' THE SPEAKER'S HAND-BOOK ON THE IRISH QUESTION BY AN IRISH LIBERAL M rsE iMm::} THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^ X. 3.0 The SPEAKER'S Hand-book ON The Irish Question. £^ THE Speakers Hand-book ON THE Irish OuestiOxN. BY AN IRISH LIBERAL. PUBLISHED FOR THE LIBERAL UNIONIST ASSOCIATION, 31, Great George Street, Westminster, rtY CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited : La Belle Sauvage, London , E.C. Price IS., or is. 3d. post free. '' ''- '''-': \\\ \ :\ 9 1 * , 1 , > ' %. -- • f*'7 S73 PREFACE, The object of this little work is to collect together in a handy form the various lines of argument which go together to make up the Home Rule controversy; and also those facts — legal, historical, and statistical — which ought to form so important a part of all serious discussion on the Irish Question. That question naturally divides itself into three heads, which therefore suggest the main divisions of this Hand-book. First is the question of Home Rule itself. Secondly, the law and facts of the Land Question, which plays so important a part in current controversy. Thirdly, it is obviously a neces- sity to deal with those topics which are generally alluded to as the incidents of what is called " Coercion." Some additional information which does not readily fall under these heads is added in Supplemental sections ; tables are given in all necessary cases, and it is hoped that, with the aid of a full index, this primer will be of service bolh to speakers and to inquirers after truth. 112789 SYNOPSIS. part $. HOME RULE. Definition. Home Rule not Local Government Mr. John Dillon on Home Rule and Local Government PAGE I Arguments for Home Rule ... hts of Demanded by Majority of Irish People Unionist Reply Gladstonians do not believe in National R Ireland a Nation .? The Rights of a Nation The Marks of a Nation 1. Geographical Position 2. Historical Growth 3. Distinct Origin Mr. Gladstone on the Irish Race Minorities and Majorities Question of Majorities depends on Area The Loyalists and a Second Parliament The Question of Ulster Ulster Constituencies ... Ulster Votes in 1886 The Constitution of the Irish Majority and Minority 14 ••• 3 4—15 ... 5 Ireland 5 5 6 , 8 8 8 9 9 10 10 II 13 13 13 15 B. Misgovernment in the Past Dates of Irish History 16 — 27 ... 16 Vlll SYxWPS/S. The Kingdom of Ireland Ireland and Civilisation The Early Population of Ireland The English Pale Home Rule Nonsense about Invaders The Old Irish Parliament Poynings' Law Ireland under Elizabeth The Reformation in Ireland The Plantation of Ulster Strafford in Ireland The Great Rebellion Oliver Cromwell Ireland under Charles II Ireland under James II. The Penal Laws Ireland from 1700 to 1782 Grattan's Parliament Imperial Government since the Union C. The Irish People Defrauded in 1800 27 — 30 First Fiction. That the Union was Carried against the consent of the Irish People ... ... 27 All the Roman Catholics in favour of the Union ... ... ... ... 27, 28 Absurd Statement by the Younger Grattan 28 ^^r^«^/^zV/Z(^;i. Bribery and Corruption ... ... ... 29 List of Moneys paid to Men who Voted against the Government ... 29, 30 Creation of Peerages ... ... ... •:!o PAGE 17 , , 18 , , 18 . , 18 .. 19 •• 19 .. 20 .. 20 21 .. 21 .. 22 22 22 23 ,.. 23 ^3, 24 ... 24 25 25, 26 26, 27 ^o"- Alleged Failure of the Union Lord Clare on Ireland in 1800 Decline of the Population of Ireland Decline of Population in Agricultural Parts of Great Britain Belfast under the Act of Union Commercial Progress of Ireland The Revenue The Shipping The Excise ... ... ... 31- -36 31, 32 ... To lin 34 ... 34 ... 35 35 ... 35 ... 35 syNOPs/s. IX The Savings Banks The Post Office Savings Banks Housing of the People Education National Schools Consent of the Governed Coercion Acts ... E. That Home Rule has succeeded elsewhere Home Rule in Europe Home Rule in the Colonies ... Home Rule in the United States F. Alleged Land Grievances G. Coercion the Alternative to Home Rule Mr. Gladstone's Bill of 1886— Synopsis of The Separatist Objects of Irish Home Rulers ... Sample Utterances : — Mr. Parnell at Dublin, 1880 Mr. Parnell at Cincinnati, 1880 Mr. W. Redmond in the House of Commons, 1884 Mr. Sexton at Dublin, 1881 Mr. W. O'Brien at Gorey, 1885 Mr. Parnell at Ennis, 1885 Mr. J. Redmond at Chicago, 1886 Home Rule Impracticable... A Scheme of Home Rule Exclusion of the Irish Members Taxation and Representation The North American Colonies Retention of the Irish Members Mr. Gladstone 7'. Mr. Gladstone (on Retention) ... Imperial z/. Local Affairs Federalism Home Rule Not a Final Settlement 35 35 36 36 36 36, 37 • ■• 37 37—39 ... 38 ... 38 38, 39 •.• 39 •.. 39 40—43 43—45 44 44 44 44 44 44 45 45- -52 45. 46 46, 47 48 48 49- -52 49, 50 ... 51 52, 53 ... 53 X part M, THE IRISH LAND QUESTION. Agriculture the Great Irish Industry Agriculture in Ireland mainly Pastoral Small Holdings Rating ... Extent ... The Irish Acre Extent of Uncultivated Land The Hanging Gale History of the Irish Land Question The Famine of 1846-47 The Land Laws prior to 1870 1. The Poor Relief Acts, 1838-43 2. Act for Relief of Destitute Poor, 1848 3. Landlord and Tenant Act of i860 Tenants' Improvements Landlord and Tenant Act, 1870 ... Compensation for Disturbance Compensation for Improvements How Compensation can be Lost Ulster Tenant Right The Bright Clauses Rack-rents ... Griffith's Valuation... Old Increases of Rent Prices in 1852 and 1875 Causes of the Land Act of 188 1 Mr. Gladstone on the Irish Landlords ... 54 55 55, 56 ... 55 56 56 56 57 57, 5S 58, 59 59- -61 . .• 59 * • > 60 60, 61 • * ■ 61 62- -64 62, 63 62, 63 64 64, 65 . . . 65 65, 66 66, 67 67- -69 68 ... 70 70, 71 SVNOFS/S. XI The Land Law (IreLmd) Act, 1881 Fixity of Tenure Fair Rent Misrepresentation of Fair Rent What Tenants are excluded ... Arrears and Fair Rent Judicial Reduction Decline in Prices Reductions vary with Size of Holdings Free Sale Arrears Act, 1882 Land Purchase Act, 1885 Parnellite Misrepresentations of Purchase Act Land Law Amendment Act, 1887 The Real Argument for the Land Act ... Irish versus English Tenants The Parnellites and the Land Acts The Present Position of the Landlord ... Arrears The Rejection of Mr. Parnell's Bill of 1886 Evictions The Law of Eviction ... Facts and Figures of Evictions Evictions in the Abstract Are Irish Evictions Unjust?... The Glenbeigh Evictions The " Plan of Campaign " The Massereene Estate The Ponsonby Estate... The Kingston Estate ... The Luggacurran Estate The O'Grady Estate The Brooke Estate The Vandelcur Estate Summary The Real Cause of the Land Movement Mr. C. S. Parnell at Gal way Mr. T. M. Healy at Boston 113 Mr. T. M. Healy at New Orleans 113 r AGE 71- -81 72 ... 72 73 IZ. 74 ... 74 74, 75 76 n. 78 78- -81 81, 82 82- -84 8+- -86 87= , 88 88 88, , 89 89, , 90 91- -93 94, 95 95 96- •105 96- -98 98- •103 103, 104 ... 104 ... 105 106— 113 107 107, loS io8 109 109, no ... no ... ni 112 113- -116 • • • H3 Xll SVNOPS/S. Rev. Mr. Cantwell in Dublin... Mr. W. O'Brien in Carrick-on-Suir Mr. T. P. O'Connor in St. Louis, U Rev. Eugene Sheehy in New York Dr. J. E. Kenny in Dublin ... Mr. W. O'Brien at Tulla The Irish Fe/on and Michael Davitt The Dublin Corporation The Land-Grabber Savings Banks Summary (Mr. J. Morley) .A I'AGR 114 114 114 114 114 116 116, 117 117, 118 ... 118 COERCION. Coercion — Three-fold Line of Argument... Coercion a Nickname ... Mr. T. P. O'Connor on Liberal Coercion Mr. Parnell on Liberal Coercion A. Necessity for a Crimes Act The Evidence of the Judges Mr. Justice O'Brien in Co. Clare Mr. Justice Lawson in Co. Mayo Mr. Justice O'Brien in Co. Kerry Mr. Justice Johnson in Co. Cork Mr. Justice Murphy in Co. Galvvay Unpunished Crime in 1886 ... Agrarian Outrage in Ireland... Why was Justice Paralysed ?... Witnesses Jurors United Ireland on Jurors Coercion the Alternative to Home Rule Mr. J. E. Redmond on Coercion 12 [ 1 12 I, I .. 12 +— I .. 124, I .. 125, I 126, I .. 127, I 12 7, I 19 20 20 21 27 22 [21 [21 [22 [22 26 25 26 27 28 28 SYNOPS/S. XllI B. The Crimes Act of 1887 Its Provisions ... Parnellite Fictions about the Crimes Act 1. New Offences ... 2. The Law of Conspiracy 3. Public Meetings 4. Newsvendors ... 5. Incompetent Courts ... 6. The Right of Appeal ... 7. Trades' Union Offences The Crimes and Scotch Law... 1. Preliminary Investigation 2. Summary Jurisdiction 3. Change of Venue 4. Proclamation of Districts Justice of the Crimes Act Mr. Gladstone's Coercion of 1882 Mr. Parnell's Coercion Bill ... The Results of the Crimes Act Table of Crime for 1886-87 Table of Agrarian Crimes Table of Cases of Boycotting Outrages in Clare and Kerry from 1877 to 1888 G. The Administration of the Law in Ireland... Four Parnellite Pleas ... Parnellite Methods of Dealing with Crimes Act Cases Parnellite Fictions about Coercion ... The Mandeville Fiction... The Mitchelstown Fiction The " Brave Little Girl" Fiction The Real Coercion Agrarian Murders Official Returns of Agrarian Crime ... Boycotting, Offences for which it is Inflicted What is Boycotting .? The Initiation of Boycotting Boycotting still the Parnellite Policy ... Mr. T. W. Rolleston on Boycotting PAGE 128-135 128 131 I"il, 1^2 132 132 132 n,2 132 133, 134 133 133, 134 134 ... 134 ... 135 135- -138 ... 138 138, 139 138 138 ... 138 ... 139 139- -148 140, 141 141- -143 143- -148 143- -146 146, 147 147, 148 148 148, 149 '49, 150 150 150, 151 ... 151 ... 152 152 153 XIV 5 YNOPSIS. Mr. Gladstone on Boycotting 154 Report of the Cowper Commission on Boycotting 154, 155 Cases of Boycotting 155 Gladstonian Speeches about Coercion i55) '5^ Respect for the Law a Radical Doctrine 157 SUPPLEMENTAL. The Parnellites . 158- -163 Their Literature . 158 — 160 Their Speakers i6r, 162 Mr. John O'Connor, M.P. . 161 Mr. John Dillon, M.P . 161 Mr. T. D. Sullivan, M.P. . 162 Mr. W. O'Brien, M.P 162 Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P. . 162 163 List of Useful Books . 163 164 Conclusion ... 164 The SPEAKER'S Hand-book ON The Irish Question. HOME RULE. Definition of Home Rule. The phrase Home Rule will be used invariably in these pages to denote any scheme or policy which involves the establish- ment of a Parliament in Ireland, together with an Executive Government responsible to that Parliament. It wil thus in- clude alike the plan proposed by Mr. Gladstone in 1886 — of which a full account is given — and any other scheme under which the control of law and of the judges would be transferred from Imperial to Irish hands. It will alike include any plan under which the Irish Members of Parliament would be either excluded from or retained at Westminster — a subject dealt with in its proper place — or under which the United Kingdom would become a union of federated States. ■ Home Rule not Local Government. It will often be the duty of a speaker to imjirers on his audiences the necessity of clearness of view on this subject. The question of Home Rule has no relation whatever to the question of Local Government. The events of the present year demonstrate this thoroughly. Every county and every large town in England and Wales is now enabled to control a 15 2 THE SPEAKER S HAND-BOOK large proportion of its local affairs. Yorkshire, Devonshire, Liverpool, Birmingham, and many other places, will henceforth be areas of local administration. All possess Local Govern- ment, but none possess Home Rule ; for not one of them will have a Cabinet or Prime Minister for itself, nor a set of judges for itself, distinct from the judicial system of the rest of England. This distinction is most important, for it at once enables a speaker to put an end to the use of ambiguous phrases. People write and talk of letting Ireland "manage her own affairs," or they speak of " Lish autonomy;" whenever they do, it is a sure sign either that they possess no clear ideas on the subject, or that they wish to confuse the minds of their hearers. Home Rulers ask for something for Ireland absolutely different from that " management of her own affairs " which now belongs to Lancashire, for example. If any doubt is felt on that point it will be at once dispelled by the citation of the following : — Mr. John Dillon, M.P., on Home Rule and Local Government. Speaking at Inverness on November 17th, 1887, Mr. John Dillon, M.P., was asked the following questions, to which he gave the subjoined replies :— Question I. — Keeping in view that both sides in politics in England and Scotland not only desire but insist on decentra- lisation, and a very large aid comprehensive scheme of Local Self-Government, would you not be willing to accept of such a scheme for Ireland also, to see how it worked, with power to im- prove and develop it by degrees, as circumstances might require? Ansiver I. — Certainly not, because I do not think that any scheme short of the Bill of Mr. Gladstone would work good in Ireland, and such a proposal as this would work a great deal of mischief and make the settlement of the question more difficult. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 3 Queslion 11. — Assuming, but not admitting, that the Irish Party do not wish to encroach upon Imperial jurisdiction, do you assert that the Irish people, armed by the Legislature with a full and generous power of local management, cannot obtain the same degree of peace and freedom of action as othei civilised communities enjoy ? Ansivcr 11. — I certainly do assert it, because one fun- damental condition we require is that the administration of the law in Ireland shall be under the control of the representatives of Ireland as well as the making of the laws in Ireland. No system of Local Government will get us that. These frank admissions of Mr. Dillon may at once be taken to decide the matter. Arguments for Home Rule. The speaker who is called on to address a public meeting is obliged to keep continually before his mind the leading arguments advanced by the supporters of Home Rule. He will meet these arguments not only in the speeches of op- ponents, but also in questions and interruptions from the audience. It is therefore necessary in this Hand-book to enumerate the chief lines of thought and argument adopted by those Home Rulers who are willing to think and argue on this branch of the question, and to state the chief rephes to each. The leading — if not all the — arguments advanced in favour of Home Rule for Ireland maybe grouped under the following heads : — [a] That Home Rule is demanded by a majority of the Irish people, [i;] That England has governed Ireland shamefully in the past, and ought to make amends, [c] That the Irish people were cheated and robbed of their inherent rights in iSoo by the Act of Union. 4 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK [d] That the Legislative Union has been a failure. [e] That a policy similar to that of Home Rule has been elsewhere successful. [k] That certain grievances exist in connection with the land question. [c] That what is called " Coercion " is the only alternative to Home Rule. Each of these arguments must be met by an answer dealing with actual facts, and they will now be taken in order. A.— THAT HOME RULE IS DEMANDED BY A MAJORITY OF THE IRISH PEOPLE. The Home Rule case in this matter is generally put in the form of a syllogism, which to Home Rulers appears quite irresistible. The argument is this : — Majorities should have the form of government they desire. The majority of the Irish people desire Home Rule. Therefore the majority of the Irish people should have Home Rule. The truth or falsehood of this conclusion depends entirely upon an assumption underlying the first or major proposition of this argument. It is not true that all majorities should have the form of government they desire. The matter can best be tested thus. Would the majority of the inhabitants of Yorkshire or of Inverness-shire have the right to govern itself? To that question the answer is obvious. 'Yes, 'as regards Local Government; "No," as regards Home Rule. It is therefore quite plain that if the answer in the case of Ireland is to be different from that in the case of Yorkshire or of Inverness shire, it must only be because Ireland stands on a different footing frcm these counties. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 5 This, of course, is what is asserted by Home Rulers. They say, "There is no analogy between Yorkshire (for example) and Ireland, for Yorkshire is only a part of the larger unit England, while Ireland is itself a unit." In other words, the people of Yorkshire are Englishmen, and must sink or swim with England ; but there is a separate Irish people. It is, of course, possible that a speaker may meet with people who will urge that Yorkshire, for example, would be entitled to a separate Parliament and Executive if the majority of her members should demand it. The present writer has often met with such. They can be easily refuted by pointing out that if a single English county would be entitled to separate treatment on demand of a majority of its electors, the same could not be refused to a separate Irish county, and that, therefore, Antrim would be entitled to refuse Home Rule. It will, however, certainly be found that nineteen Home Rulers out of twenty will maintain that Ireland is entitled to separate treatment, because a majority of what is termed the Irish nation demands it. To this the Unionist answer is two-fold, and is as follows :— 1. Assuming that there is an "■Irish nation,^' the argument is utterly unsomid. Even Home Rulers do not believe that the majority of the Irish nation has a right to choose its oivn form of government : and 2. It is nonsense to talk about the " Irish nation " /// face oj the historical fact that^ just as there are three nations in the island of Great Britain, there are also tivo nations in Ireland. I. It cannot be denied that all Home Rulers base the right of Ireland to ask for Home Rule on the ground that Ireland is a nation. " Irf:land a Nation " is the toast at every Irish Nationalist banquet, whether in Ireland or America. But what are the rights of a nation ? If Ireland be a nation she is certainly entitled to the rights 6 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK of a nation. She is entitled to the rights of France, or Germany, or the United States. These rights obviously include the following : — [a] The right to choose her own form of government, and to say whether it shall be monarchical or republican. [li] The right to separate from Great Britain altogether, if she chooses, either now or at any time. [c] The right to her own army and navy and foreign policy. [d] The right to have colonies of her own, if she can get them \ and [e] The right to absolutely control her own trade and taxation. These are certainly the rights of nations ; but the curious thing is that there is not a single Gladstonian Home Ruler to be found who pretends for an instant that Ireland is entitled to a single one of the national rights we have specified. Not a single one of them believes in the national rights of Ireland. There are, indeed, some men who do. The extreme American Fenian section do believe in these national rights of Ireland — a fact which shows that, so far as this branch of the subject is concerned, they, and they alone, are the logical Home Rulers. Home Rulers sometimes try to turn the flank of this argument by urging that Ireland is really a nation, but that no difficulty arises in this matter because she is content to waive those particular national rights which we have specified, and perhaps some others. This contention does not touch the fact that if Ireland be really a nation, she is entitled, either now or at any future time, to claim these rights. No English or Scotch Home Ruler will base his argument for Home Rule on such a position. It may, however, be urged that what has been said is a dis.pute about words. Scotland and Wales, it may be said. ON THE /K/Sn QUEST/O.y. "J liave no such rights, and yet they are nations — in the sense at all events that they are distinct nationalities from England. It must be pointed out at once that this consideration does not affect the contention, which is, that national rights are no argument for Home Rule. If Ireland, or Scotland, or Wales is entitled as a nation or nationality to demand Home Rule, she is, by virtue of the very same authority, entitled any day to claim separation. Nobody, in short, can with reason claim Home Rule for Ireland on the ground of her nationhood, and yet contend that the same nationhood would not give her a claim to separation. 2. Unionists further contend that there is no such thing as *' the Irish nation." They say that in any sense in which there is an Irish nation, there are two Irish nations. It will be conceded by all thinking men that this is of the essence of the entire question. If there be not one, but two Irish nationalities, it is open for people to argue that both ought to remain subject to one Imperial Parliament ; or that each nationality should have its own Parliament. It is not open to anybody to say that a Parliament should be given only to one nationality, and that by its instrumentality the other nationality should also be governed. Two important questions must there- fore be at once answered, and they are these : — -i. What are the marks and signs of a nation ? 2. Has Ireland these marks and signs ? The Marks and Signs of a Nation. It is pretty clear that the things that distinguish one nation from another are after all limited. Probably the following is a complete list:— (i) Geographical Position; (2) Historical Growth ; (3) Distinct Origin ; (4) Language ; (5) Religion ; and (6) Possession of Distinct Ideas and Habits. It is practic- ally impossible to think of any other essentials which ought to be taken into account— indeed, some of the subjects specified 8 THE speaker'' S HAND-BOOK overlap others. For example, distinct origin or race involves to a large extent diversity of language. Now the Unionist contention is that, judged by any of these indications, the case for a single separate Irish nationality utterly breaks down. There is, however, every reason, judging by the same tokens, to conclude that there exist side by side in Ireland two distinct nationalities. Let us take these different indications in turn. Has Ireland a Distinct Nationality? Geographical Position. — It is quite clear that this will not help the Home Rule argument. Great Britain is one island, and Ireland is undoubtedly another. So far, there may be an indication of a possibly distinct nationality. But this is of no use whatever, unless it can be maintained that in one island there is only one nationality, and that quite distinct from the nationality or nationalities in the other. In the island of Great Britain, though as an island it is only one, there are three nationalities — the English, the Scotch, and the Welsh. Unless, therefore, it can be proved that there is only one nationality in Ireland, the geographical argument for Home Rule is worthless. Historical Growth. — Have the facts of history made Ireland a nationality? By no means. Scotland they have made a nation. For centuries Scotland was a separate kingdom. She had her own king and constitution ; she made her own laws ; she sent her own ambassadors to foreign countries ; she had her own army and navy ; above all, she had her own independent national life, and her own capital. Some of these things may be true of Wales, but certainly not of Ireland. When the English first entered Ireland, Ireland was not one kingdom, but several ; in no real sense (as will be seen in a subsequent section, pp. i8, 19) did Ireland ever make her own laws, Ireland never sent out a foreign embassy, nor had she ever an army or navy, a distinct national existence, or indeed a capital. So much for the purely historical argument. O^V THE IRISH QUESTION. 