IRISH EVICTION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 20, 13 September 1873, Page 12

IRISH EVICTION.

I ('Catholic Standard.') The object of the Land Bill passed in 18*0 was to secure fixity of tenure to the farmers ; to place them beyond the reach of arbitrary eviction™ secure, if evicted, a fair compensation for improvements Effected : and by these safeguards to encourage agricultural enterprise and advance the general welfare. The Premier of England, Mr Gladstone had a firm, honest purpose, yet his measure was largely imperfect So'strong h e e fr^ c r c rti Ce3OPPOSed -. t0 hi ?« that ' in hiß °™ wori^ "had he framed a better measure it would have been thrown out oodilv " Consequently, the measure was really a compromise based on expect a moderate compensation for his timo and toil, but it left the f most crying grievance untouched, for it left the right of eviction almost unchecked. Formerly, the rieht of eviction was exercised unsparingly and with the moat ruinous results to the prosperity of the country. What, then, must we think of the sjstem which, between 1841 and 1861, levelled two hundred and seventy thousand houses, representing nearly a million and a half of human beings, all driven to the poorhouse, ' exile or death ? The combined effect of famine and eviction may be most strikingly exhibited by a comparison of the census tables. The population of Ireland at the beginning of the last four decades is given as follows — * n Jfg 8,175,124 £"£ •• wiwo 5 }2{ 5,798,504 xn 10/ i.. 5402759 —A rapid and steady decline. Af the average 'rate 'of increase, the population of Ireland should now be more than twelve millions, instead of being actually less than five and a half millions, which are thus accounted for : — Emigrated , f 2,500,000 Died of natural causes 1 500 000 Died. of starvation, lowest e5timate.............. I*ooo 000 ' Natural increase prevented by the operation of'the ' '■ above causes 1,500,000 Total ; „,, 6 500 000 . Omik«ng the number who died in "'the 'natural 'order, 'English mis-legislation stands responsible for having 'deprived Ireland of fully Sl^^J^^J^™™ the instrument used 7