IRISH LAND CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 9, 26 February 1903, Page 9

IRISH LAND CONFERENCE.

ITS DELIBERATIONS AND RESULTS.

The conference of the representatives of the landlords and tenants held in the Mansion House, Dublin, was concluded on January 3, when the report was signed by all the members, and ordered to be forwarded to the LordLieutenant and Chief Secretary. In the course of an article in the ' Manchester Guardian,' Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P., gives some particulars of the members of the conleieiice, and an interesting summary of the results of their deliberations ; 'That which many people, in and out of Ireland (writes Mr. Russell), deemed to be impossible has at least been realised. The Irish Land Conference is an accomplished fact. Whatever men may think of the result, the fact that such a Conference has sat, deliberated upon the greatest issue in Irish politics, and agreed unanimously to findings which cover the whole ground is The Most Epoch-making Event in modern Irish history. For who were the men who assembled at the Dublin Mansion House for this great and unique purpose ? Lord Dunraven, who presided, is a great land-owner in County Limerick, and above all things else, a man of the world and of affairs. He has filled high ollice in the State, and is everywhere known as a man of broad views and of great ability. Lord Mayo is a largo landowner in more than one Irish county, a descendant of the martyr statesman of the same name, and the man whom the ' Irish Times ' at the inception of the project marked out as one of the essential men for the crisis. Colonel Evcrard, one of the most capable men it has ever been my lot to meet, is a landowner in County Meath, and holds under a title stretching back in an unbroken line for 700 years ; whilst Colonel Hutcheson Poe, a man of singular capacity and tact . is the owner of thousands of acres in Tyrone and Queen's and other counties. Men may deplore the absence from such an assembly of the leaders of the Landlords' Convention. 1 could certainly have wished to see such a man as The O'Conor Don at the table. But compared with the Traills, the Montgomerys, and the Clonbrocks, of whom wo hear so much, the representatives of the landlords at the Mansion House were Head and Shoulders Above Them. It has been said that the representatives of the tenants weio not representative, and that practical farmers ought to ha\e been selected. The Irish farmers, be it noted, ha\e nowhere said this. The objection has coma solely Jrom the Irish landlords and their organs in tho Pi ess The Conference did not assemble to discuss Irish ■ igiKultuiP or to consider their proposals for the amendment of the Irish Land Acts. Jts function was wholly diffeient — to define the lines within which the dual ownership of land might be abolished and single ownership in the tenant established. There was not one of the tenants' i epresentatives at the Conference who had not reeened the mandate of the people to secure a settlement ol this question in Parliament. Every one of these men had given years to the study of the subject ; and if competent to consider the question in Parliament, uliv should they be unfit to do so at the Mansion House? All tliis special pleading as to the tenants' representations is appiaised at its real value in Ireland ]t is put about for consumption in Great Britain, not in Ireland. H is the ci cation of men and of newspapers who, originally m fa\or of a Conference, have run away from their own ci eat ion frightened at their own monster. But the Confetencc is o^er. Its work must be judged on its merits ; and it is to be hoped that those who have been so loud in criticising the qualifications of the delegates will be equally modest as to the qualities necessary for criticism of the work done. It may be of interest to note hero that to a considerable extent the members of the Conference were unknown to each other. Mr. William O'Riien certainly did not know a single representative of the landlord party. Their knowledge of the hon. member for Cork was confined to his public record. I knew Lord Mayo and had seen Lord Dunraven. But both Colonel Everard and Colonel Poc were strangers to me. I presume Mr. Redmond was in the same position. With the Lord Mayor it may have been different, his public position bringing him daily into communication with all sorts and conditions of men. It was curious, too, to see how the question of seats at the table settled itself. Lord Dunraven, as chairman, was at the head of the table To the right sat Lord Mayo, Colonel Everard, Colonel Poe, and the Lord Mayor ; to the left Captain Sh.iwe-Tavlor (hon. secretary), Mr. John Redmond, Mr. T W Russell, and Mr. William O'Brien. Tt was a Curious Group. well worth the pencil of Ihe artists of the illustrated papei,s TweUe years ago we were all at sixes and much', — all in deadly conflict 'Who that remembers the Home Rule fight could ever have expected to see such a group assembled for such a purpose ? Could we have expected to sec me sandwiched between the Irish leader and Mr. William O'Brien ? Recalling, as I sat there, those days of fierce conflict and strife, I could only be thankful for the reconciliation that had taken place. I could only explain it by Burkc's famous saying that ' there me no eternal enmities in politics.' Tho Conference assembled with a determination to agree where it was possible to do so — to differ only where compelled to take that course. But the interests were to a certain extent hostile, and it must not be con-

