THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1912. IRISH LAND, PURCHASE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10612, 19 April 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1912. IRISH LAND, PURCHASE.

j Tho ©hrisitclmrcb. "Pirc*ss>" of Wednesday contains an article concerning the pressing question of land purchase in Ireland. Broadly speaking, about hsM the land in Ireland is held under tfcho 'isystem of dual ownership established, by the Gladstone Act of 1881, Which conceded to the tenants, fair ■rents, (ascertained by a judicial triJbun&l, aaid subject to periodic revision a : t 15-year intervals, fixity of tenure conditional on payment of rent, and Ifree sale of the tenant's daitere&t. The balance is held under the system of land purcliiase. The net .result of tins difference of tenure, to quote from the very illunimlative article on j the Agrarian (Revolution which appeared in The Times of February 9lth, is that "on' this side of a.fence there is •a judicial tenant paying, say, a rent of £3O in perpetuity; on that a purdhai/sing tenant paying for a similar holding an annuity perhaps of £2O for a nuralber of years, with the knowledge that Ee is in a fair way toTvards the acquisition of the freehold." Such a state of things canncit long be (tolerated, and means imust soon be deVised to carry to its natural conclusion the [policy initiiaJted by (the Ashbourne Act of 1885, and accelerated by the famous Wynd.ha.m: Act of 1903. In successful land purchase lies itlio real solution of the Irish agrarian .question, and it is worith noting that ilamd purch'ai&e is "the disifcmotive Unionist policy." John Bright, wjio parted from Gladstone on the question K>f Home Rule, was one df ithe first to suggest the creation of (a. pealsant proprietary, but it was not until tho Ashbourao Act of Lord Sal-

iibury's first Administration (1885)

that really effective steps- were taken in, this direction. Under that Act, £6,000,OIX) was get fc.side to enable Uie State to advance to the intending purchaser the whole of the purchase money. Repayment was to be made nit the rate of 4 per cent, a year for -19 years, and of this 3 per cent, was to be troatal 'flfl interest, and 1 per •o:<tit to j.;o toivards a linking fund to wipe out the loan. So !&uecos&ful was the Act that in Lord Salisbury's second Ad-minielbration. (1887) a further £5,000 ; (HK) was advanced, and in this way 3o,<:00 of the 550,000 Irish tenarts becuvnio tenants oi the State, and pitopcctive .freeholders. Iu 1891 Mr Balfour tarried the policy still further. The landlord was to be paid in 2;j per cent. gua-ilanteed kmd stock, exchangeable for Consols, 1} per cent of the tenant's; 4 per cent, annuity was set -free fr-r the sinking fund, and the term eff redemption reduced by seven yoars. Under tin- Act and an amending Act of 189(5, nearly £14,000,000 was advanced for. the benefit of 47,000 purchasers. With the South African war came a fall in. the value of Government securities, and 'for the time land purchase was arrested. But acting on a precedent established by Sir Horace Plunkett, a conference between representatives of the lamcllc-rds and the tenants' was held in-1902. Tbe conference did ""its'. work quickly, and was fruitful in rej suits. Its immediate outcome was •jthe Wyndhnm Act of 1903. Under 1 this Act Landlord® were to'be paid in cadi, and it" was provided that ,-£IOO,000,000 should be advanced to purchasing tenants at the "ate: of £5,000,000 a year. At the same time the •tenant's annuity was lowered to 3| per cent., and the term of redemption extended to 68£ years as only £ per •cent was now availaole for sinking fund. This Act proved embarrassingly popular, so ahuch so Hhat the Treasury wtis unable ,to cope with tine numiber of applications (submitted. At the date of the latest returni; more than £4O,IZO,CCO had been advanced and 120,000 tenants dealt with, while agreements 'affecting a 'similar number were pending till money shoifid be available. The mistake in- this Act was the needless abandonment of the well-established 4 per cent, annuity, wJiicli ima.teanajlTy increased the difficulties caused by the steady decline in value cf the -2f' per cent, guaranteed land stock oni which the purchasing money was raised. The upshot was that further legislation became necessary, and the Birrell Act was passed. This substituted for cash payments, payment in 3 per cent, stock at its .nominal value, and raised the tenant's annuity to pea- cent. The Act, which was forced through with little discussion, has had the effect of stopping land purchase altogether, except in congested w<xi® where compulsory sales can be enforced. To sum, up, so far, some £70,000,000 lias Ibeen advanced, and nearly £40,000,000 still have to ibe advanced under Uhe;A.cfc of 1903, when funds are avWhtWe. A further will be reojuired; to purchase the baljaric© ] of .the land. Such,', enormous sums wili ; obviously be quite .beyond the resources of the .Irish Parliament contemplated by Mr Aeouith, hence his determination to treat land purchase as an Imperial, obligation. It will be interesting to see how he proposes to isecure the money already advanced, and what means he will devise for naming the further huge loan wihich will yet 'be required. -With, tba union maintained it is, ea,sy to justify a policy of Irisli land purclia.se to tlie Im-/ perial Parliament, but with Homo Rule established it k difficult to see on. what grounds a Minister can base an appeal.