9 Distinct Origin. — Many people, liowever, think that Ireland has a separate existence as a distinct national unit because the Irish are a different race from the English. In the first place, it must at once be pointed out that race proves nothing ; for, on the one hand, half a dozen races may often make one nation, and, on the other hand, one race may make half a dozen nations. No one doubts that France is one nation ; though there is far more race-difference between an inhabitant of Brittany, an inhabitant of Normandy, and an inhabitant of Provence, than there is between English, Scotch, Irish, and AV^elsh. On the other hand, Normans, Saxons, and Danes, who have gone to make up the English, have also made up the American nation, which in its turn consists of English, Irish, Germans, Dutch, Swedes, and Negroes. For- getting all this, however, and assuming that race will make a difference, it must never be forgotten that the larger number of the so-called Irish people are Anglo-Saxon. Thoughtless and inaccurate people speak sometimes of their Celtic origin ; but when they do, it only displays absolute ignorance. We cite as proof of our statement an authority to whom all Home Rulers should submit, namely, Mr. Gladstone, in words spoken not three years ago, but since he became a Home Ruler himself. Speaking at Liverpool during the crisis of the iS86 election he used these words : — - Mr. Gladstone on the Irish Rack. "Are you aware, probably many of you are, that of the population of Ireland by far the greater part is of British descent?" {Daily News, June 26th, 1886.) And by " British " descent Mr. Gladstone clearly meant, if not Anglo-Saxon, at least Anglo-Scotch. For as an illustration of his contention he proceeded to point out that Tippcrary — in his opinion, the county which P'ngland had found, most troublesome — owed its population to English soldiers of the past. Language. — Language is certainly a great indication of 10 THE speaker's H AND- BOOK nationality. It is at present possessed by Wales, but not by Ireland. Only a small minority of Irishmen speak Irish. In fact, English is the language of the natives of Ireland, just as it is of the natives of Great Britain, Religion. — As far as religion comes into the matter at all, it would point to the existence not of one but of two Irish peoples. Coniiniaiity of Ideas. — It may indeed be urged that in Ireland there is a community of habits and sympathies alien from the English or Scotch communities. That is perfecdy true; but as an argument for Home Rule it is at once destroyed by the fact that in Ireland there are two communities, each of alien habits and sympathies from the other. Minorities must Yield to Majorities. When the Home Ruler is forced to recognise the existence of a second Irish community, he always tries to escape from his difficulty by saying, " There may be a second Irish community, but it is only a minority, and must yield to the majority." Now, as this is said every day, it is necessary to point out clearly wherein its fallacy lies. The Whole Question of Majorities Depends on Area. Whenever we speak of a majority we must mean a majority existing in some area. The Home Ruler says, "The people in the north-east of Ireland must yield, for they are a minority." Strange to say, the Unionist says, "The Irish community must yield, for it is a minority, and the majority of the United Kingdom must rule." The question then is, Of what area do we speak ? In Great Britain tlie English are in a vast majority when compared with the Scotch or Welsh, or with both put together. Are the Scotch and U'elsh therefcre to give way ? It must at once be conceded even by Scotch Home Rulers that if the 4,000,000 persons who live in Scotlandwere nowdwell- ON THE IRISH QUESTION. II ing among tlie 25,000,000 who inhabit England, they would have no claim for Home Rule at all, but, being a minority, would have to yield to the English majority. Any claim Scotch or Welsh have to separate treatment must depend on this — that while a small minority of the population of Great Britain, there is, notwithstanding, a part of Great Britain where, instead of being a minority, they are and have been for ages a majority. This is exactly the consideration which Unionists apply to Ireland. It is perfectly true that over the largest part of Ireland a certain community predominates. It is equally true that over a smaller part a smaller community predominates. The con- dition of Ireland is exactly analogous to that of Great Britain. As between English and Scotch in the one island it is not a case of majority and minority, but of two distinct communities, each a majority in its own sphere, so in Ireland it is a case not of majority and minority, but of two distinct majorities. The second Irish community — the community, that is, which returns men like Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P., and Colonel Saunderson, M.P., to Parliament — is distinguished from the other community, (i) by a difference in history, (2) by a difference in habits and ideas, (3) by a difference in religion, but (4) lastly, most important, and most frequently forgotten of all, in that it inhabits a different part of Ireland, in which it is numerically supreme. In short, it possesses exactly those same marks of distinction which separate Englishmen from Scotchmen, or Englishmen from Irishmen. If these marks of being a separate people are of any force as arguments for the establishment of a Parliament in Dublin, they are all cciually valid for a Parliament in Belfast. Do THE Loyalists Want a Second Parliamknt? It is sometimes urged in reply that the Unionist representa- tives from the North of Ireland want no second Parliament in, say, Belfast. Let there be no misapprehension at all on this point. They want no Parliament in Ireland at all, but they 12 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK have unmistakably indicated what they as another community do not want, viz., to be governed by a Parliament set up to gratify the community which is not a majority in their part of Ireland. Their wishes may be summed in one phrase : — They will not have their allegiance transferred from Westminster to Dublin. The Question of Ulster. A speaker in Great Britain will often find himself confronted by a well-known Home Rule argument. It will be said, " Oh, Ulster joins with the rest of Ireland in asking for Home Rule. There are 17 Nationalist members from Ulster, and only 16 Unionist members." To this there are two answers. The first is this : that the majority is apparent and not real. The second, which is abso- lutely conclusive, relates to the past history of the Ulster Plantation. 1. The Nationalist majority in Ulster would never exist at all, only for an anomalous distribution of the seats in Ulster. In that province there are 33 electoral divisions, each returning one member, while the average number of voters is 8, 000 per constituency. Two small boroughs, Londonderry and Newry, possessing only 3,800 and 2,100 voters respectively, are, how- ever, allowed to exist and give the Nationalists their majority. The important fact, however, is that at the last General Election (1886) 72,704 electors in Ulster voted for Home Rule, and 88,865 against it. This by itself points to a grossly faulty condition of the representation, 2. There is, however, a still stronger line of argument. The second community in Ireland, as we have called the great Unionist body of North-East Ulster, has a separate historical origin. It owes its existence to the Scotch and English colonies, founded for high imperial considerations, in North- East Ulster. The men who form it are the sons and descend- ants of the original colonists, and within the limits of the ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 1 3 original colonies they are in an overwhelming majority. Donegal was never a " planted " county, nor were Cavan and Monaghan thoroughly and entirely colonised. When these counties are subtracted, the area of the real Plantation is found. The real strength of the Unionist position lies not in the Ulster of the geographer, but in the Ulster of the historian — that is, in this " Plantation." Within this, its own legitimate sphere, Unionist opinion is easily supreme. The following figures demonstrate it : — CONSTITUEXCIES AND MeMRERS. No. of Constituencie'^. Home Rulers. Unionists, Ulster 33 17 16 I'iantation 26 10* 16 Votes Givex at Last Election. Fur Home Rule. Unionist. Unionist Majority Ulster ... 72,704 88,865 16.161 Plantation 51,188 80,947 29.759 Hence, then, arises the Unionist appeal to the honesty of the electorate. The contention is as follows : — Home Rule need not be granted in deference to any supposed national rights, or in deference to the wishes of the majority of the inhabitants of Ireland. But if we cannot convince you of that, if you still think you must yield to one Irish community, you are also bound to yield to the other, and leave it free, (i) either to join a Dublin Parliament, (2) to continue its representation at Westminster, or (3) to have its own government. It is not to be foruotten that even Daniel O'Connell admitted the existence of two Irish nation.s, and that he spoke on April 22nd, 1834, the following words: — ^"^ Down to the year 1614 two distinct independi'Jit nations ivere recognised in Ireland'' No one can contend they have amalgamated since. ♦ Including Londondtrry and Newry. 14 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK THfc; Constitution of the Irish Majority and Minority. There is another line of argument fairly open to Unionist speakers. It is that which points to the constitution of the Irish majority, and, if it does nothing else, it helps to point to the existence of two communities. The following facts may be borne in mind : — 1. At the General Election of 1886 exactly half the Irish electorate voted for Home Rule, but no more. The other half voted ai^ainst it or abstained. 2. The names of all the principal commercial men in Ireland are conspicuous by their absence from every list of Home Rulers that has ever seen the light. Mr. Parnell is followed neither by bankers, brewers, millers, timber merchants, linen merchants, cloth mer- chants, stockbrokers, shipbuilders, engineers, monster shopkeepers, booksellers, or hotel-keepers. A few solitary names alone can be found from such quarters. 3. The only working-men in Ireland who correspond at all in their habits and methods of life and employ- ment to those in Endish and Scotch industrial centres are overwhelmingly against Home Rule. The city of Belfast has its electorate almost entirely com- posed of such working-men, and its vote at the last election was as follows — for Home Rule, 6,460; against, 17,861. Majority against, 11,401. 4. The vast majority of the educated classes are against Home Rule, while Mr. Parnell is supported by thousands of voters who can neither read, nor write. To such an extent is this the case that out of every 6 electors in Ireland, one is unable to mark his cross on a balloting paper. At the last General Election out of 194,994 voters 36,722 were illiterate. In England and Wales, on the contrary, out of 2,416,272 voters, there were only 38,587 illiterates, or only ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 1 5 one voter in 62. Wherever there are many il- literates there is a ParnelHte member returned by an overwhehning majority. Thus the one-fourth of the County Donegal which returns Mr. Swift MacNeill, M.P., has as many of these poor ignorant voters as the whole kingdom of Scotland. The three Unionist members for Belfast, representing 23,000 voters, have 1,500 illiterates in their divisions; but Mr. Sexton, M.P., the fourth member, a Nationalist, represents 8,600 voters, of whom 1,852 are illiterate. 5. There are 1,173,600 Protestants in Ireland; but there are not 5,000 Protestant Home Rulers, including women, infants, and lunatics. 6. The Church of Ireland (Protestant Episcopal) numbers 639,500 members, and its General Synod has unani- mously declared against Home Rule. 7. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, numbering 470,700, has with equal unanimity declared against Home Rule. 8. The governing bodies of the Methodist, Baptist, and Non-subscribing Presbyterians have also with practical unanimity protested against Home Rule.* 9. The members of the Chambers of Commerce in both Belfast and Dublin have also protested ; as have the members of the Board and Senate of the University of Dublin. These considerations will, at least, appeal to the minds of those who hold that majorities should be weighed as well as counted. * The presentation in November, 1888, of an address to Lords Salisbury and Hartington showed that out of 990 non-Iipiscopal ministers in Ireland only eight were Home Rulers. It may also be pointed out that the Protestant com- munity in Ireland is sometimes assumed to be "Orange," but it includes 100,000 adult Liberals, while the members of the Orange Society number less than 50,000. On the other hand, the Protestant Home Rulers are so few that they are unable to hold [lublic meetings without the assistance of a Roman Catholic audience. 1 6 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK B.— ENGLAND HAS GOVERNED IRELAND SHAME- FULLY IN THE PAST, AND OUGHT TO MAKE AMENDS BY GRANTING HOME RULE. This argument, in one form or another, is continually making its appearance. For it there is one answer, and that will be found in an accurate knowledge of the leading facts of Irish history. These leading facts will now be placed in convenient form for the benefit of inquirers. It will probably be advisable to preface them with an accurate list of the leading dates : — ■ Important Dates in Connection with the History of Ireland. A.n. 1 170. Invasion of the Anglo-Norman barons. 1367. Statute of Kilkenny. 1376. Anglo-Irish clergy and laiiy summoned to West- minster. 1390. English Pale limited to four counties! 1494. Poynings' Law. 1 5 So. Ireland invaded by Spain. 1593. Tyrone demands the expulsion of the settlers. 159S. The English obliged to fly. 1 60 1-3. Lord Mountjoy conquers Ireland. 1611-15. Plantation of Ulster. 1632. Strafford becomes Viceroy. 1 641. The Great Rebellion. 1650. Cromwell subdues Ireland. 1 66 1. Charles II. passes an Act of Settlement. 1687. Tyrconnel Viceroy. Ruin of the Protestants. 16S9-96. Arrival of William III. Penal Laws. 1707. Ireland begs for a Union like that passed this year with Scotland. 1782. Grattan's Parliament. ON 'THE IRISH QUESTION. ly 1793. Admission of Roman Catholics to the Franchise. 1798. Rebellion. 1800. Act of Union passed. 1829. Roman Catholic Emancipation. 1846-7. Irish Famine. 1848. Rebellion. 1864. Appearance of the Fenians. 1868. Reform Act. 1869. Irish Church Act. 1870. Landlord and Tenant Act. 1877-80. Series of very bad seasons. 1881. Land Law (Ireland) Act. 1882. Arrears Act. 1885. Land Purchase Act. 1887. Land Act. Important Points in Irish History. It is by no means intended in the succeeding pages to write an) thing approaching a history of Ireland ; all that will be attempted is to give information which will correct popular errors and every-day fallacies about that history. The Kingdom of Ireland. In 1 170, in the reign of Henry II., certain English barons undertook to conquer Ireland. They found there five king- doms, but no one Celtic State called Ireland, Hibernia, Erin, or anything else. Ireland was not a kingdom till England made her one. // is often said that England has oppressed Ireland for 700 years, but from 1170 until at least 1600 i'^ngland did not own or interfere with three-fourths of Ireland. From 1 1 70 for many centuries Ireland was practically divided into two parts — one inhabited by English colonists, and the other, which was much larger, by tribes who had no central or settled government. Henry VHI. constituted Ireland a kingdom. C 1 8 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK Ireland and Civilisation. Ireland had been tlie seat of an ancient civilisation. Many men of considerable learning, culture, and piety in- habited her monasteries in very early times. Long before a single Englishman ever planted foot in Ireland, that civilisation died utterly. It is as well to recollect that everything of law, politics, and freedom Ireland possesses has come to her from without — from England. The Early Population of Ireland. As has been already pointed out, there is reason to believe the majority of the people of Ireland to be of Anglo-Saxon descent. This, however, is of course only true now; it could not be true of the days before the English entered Ireland. Sir John Davies, however, who was Attorney-General of Ireland in the time of James I., emphatically tells us it was so then ; and Mr. Gladstone, at Liverpool, in June, 1886, quoted his words with approval. Uut it is a fatal and popular blunder to imagine that even before the arrival of the English there was a Celtic State in Ireland. The Danes had settled already on the east, and the Spaniards on the west. So little was Ireland the country of the Celtic Irish that hardly a single town of importance in Ireland had a Celtic origin. The Danes built Dublin, Drogheda, Wexford, and Waterford ; the Normans built Cork and Limerick ; the Spaniards built Galway ; while Derry and Belfast are the creation of English and Scotch settlers. The English Pale. The part of Ireland inhabited by the first settlers Avas called the English Pale. In the days of John this " Pale " was far less than half the country. In Ulster, Connaught, and the non-maritime parts of Munster and Leinster the Irish were left unmolested. In the reign of Richard II. this "Pale" consisted of only four counties — Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and OiV THE IRISH QUES-JIO.y. 1 9 Louth— or less than one-tenth of Ireland, the other nine-tenths being in the hands of the non-English population. Home Rule Nonsense about Invaders. A great deal of nonsense is often talked about the English settlers in Ireland being invaders and interlopers. Of course they were, but that does not afford any reason whatever for clearing their descendants out of the country. The Celtic Irish themselves were once interlopers, who so treated their predecessors in occupation that hardly any trace of them is to be found. Besides, if this is to be the rule, why confine it to Ireland ? On such a theory the English should not only retire from Ireland, but from England, which they once took from the ancient Britons, whose descendants are still living in Wales. The entire white people, both English and Irish, who live in the United States ought, on that principle, to send all American negroes back to Africa and come to Europe themselves, so as to leave America to the Red Indians, to whom it once undoubtedly belonged. The Old Irish Parliament. The old Irish Parliament was, in its origin, simply a Parliament of the English settlers in Ireland. It had no connection whatever in early days with the non-English popu- lation. The Statute of Kilkenny will illustrate this conclusively ; it was passed by the so-called "Irish" Parliament in 1367, and under it English subjects in Ireland were forbidden to intermarry with the native Irish under the penalties of Higli Treason. It is interesting to recollect that in 1376 Edward III. summoned the Irish clergy and laity {i.e., the English clergy and laity in Ireland, whom we shall henceforth call the Anglo-Irish) to send deputies to the Parliament at West- minster, which they did. C 2 20 THti. SPEAKERS llAXD-BOOK PoYNiNGs' Law. To understand Poynings' I^aw, which is ahnost always spoken of now as a piece of Enghsh oppression, it must be remembered that early in the reign of Henry VIT. the impostor Lambert Simnel appeared. He was crowned king in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and he forthwith convened a Par- liament which wreaked vengeance on all his opponents. It was a Parliament of certain Anglo-Irish and others who followed him, and it proceeded to punish those who remained loyal to Henry. When Simnel was crushed, the Act called Poynings' Law, from the Deputy (or Lord-Lieutenant) of the day, was passed. •It was passed, not to enslave the native Irish, with iv/ioin it had nothing to do, but at the request of the Anglo-Irish, to protect them from such a Lord-Deputy as had been the Earl of Kildare, who had connived at Simnel's coronation. The little English colony begged for the Act, in order that no laws might in future be passed by a Viceroy without the knowledge of the Sovereign. Hence the consent of the English Privy Council was for long regarded as necessary to measures passed by the Anglo-Irish. Ireland under Elizabeth. Ireland would, perhaps, never have been reduced by English troops but for the Pope and Philip II. of Spain. In 1579 they despatched a force to Ireland to strike at Elizabeth. The Earl of Desmond joined them, carrying with him the native Irish. They were, however, utterly routed by Lord (Jrey de Wilton, Desmond's estates were forfeited, and a Parliament sitting in Dublin allotted them to English settlers. These settlers were called "undertakers," because they undertook to reside on the lands. In 1593 fresh troubles arose, this time in the north, when Hugh O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone, demanded the expulsion of all English settlers and officials, and looked for aid to Spain. He roused the native Tri-;h, with whom many of O.V THE IRISH QUE ST/ OX. 2 1 the earlier settlers joined, the rebellion became widespread, and Elizabeth's "undertakers" had to lly. In 1601 the Spaniards arrived, but Lord Mountjoy completely defeated them, and reduced the whole country. The year 1603, the same that witnessed the union of the crowns of England and Scotland, saw the first conquest of all Ireland. The Reformation in Ireland. It is possible — and, indeed, likely — that but for religion there would not now be an Irish Question. Conquerors and con- quered have existed at all times and in all countries, and, save where some powerful disintegrating element was at work, such as a religious difference, they have usually coalesced. The Reformation, however, brought a new quarrel into Ireland. The earlier English settlers remained Roman Catholic, and amalgamated easily with the native Irish, becoming, in the language of the old proverb, " More Irish than the Irish them- selves ; " but the later settlers, being Protestants, never so amalgamated. The old quarrel was superseded by another. i_THE Plantation of Ulster. This was the most memorable feature of the reign of James I. On the death of Elizabeth much opposition was shown to James, and especially in Ulster. Accordingly, to check rebellion, the lands of certain northern counties were taken by the Crown, and three-quarters of a million of acres were granted on favourable terms to settlers. The citizens of London received large grants in the county of Derry, and made Uerry city — henceforth Londonderry — the leading town of the extreme north. Protestant colonists from Scotland and England were encouraged to settle in 161 1, and again on a large scale in 161 5. 22 THE SPEAKERS HAND-DOOK Strafford in Ireland. Witli the odious English poHtics of the Earl of .Strafford we have nothing to do, but he undoubtedly benefited Ireland. He increased the revenues, improved trade, and administered justice ; most important of all, he mainly founded the Ulster linen trade, bringing over flax-seed from Holland and en- couraging Flemish workmen. His action towards the woollen trade was not equally beneficent. Like all other Englishmen of tlie period, he thought he saw in it a rival to English trade. The Great Rebellion. When the strong hand of Strafford was removed, rebellion appeared. To a large extent it was a war of religion, for religion had consolidated the native Irish. On all sides they rose against the settlers, whose extermination seemed certain, as Charles I., then in difficulties with his Parliament; could give them no succour. Men, women, and children perished in terrible massacres, which were not paralleled in English history until the Indian Mutiny. Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell crushed this rebellion. The Irish had inflicted fearful cruelties on the settlers, and Cromwell now punished them with fearful cruelty. Yet in one respect it was a merciful policy, for his unsparing severity at Drogheda and Wexford at once caused all opposition to subside. But Cromwell's legislative arrangements were even more important than his campaign. He at once saw that a Legislative Union was a necessity to the peace of Ireland, so he provided that the AngloTrish should send thirty representatives to Westminster. In Cromwell's view the entire Irish difficulty was religious, so he resolved to drive the Roman Catholics back to Connaught and to Clare. The broad stream of the Shannon was to be the border. Thousands of them went abroad, and we subse- ON THE IR/SH QUEST/ ON. 23 qucntly find their names in the record of foreign military service. Cromwell planted their confiscated lands with setders drawn from every class and creed in Great Britain. Tipperary, for example, was peopled by his soldiers; and the Joyce country in Galway takes its name from the family of one of Cromwell's troopers. When Cromwell died, more than half the population of Ireland must have been Anglo-Saxon by descent. It was, indeed, so in the reign of James I., according to Sir John Davies, before a single Cromwellian could have settled in the country Ireland under Charles II. Charles II. modified the Cromwellian policy by an Act of Settlement passed in 1661 by a Dublin Parliament. This body restored their lands to all former owners who had not taken part in the rebellion and massacres of 1641 ; yet more than two-thirds of the land remained in the hands of the Protestant minority, who were probably not more than one- fifth of the population. Worse still was the fact that the Roman Catholics were exiled from all share in the government of their native land. It is, indeed, absolutely true that the majority of the Irish people, whether of Celtic or Anglo-Saxon race, had to submit to a tyranny from the minority, on whom the sole restraining influence was the Imperial Government. Ireland under James II. James II. proceeded to reverse all this. His object, unfortunately, was not to preserve an equal balance between the two communities, but to make the Roman Catholics supreme in Ireland as in England. In 1687 he made the Earl of Tyrconnel Viceroy, and the work began. The Protestant militia was deprived of muskets. All judges and sheriffs were selected from the Roman Catholics. Fear seized the settlers, who were threatened at once with loss of life, liberty, and land. At first they retreated before a great 24 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK popular Roman Catholic outbreak, but at the walls of Derry they rallied and triumphed in the greatest siege of history. "The aim of the popular movement was," writes Mr. J. R. Green, "the ruin of the English settlers. The Act of Settle- ment, on which all property rested, was at once repealed. Three thousand Protestants of name and fortune were massed together in the highest Bill of Attainder the world has ever seen." Seventy-three peers and nearly all the Commons were condemned to death without any trial, simply because they were Protestants. Eighty-five knights and baronets, 83 clergy- men, 22 ladies, and 2,182 esquires were condemned to be butchered by the Roman Catholic Parliament of James II. The Penal Laws. It was little wonder, then, that the Protestant Parliament of William III. took good care to protect itself It adopted two measures : — First, the Penal Laws ; and secondly, it petitioned for a Union. Under the Penal Laws the Roman Catholics of Ireland were rigorously excluded not only from all share in the government of their native land, but from its most important liberties. Writing of the two hostile camps in Ireland, Edmund Burke at a later day said : " One of these bodies was to possess all the franchises, all the property, all the education ; the other was to be composed of hewers of wood and cutters of turf for them." This code was absolutely in itself in- defensible, but two things must always be remembered about it:— 1. It was passed, not by a Westminster, but by a Dublin Parliament. 2. In the Parliaments that passed the Penai Laws there was scarcely a single member whose sufferings at the hands of the other side were not incomparably greater than those he now proposed to inflict, O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. 