cluded that all was plain and even sailing. At least upon one occasion things reached a critical stage, and a temporary adjournment became necessary. Happily, the shoit intcr\al was wisely used on both sides, and the thin jce was successfully passed over. But upon the whole the discussions were singularly moderate and effective. Practical unanimity upon every point was ultimately reached, and whether we have succeeded or failed in our immediate object the Conference cannot be said to ha\e failed. 1 said, for example, in the old and bitter days of strife that it would be impossible to trust an Irish legislative Assembly to deal with the Irish land question. ■Whatever 1 may still think as to the wisdom of cumbering such a body, should it ever sit, with such a difficulty I could not, after my experience at the Mansion Rouse, maintain the impossibility of doing so I believe there was not one of the landlords present who did not go away gratilied beyond measure at the spnit which prevailed — the earnest desire which existed for an honest and final settlement, and the spirit to give and take which was evinced. Certainly this was the feeling of those lepresenting the tenants. Altogether, apart lrom the land question, the Land Conference is a great event for Ireland Now as to the report and the work, done. Much of the report will speak for itself. Here I only propose to deal with the main principle which it embodies and to give explanations where these may seem required. In the first place, " Dual Ownership " goes by the Board, of the question is to be effected by the substitution of an occupying proprietaiy in lieu of the existing systems. This was the inevitable jumping-ofl ground, the starting-place of any consideration of the question. /The- method of abolishing dual ownership, however, opens up grave questions of policy that are by no means so easily decided. The hrst issue, lor example, which the Conference had to decide was as to the machinery necessary for carrying through the operation. Up to the present all the Land Purchase Acts ha\e proceeded upon the basis of an agreement to sell and to puichase between landlord and tenant, the Land Commission taking care to see that any State advance was seemed by the landlords' interest in the soil. The Congested Districts Boaid, however, has proceeded upon other and different lines In the case of these distncts the Board itself has bought from the landlord, has re-an aivvd the holdings, and then sold to the tenants. Mr. Wvndhams Bill of last session practically applied the principle of the Congested .Districts Board to sales in any part of Ireland, the State thus becoming the actual landlord until the purchase operation was ca.rried through. The Conference in .11 tide two unanimously decided m fa\or of the present system as against that proposed by Mr Wyndham s Bill — agreeing, however, that for the congested' and other similarly circumstanced districts Mr. \Vj ndhanx's method was necessary. The Real Crux of the Question was reached when the Confeience came alongside of the. basis upon which sale aid puichase si ould take place Mhree questions wcie hei c involved Nor was it j ossible to sepaiate them. r l he hist was as to what the landlord ought to leceive, the second linohi'd the iquallv difficult question as to what the tenant ought to pay . and finally there was the question as to the duty and tine obligation of the State in the matter. The Landlords' Convention decided all these questions anily and easily. '1 he Barrymores, Clonbrocks, and Traills declate with engaging simplicity and dnectness that they have an actual income at the present moment from Irish land " If," they say, " thus income is to be taken away, they must have an equivalent for it in a :{ per cent investment." These gentlemen expect the public to foiget that their piesent income depends very hugely upon " lust term " rents, and that these rents are under sentence of death. The Conference took no such ground The landlords frankly faced the fact that H<>, <>()<> •■second term" rents had already been fixed — the reduction on the " first term " averaging 22 per cent It was. therefore. agreed that the " income " of the Irish landlord should be ba«-'Pfl upon 'scc< nrl term' rents or their lair equivalent. Jt may be said that this finding is not definite. Nor is it meant to be In fact, it could not bo made definite. The case stands thus There are SO O-io • ?t >< o nd term' icnts fixed. About these no diihcultv anses These, so far as they go. constitute -he i.-i.-v-imc < t the landlord. But there me 260,0<>0 'first 'ivsn' i nts not yet levisod wheie the -first term' is runn ng, i. wl.rie the tenants entitled to go into court for 'lie second tune have not vet done so. Then theie are perhaps ro.MO future tenancies excluded from the Court under the Act Again, the "first term' rents fixed sinco *he passing of the Act of 1896 are admitted to be fair equivalents of second term' rents, and there are thousands of tenants who have never gone into Court at all— hay ing received voluntary abatements from the landlord Had the Conference undertaken to settle the equivalent of 'second term' rents in all such cases agreement would have been impossible They wisely decided upon the definition of the woid 'income' — leaving it to the Government, with tie aid of their expert advisers, to settle the fair equivalent in each set of cases. And so r lhe Fiist Kock was Safely Passed. It having been agreed that the landlord should receive his 'second term' net income — or its fair equivalent, the difference bet wet n net and gross being taken at 10 per cent — and that he should be secured this sum on an investment at 3 (or in case of a State guarantee at Hi) per cent., the Confoience r,foceeded to the question as to what sum the tenant should pay for the freehold. I

