TRELAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 111, 6 November 1908, Page 7

TRELAND.

PURCHASE OF LANDS. NEW LEGISLATION.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF DUDLEY COMMISSION. .By Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright (Received November 6, 8.30 a.m.) LONDON, 6th November. The Chief Secretary for Ireland (the Right Hon. A. Birrell) will, on the 23rd inst., introduce in the House of Com-» mans a Bill embodying some of the recommendations of the Dudley Commission, devoting a large sum to the compulsory purchase of land in the congested districts of Ireland, and repealing the financial clauses of Mr. Wyndham's Act of 1903. Mr. John Redmond, leader of the Irish-. Parliamentary party, speaking at Waterford prior to sailing for New York in j September, said that unless the Govern- j ment fulfilled its pledges it would speedily find Ireland ungo-Temable. Compulsory powers were absolutely necessary to secure complete settlement of the land question. The main report of tlie commission under the presidency of Earl Dudley laid it down that most of the holdings in the West of Ireland are inadequate for the support of the- majority ot the | occupiers, whilst at the same time the bulk of the people in the congested districts" and neighbouring areas are dependent on the land for a living. In the opinion of the commission as a body the efforts of the Congested Districts Board in the direction of the enlargement of the holdings have been well advised, and in an extension and development of their work lies the best hope of a satisfactory resettlement of fche areas in question. The financial provisions of Mr. WyhdTiam's Act are contained in many sections. They enact, among other things, that, advances for the purposes of the Land Purchase Acts shall, in the case of agreements entered into after the passing of the Act, be made by means of money, and not by means of guaranteed land stock, and that any sums required for those purposes shall be issued out of a special fund, to be under the" control of the National Debt Commissioners. Section 28 provides for the creation of new capital stock, and other sections deal with the securities, fees, etc. Congested districts are dealt with in Part 11. of the measure.