2$ Ireland fro.m 1700 to 1782. The history of Ireland during the earlier part of the eighteenth century tells us of a desire for a Legislative Union. In 1707 the Dublin Parliament prayed for it, but Queen Anne and her Ministers foolishly closed their ears. They had just in that year assented to a union with Scotland, because they thought a Parliament in that country co-ordinate with the English Parliament was dangerous ; while they thought, as other people have since done, that a siihord'uiafe Parliament in Dublin could do no harm. Both parties in Ireland wanted a union urgently — the Protestants for security, the Roman Catholics to get rid of the Penal Laws. Grattan's Parliament. By 1782 a different state of feeling had grown up among the Protestants. In 1775 the North American States had secured their independence, and this was not without effect on Ireland. Poynings' Law had become a source of offence, as had a statute known as the 6th of George I., by which the English Parliament claimed the right to legislate for Ireland. The Parliament of Anglo-Irish in Dublin, led by Grattan and Flood, demanded independence. Ireland, it was for the first time insisted, had a right to a separate national existence, united to England only by the link of the Crown. The English Ministry yielded, and for the first time in history an absolutely in- dependent Anglo-Irish Parliament sat. It was, of course, exclusively a Protestant Parliament ; but one of its earliest measures was to give Roman Catholics the right to buy free- hold land, to teach in schools, and to educate their children. The following facts about Grattan's Parliament (as it is often now called) must be carefully remembered : — I . It was a legislative assembly without a corresponding Executive. The Irish Parliament could not turn the Irish Government out of office. e 26 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK 2. It could, however, at any time, have paralysed Great Britain by refusing to join in any war in wliich the latter was engaged, or by refusing supplies ; and 3. It could have (as was actually proposed) put prohiliilive duties on British commerce, and provoked a war of tariffs. 4. It quarrelled directly with the British Parliament on the question of the Regency Bill; and a disastrous split was only prevented by the convalescence of George III. In tliis matter it acted in absolute contravention of the laws regulating the connection between the two countries, v.'hich were only " paper guarantees." 5. It admitted Roman Catholics to the franchise, but refused, by 170 to 30, to admit them to Parliament or public offices. 6. It passed in 18 years no less than 54 Coercion Acts, or three per an/mm. 7. Under this Parliament Ireland was, as we shall see later on, reduced to beggary. 8. Matters culminated in the rebellion of 1798, which had its share in intensifying in Ireland the feelings between Protestant and Catholic. It quickly, as of old, became a religious war, and had its share in inducing Pitt to introduce his measure for a Legislative Union. Imperial Government since the Union. How the United Parliament has governed Ireland since iSoo will be apparent to all who read of the Land Legislation passed in the last 20 years {see Part II.). It need only be added here that in 1829 Roman Catholic Emancipation was passed; in 1869 the Irish Church was disestablished, while a National System of Education has been set up by which ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 2/ every child can be educated at the expense of the State ; also that ;/^38,ooo,ooo of public money has been advanced to Ireland for public works, out of which ^7,000,000 has been absolutely forgiven. C— THE IRISH PEOPLE WERE CHEATED OF THEIR NATIONAL RIGHTS THROUGH THE PASSING OF THE ACT OF UNION IN 1800. This argument is one which weighs powerfully with a certain class of individuals. It is as well to state at once that the entire contention depends upon two gross and palpable fictions, which have no historical basis whatever. These fictions are — 1. That the Act of Union was carried in violation of the wishes of the Irish people ; and 2. That the Act of Union was carried by means of bribery and corruption. These absurd fallacies must be dealt with separately. First Fiction. — " Against the Consent of the Irish People." No more impudent perversion of the truth than this can be imagined. In 1800 the enormous majority of the inhabitants of Ireland were in favour of the Act of Union. The entire opposition to the measure came from some of the Protestants, who in all only numbered 800,000 out of 5,000,000. This can be easily understood ; Grattan's Parliament was a Protestant institution by origin and history. On the other hand, almost The Entire Roman Catholic Population was in Favour OF the Act of Union. Proof. Nothing will illustrate this plain historical fact better than the conduct of the Roman Catholic prelates. All 28 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK the Archbishops — DubUn, Armagh, Cashel, and Tuam — were, with their clergy^ in favour of the Union. The entire body of the bishops nnanimously took the same side, taking with them their clergy and the enormously preponderating voice of the laity. Plowden, a Roman Catholic writer, tells us distinctly that this was so, and a glance at the contemporary press will set at rest the doubts of the most suspicious. Practically unanimous petitions went up from the towns of the Catholic West and South. The Roman Catholics of Waterford, of Cork, of Wexford, of Tipperary, of Caliir, of Kilkenny, of Monasterevan, of Longford, of Dundalk, of New Ross, of Limerick, of Roscommon, of Leitrim, and of other places too numerous to name, petitioned for the Union. This fact would perhaps not be doubted but for an absurd statement made by the younger Grattan, and perpetually quoted by Home Rulers — among others, by Mr. Swift McNeill, M.P. The younger Grattan wrote as follows :— " Only 7,000 persons petitioned in favour of the Union, and 110,000 freeholders and 707,000 persons signed petitions against the measure." It is a piece of good fortune that these numbers bear their own absurdity on their face. We shall take two of his numbers. First, there were 74 petitions at least in favour of the Union, and four of them alone — those from Wexford City and the counties of Leitrim, Tyrone, and Roscommon— were signed by 9,330 persons. So the younger Grattan's statement as to those for the Union is simply false. Now for his 707,000 persons who signed against it. \\\ all Ireland in 1800, had the country been unanimous, there were not enough persons. The total population was only 5,000,000. Of these, about half would be children and young persons ; that leaves 2,500,000 adults. Of these, half would be women, and there never has been any pretence that they signed; that leaves 1,250,000. Of these, 250,000 would be Protestants, the remaining 1,000,000 Romt^n Catholics. Now in iSoo not nearly 50 per cent, of ox THE mis 11 QUEST/ON. 29 the Protestants could write, nor nearly 15 per cent, of the Roman Catholics. That would give us, in case all Ireland were unanimous, not more than 275,000 possible signatures against the Union ; while we know for a fact that the Roman Catholic laity were, with their clergy, for it.* Of similar materials are dozens of Home Rule versions of history constructed. Second Fiction. — Bribery and Corruption. Of a similar kind is the talk one hears about bribery and corruption. This accusation is not made, like the last, by inventing falsehoods, but by suppressing facts. It is quite true that _;^i, 260,000 was spent to pass the Act of Union. It is quite true that in those days there existed both in Ireland and England boroughs which were regarded as being the property of their patrons. By the Act of Union this property was abolished, and the owners — as they then were — obtained com- pensation for the loss of their vested interests. Such a thing is happily impossible at present, for now we have no pocket boroughs. It is, however, easy to demonstrate that what happened in 1800 was free from the smallest taint of bribery. Bribery is to give a man money for voting in a particular way. These men, however, got their money — no matter how THEY voted. The Parnellite, who is always denouncing these money payments as bribery, has never yet had the honesty to give the people the benefit of the following list : — • List of Moneys Paid to People who Voted Against THE Act of Union. The Duke of Lcinsler ... ... ... ;^28,ooo The Marquis of Downshire ... ... 52,000 * It may be urged that illiterates signed by making their marks. T'liis can Iiardly be maintained in view of the fact that the bishops and clergy signed on bch.df of their flocks fur the Act of Union ; or in face of the well-known fact ih.it illiterate Irish voters almost invariably vote with their priests. In any case the/(?t7.t about the pe'itions from the West and South are ample. 30 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK Lord Granard , , .. ;^30,000 Lord Belmore 30,000 Lord Lismore 22,500 Lord Charlemont ... 15,000 Lord Kingston 15,000 Lord Arran 15,000 Lord Ludlow 7,500 Lord Belvedere . . . 7>5oo Right Hon. Mr. Ponsor by 15,000 Sir John Parnell ... 7,500 Mr. Tighe 30,000 Sir John Freke 15,000 Mr. La Louche ... 15,000 Mr. Gustavus Lambert 15,000 The Buxton family 15,000 The King family ... 15,000 Mr. Henry Coddington 7,000 The Speaker — a strong opponent — also received 7,500 In all, ^432,000 was voted by Government to the men who voted against the Act of Union. Was this bribery? Nor do the Parnellites ever tell their dupes how Graitan and the Opposition raised a fund of ^100,000 for undisguised bribery on the other side. Creation of Peerages. It is, however, further urged that the Union was obtained by other corrupt means, and notably by a wholesale creation of titles. It should be explained that William Pitt did reward some of his supporters, though, circumstances considered, not so lavishly as even Mr. Gladstone has rewarded his. Most of Pitt's followers, by passing the Act, put an end to their own political existence. Out of 300 members of the Irish House of Commons, only 100 could go to the Imperial Parliament; out of a large House of Irish Peers, only twenty-eight could go to Westminster. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 3 1 Enough has surely been said to enable any one to reply to the preposterous historical arguments of the Home Rule party. [For further information, see " History of the Irish Legislative Union," by T. Dunbar Ingram, LL.D.] D.— THAT THE LEGISLATIVE UNION HAS BEEN A FAILURE. To this it may be answered, in the first place, that it is im- possible to call the Act of Union a failure unless we compare it with what went before. This drives us to an examination of the state of Ireland when Government felt obliged to bring in the Act of Union. Lord Clare on the State of Ireland in iSoo. The following extract from the speech of Lord Clare, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland,, delivered on the loth of February, iSoo, ought to be sufficient evidence of the state of Ireland at the time of the passing of the Act of Union : — " I will now appeal to every dispassionate man who hears me whether I have in anything misstated or exaggerated the calamitous situation of my country, or the coalition of vice and folly which has long undermined her happiness, and at this hour loudly threatens her existence. It is gravely inculcated, I know : ' Let the British Minister leave us to ourselves, and we are very well as we are.' 'We are very well as we are. Gracious God ! of what materials must the heart of that man be composed, who knows the state cf the country, and will Coldly tell us ' we are very well as we are ' ? ' We are very well as we are.' IVe have not three years of redemption from bankruptcy or intolerable taxation, n)r one houf^s security against the renewal of exterminating civil war. ' We are very well as we are.' Look to your statute book — session after session have you been compelled to enact laws of unexampled rigour and novelty to 32 THE SPEAKERS HA.VD-DOOA repress the horrible excesses of the mass of your people ; and the fury of murder and pillage and desolation have so outrun all legislative exertion that you have been at length driven to the hard necessity of breaking down the pale of the municipal law, and putting your country under the ban of military government; and in every little circle of dignity and in- dependence we hear whispers of discontent at the temperate discretion with which it is administered. 'We are very well as we are.' Look at the old revolutionary Government of the Irish Union, and the modern revolutionary Government of the Irish consulate, canvassing the dregs of that rebel democracy for a renewal of popular ferment and outrage to overcome the deliberations of Parliament. 'We are very well as we are.' Look to your civil and religious dissensions — look to the fury of political fiiction, and the torrents of human blood that stain the face of your country, and of what material is that man composed who will not listen with patience and goodwill to any proposition that can be made to him for composing the distractions, and healing the wounds, and alienating the miseries of this devoted nation ? ' We are very well as we are.' Look to your finances, and, I repeal, you have not i-cdcmption fiir three years fi'om public bankruptcy, or a burthen of taxation luhich 7C'iii sink every gentleman of property in the country.''' It is impossible for any man to read this and contend for an instant that the condition of Ireland before the Act of Union was passed was one calculated to give satisfaction to lovers of their country. Home Rulers, however, tell us that the Act of Union has been a failure. When we ask them how they make that out, thty tell us that its failure is detected in the following circum- stances : — 1. The decline of the population of Ireland. 2. l"he failure of Ireland to share in the commercial prosperity of Great Britain. O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. 33 3. The failure of the Union to secure the consent of those who are governed under it. 4. The fact that, since the Act of Union, about 87 " Coercion " Acts have been passed. It is necessary for a speaker to obtain accurate information on each of these points, for on each of them a complete answer is forthcoming. I. The Dfxlixe of the Population of Ireland. The following figures give the census returns for each of the three kingdoms since 1801 : — England and Wales. Scotland. Ireland. I80I I8II •■• 8,392,536 ... 10,164,256 1,608,420 .. 1,805,864 No Government census .till 1821, but population at time of Act of l.'iiion universallj- estimated as •about 5,coo,oco. I82I ... 12,000,236 ■ 2,091,521 . 6,801,827 I83I •■• 13,896,797 .. 2,364,286 • 7,767,401 I84I ••• 15,914,148 2,620,184 • 8,175,124 I85I ... 17,927,609 .. 2,888,742 .. • 6,574,278 I86I ... 20,066,224 .. 3,062,294 • 5,798,967 1871 ... 22,712,266 •■ 3,360,018 ■ 5,412,377 I88I ••• 25,974,439 • •■ 3,735,873 • 5,174,836 Dw these figures show two things distinctly :- -First, diat the population of Ireland is decreasing, while that of Great Britain is increasing ; secondly, that the Act of Union has got nothing whatever to say to this, inasrmich as from 1821 //// 1841, at all events, the population of Ireland increased fust as rapidly as that of the rest of the United Kini:;doni. But every thinking man knows the causes of the decline of the population of Ireland. England and Scotland have ini reased in population simply because of the growth of the great manufacturing centres, which in turn owe their commerce to the coal and iron fields of Great Britain. Ireland has neither 1) 34 THE SPEAKF.R^S HAND-BOOR coal nor iron worth the working, and no commercial centres, save in one part of the country, which always goes to prove the Unionist contention, as we shall presently see. It may be interesting to know, in corroboration of this, that in every purely agricultural part of Great Britain there is also a decrease in population. Counties which are Decreasing in Population. England and Wales. Scotland. Cambridge. Berwick. Dorset. Caithness. Cornwall. Kincardine. Hereford. Kinross. Hunts. Orkney. Rutland. Ross. Salop. Sutherland. Westmoreland. Wigton. Brecon. Cardigan. Montgomery. Pembroke. Radnor. The following facts, however, demonstrate with still greater force that the Act of Union has nothing whatever to say to the decline in the population of Ireland : — Belfast Under the Act of Union. In 1800 the population of Belfast was 25,000. In 1850 ,, ,, ,, 70,000. In 1887 ,, ,, ,, 220,000. Is this also a consequence of the Act of Union ? Belfast has thriven under exactly the same Union and laws as those under which Cork or Limerick decline. At the time of the Act of Union these latter cities were far ahead of it, and it has had no ON THE /R/SH QUEST /ON. 35 privilege whatever since. We must look elsewhere — to the character of the people — for the cause. 2. Commercial Progress iN Ireland. Much that has been said under the previous head is also relevant here. But what are the facts ? The Revenue of Ireland. In 1852 the revenue of Ireland was 4^ millions. In 1885 it was 8 millions. An increase of 77 per cent. ! The Shipping of Ireland. In 1852 the tonnage of shipping entering Irish ports was 5 millions. In 1885 it was 13 millions. An increase of 160 per cent. ! The Excise Duties of Ireland. In 1852 the Excise Duties of Ireland were i^ millions. In 1885 they had grown to 4|- millions. An increase of 200 per cent. ! The Savings Banks of Ireland. In 1849 the amount in these was p^i, 200,000. In 1887 it was ^5,340,000. An increase of 340 per cent. ! The Post Office Savings Banks (Being the popular banks with poorer depositors). In 1870 the amount was only ^583,165. In 1888 it had grown to ^3,128,000. An increase of 450 per cent, in eighteen years ! D 2 36 THE speaker's hand-book The same advance is evident in the material prosperity ot the people. Housing of the People. In 1 84 1 there were 491,278 cabins of the poorest kind. In 1881 there were but 40,665 of these. A decrease of 92 per cent. ! In 1841 there were 304,264 houses of the better class. In 1881 there were 488,968. An increase of 60 per cent. ! Education. In 1 84 1, 28 per cent, of the population (young children excluded) could read and write. In 185 1, 33 per cent. In 1861, 41 per cent. In 187 1, 49 per cent. In 1 88 1, 59 per cent. National Schools. Year. No. of Schools. No. of Pupils. Amount of Grant 1837 1,384 169,548 ^50,000, 1885 , 7,936 1,075,604 814,000. The above figures show conclusively that the prosperity of Ireland has vastly increased since the Act of Union was passed. 3. The Consent of the Governed. This argument is fallacious in assuming that the consent of the Irish alone should determine the Act of Union. But, taking it for what it is worth, there is one obvious answer, and it is this : — The Act of Union has now been in existence for eighty-eight years ; it was undoubtedly passed with the consent of the people of Ireland. The dissatisfaction with it has not taken such intense form or lasted for as long a period as in the ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 37 case of the Act of Union with Scotland in the last century. In the year 1790 it would have been no easy matter to draw up a list of representative Scotsmen of intelligence, worth, or patriotism, who did not hate the Act of Union. It is only 145 years since a Scottish army marched through England. It is only 100 years since Normandy and Brittany were at war with France. In any case Home Rulers propose to govern the Ulster settlement in direct defiance of the consefit of the governed. 4. Coercion Acts Passed since 1800. We have been told that there have been about 87 of these. To this there are two answers : — (i) Grattan's Parliament passed 54 in eighteen years. (2) An Irish Parliament, if now established, would be obliged either {a) to allow the Unionist community in Ulster to ignore its allegiance, or [b) to coerce that community. It is no objection to the present state of things to urge that it necessitates ^' Coercion," unless it can be shown that under altered circumstances there will be no more " Coercion." [For the complete facts of this branch of the subject, see Part III.] E.— THAT A POLICY SIMILAR TO THAT OF HOME RULE HAS BEEN ELSEWHERE SUC- CESSFUL. This allegation, persistently made, is absolutely untrue. The whole assertion is made and based on a series of False Analogies, which require examination. Reference is perpetu- ally made in this matter, (i) to certain European States where a system of Home Rule is supposed to exist, (2) to the colonial possessions of Great Britain, and (3) to the United States. 112789 38 THE speaker's hand-book Home Rule in Europe. It must always be remembered that there is no analogy whatever between Home Rule in countries where (like Great Britain and Ireland) the Executive is happily responsible to Parliament, and countries (like Austria-Hungary) where the Executive is responsible to the Sovereign alone. Austria and Hungary have separate ParHaments under one Emperor, who, however, by choosing his own Ministers, and keeping them in office, with or without the consent of either Parliament, secures Executive unity and stability. No one would dare to propose a constitution like this for Great Britain and Ireland, The argument is a sham — a Home ^v\t false analogy. Home Rule in the Colonies. In reference to this the answer is almost self-evident. Ireland cannot be treated as if she were Canada or Australia. Leaving aside altogether the difference between a great continent 3,000 miles distant and a small island only 50, it must not be forgotten that, in several important respects, there is a necessary j-^/flra//^;/ between Great Britain and her colonies. Most of the colonies can, if they like (and they do like), impose duties on British goods ; while from not one of them has Great Britain the power to levy one farthing, even for war or Imperial defence. Moreover, it will hardly be disputed that if any of our great self-governing colonies chose to separate from us altogether, we should not go to war to prevent them. As it is, they can raise troops, levy militia and volunteers, interfere with vested interests, and do practically as they wish. Unless it is intended to put Ireland into a similar position, the self-governing colonies of Great Britain afford no argument for Irish Home Rule. It is another favourite Home Rule falsi analogy. Home Rule in the United States. When this is mentioned, it must be at once pointed out that the separate legislative assemblies of the different States 0-V THE IRISH QUESTION. 39 are only possible, (i) because the Executive in the United States cannot be disturbed in office for four years, even by a Parliamentary vote \ (2) because difficulties are obviated by a written Constitution, interpreted by a Supreme Court, which can veto laws passed by every Parliament ; and (3) because, though there are many races, there are no national claims ever advanced in America. Here, again, is another y^Ar analogy. F.— THAT CERTAIN GRIEVANCES EXIST IN CON- NECTION WITH THE LAND QUESTION. \\'hat these grievances may be is the subject discussed in Part II. of this book. It is, however, useful to bear in mind that if every alleged grievance in the Land Laws of Ireland be true, it only constitutes an argument for reforming these laws ; // is in no way an argument for setting up a Parliament in Dul>lin. In order to connect the Land Question of Ireland with Home Rule, it is necessary for Home Rulers to demonstrate that the United Parliament is unwilling or unable to remove unjust laws. How far this is true will be considered in Part II. G.— THAT "COERCION" IS THE ONLY ALTERNA- TIVE TO HOME RULE. This argument, or rather assertion, is the one most frequently heard by the Unionist speaker. Its truth must obviously depend on the facts of the case. If, for example, the only " Coercion " in Ireland be that, not of the Government, but of certain Nationalist bodies, the whole argument breaks down ; if what is called " Coercion " be only the punishment of the law- breaker, the same result follows. It will, then, be necessary to discuss the facts of this subject at full length in Part III. It must always be remembered by the Unionist speaker that " Coercion " is not an alternative to Home Rule, inasmuch 40 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK as the establishmetit of a Parliaineiit in Dublin would have to be followed immediately by the " Coercion " of the Unionist popula- tion of Ireland. The real alternative to Home Rule is the maintenance of the Union, coupled with the maintenance of law and order by the Imperial Government, supported by the United Parliament. The leading arguments in favour of Home Rule have now been examined. There are, however, at least three other branches of the subject on which the speaker may require assistance. These are : — 1. Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill of 1886. 2. The Separatist Objects of Irish Home Rulers. 3. The Impossibility of any Scheme of Home Rule. I. MR. GLADSTONE'S BILL OF 1886. The following synopsis gives an accurate account of that measure : — Section i established an Irish Legislature. Section 2 gave the Legislature a general power to make laws subject to restrictions in subsequent sections. Section 3 excepted certain matters ; among them — Succession to the crown ; peace and war ; army, navy, and militia ; foreign and colonial policy ; treason ; trade ; post and telegraph ; lighthouses ; coinage. Section 4 forbade the Irish Legislature to make any laws establishing a State religion ; encroaching on certain religious and educational rights ; impairing the existing rights of corporations ; imposing Customs and Excise. Section 5 gave the Queen the same prerogatives as in Great Britain. Section 6 made the proposed Parliament quinquennial. Section 7 vested the Executive Government in the Queen, represented by the Viceroy. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 4 1 Section 8 provided for the use of Crown lands by the Irish Government. Section 9 provided for two Orders, to deliberate and vote together, unless a majority of either Order should demand a separate vote, in which case the Orders were to vote separately. Section 10. — The First Order was to consist of 103 members, 75 elective and 28 peerage members; the elective members to possess a property qualification of not less than ^200 per annum. These elective members to be chosen by electors owning or occupying a house or tenement valued at not less than ^25 per annum, and to hold office for ten years, half of them retiring at the end of each five years. The peerage members, elected by Irish peers, to hold office for life or thirty years, whichever period was shorter. These peerage and elective members to be utterly un- affected by any dissolution. Section 11. — The Second Order to consist of 206 members, two to be returned by each of the 103 Irish consti- tuencies. Section 1 2 empowered the Irish Parliament to levy taxes, and established an Irish Consolidated Fund. Section 13 provided for a yearly payment by Ireland to the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of _;^i,466,ooo towards the National Debt; ^1,666,000 towards the army and navy; ^110,000 for Imperial Civil expenditure ; ^1,000,000 for constabulary and police. — Total ^4,242,000. Section 14 provided for the collection and application by the Imperial Treasury of Customs and Excise Duties paid in Ireland. Section 15 provided for charges on the Irish Consolidated Fund ; as, for example, fur the salaries and pensions of judges. 