THE LAND PURCHASE BILL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVIII, Issue 4, 23 May 1890, Page 15

THE LAND PURCHASE BILL.

The London correspondent of the Freeman, writing on Ist April, says :—: — or.

Mr. GoscheasLand Purchase Bill, which was introduced 1 stnight by Mr. Falfour, is admitted on all hands to be an ingenious measure, but a very brief investigation of it« most plausible proposals was sufficient t . show that a more hollow and impracticable piece of legislation was never submitted to Parliament. As one Member said in the lobby, a more striking instance of the absolute futility of applying abstract lagenuity to the solution of a problem without knowledge of its practical difficulties could not be conceived. Undoubtedly Mr. Balfour afforded considerable satisfaction to the landlord party, on wbofls behalf tbe Government have done everything that their political exigencies would allow.

Mr. Parnell formed a most deeiled view of the measure, aa I discovered on asking him his opinion of it. "I think it," said he •'absurd and objectionable ia the highest degree. The liability which the English taxpayer won't incur tbie Bill coolly proposes to transfer to the shoulders of the Irish cesspayer. Then the object of the Government is clearly disclosed in Mr. Balfour's speech. That object iB to inflate the value of Irish land to an inordinate extent. He has given tbe word for twenty years' purchase. Besides, a fatal defect in the measure is that it proposes to give no local control over its administration. In that respect it is a long way behind Sir George Trevelyan's bill, which did give a certain amount of local control. I think, on the whole, that we should oppose it tooth and nafl." Mr. Davitt was equally pronounced in his opinions of the measure. He was in the distinguished strangers' gallery during Mr. Balfour'e speech, and I met him immediately after the Chief Secretary had finished. "Itis a most insidious proposal, in my opinion " eaid he, " to get the landlord 40 per cent, more for his land than he would by fair dealing in the open market." With the Coercion Act to aid them, Mr. Davitt had no doubt that the landlords would Bacceed in forcing their tenants into extortionate agreements. Mr. Sexton quite agreed with Mr. Parnell and Mr, Davitt that the effect of the bill would be to induce landlords to press for twenty years's purchase of what Mr. Balfour calls the net rental, but what is in reality the gross rpnta), lees a small reduction for poor rate — " This," Mr. Sexton went on, " would be an intolerable price, and in any case in which a body of tenants could be induced to entertain Buch a transaction at Buch a price, or anything like it, I do not see how they could expect to escape opposition from the general body of the tenant farmers of the country who may not be buying their holdings, but wno would have to become security as ratepayers for the fulfilment of such an iniquitous bargain. Thus the machinery of this Act interposes a serious obstacle to purchase which was not experienced under the Ashbourne Act. In fact, this bill, if passed, so far from facihtaiing land purchase will go far towards preventing it altogether. I regard it as merely absurd to propose that in the event of any default in the payment in the instalments the Inuperi-U Government would or could attempt to withdraw from such imperative needs as education and poor relief that small portion of Ireland's contributions to the Imperial revenue at present returned to her for those purposes. Tenant purchasers, too under the new Act will be less favourably situated than under the A&hbourne Act, as for five year^ they will have to pay four-fifths of the rental, nor does it appear at what period of the forty-nine years that money weuld be returned to them The true price of money now is 2\ per cent, and 1 per cent, for sinking fund, so that the real charge should be 3$ per cent, and not 4 per cent., as the Government propose to charge. This additional quarter p3r cent, is to be applicable to general default, and it follows that the solvent tenant will have to go on paying the whole 4 per cent, and his additional quarter per cent, will go towards meeting the default of an insolvent tenant. In regard to the congested districts where the need is greater, the relief will be lease, because no matter how low may be the purchase price, the tenant will have to go on for five years paying four-fifths of the gross rental, Tbe security whi^b Mr. Balfour called his < three degrees of impossibility' is perfectly illusory, as the tenants' insurance fund idea assumes that there can be no possible default in the first five years ; then the next security tne Government, as I have said, could, under no circumstances, dare to make effectual ; and the local rate, by the grand jury, coming, as it necessarily would, in times of distress would be equally valueless. In my opinion, the only sound security in land purchase transactions is a moderate price, and where the price is immoderate no security is any good. '

Catholic Beading Circles are becoming a feature all over the United States, and in s. short time the names of a host of Catholic writers will be identified with the new organisations'. From this mustard seed it seems likely that a tree bearing good fruit will arise.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, wntes the Catholic Times preached a mission sermon one Sunday evening lately in the "Victoria Hall," a sort of theatre in which religious laymen have been conducting mission services for working people for some time The report of the service given by the Dally Nans states that the large audience, consisting chiefly of working men, did not ioin in the Lord's Prayer. As they did unite, however, m tinging some popular revival hymns most lustily, we infer that they failed to follow the prajcr, not from want of will, but from want of ability. The working men of England are no longer Protestants ; after three centuries of undisturbed possession, Protestantism has left the common people simply and literally m a £,tate of heathen darkness ignorant even of the Lord's Prayer. One day, a day perhaps not so far distant, the Catholic Church will make an effort to reach the English heathens around us. And the report cf the Archbishop's meeting shows that the chief means of accomplishing this must be Catholic hymns— hymns and tunes as effective and popular as the peatimental " soloe V1 of Mr. Sankey,