say or to know what it was but some organization, acting on the cupidity, the passions, and the fears of the people, had reduced some districts in the country into anarchy and confusion—little, if at all, differing from civil war. In addition to that, it was obvious to every one that you had to deal with an armed population. The offences or possible offences which I shall have to describe to you were all committed by armed people. As far as I can judge from the official reports in certain districts in the province of Munster, which we are now dealing with, every farmer’s boy, every farmer’s sen, and persons of that class, seems to be armed with a rifle and revolver, and they certainly have been used freely in the commission of the outrages which I shall have to advert to.

Now, in the interim between these two dates, what had happened ? The power of the Land League had made itself felt, and Mr. Dillon, a recognised representative of the League, had made a speech at Tipperary, in which, after advising a strong organisation, ho proceeded as follows: — I believe that those in Parliament faithful to the cause of the people could paralyse the hands of the Government, and could prevent them from haying such laws as would throw men into prison for organising themselves. In Parliament they could obstruct, and they could set the people free to drill themselves and to organise themselves, and to take it out of the power of the police to arrest every man who was out after eight o’clock at night. They in Parliament would see that every man in Ireland had a right to have a rifle, if ho liked to have a rifle.

And this teaching had its effect. The inhabitants did arm themselves, and by September, as the organization became more complete, outrages became more frequent and more atrocious. The despotism of the League was reduced to a system. Armed bodies of men paid domiciliary visits, demanding arms and money and compelling farmers to swear not to pay more rent than Griffith’s valuation. Agrarian murders were numerous; houses wore fired into by the score; and women, old and young, wore attacked. And, as Sir W. Harcourt remarked, the police of. the Land League do not attack landlords and their family and retainers alone. The list of outrages is full of attacks upon herdsmen for herding cattle, upon artizans, upon mechanics, and upon small farmers and tradesmen—upon everybody in short who would not servo the Land League. The Land League now disclaim all connection with the more ruffianly of these acts. But when men openly advocate the taking up of arms, it is useless for them to attempt to stay the torrent that their words have raised. The guilty have every right to reproach those to whom they look for counsel and guidance for inciting them, when they ought to have restrained them, and the world at largo will hold the educated man responsible for the deeds committed by his weaker and less-educated brother.

The Land League have all the less excuse for their course of conduct because Mr. Gladstone is grappling with the Irish difficulty with a philanthropic energy worthy of the intricate subject. In his determination that Irish tenants shall have no possible cause for complaint he has gone to lengths that have called down on his devoted head showers of abuse, not only from his political opponents, but from many friends who see in his proposals a tendency to ignore vested interests, or who, like the Duke of Argyle, regard as illegitimate any legislative interference whatever with the operation of econonimal laws. The Irish Land Bill, introduced by the English Premier on April 7 th, provides for an impartial Commission whose principal function shall be to fix rents, thus guarding against the possibility of grasping landlords rack-renting their tenants. A tenant can apply to this court, and he obtains fixity of tenure for fifteen years on the terms agreed. Moreover, the tenant right when once established on statutory conditions, will not cease at the end of the said fifteen years. It may be renewed as often as application may be made, and it is only in a few exceptional instances that the land, as long as the rent is paid, can revert in absolute possession to the landlord. There are of course numerous other provisions in the Bill, such as the saloableness of “ tenant right,” and the granting of assistance to tenants wishing to purchase their holdings, but the fixing of an equitable rent, and the guaranteeing of a fixity of tenure are its two main features. A Bill more favorable to Irish tenants it is impossible to conceive. No statesman could possibly go further, because he would then bo advocating confiscation. Mr. Gladstone’s. Bill will not allow people to leave their rents unpaid, but, if it passes, the tenant’s rent will be sure to bo a fair one, and his tenure will rank next door to a freehold. And this is the Bill that a large majority of the Land League are determined to fight against tooth and nail! It is difficult to see that their platform is anything else than confiscation gained by terrorism. And yet it appears there are a few persons in New Zealand foolish enough to ask their fellow colonists to furnish funds to support such an organisation. We have, however, sufficient faith in the good sense of the people of this country to think that they are very unlikely to respond to the foolish invitation. Those most truly interested in the welfare of Ireland will be the least eager to act as suggested by our correspondent.