42 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK Section i6 provided for the continued administration of " Irish Church " funds. Section 17 transferred the receipt of moneys due to the PubUc Works Loan Commissioners, &c., to the Govern- ment of Ireland. Section iS provided that the Irish Legislature might appro- priate out of Irish revenues additional sums of money to be paid into the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom in case of war. Section 19 left the initiative in matters of taxation with the Crown. Section 20 provided that the judges of the Exchequer Division should remain under Imperial control. Section 21 left the Dublin police under the control of the Lord-Lieutenant for two years, the Royal Irish Consta- bulary under the same control as long as it existed, and gave the Irish Legislature power to create other police forces under local authorities. Section 22 reserved power over certain lands for Crown purposes, such as erecting magazines. Section 23 provided that a veto on a Bill by the First Order should be in operation when the same measure was intro- duced a second time; such introduction, however, to take place after three years or a dissolution, " whichever period is longest." Section 24 excluded all Irish peers and M.P.'s from the Imperial Parliament. Section 25 provided for the decision of constitutional questions arising on the Act by a judicial committee of the English Privy Council. Section 26 provided for the continuance of the Viceroyalty, the Viceroy to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom. Section 27. — ^Future judges to be removable only on address from both Orders. - ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 43 Section 28. — Present judges to have their rights and salaries protected. Section 29. — Persons at present holding Civil Service appoint- ments to be likewise protected. Section 30 provided for existing pensions. The foregoing were the leading provisions of the Bill of 1886. It will be observed that it utterly violated at least three cherished priticiples of the great Liberal Party : — 1. It proposed to set up the abominable doctrine of taxation without representation. (Sects. 13 and 24.) 2. It proposed to establish sham privileges, a sham House of Lords with sham qualifications and a sha7ii veto. (Sects. 9 and 10.) 3. It proposed that on all questions arising between the two Parliaments — that is, between the people of Great Britain and the people of Ireland — the Imperial Parhament should no longer be supreme, but that the " Judicial Committee of the Privy Council " of England should be placed above Parliament. (Sect. 25.) Finally, though it professed to be based on trust of the Irish people, it refused to trust them as to land, justice, or any of the important subjects mentioned in Sections 3 or 4. 2. THE SEPARATIST OBJECTS OF IRISH HOME RULERS. The speaker who wishes to deal fully with this subject should provide himself with "As it was Said," a collection of extracts of speeches by Parnellite M.P.'s and others, published by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. The following are especially valuable as sample utter- .\NCES : — 44 THE speaker's hand-book "And now, before I go, I will tell you an incident that happened in America. A gentleman came to the platform and handed me twenty-five dollars, saying, ' Here are five dollars for bread and twenty dollars for lead.'" Mr. C. S. Parnell, M.P., Dublin, April 29, 1880. " None of us — whether we are in America or in Ireland, or wherever we may be— will be satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which keeps Ireland bound to England." Mr. C. S. Parnell, M.P., Cincinnati, Feb. 3, 1880. " I accept the Bill [a Franchise Bill] as far as it goes, but you need not think that it will have the efi'ect of staying the agitation of a Separatist character which exists in Ireland ; for if you give us this Bill, or twenty more Bills of the same description, we will never cease from that agitation until we fully obtain our object." Mr. W. H. K. Redmond, M.P., House of Commons, on Franchise Bill of 1884. " I will not mince my words, and I say that the one pre- vailing and unchangeable passion between England and Ireland is the passion of hate." Mr. T. Sexton, M.P., Dublin, Oct. 14, 1881. " The green flag of an independent Irish nation." Mr. W. O'Brien, M.P., Gorey, Aug. 23, 1885. " We shall never accept, either expressly or implied, any- thing but the full right to manage our own affairs and make our land a nation ; to secure for her, free fi-om outside control, the right to shape her own destinies amongst the nations of the earth." Mr. C. S. Parnell, M.P., Ennis, Nov. 3, 1885. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 45 " We are working not simply for the removal of grievances. . , . The principle embodied in the Irish movement of to-day is just the same principle which was the soul of every Irish movement for the last seven centuries — the principle of re- belUon against the rule of strangers ; the principle which Owen Roe O'Neill vindicated at Benburb, which animated Tone and Fitzgerald, and to which Emmett sacrificed a stainless life." Mr. John Redmond, M.P., Chicago, Aug., 1886. [N.B. — All the foregoing names are those of rebels, Tone being a rebel zvhen there luas a?i Irish Parliament?^ For further quotations from important speeches, see pp. ii3> 114. 151—157- 3. HOME RULE IMPRACTICABLE. No more useful or important line of argument can be adopted by a speaker than that which is designed to show the absence of any scheme of Home Rule, and the impossibility of supplying any method which will ever recommend itself to the con- stituencies of the country. A Scheme of Home Rule. It cannot be too persistently pressed on public notice that Home Rule can never be passed by abstract resolutions, but only by the production of a thoroughly-matured scheme, in which all the details have been well considered. One scheme of Home Rule — and only one — has yet been brought under the notice of the British Parliament and people by any politician. On April 8th, 1886, Mr. Gladstone intro- duced the famous Home Rule Bill of that year, which was rejected two months later (June 9th) by a majority of thirty. The details of that scheme have been already set forth at length. Here it is only noted that no other scheme has ever been mooted, so that there is none now before the country for examination. Either the scheme of 1886 is now dead, or it 46 THE speaker's hand-book still survives ; in the latter case all the objections already made to it possess their original potency. There is, however, one obvious method by which all con- ceivable schemes of Home Rule can be classified and examined. Any possible method, any future Bill, must provide either for the exclusion from the Parliament still to sit at Westminster of the Irish representatives, or for their retention. When Ireland has been given a Parliament of her own, Irish members of Parliament must either be totally excluded from the British Parliament, or they must, subject perhaps to some restrictions, be retained there still. It is a useful task to examine these alternative methods of dealing with the question, and it must never be forgotten that, while Unionists object strenuously to the exclusion of the Irish members for the reasons presently stated, they protest with equal vigour against their retention. In fact, this is to them the cardinal point which shows the absurdity of the whole Home Rule movement, as they believe neither policy to be practicable. * Exclusion of the Irish Members. The exclusion of the Irish representatives from the Imperial Parliament was a cardinal feature of the Home Rule Bill of 1886.* {See Section 24 of that proposed measure.) From the several manifest absurdities connected with such a proposal, the following are the most obvious : — I. If Irish members be excluded from the Parliament at Westminster, it follows that either the foreign policy of Great Britain and Ireland must be dictated entirely by English and Scotch voters, or that Ireland should be allowed to have a foreign policy of her own. The second of these alternatives is impossible ; the first * " Do what you will with your old rules of procedure, you will not have restored the old British Parliament, you will not have made the British people master in its own House, until you have devised some scheme or other which will remove the Irish members from the British House of Commons. "--MR. John Morley at Chelmsford, Jan. 7th, i8d6. O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. 47 means the disenfranchisement of the inhabitants of Ireland on all questions of foreign policy. 2. If Irish members be excluded, it is equally evident that either Ireland will be deprived of all voice in the control of an army and navy for which she will have to pay, or that she must be allowed to have an army and navy of her own. The second alternative is by universal consent impossible, the first is grossly unjust. 3. If Irish members be excluded, Ireland must be for ever without vote or voice in all questions arising out of the relations between the Mother Country and her colonies. These must be left entirely to England and Scotland. 4. If Irish members be excluded, Ireland must be for ever shut out from vote or voice in the management of Imperial trade, or Ireland must be permitted to pursue her own trade policy. The second alternative is, again, by universal consent impossible, the first grossly unjust. 5. If Irish members be excluded, it would follow that Ireland would be left no voice even in purely Irish trade. Parnellites have frequently reminded English audiences that separation between Ireland and England is impossible, because nineteen-twentieths of Irish trade at least is a cross-trade with Great Britain. Therefore under the Bill of 1886 it was found necessary to retain the management of all trade in a Parliament from which Irish opinion was rigidly excluded. 6. If Irish members be excluded, Ireland must either be free from all contribution to the Imperial revenue, or she must be taxed by a Parliament in which she has no representation. The former of these alternatives 48 THE speaker's hand-book is obviously unjust, and so impossible that no one has dared to suggest it ; the second is the policy of Lord North, whereby we lost our North American colonies one hundred and twenty years ago. The policies on this point of George III.'s Ministers in 1776 and of Mr. Gladstone in 1886 were identical. TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION. The North American Colonies. It is sometimes alleged by the more ignorant Home Rulers that Great Britain lost her North American colonies through a refusal to give them something in the nature of Home Rule. The contrary is, the fact. Great Britain lost the North American colonies by trying to rule them on lines similar to those of Mr. Gladstone's Bill of 1886. The American colonies had Home Rule ; they had their own Parliaments, and could tax themselves. They revolted, however, and were probably quite justified in so doing, because the Imperial Parliament, in which they had no members, sought to tax them further. When the policy of "exclusion" is still further examined, it will be found at every point to reduce the Irish nation from a position of partnership in the freest Empire in the world to a position of uncompensated slavery. War might be declared against the United Kingdom a year after the passing of a Home Rule Bill such as that of 1886. Irish ports might be bombarded, Irish commerce might be destroyed, Irish soldiers might be slaughtered, but not a single Irishman would possess the inalienable right of a freeman to vote for or against the policy which brought about or conducted the war. Retention of the Irish Members. Many Gladstonians -will be found to resent all criticism of the Bill of 1886, and especially as regards the exclusion of the Irish members. If, however, this policy is not to be revived, O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. 49 they must be pressed to consider the feasibility of the only alternative, viz.^ the retention of the Irish members. Mr. Gl.\dstone on the Retention of the Irish Members. The famous and absolutely contradictory utterances of Mr. Gladstone on this point will be of service : — - House of Commons, Apj'il %, 1886. "Now I think it will be perfectly clear that if Ireland is to have a domestic Legis- lature, Irish peers and Irish representatives cannot come here to control English and Scotch affairs. That I under- stand to be admitted freely. I never heard of their urging the contrary, and I am inclined to believe it would be univer- sally admitted. The one thing follows from the other. There cannot be a domestic Legisla- ture in Ireland dealing with Irish affairs, and Irish peers and Irish representatives sit- ting in Parliament at West- minster to take part in F^nglish and Scotch affairs. My next question is. Is it practicable for Irish representatives to come here for the settlement. Report in Daily Netvs, July 20, 1888. "It [the retention of Irish members] is a matter on which I never had the slightest in- tention or disposition to inter- pose an objection. As to the mode of doing it, it is obvious that there are many — there may be a score — of modes of doing it. You may retain the present number of Irish repre- sentatives, or you may reduce it ; you may elect Irish mem- bers to Westminster directly, or you may elect them in- directly — that is, have them chosen by an intermediate body, such as the Irish repre- sentatives. You may allow them to sit in Parliament with the right to vote on all sub- jects, or you may give them a limited right to sit with power to vote on certain subjects. 50 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK not of English and Scotch, but of Imperial affairs ? In principle it would be very difficult, I think, to object to that proposition ; but then its acceptance depends entirely upon our arriving at the con- clusion that in this House we can draw, for practical pur- poses, a distinction between affairs which are Imperial and affairs which are not Imperial. It would not be difficult to say in principle that, as the Irish Legislature has nothing to do with Imperial concerns, let Irish members come here and vote on Imperial con- cerns. All depends on the practicability of the distinction. Well, sir, I have thought much, reasoned much, and inquired nuich with regard to that dis- tinction. I had hoped it might be possible to draw a distinc- tion, but I have arrived at the conclusion that it cannot be drawn. I believe it passes the wit of man. At any rate it passes, not my wit alone, but the wit of many with whom I have communicated." As to the practicability of making a plan, there is no question at all about it." No one reading both the extracts given above can fail to see that, while it may be possible to draw up a plan for ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 5 I retaining the Irish members, it is absoUitely impossible to draw up a plan containing in it the elements of justice or safety. Prima facie, the policy of retention is impossible. Stated in all simplicity, it amounts to this : — On the Irish side of St. George's Channel a Parliament and Executive are to be established to manage the affairs of Ireland. Into the Parlia- ment so established no English or Scotch member is to be permitted to enter, and Ireland is to " manage her own affairs." On the British side of St. George's Channel no reciprocity is to prevail. A Parliament is still to meet at Westminster, and among other business it is to transact the separate affairs of Great Britain. Into this Parliament, how- ever, other than English and Scotch members will find their way. A certain number, if not all, of the Irish members will still come there, and in their hands will lie the power, after they are established by law in possession of their own Parlia- ment and their own Ministry, to upset the Parliament or defeat the chosen Ministry of the people of England and Scotland. Whatever Home Rule means to Ireland, it means the ruin of the British Parliament. The Distinction between Imperial and Local Affairs. It is often urged by Gladstonians, when they are success- fully cornered in discussion, that of course Irish members in a new Parliament, after the establishment of Home Rule, would not be allowed to vote on English and Scotch affairs, but only on matters absolutely Imperial. It will be advisable to confront such persons with Mr. Gladstone's words of April 8th, 1886, just quoted. Whatever else that eminent statesman may have withdrawn, he has never withdrawn his assertion of the impossibility of drawing any distinction between Imperial and local affairs. It should, however, be clearly pointed out that the retention of the Irish members to vote on only Imperial matters would E 2 52 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK absolutely destroy the Legislative Government of Great Britain. On a certain evening in the House of Commons— say, Monday — some local English or Scotch question is set down for dis- cussion. No Irish members are admitted. The business of the House is conducted by a Government representing the majority of the members from England and Scotland. On Tuesday night an Imperial question is brought forward ; 103 (or less) Irish members are now entitled to vote. In their hands— after they have received an unfettered Parliament of their own — the power has now been placed of turning out the Government which possesses the confidence of the people of England and Scotland. On Wednesday a local question arises, the Irish members withdraw, and so on. Permanence of Government becomes absolutely impossible anywhere except in Ireland, while the Parliamentary system of Great Britain is to be dislocated. Federalism. Some Home Rulers who see and appreciate these [diffi- culties fancy that a way out of them may be discovered by the adoption of Federalism. This means the creation of, at least, five Parliaments — one for England, one for Ireland, one for Scotland, one for Wales, with an Imperial Parliament for Imperial affairs elected from all parts of the United Kingdom. This was understood to be the scheme of the late Mr. Isaac Butt, but has never yet been adopted by any responsible English statesman. No attempt will be made in this Hand-book to discuss the question of Federalism at length. The following remarks will probably contain in them sufficient guidance for the speaker: — I. Federalism is not the policy of either Mr. Parnell or Mr. Gladstone, or, indeed, of any considerable section of the Home Rule party. ON THE IR/SH QUESTION. 53 2. The entire subject has received the fullest and most scientific investigation in the able work of Professor Dicey, " England's Case against Home Rule." Professor Dicey concludes (p. 196): "Federalism has special evils of its own. It revolutionises the whole Con- stitution of the United Kingdom. By undermining the sovereignty of Parliament, it deprives English institutions of their elasticity, their strength, and their life ; it weakens the Executive at home, and lessens the power of the country to resist foreign attack." Home Rule not a final Settlement. Lastly, even if Gladslonian Home Rule were carried, it could not have any finality. We should have civil war, or something like it, between the two Irish communities. We should have English soldiers, or Royal Constabulary, called upon to " coerce " the Ulster loyalists, and probably refusing to do so. We should have the landlords and manufacturing classes demanding help from Great Britain against the exactions of a Parnellite Parliament. If the Viceroy were to veto oppressive measures, there would at once be a new contest between him and his Ministers. The payment of contributions to the Imperial Exchequer would shortly be denounced as tribute unworthy of a free country. Each of the numberless restrictions placed on the action of the Dublin Parliament would, sooner or later, give rise to new agitation, and constant t'riction between the two Parliaments and Governments. In short, the evils of even a " dog-collar " Union are infinitel preferable to those of Home Rule. 54 THE SPEAKER S HAND-BOOK ^3art m. THE IRISH LAND QUESTION. Agriculture, the Irish Industry. It must be carefully remembered that, important as agriculture is as an industry in Great Britain, it is incomparably more important in Ireland. This is so, simply because 35 '6 per cent, of the whole male population of Ireland is engaged in agriculture, while in England and Wales the percentage is 10 '4 and in Scotland 11 '9. The following tables (the 2t7iproductive classes being omitted) show the matter very clearly : — Class. England and Wales. Scotland. Ireland. I. Professional ••• 450.955 •• 65,499 •■ 136,439 2. Domestic ... 258,508 .. 25,292 34,068 3- Commercial 960,661 126,743 70,751 4- Industrial ... 4,795>i78 .. 675,964 .. 428,578 5- Agricultural Total ... 1,318,344 215,215 902,010 ... 7,783,646 1,108,713 I, 571,896 Reduced to percentages, the following results are obtained : — Class. England and Wales. Scotland. Ireland. 1. Professional ... ... 58 ... 5-9 .. 87 2. Domestic 3'4 2'2 2'I 3- Commercial ... 123 II-5 4-5 4- Industrial ... 6i-6 6i- ■• 27-3 5- Agricultural Total i6"9 loo- 19-4 • • 57-4 ic»- 100- ON THE IRISH QUEST! OX. 55 The figures in these tables are taken from the census returns ofi88i. T/iis is the fundamental fact about tlie Land Qitestio?/ of Ireland. Agriculture in Ireland mainly Pastoral. A second important matter is the vast distinction between Enghsh and Irish agriculture as regards its quality. Total acreage Amount cultivated Percent. ... Pasture and meadow Per cent. ... Crops Per cent. ... England. Ireland. 32,597,398 20,328,753 25,000,000 15,500,000 70 76 15,000,000 12,250,000 46 60 10,000,000 3,250,000 30 16 Small Holdings in Ireland. A third matter of importance lies in the very small size of many holdings in Ireland. The following are the figures of the census of 1881 : — Holdings rated at or under £i, r £\ and not i"io „ ;^I5 „ Lio „ ;i^50 „ ;^IOO Number. Per cent, of Total. ... 218,199 33* S;^io 196,934 29-8 ;^I5 77,712 117 ;{:3o 92,870 14-1 ;^50 37,679 57 ;^lOO 24,424 37 ... 12,367 2- Total 660,185 ico-o The following table gives the same information in a different shape. The figures are those of 1886 : — Number. Per cent, of Total. 47,800 8-3 61,100 IO-8 157,600 27-9 134,800 ... 23-8 162,800 29-2 564,100 loo- 56 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK Hoklings not over i acre in extent ... ,, over I .icre and not over 5 acres .. 5 acres ,, ,, 15 ,, ... " )i 15 )) )) )) S^* )) ••• )> >) 30 !) Total The difference between the two totals of 660,185 and 564,100 in the above tables arises from their being calculated on a different basis in the official returns. The former table gives the actual number of holdings ; the latter excludes farms held by the same persons in adjoining town-lands, and there- fore gives very nearly the number of tenants. Thus it will be observed that one-third of the holdings of Ireland are rated at less than ^4 ; that more than seven-eighths are rated under ^30; that 19 per cent, are under 5 acres in extent, 47 per cent, under 15 acres, and over 70 per cent, under 30 acres. The Irish Acre. An Irish acre equals i acre 2 roods 19 perches Statute measure. It is to the Statute acre as 196 is to 121. Conse- quently, an Irish farmer who pays £\ per Irish acre for his holding (and there are many such cases) pays only 12s. 4d, per Statute acre. Uncultivated Land. Contrary to the popular impression, there is less un- cultivated land in Ireland now than thirty years ago. The following figures are of interest : — Cultivated. Uncultivated. Total. 1851 ... 15,303,780 ... 5,023,984 I 1886 ... 15,697,705 ... 4,630,059 i 20,327,764 on the irish question. 5/ The Hanging Gale. It is important that this custom should be understood. I means that rent legally due on, say, March 31st, 1886, is not demanded nor payable by the custom of the estate for either six or twelve months later. Thus on the Vandeleur estate, at the time of the recent evictions, the rent was legally due up to March, 1888, but only asked for as due up to March, 1887, while by the custom of the estate the rent due in March, 1888, will not become payable till March, 1S89. The custom is tantamount to allowing the tenants to be always one year in arrears. Unfortunately, if the landlord has to sue his tenants, he is legally obliged to sue for the full amount legally due, though in every case he is obviously willing to settle for the amount due by custom or less. The History of the Irish Land Question. It is impossible to understand anything about the Irish Land Question without some knowledge of its history. In connection with this the following facts are of importance : — 1. Up to the close of the last century Ireland was a purely pastoral country, breeding cattle, but growing no corn. 2. In 1650 the population was about 1,250,000; in 1750 it was about 2,500,000. 3. Towards the close of the eighteenth century a great economic change occurred, and Ireland was rapidly turned from a pastoral into a tillage country. This was due to the increasing population of England and the demand thence for food. The movement was accelerated by bounties on the exportation of grain, and every legislative encouragement. 58 THE speaker's hand-book 4. As a consequence, the population began to increase very rapidly. In 1790 it was 4,000,000; in 1800 it was 5,000,000 ; in 1841 it was over 8,200,000. 5. This state of things was completely upset by the Famine, which led to a rapid decline in population and a speedy return from tillage to pasture. 6. While tillage has been decreasing in Ireland ever since the famine, pasture has been increasing correspond- ingly. The Famine of 1846-47. As most unfair attempts are made every day by the Nationalist Party to attribute the great Irish Famine to the Act of Union, as if the presence of Irish members in West- minster and their absence from Dublin could affect potato blight, and as utterly untrue statements have been published about the action of England at the time, and the action of Irish landlords, it may be advisable to give a few facts : — 1. ;^3, 554,901 was given in 1847 to Ireland by England as a free gift. ^^3,968,239 were advanced as loans at the same time, making an aggregate of p/^7,5 23, 140. 