have personally dealt with this point in my Ulster campaign. But the Conference here took what, I cannot help thinking, was a wise and prudent course. They declined to lay down any specific number of years' purchase. They simply decided thiat, looking at the responsibilities which the tenant was to carry as sole owner, the prohable rise in rates, the certainty of an increase in the cost of production, and the chance of a still further decline in prices, the terms of repayment both as regards the annuity to be paid and the number of years it w*.s to run should secure a reduction on the 'second term ' rent of not less tnan 15 nor more than 25 per cent. It was further decided that the system of decadal reductions applied under the Act of 1896 should be maintained. By this process the capital sum paid in the hrst, second, and third decennial periods is calculated, and interest is only payable on the outstanding capital due. This will give the purchaser three decennial reductions. Under the Act of 1896 the first of such reductions amounted to 10 per cent. At the close of these — far and away the most important of the discussions — the net result stood thus :—: — (a) The landlord was to be secured on his ' second term' net income. (b) The tenant was to receive a reduction of Hot less than 15 and not more than 23 per cent, on bis 'second term' rent, with decadal reductions as under the Act of 1896. (c) If the payment of the tenant did not meet the sum due to the landlord, it was agreed that the State might, without ultimate loss, be asked to provide the difference, any aid of this character to be confined to proceedings initiated within five years from the passing of the Act. The Western Problem, it was agreed, should be treated separately. This is a conclusion which has been generally approved by all those who have any knowledge of the facts. Article 14 of the Report, dealing with this part of the question, is brief, but it is far-reaching. It contemplates the redistribution of the population' and of the land. It deals with 'migration' from crowded districts to the fertile plains. It advocates the enlargement of the small holdings. In fact, it covers what 1 have so often advocated in the "Manchester Guardian' — 'a resettlement of Connaught' and of similar areas. Article 13, dealing with the question of the evicted tenants, is intentionally \ apue. The question is not a big one, but it is surrounded with peculiar difficulties. The one thing upon which all were agreed was that in the new Ireland we are looking forward to this sore cannot be left open. Personally, 1 recall with satisfaction that I moved the clause in the Act of 1887 under which a goodly number of these men were reinstated, and I cannot but think that the Government will be able to devise some method of meeting the difficulty. The landlords who sell are not likely to object. 1 can see the main objections that will be urged o gainst the findings of the Confeience. The Convention landlords maintain that the basis of purchase is unsound and unfair, that it ou^ht to hn\e been founded uj on piesent net income On the side of the general taxpayer there will doubtless be a disposition to question the justice of any State liability. As regards the first of these objections, it is only necessary to say that what the extreme landlords call their present income is daily vanishing. In a few years, if nothing be done, the Land Courts will settle that matter. And as to the second, two things occur to my mind It is impossible to say what may be actually required in the way of State assistance So much depends upon the actual terms of sale and the rate of inteiest charged. But peace in Ireland, I should fancy. is worth a good deal. And if men will read carefully the concluding paragraph of the report and consider the names appended thereto, they will think not once but twice before they refuse the hand that is held out. For my own part, I felt in signing the document that The Occasion was a Great one. The Conference was notable because of the men composing it It was notable because of the good feeling and good temper which characterised the whole of the proceedings But it was still more notable as being the medium of embodying upon terms of mutual sacrifice a great act of reconciliation between the two countries, two races, and two classes — as offering at the dawn of a new year a real message of peace England has now the i esponsibility of action. She may close the door now so happily opened, or she may take occasion by the hand and open up a new era of hoj o and of gladness to a long-distracted country. '

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