2. The following extract from " The Irish Crisis," by Sir C. E. Trevelyan (Sir G. O. Trevelyan's father), may prove interesting and instructive : — " This enterprise was in truth the grandest attempt ever made to grapple with famine over a whole country-. Or- ganised armies, amounting all together to some hundreds of thousands, had been rationed before ; but neither ancient nor modern history can furnish a parallel to the fact that upwards of three millions of persons were fed every day in the neigh- bourhood of their own homes by administrative arrangements emanating from, and eontrolled by, one central office." OK THE IRISH QUESTIOX. 59 3. The following quotation, refuting a current Nationalist fiction, is from the pen of the late A. M. Sullivf.n (Nationalist M.P.), in his work "New Ireland:" — "The bulk of the Irish landlords manfully did their best in that dread hour. No adequate tribute has ever been paid to the memory of those Irish landlords — and they were men of every party and creed — who perished martyrs to duty in that awful time ; who did not fly the plague, reeking work- house, or fever-tainted court." These references are important in view of the fact that Home Rule writers like Mrs. Josephine Butler and William Stephenson Gregg either ignore or minimise everything that was done. HISTORY OF THE IRISH LAND LAWS PRIOR TO 1870. Previous to 1870 the system of land tenure in Ireland was regulated by a large number of statutes passed at various times. Three of these, at least, require a passing notice, and are — 1. The Poor Relief Acts of 1838 and 1843. 2. The Act for the Rehef of the Destitute Poor, 1848. 3. The Landlord and Tenant Act, i860. (Deasy's Act.) 1. The Poor Relief Acts of 1838 and 1843 contained the following provisions : — (a) The landlord must pay half the Poor Rate if the Government valuation of a holding is ^4 or upwards. (Poor Relief Act, 1843, Sect, i.) (d) The landlord must pay the whole Poor Rate if the Government valuation is under ^^. (Poor Rehef Acts, 1838, Sect. 74; 1849, Sect. 11.) 6o THE speaker's HAND-BOOK This is law in Ireland still, and it is important both in view of the fact that the Government valuation is under £,a, in one- third of the total holdings of Ireland, and also because, in the case of every tenant, however wealthy, the landlord has to pay at least half the Poor Rate. 2. The Act for the protection and the relief of poor people evicted from their dwellings is a measure of which little is often remembered. It provides — {a) That before the execution of any Writ of Ejectment in Ireland, notice must be given to the Relieving Officer, who must provide shelter for the persons about to be evicted. (b) That to pull down, unroof, or demolish any house, except so far as to enable the Sheriff to enter, while any tenant or any member of his family is within, is a misdemeanour. It is well to recollect this Act, in view of recent Parnellite misrepresentations. At Glenbeigh some houses were unroofed and burned, but they were occupied, not by tenants, as the Parnellites tried to make people infer, but by trespassers. 3. The Act of i860, commonly known as Deasy's Act, was an attempt to consolidate previous statutes and to amend the law. Like all preceding statues, it proceeded on the assumption that the land was the exclusive property of the landlord, and that the tenant's interest in it was that of a person who had agreed to pay a certain remuneration for its use for a limited time. The following are the most important provisions : — {a) The relation of landlord and tenant to be deemed to be founded on the express or implied contract of the parties, and not upon tenure and service. (Sect. 3.) O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. 6 1 {b) No tenant can be evicted for non-payment of rent, UNLESS ONE YEAR'S RENT IS IN ARREARS. (Sect. 52.) (c) A tenant can recover possession within six months after eviction by payment of the amount due, in which case the landlord is compelled to pay to the tenant the amount of any profit he could have made out of the land while the tenant was out of possession. (Sect. 70.) Tenants' I.mprovements. One great and crying grievance, however, existed in Ireland until 1870. It must never be forgotten that, while in England as a rule the landlord has sunk money in the soil, has built the farmhouse, made the fences and the drains, in Ireland as a rule the reverse has been the case. On the majority of Irish holdings the tenants have built the houses, made the fences and the drains. The evil of the old law obviously lay in the fact that, whereas an English tenant who gave up his holding lost nothing but the right of occupation, the Irish tenant in the majority of instances saw the valuable interest he had created in the holding, in the shape of permanent improvements, liable to confiscation at the hands of his landlord ; for he might raise the rent to an impossible point, evict the defaulting tenant, and seize his improvements. This scandal is every day placed before the notice of the electors of this country by Gladstonian speakers, who have never the honesty and candour to tell those whom they address that it has been absolutely abolished by the Imperial Parlia- ment. It took, however, many years to accomplish this. In 1835 Mr. Sharman Crawford moved for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law by giving compensation for tenants' improve- ments. Unfortunately he had to struggle for twenty years 62 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK without success, though in 1845 the Devon Commission (so called from its chairman, Lord Devon) reported after a two years' investigation strongly in favour of this measure of legislative protection for the tenantry. At last in 1870 an important measure was introduced by Mr. Gladstone, with the three following objects : — {a) To obtain for the tenants security of tenure by awarding them compensation for disturbance. (/') To encourage and protect tenants' improvements by awarding compensation to the occupier who made them, whenever, either voluntarily or in consequence of eviction, he happened to leave his holding. (c) To create a peasant proprietary by empowering the Board of Works to advance money to tenants for the purchase of their holdings. The following are the leading provisions of — THE LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) ACT, 1870. I. A yearly tenant who is disturbed in his holding by the act of the landlord for causes other than the non-payment of rent, and the Government valuation of whose holding does not exceed p^ioo per annum, must be paid by his landlord both — {a) Full compensation for all improvements made by himself or his predecessors, such as unexhausted manures, permanent buildings, and reclamation of waste lands ; and (/') Compensation for disturbance, a sum of money which may amount to seven years' rent. (Land Act, 1870, Sects. I — 3.) JNo/e. — This was law till 1S81. Since then, as the power of distuibance by the landlord r.o longer exists, these sections are not required. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 6-i, 2. A yearly tenant ^c/io h evicted by his landlord for non- payment of rent must be paid — - {a) Full compensation for all improvements, such as unexhausted manures, permanent buildings, and reclamation of waste land. (Sect. 4.) {b) In case his rent is under ^15 he is entitled to a sum of money which may amount to seven years' rent, as compensation for disturbaiice^ should the Court think the rent for non-payment of which he has been evicted an exorbitant one. (Sects. 3 — 9.) 3. Until the contrary is proved, all improvements are pre- sumed to have been made by the tenants. (Sect. 5.) 4. The moment the landlord serves his notice to quit, the tenant can make his claim for compensation, and cannot be evicted till the compensation be paid. (Sects. 16 and 21.) 5. A yearly tenant, even when giving up his holding of his own free will, can compel his landlord either {a) to com- pensate him for all improvements, or (/-') to let him sell his improvements to an in-coming tenant. (Sect. 4.) 6. This Act of 1870 further provided that in all nezv tenancies the landlord must pay half the County or Grand Jury Cess if the valuation is ^4 and upwards, and all the County or Grand Jury Cess if the valuation is under ^4. (Sect. 65, 66.) It will be observed, therefore, that under this Act all tenants whose holdings were valued at ^ico and under — i.e., 98 per cent. — received full compp.nsation for im- provements ; and all tenants valued at less than ^15 — i.e., 74 per cent. — or all the poorer tenantry, received the right of compensation for disturbance. It is necessary for the Unionist speaker to be on his guard 64 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK against the amazing amount of fiction talked on this matter by the Parnellites. They sometimes give alleged instances of poor tenants who have been evicted and got no compensation ; in every one of these cases it will be found either — {a) That there were no permanent improvements at all ; (/') That the landlord paid for them at the time by giving a large reduction of rent till the price was paid ; or {e) That the amount of rent owed extinguished the value of the improvements. How Compensation may be Lost. Of course a tenant may lose his compensation money by getting heavily into his landlord's debt, and the Parnellites call this one of their grievances. Suppose A. B., a tenant, owes C. D., his landlord, four years' rent at £40 per annum — that is, ;!^i6o — but A. B. has made permanent improvements to the extent of ^100, how does the case stand? In the eye of the law, as Avell as in common justice, the landlord owes the tenant p^ioo for improvements, and the tenant owes the landlord ^160 for rent. Parnellites like Mr. J. J. Clancy, M.P., are every day to be found pretending that, whether the landlord gets his ^160 or not, he is to give ;^ioo to the tenant. This is a fitting illustration of Parnellite morality. It must be remembered that every newspaper story of a poor tenant evicted for ^30 or ^40 of rent, and thereby losing ;£2)^o- or ^400-worth of improvements, is an absolute UNTRUTH ; it is an attempt to describe an outrageous im- ■bossibility. Ulster Tenant-Right Custom. It should be remembered that long prior to the Act of 1870 the Ulster tenantry possessed both security of tenure and compensation for improvements ; this they did not possess by O^V THE IRISH QUESTION. 65 law, but simply by custom, under which tl:e sum paid to out- going tenants included both compensation for improvements and the price of goodwill. The process of the Act of 1870 was therefore to legalise the Ulster custom. This was done in Section i. Section 2 legalised any similar customs in other parts of Ireland. Sections 3 and 4 affected the tenantry in other parts of Ireland, and to them the privileges already enumerated were very properly given. The Bright Clauses. These embodied the first serious attempt made to make the occupier the owner of his holding. In Sections 32 — 47 ot the Act of 1870 it was provided that when the landlord and. tenant agreed for the sale of a holding, either of them might apply to the Commissioners of Public Works, and the tenant might obtain an advance of two-thirds of the value of the holding, the advance to be repaid by annuities at the rate of p^5 for every ^100 lent, payment extending over thirty-five years. Tenants who purchased under this Act have since been enabled to extend the time of payment, and to reduce the rate to ^4 per cent; but the entire question of Land Purchase will be dealt with more fully under the Act of 1885. Rack-Rents. There are some few matters deserving consideration and demanding explanation before one proceeds to deal with the second great legislative measure passed on behalf of the Irish tenant-farmer. Foremost among these is the current Par- nelllte assertion that Irish tenants were cruelly " rack-rented " by their landlords. In proof of this assertion three arguments are adduced : — I. The rents are stated to have been f:ir over the Govern- ment or "Griffith's" valuation. F 66 THE speaker's hand-book 2. It is alleged that large increases in rent were made by landlords during recent years. 3. The reductions granted by the Land Commissioners under the Act of 1881 have been 'supposed to in- dicate previous extortion. The third of these arguments is examined on page 74. Some examination of the others is necessary before proceeding to the Land Act of 188 1. With regard to the word "rack-rents," it may, however, be pointed out that the whole case has been obscured by a false meaning imported into the word by Parnellite orators, and largely accepted by ignorant people among their auditors, who seem to fancy that a " rack-rent " means something " extorted," as if by the "rack," from tenants. "Rack-rent" is simply a legal term denoting a particular class of rent paid by all yearly tenants, and is applicable to the money paid by ^the lowest- rented tenant in Ireland^ as well as to that paid by the highest- rented. The Government or Griffith's Valuation. This is the Government or Ordnance valuation of Ireland, but it has no reference whatever to the question of rent. It bears its name from Sir Richard Griffith, under whose direction it was made. The valuation of Ireland is at present regulated chiefly by an Act passed in 1852 and subsequently amended; and the valuation was based entirely on the prices of the day, which, as will be presently seen, bore no reference to those of the present time. Sir R. Griffith's opinion of his own valuation, which was made for rating purposes, was " that if one-third be added the result will give very nearly the full rent-value of the land." In addition to this, it should be remembered that the valuation given in the Government Act was not made simul- ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 6/ taneously in all parts of Ireland. Ulster was valued when prices were fairly high ; Munster, under an Act of 1846, during or just after the Famine, when prices were extremely low and agriculture depressed. In short, the Government valuation, in consequence of its inequalities and variations, is absolutely useless as a standard. Old Increases of Rent. It is an undoubted fact that between 1850 and 1875 it was not uncommon for an Irish landlord to raise the rent of his tenantry. It is not difficult to bring torward instances in which this was done ; but, as usual, the Parnellites give a totally false impression of the facts, (i) They always choose to assume that any increase of rent is a grossly arbitrary act ; (2) they also assume that whenever they find an increase of rent on an estate, this must have been a case in which the landlord raised the rent on his unfortunate tenants' improve- ments. Both these assumptions are utterly untrue, and utterly unsupported by evidence ; but, as they deceive unthinking persons, they deserve a separate examination. I. Every case of an increase in rent between 1850 and 1875 ^s f^^'y justified by a matter which is always sedulously concealed from the public — namely, that during those years there was an enormous rise in prices. Rents were justly raised then for economic reasons. In Ireland, or in any other country, you may regulate the amount of rent by one or other of two methods : you may either have an immovable rent, or a sliding rent, varying according to the rise or fall in the price of agricultural produce. It is now universally considered just that a farmer's rent should vary according to prices. Parliament has interfered to F 2 6S THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK lower Irish rents because prices have gone down. If this is just, it is equally just to raise rents if prices go up. The Parnellite motto is to say to the landlord, " Heads I win, and tails you lose." Rents are to fall now, because of prices, but they never are to rise when prices are high. The following table gives the average market prices of farm produce in Ireland in the years mentioned :• — JNIinimal Prices. Maximal Pr ces 1850. 1875. Increase per cent. 150 1850. 1875. Increase per cent. Two-year-old cattle /4 ^10 jCq -£12 33 One year-old „ I 5 7 460 5 9 ° So Milch cows 6 16 166 12 24 100 Lambs 14 I 5 78 I 3 2 2 82 13eef, per cwt. I 10 3 10 133 2 8 4 7 6 83 jNIutton „ I 17 4 3 5 4 75 2 16 4 4 50 Pork I 10 2 18 93 2 2 3 42 Wheat „ 8 9 5 17 10 10 = Oat3 5 ID 8 2 40 6 10 8 2 19 Barley „ 5 3 8 8 65 6 9 c 8 S 28 Fl.ax 2 3 SO 3 10 4 8 25 Hay „ 2 5 6 175 2 10 6 III Straw ,, S 2 6 -75 I 4 4 2 Potatoes,, 4 6 3 U--33 5 4 D.-20 Butter „ 2 12 5 15 121 3 14 7 89 Eggs, per 1 20 4 6 7 3 61 4 8 9 92 Woo', per lb. 10 I 5 70 I i^ I 8 48 These prices are taken from the returns published in the Appendix to the Report of the Royal Commission. On a later page a further list of prices with reference to the subsequent fall will be given, but the present extra- ordinary table is amply sufficient to prove the absolute justice of an increase in rent, when the market value of land must have been well-nigh doubled. It may be well to apply the facts of this table to some ol the Parnellite cases. Mr. Waddy, Q.C, has, for example, told o.y THE IRISH QUEST low 6g some stories which have received wide circulation throughout the country, and which seem extraordinary until they are explained. One is the case of a man called Tuohy, who, shortly after the Famine, when the price of land was unnaturally depressed, got a farm for ^25 yearly rent. By 1870 his rent had been raised to ^56. This is supposed to have been unjust ; in reality, it was an eminently just proceeding. In 1852 Tuohy was paying, willingly^ ^25 rent. We may assume the value of the gross produce in the farm could not have been less than ;^7o ; this left Tuohy ^45 to live on. In 1870, however, with the increased prices, he must have got from the farm at least ;^i2o ; take his 1S70 rent, ^56, from that total, and he had at least ^64 to live on. Under the higii rent he was, then, at least 40 per cent, better off than under the low rent of low prices. 2. With regard to the second point of the Parnellites — that rents were raised "on" or " because of" the tenants' improvements — that is absolutely without proof As an assertion, it is mere guess work ; it has been adopted, however, by people who did not know, or who chose to forget, the rise in prices, and who therefore were at a loss for an explanation for the rise in rent. It should also be recollected that in 9 cases out of 10 the rent has been raised because fresh land has been added. Thus in November, 1885, the Freeman' s Journal attacked the Duke of Abercorn for raising his rents ; but it was proved on oath in Court that in every case the holding had been enlarged. That holdings in Ireland have been enormously enlarged is obvious, since there is more land in cultivation now than in 185 1 (i'^f? p. 56), while the population is less by 30 per cent., and the total number of holdings by 20 per cent. yo THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK Causes of the Land Act of i88r. The Act of 1S70 was passed at a time of higli prices. A sudden fall unfortunately succeeded, and the distress which ensued was aggravated by bad harvests and general depression of trade. It is worth while recollecting that the Land League was founded in 1879, and that at the conference summoned by that body, and held in Dublin in April, 1880, resolutions were carried in favour of a large scheme of Land Purchase, under which the landlords would receive twenty years' purchase of the Government valuation of their holdings. In 1881 Mr. Gladstone's Government brought in the Land Law (Ireland) Act. Its object was, (i) the fixing of fair rents, (2) security of tenure, (3) free sale of tenancies, and (4) increased facilities for purchase. In popular language it conferred on the Irish tenants " the three F's " — Fair Rent, Fixity of Tenure, and Free Sale. It is to be remembered that the prevalent distress in Ireland consequent on the fall in agricultural prices was the sole reason for the introduction of this measure. It is often pretended by the Parnellites that landlord oppression made it necessary. In view of such statements it is well to recall the following words : — • Mr. Gladstone on the Irish Landlords (1S81). " Well, Sir, neither, I am bound to say, should we think it just to propose legislation on this great matter on the ground, whether expressed or implied, of general misconduct on the part of the landlords of Ireland. On the contrary, as a rule they have stood their trial and have as a rule been acquitted. The report of the Bessborough Commission, which certainly is not deficient in its popular sympathies, in its tenth paragraph declares that the greatest credit is due to the Irish landlords for not exacting all that they are by law entitled to exact ; and it likewise points out that if they had exacted all they were ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 7 1 entitled to, they would have been guilty of injustice; they would have appropriated their tenants' labours in the soil. Again, I find in the ninth paragraph a remarkable statement : — ' It was unusual to exact what in England would have been considered a full or fair commercial rent. Such a rent over many of the larger estates, the owners of which were resident, and took an interest in the welfare of their tenants, it has never been the custom to demand. The custom has been largely followed, and is to the present day the rule rather than the exception in Ireland.'" — Speech in House of Commons {Hansard). THE LAND LAW (IRELAND) ACT, 1881. This Act — the largest and most important of all those passed for Irish agriculture — gave three privileges to the tenant- farmers of Ireland, popularly known as " the three F's," namely, Fixity of Tenure, Fair Rent, and Free Sale, while it gave increased facilities for purchase. It will be well to discuss these subjects separately. 1. By Fixity of Tenure the tenant was enabled to remain in possession of his land for ever, subject to periodical revision of his rent. (Sect. 8.) 2. Under Fair Rent yearly tenants may apply to the Land Commission Court (the overwhelming majority of the judges of which were appointed by Mr. Glad- stone) to fix the fair rent of his holding. This application is referred to three persons, one of whom is a lawyer, while the other two, who are agriculturists, inspect and value the farm. This rent can never BE raised again BY THE LANDLORD. (ScCt. 8.) It is important to bear in mind that if a tenant has not had a fair rent fixed, and his landlord proceeds to evict him for non-payment of rent, lie can apply to the Court to fix the fair rent ; and, meantime, the eviction proceedings will be restrained by the Court. (Sect. 13.) 72 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK 3. Free Sale. — By this provision every yearly tenant, whether he had a fair rent fixed or not, may sell nis TENANCY to the highest bidder whenever he desires to leave (Sect, i) ; while even if a tenant be evicted he has the right either to redeem unthin six 7iio?itJis, or to SELL HIS TENANCY WITHIN THE SAME PERIOD TO A PURCHASER, WHO CAN LIKEWISE REDEEM, and thus acqiure all the privileges of the tenant. (Land Act, i88r. Sect. 13.) A further explanation of the working of these privileges will be found in the succeeding paragraphs : — Fixity of Tenure. Fixity of tenure is consequent on having a fair rent fixed. Tlie tenant then is practically turned into a leaseholder for fifteen years, at the end of which term he is started, at a revised rent, for a further period of fifteen years. During this period the landlord cannot add a farthing to his rent, though landlords are frequently abused for not making large abate- ments in it. Fair Rent. Under the Fair Rent provisions of the Act of i88t, Courts have gone and go yearly into every one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, fixing "fair rents" as between landlord and tenant. Rents were fixed in Court in 92,637 cases prior to August, 18S7, and in 91,187 cases out of Court, making a total in all of 183,824. About 200,000 judicial tenancies have therefore been erected up to date, and about 200,000 fair rents fixed in Ireland, while a sum of ^600,000 per annum has been taken off the rental of Ireland. Misrepresentations about Fair Rent. Utterly apart from the usual Parnellite method of omitting all reference to the Legislation of 18S1, there are three distinct ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 73 Parnellite misrepresentations against which speakers should be warned. These misrepresentations are as follows : — 1. Of pretending that hosts of tenants are excluded by one means or another from the operation of the Act. 2. Of pretending that arrears of rent prevent the fixing of a fair rent. 3. Of pretending that the reductions of rents made already prove antecedent rack-renting by the land- lords. It will be necessary to deal separately with these. Exclusion of Tenants. It is absolutely certain that certain tenants are excluded from the benefits of this Act. These exceptions are — 1. Less than 2 per cent., being the larger tenants of purely pastoral holdings. 2. The leaseholders (since, however, admitted ; see Act of 1887). 3. Future tenants, who are left to make their own bargain. (Why not ?) 4. Tenants of pasture lettings, ivho are 7wn-residcut. (Why should Parliament treat the butcher as a farmer, and root him in the soil ?) Some other very small exceptions • exist, all of them quite easy of explanation on equitable grounds. As a matter of fact, the Act applies to every hona-fide yearly agricultural tenant. Sometimes the Parncllites point to the 565,000 holdings in Ireland, and then to the fact that only 100,000 fair rents have been fixed in Court, as indicating the restrictive nature of the Act. 74 THE speaker's hand-book This is altogether absurd, for as many more have been fixed out of Court ; in addition to which, it should be remembered that fhousajids of tenants have declined to go into Cojtft, because, {a) they believed their present rents to be fair, or {b) were satisfied with the abatements made by their landlord, or {c) were induced by the National League not to avail themselves of their legal privileges. Arrears and Fair Rent. It must be carefully noted that the existence of arrears creates no statutory obstacle whatever, nor any difficulty in procedure to a tenant desirous of applying to have a fair rent fixed. [For further remarks on Arrears, see p. 94.] A Judicial Reduction no Proof of Previous Extortion. We are now brought face to face with the most common misrepresentation of the Nationalist Party. It will be observed that while frequently impeaching the conduct of the Land Commissioners — as, indeed, of all officials — they also frequently appeal to the decisions of these same Commissioners as giving distinct proof that the landlords of Ireland have in the past " rack-rented " their tenants grievously. This is frequently done by the citation of some decisions of the Land Commission summarised in the following form : — Landlord A. B. Name of Tenant. Old Rent. New Rent. Reducti ion per cent. C. D. . £^o ... £32 20 E. F. . 33 6 S ... 25 25 G. H. 50 ... 34 32 I. J. 7 10 ... 400 ... 46I These are fairly typical cases, especially of late years, and they are every day triumphantly cited by the Separatist press as proofs of landlord malpractices. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 75 Yet nothing can be clearer than that they prove nothing whatever of the kind ; and for the following reasons : — 1. They leave out of sight the fact that these rents were perfectly fair when they were fixed in the days of high prices. The Land Commission never deter- mined that they were unfair rents in the past ; it has only determined that, in consequence of the fall in prices, they are unfair at present. 2. It is also forgotten that the rents in the first column do not represent what the landlords have been de- manding from their tenants, they only represent the old contract rents fixed in the day of high prices ; but i7i thousands of cases the landlord has voluntarily been making abatements equal to, or even larger than, those granted by the Land Commission. When, therefore, a speaker is confronted with cases of the kind described, he must point out that the first column truly states the original contract rents, but that no column gives any information about the amount of the rent which the landlord has been demanding, which very frequently has been at least 25 per cent, less than that given in the first column. Cases have occurred, as at Glenbeigh and on the Vandeleur estate, where there has been loud talk about rack-rented tenants who had paid not a farthing for years. In reply to this an attempt may be made by the Parnellites to point to the judgments sometimes obtained by landlords against their tenants. Thus they will say A. B. was rented at ^25 per annum. He was three years in arrears. His land- lord evicted him for ;^75, proving thereby that no abatement was made. This argument, however, is utterly misleading, inasmuch as a man may be evicted really on account of his unwillingness to pay anything, but technically on account of a full demand. Thus a tenant may owe his landlord ^100. The landlord ^6 THE speaker's HA XD- BOOK may express his willingness to take p/^20, and such is a very common case. If the tenant will pay nothing, the landlord, like any other creditor, will naturally sue for the full amount legally due, otherwise he might legally lose everything. Decline in Prices. In addition to what has been said, it must be remembered that just as prices rose in Ireland between 1850 and 1872, so they have been falling since. This being so, if the old contract rents were perfectly fair when 7nade, the Land Commissioners were bound to make important reductions. Let us see what the fall in prices was. We shall give a similar table to that already printed on p. 68, with which this may be well com- pared : — Mir imal Pi ices. Maximal Prices. 1873. 1885. Decrease per cent. 1875. 1885 Decrease per cent. Two-year-old cattle ^10 £7 -30 ^12 ;£i3 1+9 One-year-old ,, 7 4 -42 9 8 10 -6 Tililch cows 16 II -32 24 20 -17 Lambs I 5 18 -28 2 2 2 10 i-t-.g Beef, per cwt. 3 10 2 -43 4 7 6 3 10 -20 Mutton ,, 3 5 4 2 10 -3S 4 4 4 8 8 1 + 5 Pork 2 S I 12 -45 3 3 ° ^ Wheat „ 9 5 6 9 -29 10 10 2 1 + 2 Oats 8 2 6 -27 8 2 10 I -1-22 Barley ,, B 8 o 6 7 -24 8 8 8 3 -5 Flax 3 2 2 -30 4 8 3 8 -2J Hay 5 6 I 8 -70 6 5 6 -9 Straw ,, 2 6 2 — 20 4 4 = Potatoes ,, 3 I 6 -50 4 3 S -9 Butter ,, 5 IS 2 14 -53 7 6 16 — 3 Eggs, per 120 7 3 5 9 — 21 9 II 3 1-I-25 Wool, per lb. I 5 7i -57 I 8 loA -48 There can be no doubt that the average fall in prices may be estimated as between 1874 and 1885 as not less than between. 25 and 30 per cent. In all propriety, then, rents ON THE IRISH QUESTION. yj should have been reduced that much by the Land Com- mission if the old rents ivere fair rents. How much, however, were the rents reduced ? The following list shows the average reductions made : — Average Reductions made in the Old Rent. For the year ending August, 1882 ... ... 20'5 per cent. ,, ,, ,, 1S83 19-5 „ „ ,, ,, ,, 1S84 ... ... 1S7 ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 1885 ... ... iS"i ,, ,, J, ,> )> 188& 24-1 ,, ,, [For further subsequent reductions, see Land Act of 1SS7.] The above table is quite sufficient to demonstrate that judged by the decisions of the Land Commission, to which the Parnellites are never tired of appealing, the statement that Irish landlords as a class have " rack-rented " their tenantry is an outrageous calumny. The Commission has never done more than reduce rents in proportion to the acknowledged fall in prices. Reductions vary with Size of Holding. Parnellites, however, occasionally attempt to prove in- dividual cases of hardship by citing specimen cases of larger reductions than the average. They point to a few cases where reductions of 40, 50, 60, 70 per cent., or even more, are given. Alt such cases are absolutely illusory., though their existence is a pitfall to the ignorant. Li this case everything depends on the size of the holding, for the following reason : — ■ It has been the practice, as it is plainly the duty, of the Land Commission to fi.\ such a rent for a holding as will enable the tenant to live and pay his way. It is quite obvious that a fall in prices of 30 per cent, will justify a vast deal larger reduction on a small holding than on a large one. Let us illustrate this : — James Finucane (shall we say?) pays ;^ioo rent for 75 acres of good land. When times are good he makes ;^25o 78 THE SPEAKER S HAND-BOOK gross profit out of the land. He pays ;^ioo rent, and lives on ^150. Prices fall 30 per cent. ; he then only makes ;^i75. If his rent is reduced 30 per cent, he pays ^70, and has ^105 to live on. In other words, the loss on the arm is 30 per cent. He loses 30 per cent, and so does his landlord — a not inequitable arrangement. Patrick Dowling (shall we say ?) is a small farmer ; he pays j[^2 rent for 2 acres of middling land. When times are good he makes j[^2o gross profit out of the land, perhaps by the sale of cattle. Of course he has his own potatoes, which probably he does not sell. He pays £^2 and has ^18 for clothing and stock. Prices fall 30 per cent ; then he makes only ^14 out of the land. If his rent is reduced to ;£,\ 8s. (that is, 30 per cent.), he is left with a sum quite inadequate to clothe himself and his children, and it becomes perfectly clear that his rent should be reduced to almost nothing if he is to live. It is obvious to every thinking man that while a large farmer may be properly treated by a reduction of 15 or 20 per cent., larger reductions have to be given to poor cottiers; and no list of statements is reliable which ignores this fact. Free Sale. The following illustrations of what can be done under Free Sale — which recognises the valuable interest of the tenant in his holding — have occurred since the introduction of Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill. They are selected from different parts of Ireland, prosperous and poor : — Name of Landlord. Lord Massereene Name of Tenant. County. I Rent. I Price obtain'd by Tenant for Interest. Wiliiatn Anderson ! Antrim ^30 o o ^730 o o ,, Repr. of John Swann ,, 4 4° Trustees of late T. Conolly Hugh Walsh Donegal 426 ,, ,, Condy Bradbane „ , 3 14 o Duke of Devonshire James Sullivan Cork 1800 S. 'S\. Huss'--y Edmond Walsh Kerry 10 2 o 170 o o 130 o o 140 o o 217 o o 100 o o No. of Years' Purchase. 25 40 38 14 9M ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 79 It should be remembered that, despite the opposition of the League, about 300 such sales take place in Ireland annually. By them the outgoing tenant is enabled to pocket money repre- senting the interest in his holding, while the incoming tenant testifies his confidence that the rent is perfectly fair, inasmuch as he is quite willing to pay down a large sum of money to be allowed possession of the farm subject to the rent. The following table gives the number of sales and number of years' purchase for the tenant's interest during the first four years of the operation of the Land Act of 1881 : — Number of cases in which the price paid represented an equivalent to — UlbtLT. Leinst.r. M unster. Connght. Irelautl 10 }-e£irs' purchase and under Over 10 and under 20 years' ,, 20 ,, ,, 30 ,, ,, 30 years' purchase 253 275 81 43 121 49 7 -« 133 71 25 10 63 55 9 2 570 • 450 122 5S 652 180 239 129 1,200 j ' It will be observed that more than half the sales occurred in the province of Ulster. For this fact there could only be four possible reasons : — 1. Some difference in the law, operating in favour ot Ulster and against the other provinces. 2. That in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught the tenants' interest was of less value than in Ulster, probably because the tenants' improvements, &c., were of less value. 3. That there was more demand for land in Ulster, either because it was better land or less highly rented. 4. That some form of pressure was operating on the tenants to prevent them purchasing. 8o THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK I. — The first ot ll.ese reasons may give in some slight decree the reason. Owinsr to the existence of the Ulster custom {see p. 64), tenants practically enjoyed the right of Free Sale prior to 1881, and were consequently thoroughly accus- tomed to avail themselves of its benefits. On the other hand, the peasantry of the rest of Ireland are by no means slow to learn of any alteration in the law which tends to their benefit^ and it is quite clear that this reason alone would not suffice to account for the disparity between Ulster and the other provinces. II. — It is probably true that the best improvements are those in Ulster, but that would be a reason for a smaller number of years' purchase, not for a smaller number of sales. III. — ^The third theory is absolutely unwarranted by facts. The land in Ulster is naturally inferior to that in Leinster and Munster, but it is on the average not less highly rented. IV. — Pressure is, unfortunately, continually put on Southern and Western tenants not to join in the operation of the Free Sale clauses of the Act of 1881 . If a tenant is evicted in those districts in which the National League has power, no viatter for what amowit of rent, or ivhether it is justly due or not, the League refuses invariably to allow bidding at sales. By law, the tenant may sell his good-will in the open market ; but if he is evicted, nobody will buy, inasmuch as it is a well-known and indisputable rule of the League that no man may take a farm from which another is evicted. Such a man is called a "land- grabber." Hence the League deprives hundreds of tenants of what is equivalent to hard cash, and of what was conferred on them by Mr. Gladstone and the united Liberal Party in i83i. It is also interesting to observe that in many cases far more is given in Ireland for the tenant's interest than would suffice to buy the fee-simple from the landlord. No landlord in Ireland would dream of getting thirty years' purchase for the ON THE IRISH QUESTIOX. 8 I fee-siinple, yet the preceding table shows that in fifty-eight cases that was given by incoming tenants for the outgoing tenant's interest. The following cases on the Fishmongers' Estate will illus- trate this fact : — Name of purchasing tenant. Boyd Cuyle Cr.iig Hamilton Shannon Price paid for tenant's interest under Free Sale. ;^820 = 41 years' pur- chase of rt-nt. /800 = 19 ^800 — 21 £2TS = A^ ;^620=27 Price paid for fee-simple to landlord. Rent. ^285 = I4i years' pur-i ^20 o chase of rent.' ^594= 14'^ .. ^40 16 ^539 =14^ /95=i4l Zi 14^ £Z7 o £(> 10 ^22 10 o o o o THE ARREARS ACT, 1882. It is generally stated that the " Arrears " question has never been dealt with in Ireland, and that the failure to settle it on the part of the Imperial Parliament is a proof of the incom- petence of that body to settle the Irish Land Question. How untrue is the statement can only be realised by tliose who know that in 1S82 an Arrears Act was passed for Ireland. That Act provided that those tenants whose valuation for rating purposes was below ^30 per annum — that is, the tenants of 88-6 of the holdings {see p. 55) — should be given a fresh start. They were enabled, no matter how many years' rent they owed, to clear themselves by the payment of oJie year's ren'. The Covernment paid the landlord another year's rent out of the fund of the Disestablished Church, and wiped out by Act of Parliament the residue of the tenant's debt. Of course the Court had, in justice both to the landlord and the country, to inquire as to the ability or inability of the tenant to pay. Under this Act 126,882 holdings were benefited. The G 82 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK annual rental of these holdings was ;^i, 185, 265, and ^1,820,586 of arrears was absolutely wiped out. (^See Parliamentary Return presented in 1884 by the Land Commission, of which the following is a summary) : — Holdings. Arrears wiped out Ulster 41,134 ;^56i,39i Mimster 18,994 341,198 Leinster 12,879 223,902 Connaught 52,883 634,333 Extra cases under Sect. 16 of Act ... 992 59,762 Total 126,882 ;^i,82o,586 THE LAND PURCHASE ACT, 1885. This Act, commonly known as Lord Ashbourne's Act, con- ferred on Irish tenants opportunities of purchasing their hold- ings of an altogether exceptional kind, by providing that — If a tenant wishes to buy his holding, and arranges with his landlord as to terms, he can change his position from that of a perpetual rent-payer into that of the payer of an annuity terminable at the end ot 49 years, and less in amount than the annual rent. Thus, suppose the landlord agrees to take 20 years' purchase or twenty rents for the fee-simple of his land — and Irish landlords, as a rule, are willing to take this sum or less — the Government supply the tenant with the necessary purchase money, and he repays the Government at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum, which covers both principal and interest. The annuities payable on November 1st, 1886, have been paid — et^eiy poiny. Those due on May ist, 1887, have all been paid but 69 — less than i per cent. Of those payable on November ist, 1887, 98^- per cent, have already been paid. The following table will illustrate the ditference between the rent — which, of course, is in most cases a "fair rent " fixed ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 83 by the Land Court— and the annuity arising out of the 4 per cent, payable to the Government, according to the number ot years' purchase which the tenant agrees to pay : — jmber of years' purchase. Old reEt. Annuity. Reduction per cent IS .. /SO . .. ;^30 40 16 50 32 ... 36 17 SO 34 32 18 SO 36 28 19 50 38 24 20 SO 40 20 At the end of 49 years the tenant who so purchases will own the land altogether. If he dies, his children will so own it ; but he is not without benefits in the interim. In the first place, his rent is largely abated ; in the second place, his share in the ownership of his holding is becoming larger every day, and the farm is increasing in market value should he wish to dispose of his interest under the Free Sale provisions of the Act of i88r. The following cases will suffice as the most recent examples of benefits accruing to the tenants during the present autumn (1888) from the Land Purchase Act of 1885 :— Lord Shannon^ s Estate. — The tenants have purchased at a little over twelve years' purchase of the rents. That means that for every ;^ioo of rent they had to pay year after year, they have now to pay ;:^5o for forty-nine years to the Govern- ment, Lord LMHsdowne's Estate. — On the property of Borrow- house, Queen's County, the tenantry have agreed to purchase at eighteen years' purchase, all arrears to be forgiven on payment of half a year's rent. Leaving the arrears question aside, that means that for every ^100 of rent from year to year, tliey have undertaken to pay the Government p/^72 for forty-nine years. Up to date, advances have been made to purchase 3,891 G 2 84 THE SPEAKER S HAND-BOOK holdings rented under ^lo, 3,234 holdini^s rented between ;^io and £,Zo, and 884 holdings rented over ^30. The entire ;i/j5, 000,000 allocated for the purpose has been applied. The following table is of interest : — Loans applied for to April sotli, 18S8. > Loans sanctioned to April 30th, 1888. Province. No. Amount. Province. No. Amoiin*. Ulster Leinster Muns:er Connaught 7>i5' 2,025 2,233 1,388 £2,036,149 1,276,097 1,564.932 365.485 £5,242,663 Ulster Miinster Leinster Connaught 5.813 1,535 I 746 918 £1,640,120 970,104 1,219,518 243.407 Total 12,797 Total 10,012 £4.073,149 Parnellite Misrepresentations of the Purchase Act. The following absurd comments on the Land Purchase Act are from the pen of Mr. J- J- Clancy, M.P. T.hey are in keeping with the Parnellite obstruction to every useful piece of legislation concerning Ireland, and are only noticed here because that member of Mr. Parnell's party has put them into print to depreciate the Land Laws and the Imperial Parlia- ment. He says : — [a) The tenant may wish to buy, but the landlord need not sell if he likes. iyh) The landlord may demand what price he likes— sucli a price that it would swamp the tenants utterly to pay it. (r) The whole of the purchase-money is not really ad- vanced by the State, for the fifth of it must be left as security with the Land Court. {d) The Government have at present little more than a million of money to help the 500,000 tenants of Ireland to buy their holdings, and consequently ON THE IRISH QUEST /ON. 85 could accommodate with advances only the smallest fraction of the entire number. {e) The Government need not and do not always lend the money, even when an agreement has been come to between the landlord and the tenant. In fact, they have often refused to advance any money, because of the wretched quality of the land, or because they did not consider it a sufficient security. The following considerations show the absolute dishonesty of the line of argument pursued : — , {a) The landlord could not be compelled to sell, or the tenant to buy, unless the State fixed a price^ which would please nobody. [b) This statement is quite absurd. Technically, of course, it is possible, but what landlord in Ireland would refuse to sell at the fair market value ? It might be said with equal truth that " the tenants can offer what price they like." Of course, the landlord can ask a high price, but the tenant is not harmed by that if he refuses to give it ; while if he assents to too high a price the Land Commission must protect him. (See e.) {c) Four-fifths of the purchase-money is paid over to the landlord at once. The other fifth is retained by the Government, who, however, pay 3 percent, for it to the depositor. This fifth of the purchase money is called the " guarantee deposit." The tenant may supply it if he can, in which case he gets 3 per cent, per annum for it, while the landlord is paid off altogether. The landlord, however, is frequently willing to let one- fifth of the purchase-money stand out, in which case he gets 3 per cent, on it, and the tenant need not spend a farthing. At the end of eighteen years the guarantee deposit is paid over to whoever is entitled 86 THE speaker's hand-book to it. If to the tenant, it is an enormous iDOon, for by spending it on redeeming some years of his annuity, he can reduce the period from about forty- nine years to thirty-six. As a matter of practice and fact, the provision about the guarantee deposit is an extra boon to the tenant who has saved some money, and it has proved no obstacle ivhatever to any tenant without money, as landlords are everywhere willing to take four-fifths of the purchase-money and 3 per cent, on the .remaining fifth. {d) It will hardly be credited that this statement comes from a member of a party which, for selfish ends and to keep Ireland in discontent, has announced its intention of opposing any further grant. It should be remembered, (i) that ^5,000,000 was allocated for Land Purchase under the Act of 1885 ; (2) that the sum was found to be sufficient for the time, and has only just now been exhausted; (3) that of the annuities payable by tenants 95 per cent, and more has been repaid ; (4) that a further sum will be applied to the purpose; and (5) last, and most important of all, that in the present downward grade of matters agricultural, thousands of men are naturally unwill- ing to purchase land. (6') Of the last complaint it can only be said that the Government will lend the money tvillingly if the landlord is robbed, and charges too little. If, how- ever, the landlord charges too much, they will protect the tenant. The " wretched quality " of the land means in this case nothing, save in so far as it affects price. If a landlord asks too much for " wretched " land, the Land Commission will not sanction the sale, because the security for repayment is obviously insufficient. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 8/ It is to be hoped that these considerations will serve to dispel several bushels of Parnellite dust. THE LAND LAW AMENDMENT ACT OF 1887. The privileges conferred on Irish tenants by this Act are as follow : — 1. It permits all leaseholders whose leases would expire within 99 years after the passing of the Act to go into Court if they wish, and get their contracts BROKEN, and a judicial rent fixed. (Sect, i, 2.) Thus 100,000 non-perpetuity leaseholders, whose claims Mr. Gladstone always insisted on refusing to recognise, have been given the privilege of getting their rents adjusted in accordance with the fall in prices under the Act of 1881. 2. In view of the fall in agricultural produce the Land Commission is empowered and directed to vary the rents fixed by the Land Courts during the years 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, and 1885, in accordance 7vith the difference in prices between those years and 1887, 1888, and 1889. (Sect. 29.) In other words, it was alleged, and alleged with truth, that some " fair rents " fixed between 1881-85 had since become too high, in consequence of the continued fall in prices. Accordingly provision was made for this. The Commissioners published during Christmas week, 1887, the result of their revision, and reduced rents from 6 to 20 per cent., according to the varying conditions of different districts. The average was 14 per cent., or about ^360,000 per annum. 88 THE speaker's hand-book 3. In the case of tenants whose valuation for ratuig purposes does not exceed ^50 (that is, ift the case of 94 per cent, of all tenants — the poorer 94 per cent. ) the Court before which proceedings are taken for the recovery of any debt due by the tenant is empowered to stay his eviction, and may give him hberty to pay by instahnents, and can extend the time for such payment as it thinks proper. (Sect. 30.) The Real Argument from the Land Acts. It must be remembered that the Unionist Party do not contend that the land laws of Ireland are perfect. Their contention is threefold, and is as follows : — 1. That the Irish people have now no pre-eminent land grievances, but are in an incomparably better position than the tenantry of any other country in the civilised world ; and 2. That the measures already passed prove the willingness and competence of the Imperial Parliament to legis- late for Ireland. 3. That the Unionist Party is willing to do all that is just, witness the Act of 1887. Irish Tenants versus English or Scotch Tenants, 1. The Irish tenant has, but the British tenant has not, compensation for all permanent improvements. It will be said that Irish tenants are entitled to this, and British tenants are not. This is, as a rule, true ; but the fact that Irish tenants have the compensation destroys any grievance. 2. The Irish tenant has fixity of tenure : the British tenant has not. ON THE IRISH QUEST/ ON. 89 3. The Irish tenant has a Court to fix his rent for him : the British tenant has to pay the full market value. 4. The Irish tenant can sell the good-will of his farm before or after eviction : the British tenant cannot do so. 5. The Irish tenant can buy his holding by paying less for it for forty-nine years than the annual rent : the British tenant cannot. 6. In 1882 the tenantry occupying 88 per cent, of the holdings of Ireland got the chance of getting arrears of rent oblit- erated. No like chance has ever been given to English or Welsh tenantry, and only to farmers in seven out of twenty- six Scotch counties. 7. Irish leaseholders can break their leases : British lease- holders cannot do so. 8. The Irish tenant can have his rent varied by Act ot Parliament in proportion to the market prices. These are some important distinctions thus tabulated. Attitude of the Parnellites towards the Land Acts. Sometimes, for political purposes^ the Parnellites adopt a different line of action towards the Land Acts. They oc- casionally claim credit for having got them passed. The actual facts may be noted. The 1S70 Act, giving compensation for improvements, was passed long before the Parnellites were ever heard of If credit is due to any Irish member, it is entirely to the Ulster Liberals, who contended for this measure for years ; and therefore Mr. T. W. Russell and Mr. Lea have far more right to claim credit for this measure as passed by f/idr predecessors than have any Parnellites. In 1 88 1 the Parnellites declined to vote for the great 90 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK measure which conferred the " three F's " on the Irish tenantry. They walked out of the House. In the same year Mr. Gladstone put Mr. Parnell in gaol, on the following charge {see Parliamentary Returns, February i, 1882):— Inciting other persons wrongfully, and without legal authority, to intimidate divers persons with a view to compel them to abstain from doing what they had a legal right to do — namely, to apply to the Court, under the provisions of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, to have a fair rent fixed for their holdings. On September 17, 1881, Mr. Parnell had sent the following telegram : — " To Collins, President Land League, Boston. The Con- vention has just closed after three days' session. Resolutions were adopted for National Self-government, the unconditional liberation of the land for the people, tenants not to use the rent- fixing, clauses of the Land Act, and follow old Land League lines, and rely upon old methods to secure justice. The Executive of the League is empowered to select test-cases, in order that tenants in surrounding districts may realise, by the result of cases decided, the hollowness of the Act." As regards the Act of 1885, they have always tried to dissuade tenants from purchasing their holdings. This has been done on general grounds, and not on account of any particular terms offered. The Act of 1887 was described in the House of Commons by Mr. Parnell as " a stab in the back." A complete settlement of the Arrears question in Ireland was prevented entirely by the exertions of Mr. John Dillon, M.P. It may also be of interest to note the extraordinary change which Gladstonians generally have adopted towards these Acts. Once they were splendid measures, which had redressed all the land grievances of Ireland ; now they are evidently of no • av THE IRISH QUESTION. 9 1 account, and the great Liberal measures of the past were so many fiascos which did no useful service whatever. It may be further serviceable to remind Gladstonians who claim, as is sometimes done, the whole credit of the measures of 1870 and t88i for their Party, that these measures were passed by a united Liberal Party, and that of the survivors of the Cabinets of 1870 and i88r, which passed these Acts, the large majority of the members are Liberal Unionists. The Present Position of the Irish Landlord. So much nonsense is talked about the grievances of Irish tenants that it may be sometimes useful to consider the matter from the standpoint of an Irish landlord. This may serve to clear the air. The following points are suggested : — 1. An Irish landlord has land. He finds tenants on it who have been there under his predecessors. What can he do? 2. He cannot charge an excessive rent — how can he ? The tenant can get a " fair rent " fixed, which he cannot add a penny to. But if the tenant has not or cannot get a " fair rent " fixed, how can the land- lord even then charge an excessive rent ? He can only charge the market value. Besides, the tenant can stay eviction by applying to have a "fair rent" fixed. 3. It is absurd to pretend that the landlord — unless he is an utter fool — can attempt to charge more than the tenant can pay. If he does, he will not get it ; and if he evicts, what will happen then ? 4. In considering this, we put out of sight any difficulties the landlord may encounter in consequence of re- sistance. The more resistance, the more costly to 92 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK the landlord. If the landlord evicts peacefully, what is his position ? 5. He can plainly only evict if the eviction is for non- payment of a just rent. Otherwise he is a loser, fur no one will take the farm, so he is himself punished. If, however, another tenant can be got to make and pay the rent, it must be a fair rent. If so, why should not the landlord have it ? 6. However, the landlord proceeds to evict. The old method of procedure by distraint is practically and actually obsolete. The landlord can only proceed by eviction if one year's rent is due. He serves notice on the defaulting tenant. Forthwith the tenant can serve notice of compensation for improvements. It the landlord has made the improvements, and can prove that he has made them, of course the tenant will not get, and ought not to get, compensation j if, however, the tenant has made them, or if this is doubtful, the tenant must be compensated before he can be evicted. Of course, if the tenant owes niore rent than the value of the improvements, he will not get compensation from his landlord ; but why should he ? 7. However, if the tenant be a poorer tenant (that is, under £1$ valuation), as are 70 per cent, of the tenants, he can also make the landlord give him compensation for disturbance if the rent is unfair. 8. So far it is quite obvious that the landlord is dis- suaded alike by law and his own interest from unjust eviction. 9. If, however, the tenant likes, he can sell the good-will of the farm. Of course the debt must be paid to the (9 A" THE IRISH QUEST lOX. 93 landlord out of the sum. Again, why should it not be so paid ? But the League may, and does, forbid bidders at a sale, and the tenant's interest may indeed be knocked down to the landlord for little or nothing. But what can he then do ? The interest is no use to him. Why should he not have it cheap if it has no market value, and what can he do with it if the rent is unfair ? No one will buy it to get the farm at an impossible rent. ID. But the landlord may proceed for rent, not by eviction, but as a debt. If the amount is over ;^ioo he can proceed in the Superior Courts by writ of summons ; and plaint, if under ^loo, in the Courts of Quarter Session. If the position is thoroughly just, why should he not have this benefit? If, however, it is unjust, how does he gain ? He will secure no tenant, his land will be derelict, and he will be the loser. II. Finally, whether the landlord proceeds by writ of ejectment, or an ordinary writ oi Jieri facias, he will find that, under Section 30 of the Act of 18S7, if the debtor can show that his inability to pay did not arise from his own conduct, act, and default, the Court will stay execution, and make an order for deferred payment by instalments — certainly no boon to the landlord. These points are recommended as an antidote to the per- nicious nonsense talked daily by people who are either ignorant of, or anxious to conceal, the real facts. {See Arrears, p. 94 ; and Evictions, p. 96.) Many, though not all, of the rights of the Irish tenant have now been explained. It is now necessary to deal plainly with the subject from another standpoint, and to investigate two matters with reference to which the Unionist Party generally, and the 94 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK Liberal Unionists in particular, have been attacked. These two points are, (i) non-treatment of the arrears question, and (2) the rejection of a Bill introduced by Mr. Parnell in 1886. , Arrears. In connection with this question the following points are of prime importance : — {a) The Arrears Act of 1882. {See p. 81.) (/') The fallacy of representing arrears of unrevised rents as exorbitant. Rents have been reduced because they had become too high owing to a fall in prices. It by no means follows that a rent of ^36, reduced to ^25 in 1887, should have been ^25 in 1878 or 1881. {c) As before stated, arrears are no obstacle to getting a fair rent fixed. It has been said that a landlord can threaten a tenant with eviction for arrears to deter him from applying to have a fair rent fixed. That would do the landlord no good whatever, and it is doubtful if a single case could be pointed out in which what is suggested occurred. Legal possibilities are not actual facts. ((/) Government has already offered to deal with any out- standing question of arrears on certain lines well within the memory of the public. An offer was made in 1887 to give any insolvent tenant a fresh start on a declaration of his full indebtedness to all his creditors and the payment of as much in the pound as the Court should deem reasonable. This suggestion, put forth in the House of Commons by Mr. Chamberlain, was accepted by the Government, assented to by Sir William Harcourt a7id the Gladstonian Opposition, but contemptuously rejected by the Nationalist repre- sentatives. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 95 (e) Irish landlords are not at present asking their tenants for old arrears calculated at their full amount. {See Plan of Campaign, p. io6.) It can hardly be necessary to point out that the reason given by the Parnellites for rejecting the proposed settlement of the arrears question was that it would prevent the shop- keepers of Ireland from realising what was due to them. They objected to the tenant who was in debt arranging with all his auditors. But why not ? It was postulated without a show of reason, but with plenty of high-flown rhetoric, that the land- lord's debt was unjust, but the shopkeeper's just. Certainly it is well to remember the famous dictum of Sir William Harcourt — " The landowner has just as good a right to a fair rent as you or I have to the coat upon our back."* (Speech at Glasgow, October 25th, 1881.) The Rejection of Mr. Parnell's Bill of 1886. No one can attach the faintest blame to the Unionist Party for rejecting this Bill who cares to know what its provisions were. In it Mr. Parnell asked for relief for about 100,000 yearly tenants. These 100,000 were those who had had fair rents fixed before December 31st, 1884. He asked for relief for them on the ground that prices had fallen to a considerable degree in 1886, and that the rents fixed before December 31st, 1884, had become too high. What were the facts? Up to August, 1882, the Land Commissioners after full investigation, and with full knowledge of facts and prices, had reduced rents 20*5 per cent. ; up to August, 1883, i9"5 percent.; in the next year (1884) 187 per cent.; in 1885, i8-i per cent; and in 1886 they made reductions of 24-1 per cent. * Liberals are invited to compare this sentiment with tliat of Mr. T. P. O'Connor M. P., and of Father Sheeliy on page 114. 9^ THE speaker's HAND-BOOK In Other words, the judges, whose business it was to know, were reporting at the time to the country that, owing to the further fall in prices, about 5^ per cent., at the most, should be knocked off the 1882, 1883, and 1884 rents. This modest idea did not suit Mr. Parnell ; he proposed to pay the landlord in these cases only 50 per cent, of the fair rent, and to send the remainder into Courts for which he pro- vided no machinery ! He further proposed, for no reason at all, to stop arrears 01 these same fair rents to the extent of 50 per cent. ! He further provided that in case the landlord had taken steps to recover his debt he should get nothing at all ; but, to punish him, 50 per cent, should be paid info Court, not to the landlord, pending a decision about the other half. There was one provision in the Bill which would have had a good chance of immediate adoption only for the clauses just mentioned — that opening the Land Courts to leaseholders. This was done, however, in the next Session of Parliament. [For the alleged connection between the Plan of Campaign and the rejection of this Bill, see p. 112.] EVICTIONS. The entire subject of evictions can be best divided into three parts, dealing with the Law of Eviction, the Facts and Figures of Evictions, and the Causes of Eviction. The Law of Eviction. The following are the most important points : — 1. No tenant can be evicted in consequence of a writ of ejectment for non-payment of rent unless he owes a year's rent. 2. He may, however, be ejected on title if sued for a debt due, and if judgment is given against him. In this ox Tin: IRISH (Jl'f.STJOX. 9/ case his goods and interest may be put up for auction by the sheriff. How seldom this method is resorted to, figures will prove. The landlord has, however, no more to say to this than has the shopkeeper, or the publican, or tlie "gombeen man "^ — i.e., the local money-lender. 3. If evicted for non-payment of rent, the process is as follows : — The landlord obtains his judgment, and then a period of six weeks must elapse before he can proceed further. During these six weeks the tenant can stay eviction by payment in full, or settlement. 4. Prior to the passing of the Land Act of 1887 the landlord next proceeded, in case of a failure to settle, to evict the tenant. The tenant then evicted had a period of six months, during which time he might redeem. He was no longer a tenant, but by paying what was due, or coming to a settlement with his landlord, he could be reinstated, as he loas ifi the vast viajority of cases. Of course, the land was for these six months absolutely useless to the landlord. 5. During the six months while the tenant was out of possession, the landlord was liable to him for the crops on the land, and for the profits he (the land- lord) might have made. 6. As a result of this last provision, it happened that after eviction the landlord (in how many cases, figures will tell) reinstated the tenant as a caretaker, though not with the rights of a tenant. At the end of the six months the period of redemption expired. The tenant was on the land as caretaker. If he settled, he became a tenant ; if not, and if he refused possession, a second physical removal might have to take place. Having lost his tenancy, he became a trespasser. H 98 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK 7. Of course, in addition to what is stated above, it must never be forgotten that the tenant could secure the value of improvements made by him, by compensation or by the benefit of Free Sale. These matters have already been described at length under the Acts of 1870 and 1881. 8. An important change was made in the law by the Act of 1887. This Act placed the physical eviction at the end of the six months allowed for redemption, instead of at the beginning. It provided that in all cases where the rent was under £,\q>o (that is, in over 95 per cent, of the holdings of Ireland) the landlord who was entitled to evict should not resort to physical eviction in the first instance. A written notice sent to the tenant, after judgment had been obtained, and at the termination of a series of legal proceedings of which he must be fully cognisant, makes him a caretaker. He then has six months to redeem, and does redeem in the vast majority of instances. 9. These written notices are known as " eviction " notices, but they precede actual eviction by six months. In the overwhelming majority of cases actual eviction never succeeds. The most laughable mistakes have been made on this subject, as by Lord Ripon, who, speaking in October, 1888, spoke of many thousand evictions as likely to take place in Ireland because of the number of eviction notices ; while some thousand eviction notices in the preceding quarter had been followed by only eighty-six evictions ! The Facts and Figures or Evictions. Are there really many evictions in Ireland ? Do the land- lords there evict, as is alleged, wholesale? Any one would O.y THE IRISH QUESTION. 99 think so whose reading was confined to the Gladstonian and Nationalist press. On this subject every method of exaggeraiion is employed. There are, however, seven distinct methods employed in this connection to trap the unwary. These are : — 1. The use of extravagant language. 2. The confusion of persons with families, by the artful employment of which trick the Parnellites make evictions appear about seven times as numerous as they really are. 3. The assumption that of the total number of evictions all are by landlords. 4. The absolute ignoring of the fact that many evicted tenants are at once reinstated as tenants. 5. The absolute ignoring of the f:ict that very many evicted tenants are readmitted as caretakers, and ultimately redeem their position as tenants. 6. The confusion of eviction notices {see p. 98) with evictions. 7. The assumption that if the landlord anywhere evicts a tenant, the landlord alone is to blame. As to the first of these, the use of extravagant /anguage, we shall give one specimen of Parnellite methods. Speaking in the House of Commons in August, 1886, Mr. Parnell said : " If it were not for ' moonlighting/ Lord Kenmare would not leave a roof over the heads of any of his tenants " — while United Ire/and described the same landlord as the " Evictor- Cieneral of Ireland." What are the facts ? Lord Kenmare holds 91,000 acres, on which are 1,800 tenants. In the seven years 1860-66 he evicted nine tenants, or 1} per annum. Such was the conduct of the " Evictor-General," and such is the invariable method of the Parnellite press. II 2 lOO THE SPEAKRR S HAXD-BOOK A favourite Parnellite trick is to confuse persons with families. At election times a Parnellite placard is generally exhibited, stating that during the last fifty years 3,668,000 Irish persons have been evicted ! The authority given for this statement is a work called " Fifty Years' National Progress," by Michael G. Mulhall. The following is Mr. Mulhall's statement in his own words : — " Official returns give the number of families, and these averaging seven persons, we ascertain the actual number of persons evicted : — False. Years. Families. Persons. 1849-51 ... ... 263,000 ... ... 1,841,000 1852-60 ... ... 110,000 ... 770,000 1861-70 ... ... 47,000 ... 329,000 1871-86 ... ... 104,000 ... 728,000 Total 524,000 3,668,000." The foregoing is Mr. Mulhall's statement, given on pp. 114 and 115 of his book. What are the facts? The official returns give, not what Mr. Mulhall alleges, but the following figures : — • True. Years. P'amilies. Persons. 1849-51 ... 49,000 ... 263,000 1852-60 ... 22,000 ... 110,000 1861-70 ... 9,700 ... 47,000 1871-86 ... 20,000 ... 104,000 Total 100,700 524,000 In other words, persons in the official returns were trans- muted into FAMILIES, then the figures were multiplied by 7 to make them persons, and so the current Parnellite numbers are based on a calculation which makes every Irish farmer the parent of about 35 children. As a matter of actual fact, about 100,000 families, and aV THE IRISH QUESTION. lOI 524,000 persons, are given in the official returns as evicted between 1849 ^^id 1886. That means 100,000 evictions in 38 years, which on an average is less than 3,000 evictions a year. Whether this number is large or small can only be determined after patient investigation. The following con- siderations help to determine it : — The official returns as quoted include every case where the eviction was followed by readmission, "either as tenant or caretaker, and also every case whether eviction was at the suit of the landlord or not ; also every eviction in the towns of Ireland, Dublin alone excepted. In 1887 a vigorous attempt was made by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union to investigate every case of eviction in Ireland which had taken place during the year 1886. In that year there were 3,781 evictions, representing 19,500 persons. The figures appeared very large to unthinking persons, but investigation soon reduced them to their proper proportions. Full particulars were obtained in 3,024 of these evictions, with the following results : — ■ 434, or 14 per cent., were out of dwelling-houses in cities and towns, and so quite unconnected with the land question. 67, or 2 per cent., were out of accommodation holdings held by persons living in a town. These holdings are not agricultural, and were, therefore, rigidly excluded by Mr. Gladstone from the Act of tS8i. 305, or over 10 per cent., were cases where no physical eviction could take place because no one resided on the holdings. The tenant had either lived on an adjacent farm or had left the place derelict. 198 cases, or over 6 per cent., were " on title." On inves tigation it turned out that these were either cases of (i) tres- passers unlawfully squatting on land to which they had not any right, (2) persons wrongfully in possession under disputed wills, or (3) cases where the local shopkeeper or money-lender bought ui) and sold the interest of the tenant to pay his debt. 102 THE SPEAKERS HAND- BOOK The cases already enumerated reduce the 3,024 cases of eviction to 2,020. In other words, 33 per cent. — one-third — disappear at once. The further reductions are, however, still more remarkable. In 518 cases, about 17 per cent, of the total, the tenants were reinstated as tenants. In other words, they were able to pay, and did pay ; or, if not, they were leniently treated. In 916 cases, however, the tenants were readmitted as caretakers, pending redemption — that is, in almost one-third of the entire number. Now these 916 either came to a settle- ment with their landlord in the six months, or they did not. Whether they did or not, they were not by eviction deprived, as Englishmen and Scotchmen often think, of their interest. They had six months in which they might sell their interest, as already explained, for a sum far exceeding the landlord's demand, and so depart with the money in their pockets ; and this was actually done /// a large number of cases. As a matter of fact, however, out of 3,024 evictions only 2,020 were from agricultural holdings with residences attached thereto, and for non-payment of rent. Out of these 2,020 only 586 were cases where the tenants were not immediately re- admitted in some form. In these 586 every evicted tenant was entitled to compensation for improvements, or to the right of Free Sale, and to any profit the landlord might make out of the farm while the tenant was out of possession during the ensuing six months. There was nothing exceptional about i886, and there can be no doubt that if other years had been examined in the same way, it would appear that out of 100 recorded evictions, 33 per cent, are unconnected with agriculture, or non-residential, while in at least 45 per cent, tenants are at once readmitted. We have now seen how 3,024 mvestigated evictions in Ireland give us really 586. The official number for 1886 was, however, 3,781. Making a liberal allowance we can assume not more than 800 physical evictions as actually taking place in ON THE IRISH QUESTION. IO3 that year. It may be interesting to inquire what proportion these evictions bear to the total number of holdings in the country. The number of holdings was in that year 560,000, so Soo evictions means that out of every 700 tenants in Ireland one was evicted, and one only ! These figures certainly fail to bear out the extravagant language of the Parnellites. It is, of course, currently assumed that all evictions arise out of the fault of the landlord. How far this is true will be considered when we come to deal with the Plan of Campaign, under which most recent Irish evictions have taken place. {See pp. 106 — 1 12.) Evictions in the Abstract. It may sometimes be necessary for a speaker distinctly to address an audience on e\ ictions in the abstract, and to ask them distinctly, Are all evictions wTong ? It must be carefully remembered that this is a current belief of the Parnellites. They denounce a/l evictions alike, whether these spring from the rapacity of a landlord or the dishonesty of a tenant. Eviction is repeatedly called a crime, and no limitation whatever is introduced in the language of the speaker to show that he is referring to the particular circumstances of the case. If this be not so, it would be interesting to learn from a Parnellite of a single eviction which has ever taken place in Ireland of which he or his party have approved. There is not a single case on record where the Parnellites have said to a tenant, " Really, this is reasonable ; you ought to pay." No such case has ever occurred, for the Parnellite policy is to denounce all evictions alike. Now, if all evictions are unjust, they ought to be put a stop to at once in Ireland, and in Scotland and England also. The working classes ought, however, to be asked. How would this affect them ? In the first ]jlacc, tlic building societies of the country I04 • THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK would be bankrupt in three months. They would have lost their right of enforcing payment from a defaulting member. The price of houses would go up enormously. No one would sell a house he owned save for full cash down. No one would let a house save at a rent sufficiently large to recompense him for the risk of meeting a dishonest tenant. As for new buildings, that would simply be out of the question. In other words, the abolition of eviction altogether would mean simple ruin to the working classes of the country.* A clear statement of these facts will at once enable audiences to perceive that before one declaims against eviction, it is necessary to examine the facts of each eviction, and to ascertain whether Irish evictions are just or unjust. Are Irish Evictions Unjust? It has already been pointed out at length that eviction does not make a tenant lose his improvements in his holding, or the right to sell his interest ; it simply prevents him retaining the landlord's property without paying for it. The following facts will probably prove of interest : — In 1886, an average year, the following was the average amount of rent due by Irish tenants who were evicted from agricultural holdings on which they resided : — Number per cent, of Evicted Tenants. 1 1 '9 owed 17-1 ... „ 20'2 ... ,, I3'9 I3'6 6-8 ... „ 6-5 1-8 17 ir ... ,, 2-1 ... ,, yT, ... owed more than * This point is admirably explained in " Think It Out," a lecture by Thomas Hodgkin, D.C. L. >> ■ n Amcunt of Rent due. I year's rent. I5 >i 2 years' rent. 22 3 3h 4 4i 5 5h 6 6 on the irish question. \0$ The Glenbeigh Evictions. These evictions were, for a long time, utilised for election purposes by the Parnellites, who drew eloquent pictures of the evictions of poor people, while carefully conceaHng the facts of the case. They are still constantly alluded to. ]\Ir. Campbell Bannerman, M. P., is reported to have said at Greenock on November 2nd, 1888, that only for the conduct of his oppo- nents there would have been no Glenbeigh in Ireland. This, he alleged, was caused by the failure of the Unionist Party to deal with the question of arrears. This is a species of reckless assertion which can only be met by the recital of facts. At Glenbeigh 70 tenants owed ^^^6,177, a sum representing at least 3^ years' rent. The agent was at first willing to take one year's rent and costs, about ^^ 1,800, the total rental being ^1,731 per annum. At a later date the agent expressed his willingness to take ^865 and costs, about jC<)oo in all, and to \\\Y)& o\it ;£^,Tyi2, indi/diiig all arrears. The arrears question had therefore nothing in the world to do with the Glenbeigh evictions. At first all the tenants accepted this offer and promised to pay. As a fact, only 17 paid, but 53 refused to pay anything on gale-day. Their priest wrote of these 53 that they were " poor slaves who would not keep their word." It will scarcely be credited that after the offer of the agent to accept ^865, and to forgive ^5,312 out of ^6,177, and before evictions took place, a document was signed by the following members of Parliament — Messrs. Dillon, Mahony, E. Harrington, and Conybeare — denouncing the agent's conduct as " barbarous and inhuman." These are the facts of a stock-case of Parnellite horrors. The usual plan is to try and excite sympathy by pictures of poor persons suffering from eviction, and by the absolute sup- pression of all facts whicli would throw light on the justice or injustice of the case. I06 THE speaker's HAMD-BOOK The Plan of Campaign. There can be no dispute as to what the Plan of Campaign is ; it was first announced in the supplement to United Ireland on Saturday, November 20th, 1886. Briefly summarised the Plan is as follows : — The tenantry on a given estate meet, each tenant pledging himself to abide by the decision of the majority, to hold no personal communication with the landlord or his agent, and to accept no terms not given to every one. The rents may be old rents, judicial rents, or fixed in any way. The landlord has probably offered an abatement, possibly an all-round abatement, but not as large as the tenantry want, or he has refused an all- round abatement, but offered separate abatements to each tenant according to circumstances. This offer is refused. The tenants formulate their demand. On gale-day they go to the rent office in a body. If the agent will not see them all, they send their chairman, generally the priest, to demand the all- round abatement they require, the well-to-do farmer asking as much as the poor cottier. The landlord is then offered his rent less by this abatement of 30, 40, or 50 per cent. If he takes it, there the matter ends. If he refuses, the money is lodged with trustees — to be used, if necessary, to fight the landlord. The illegality of the Plan has been distinctly declared by the Courts of Law in the cases of Blunt v. Byrne, and of Flowen v. Dillon. Its illegality has no connection whatever with the Crimes Act. In England or in Ireland alike any meeting called to advocate it may be dispersed by force, like any other meeting called for any other illegal object. The chief apologies put forth for the Plan of Campaign are (i) necessity, (2) that the demands made under it are fair, since the Law Courts have conceded similar abatements, (3) that it never would have originated at all only for the rejection of Mr. Parncll's Bill of 1S86. aV THE IRISH QUESTION. IO7 A short examination of the facts will completely demolish all these defences, and will distinctly prove that the Plan of Campaign has been put in force where these apologies cannot be maintained. It will be advisable to give as instances a brief statement of the leading facts on the chief estates where it has been tried. Such are the Massereene estate, the Ponsonby estate, the Kingston estate, the Lansdowne estate, the O'Grady estate, the Brooke estate, and the Vandeleur estate. The Massereene Estate. On this estate there are 327 holdings. In 90 the tenants had judicial rents, and had further abatements given them under the Act of 1887. Twenty tenants were leaseholders, and to them, as well as to all the others, the Courts were open. The rental was under the Government valuation. The "arrears" question did not atTect this case, for though these were large the landlord offered at once to estimate them as if they had been reduced by the Land Commission. He asked for them on the basis of the latest judicial reductions. In other words, he asked for arrears of "fair" rent, to which he was obviously entitled in common honesty, and not for arrears of a rack-rent. 77/1? Protestant tenant i^ 36 in number, stood out to a man against the Plan of Campaign. They thought the landlord fair and reasonable and the " Plan " dishonest. 64 Roman CatJiolic tenants also declined to join the conspiracy. The Ponsonby Estate. This estate is in Cork, and its area is 10,000 acres. The rental is ;!^7,8oo. The rents have never been raised within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and so fair are these that out of 300 tenants who might have gone into Court only 50 did so. In 1880 the landlord voluntarily gave abatements of from 15 to 20 per cent., and forgave some thousands of pounds of arrears. In 1886 the landlord voluntarily offered abatements of 20 per cent, on nun-judicial and 10 per rent, on judicial I08 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK rents ; he was also willing to forgive all arrears on payment of one year's rent. In other words, he was willing to forego ^6,000 of debt. The rents were collected from the tenants by Mr. Lane, M.P., for the Plan ; and the landlord got nothing. He was obliged to evict 9 tenants. T/ie Kingston Estate. This estate is close to Mitchelstown, County Cork, and be- longs to the Countess of Kingston. There are 700 agricultural tenants, 550 of whom were granted leases by the late earl, for which they publicly thanked him and gave him an illuminated address. Rent was always well paid without complaint, and in 1880 there were practically no arrears. Then came the "No Rent'' manifesto, and the entire case altered. In 1881 the leaseholders were allowed and invited to go into Court and get "fair rents" fixed, but only one of the 550 leaseholders would do so. In 1886 the tenants demanded a uniform abatement of 20 per cent. ; the landlord offered from 10 to 25 per cent., to vary according to individual circumstances. This offer was, on the average, the same as that of the Campaigners, but very different in fact. Under the Plan the well-to-do farmer was to get as much as the poor cottier ; under the landlord's sliding scale large relief was offered to the poor, and little or nothing to those who were able to pay. Accordingly Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., Mr. John O'Connor, M.P., and Dr. Tanner, M.P., collected the rents for the Plan on December 8th, 1886. In December, 1887, the Land Act of that year came into force. Many tenants who had been leaseholders, 545 in" all, went into Court. Judgment was speedily delivered in r2o cases, in which the rental of ^2,668 was reduced by ^511. This, being an average reduction of 20 per cent., was claimed as an indication that the demand of the Plan of Campaign was just, but it actually corroborated the landlord's sliding scale, giving no reduction whatever in some cases, and a large reduction in others. ox THE /A' IS J J QUESTION. lOQ The Liiggacurraii Estate. This estate is in the Queen's County, and belongs to the Marquis of Lansdowne. Almost all the tenants are non- judicial tenants, very few being leaseholders, and very iQ.\v havinsr asked the Courts to fix their rents. The rental is ^7,000, out of which the landlord allows ^1,100 to be annually spent on the estate. In 1886 the tenants demanded 35 per cent, on no7i-JHdicial vlw^ 25 per cent on judicial rents, threatening to adopt the Plan of Campaign as an alternative. The landlord refused this demand, but offered to give re- ductions varying from 15 per cent, to 25 per cent, on non- judicial rents. There was no question as to the ability of the tenants to pay, Mr. Denis Kilbride, M.P., stating as follows : — • " The Luggacurran evictions differed from most of the other evictions to this extent — that they loere able to pay the retit ; it was a fight of intelligence against intelligence ; it was diamond cut diamond." {Frcenian^s Jotirnal, March 30th, 1887.) The Marquis of Lansdowne was obliged ultimately to enforce his rights, and several tenants were evicted, among them Mr. Kilbride, who occupied a large farm of over 700 acres, with a modern residence and large outhouses (all built by the landlord), at a rental of ^760. Another evicted tenant was Mr. John Dunne, renting a large farm of 1,304 acres. This gentleman was able to enter a racehorse for the Curragh after his eviction. All the Protestants on this estate refused to Join the Plan, and all taid their rents. The O Grady Estate. The rental on this estate was never raised, nor was there ever an eviction on the O'Grady property till after the Plan of Campaign. The rental, which in 1881 amounted to ;^2, 108, was reduced after a report by a valuator in 1882 to ;j^i,6i6. There were forty-two tenants, and in 1883 thirty-eight of these took leases. In 1885 The O'Grady gave a further abatement of from 15 to 25 per cent., subject to which the rent was I lO THE Sl'llAKERS I/AXD-nOOK' cheerfully paid. In October, 1886, lie gave orders to the agent to give a similar abatement ; but Father Ryan, C.C., told the tenants to demand 30 per cent, on judicial and 40 on non- judicial rents. Ultimately the Plan was persisted in, and six tenants were evicted. It was in connection with this estate that the case of Tom Moroney* occurred. Moroney's rent was ^85. For that he had a large public-house, five small houses, the tolls of the Herbertstown fairs, and thirty-seven acres of land. The tolls alone amounted in value to between ^^50 and ^60 per annum. The landlord offered an abatement to Moroney of 25 per cent. — that is, he asked for ^64, which Moroney was notoriously able to i)ay. When a writ was issued, Moroney sold his cattle under what is called a Plan of Campaign auction, whereuj)on the money was lodged with trustees. Moron -y was accordingly declared a bankrupt, as he icoiild liave been in E;ig/a>id or Scotland. For refusing to tell what became of his goods, thus fraudulently hidden away, he was subsequently put in prison, as he would have been in England or Scotland. He can get out of prison any day by abandoning the fraud and answering the Court, as he also could in England or Scotland. The Brooke Estate. This estate is in the County oi Wexford, near Coolgreany. The landlord has made all the improvements in the estate without ever raising the rent. In 1881 an abatement of 25 per cent, was made, and the tenantry were urged to get fair rents fixed. Acting on the advice of the Land League, they refused to avail themselves of the Act of 1881, and demanded other abatements instead. This was refused, and forty writs were issued, whereupon they all paid full 7-ents at once. There are 114 tenants — 15 have judicial rents, 22 are leaseholders, and 77 are non-judicial tenants. In 1886 the Plan of Campaign was * This publican-farmer has just been released at the request of his creditor. (December, 1888.) 0.\ THE IRISH QUEST! OX. Ill Started. The following were the demands of the tenantry : — (i) That an all-round reduction of 30 percent, should be given ; (2) that a Protestant named Webster should be evicted from a farm for which he had paid the rent ; and (3) that a Roman Catholic named Lenehan, who had not paid and had been evicted, should be reinstated. Eighty tenants joined the Plan, and Sir Thomas Esmonde, INI. P., and Mr. Mayne, M.P., took their money. All the Protestants on the estate paid their rents less the abatement offered, were quite satisfied, and declined to have anything to do with the Plaii of Campaign. The Vandtkur Estate. This estate is in the County Clare ; it consists of 20,000 acres, and there are 800 tenants. In 1873, lifter a succession of good seasons, rents were raised, but to a figure much below the average rental of the country or of the County Clare. 11 the rents so raised were fair, the tenants had no cause for complaint ; if they were unfair, they had no cause for com- plaint either, inasmuch as they were allowed not to pay, so that in 1881 they owed ^30,000 of arrears. In the same year the Land Act passed, and in 1882 came the Arrears Act, which wiped out the entire arrears of nearly every tenant. By the end of 1882 the arrears of ;^3o,ooo had disappeared. Out of the 800 tenants, 200 only asked for judicial rents, the remain- ing 600 being satisfied with the landlord's treatment. In September, 18S6, the agent made an offer of 20 per cent, reduction on non-judicial rents. Two hundred and fifty of the tenants received these terms gladly., and paid at once. Two months later Messrs. Cox, M.P., and Jordan, M.P., visited the estate, and the Plan of Campaign was started. The poorer tenantry were, however, forbidden to join, so only 120 of the wealthier farmers did so \ they were considered better able to fight. With the poorer tenants the landlord was quite willing to settle, and did settle. Ultimately the landlord offered to take two-thirds of a year's rent in discharge of all rent due 112 THE speaker's IIAND-ROOK from each tenant ; but the Plan insisted on more, so the landlord was driven to exercise his legal rights. Twenty-four tenants were evicted. These held 1,026 statute acres at an annual rental of ;^626. They owed ;^2, 406. The landlord's offer was to forgive ^'1,469 altogether. He asked for ^459 at once, ^^459 before the end of the year, and ^50 costs — in '^^ £>9Z9 — ii^ discharge of a debt of ^2,406. Summary of Campaign Estates. The facts briefly given will indicate the working of the Plan of Campaign. Those, however, who desire further and fuller information will find it in the publications of the Irish i .oyal and Patriotic Union dealing with the subject ; and, in the case of the Vandeleur estate, in the letters of Mr. T. W. ilussell, M.P., written to the Ti/nes, and repubUshed. What has been here given shows the utter untruth of the following statements : — (a) That the Plan is a combination to help the poor. (/'') That it is caused by necessity. (r) That it is caused by " arrears." {d) That it is the offspring of the reiection of Mr. Parnell's Bill of 1886. A final word may be urged in connection with this last point. ]\Ir. Gladstone, in a speech at Hampstead, has distinctly stated, "The Plan of Campaign sprang out of that rejection." How utterly untrue this is, will be seen at once if it is remem- bered that Mr. Parnell's Bill proposed to do nothing for the lion-judicial tenants, who, nevertheless, have joined actively in the Plan of Campaign. If by the passing of Mr. Parnell's Bill the Plan of Campaign would have been obviated, these non- judicial tenants are now acting with gross dishonesty; if this be not so, the Bill could not have prevented the Plan. On the Luggacurran estate, for instance, not more than two or three ON THE IRISH QUESTION. II3 tenants could possibly have been affected by Mr. Parnell's Bill, but Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., worked the Plan there on behalf of all the tenants. On the Coolgreany estate, again, 77 tenants would have been utterly unaffected by that Bill, yet 50 of these joined in the Plan, with the encouragement of the entire Nationalist Party. In view of these considerations it may be well to notice that the Daily Neius, which was favourable to Mr. Parnell's Bill, spoke thus of the Plan of Campaign : "We by no means APPROVE OF Mr. Dillon's policy. His ' Plan of Campaign SEEMS TO us vitiated WITH DISHONESTY."' {Daily News, December 6, 1886.) The Real Cause of the Irish Land Movement. It must never be forgotten that the real cause of the Irish land movement is to drive out English power from Ireland ; it is not a movement to amehorate the condition of the Irish peasantry, but to extirpate those known as the " English garrison." This fact has never been concealed by the Par- nellite members, as the following extracts from speeches will show : — " I wish to see the tenant-farmers prosperous ; but large and important as is the class of tenant-farmers, constituting as they do, with their wives and families, the majori:y of the people of this country, / ivotild not have taken off my coat and i^one to this work if I had not knoivn that we were laying the foundation in /his moveni nt for the rc^cnei alion of our legislative independence.^'' Mu. rAKXEi.i., at (jalway, October i, 18S0. (Freeman's Journal report.) "We believe that landlordism is the prop of English rule, and we arc working to take that prop away. To drive out British rule from Ireland, we must strike at the foundation, and that foundation is landlordism." Mk. T. M. IIi'ALY, at Boston, December 24, l88l. {!ii\hinaH report.) " We wish to get rid of British rule in Ireland. Landlordism is the prop of that rule — it must be abolished." Mr. T. M. IIeai,Y, at New Orleans, February 4, 1SS2. I I 14 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK "All our action with regard to this intermediary question of the land- lords and tenants is only a step towards the great goal of Irish Nationality." Rev. Mr. Cantwei.l, P.P., V.F., Dublin, September 23, 1886. " If they must have any hunting at all, let them keep their hands in practice by hunting landlords. Hunt them up hill and down dale, until landlords are as scarce as foxes." Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., Canick-on-Suir, September 7, 1884. " I want you to understand that the reduction of rent we require is not a small, or a petty, or a legal reduction, but the total abolition of rent. " Mr. T, p. O'Connor, St. Louis, U.S.A. (United Ire f and, January 28, 1S82.) " Fair rent is an abomination — a crime not alone against modern civilisation, but a crime against common sense, and a blasphemy against God." Rev. Eugene Sheehy, New York. {Irish World, December 17, 1881.) " If they were going to be evicted for non-payment of the entire rents, let them be evicted with their rent in their pockets." Dr. J. E. Kenny, M.P., Dublin, September 29, 1886. "Nothing can prevent you continuing the glorious work begun by Michael Davitt at Irishtown and exterminaiing landlordism root and branch, and all its seed, breed, and generation. It has pleased God that our lot has been cast in days when we can enjoy the religious equality, education, political power, and social emancipation that our forefathers sighed for and spilled their blood for in many a hopeless age, and we would be unworthy of our ancestors, we would deserve the scorn and indignation of these that would come after us, if in this day of dawning hope and power for the Irish we ever falter or flinch until we have banished the twin demons of landlordism and of English rule for ever from our shores (cheers), and until we have planted on the highest pinnacle of Dublin Castle the flag of a redeemed and regenerated Irish nation." Mr. W. O'Brien, :\I.P., Tulla, Co. Clare, May 24, 1885. The foregoing passages — and there are many others — which maybe found in a volume ah-eady alluded to ("As It was vSaid," published by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union), may be relied on to prove — ON THE IRISH QUESTIO.V. Il5 1. That the attack on the landlords is not a bond Jide attack in consequence of their conduct, but an attack against them because they are loyal to Great Britain. 2. That landlords — just or unjust — are to be extirpated in view of this political end. 3. That " fair" rent is not what is desired. These considerations will of course be supplemented by details drawn from the Plan of Campaign cases. The following facts will also exemplify what has been said : — A. The policy of the Plan of Campaign was really invented in the year 1848 by an Irish rebel of the period — one Finton Lalor — who recommended its adoption in the pages of the Irish Felon, not because the landlords were unjust, but because it was the best means of striking a blow against England. Mr. Michael Davitt has proclaimed the identity of Parnellite views with those of Finton Lalor. On the 23rd of January, 1887, he spoke at New York, using the following words : — " JV/mt are the doctrines of the Irish Revolution"! I will quote what they are t'rom the columns of a paper which bore a very suggestive title, the Irish Felon. In the Felon of June 24th, 1848, Finton Lalor not only laid down the doctrine of " The Land for the People," but also indicated the means by which a movement on these lines would ultimately achieve Irish National Independ- ence." The Young Irelanders of 1848 rejected Lalor's proposal of a strike against all rent ; so did the Fenian party of 1866 ; so did Mr. Butt's party ; but it has been adopted by the Par- nellites. ('For a full description of the past history of this movement, see "The Continuity of the Irish Revolutionary ATovement," by Professor Brougham Leech, published by Ridgway c\: Co., price threepence.) B. The policy of the Campaigners is also evidenced by thi; fact that a Parnellite landlord is never denounced, even if he I 2 ii6 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK be a far higher rent-charger than a Loyahst. The following case will prove instructive: — The Corporation of Dublin is a body composed of 60 members. Its political complexion is undoubted, 55 of its members being Parnellites— 5 being Parnellite M.P.'s, and the -Lord Mayor being Mr. Sexton, M.P. They have agricultural tenants who are made to pay every penny of rent, and who never are allowed — under pain of eviction — to get into arrears. In the last week of September, 1888, the Land Commissioners proceeded to fix fair rents for certain tenants of this Corporation at Baldoyle with the following results : — Name of tenant. Area ol Holding. Govfrnment Valuation. Old Rent. New Rent. Rductn. per cent. A. R. P. L s. d. £. s. d. £. s. d. Michael Donnelly 30 I 6 39 70 46 35* Thomas Duffy 83 I 4 127 178 12 6 141 2l4 Richard Howison 84 2 27 140 161 13 122 24^ Nicholas Kearns 70 3 iS 100 15 129 14 112 13 Patrick Peakia 64 go 135 105 23 John Rafter 94 I 6 128 15 208 16 10 157 •24i Total 427 I 21 625 10 883 16 4 683 23 It will be observed that in these cases the rent was (i) over £2 an acre, vastly in excess of the average; (2) 41 per cent, over the Government valuation ; and (3) reduced by the Land Commissioners A vast deal more per cent, than were THE rents of Lord Clanricarde's tenants, yet no one ever dreams of denouncing this Corporation as rack-renters. Politics forbid. The Land-Grabber. Boycotting is treated of in its proper place {see pp. 150—155). It should be observed, in connection with the Land Question, that one defence, if such it be, is frequently made for it ; it has been over and over again declared that boycotting ought to be enforced against ■land-grabbers." This being so. it is O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. WJ important to recollect who the " land-grabber " is. He is the man who takes a farm from which anotlier person has been evicted. At Ennis on September i8, 1880, Mr. Parnell gave special orders that " when a man takes a farm from which another has been evicted " he should be treated " as if he were a leper of old." Many similar directions can be found in Parnellite literature. For example, Dr. Kenny, M.P., has said that " boycotting, as sanctioned by the League, was only boycotting directed against the one great evil — land-grabbing." The speaker should therefore be prepared to explain to a meeting what a " land-grabber " is. ^Vhy should not a man be free to take a farm from which another is evicted ? No man will take a farm from which another is unjustly evicted — that is, for non-payment of an unfair rent. The truth is that the Parnellites hate the "land-grabber" because he is the man who can only exist after a perfectly just eviction. He is the man who comes forward and says, " I myself will take the farm at the rent, and make it pay me." He is objected to because he is a living witness to the equity of eviction. Savings Banks, It is important that the speaker should be provided with statistics from which to acquaint his audience with facts from which they can calculate the ability of the Irish tenant to pay. The following figures will be found useful : — England and Wales, increase in ten 3ears (1877-87) 74 per cent. Scotland ,, ,, ,, 108 ,, Ireland ,, „ „ 121 ,, In the Post Office Savings Banks and the Trustee Savings Banks, being the banks used by artisans, agricultural labourers, and small farmers, we find that in 1879 the deposits amounted to ^3,490,000; but in 1888 to ;^5, 140,000 — an increase of nearly 50 per cent. liS THE SPEAKERS IIAXD-BOOK The following table gives the total amount invested in Government Stocks, Joint Stock Banks, Trustee Savings Banks, and Post Office Savings Banks, at intervals, for the last decade. They point to a falling-off where landlords invest, and a rapid increase in the investments of tenants : — Invested in Government Stock. Deposits in Total. Post Office. Trustee Savings Banks. Joint Stock Banks. per head. 1880 ;C33."3.oO'5 ;^l,48l,00O ;£2,o63,000 ;^29,350,0OO ;{J66,007,000 ;£i2-68 1882 31,772,000 1,832,000 2,038,000 30,667,000 63,309,000 1 2 '4 1 1884 30,859,000 2,150,000 2,072,000 30,072,000 65,153,000 I3'i3 1S86 30,484,000 2,592,000 1,994,000 29,223,000 64,293,900 1315 1S88 28,356,000 3,128,000 2,012,000 30,310,000 64,306,000 13'45 The following statement is taken from Mr. Hurlbert's book, entided " Ireland under Coercion," and gives figures, taken from the official returns, showing the amount due to depositors in a scries of towns in the most disturbed districts in Ireland : — Increase or Office. 1880. 1887. Decrease L s. d. £. s. d. per cent. Bunbeg .. 1,270 6 7 . 1,206 18 2 6 Falcarragh 62 15 10 494 10 8 .. 698 Gorey .. 3,690 14 4 • ■ 5.099 5 7 •• 38 Killorglin 2S2 15 9 • • 1,299 2 t> .. 396 LOUGHREA ... . • • 5-500 19 9 • 6,311 4 II 12 MiTCHELSTOWX . • ',387 13 2 . 2.S46 9 104 Portumna ■ 2,539 10 II ■ 3.376 5 4 •• 29 .Six-Mile-Bridge .. 382 17 10 934 13 4 •• 144 Stradbally 1,812 14 10 . 2,178 18 2 20 Woodford ... . 259 14 6 .. • 1,350 17 II 421 Youghal .. 3,031 7 • • 7,038 7 2 131 .Summary. How the Land Laws of Ireland stand may be conjectured by Radicals from the following words of the Right Hon. John Morley, M.P., spoken at Chelmsford on January 7th, 1886 : — "The late Government, to their great honour, parsed an Act to prevent landlords confiscating the property of their tenants. That was a noble exploit. I do not think we shall be able to deal satisfactorily with Ireland until we have passed some legis- lation to prevent tenants confiscating the property of their landlords." nx THE IRISH QUESTIOX. I IQ ?3art m. " COERCION." Every accusation levelled by the Parnellite Party against the present Government, or against the Unionist Party, may be referred to one or other of three main heads. These are : — A. An attack on the Unionist Party for having brought in a Bill which makes the law in Ireland different from the law in England in any respect. It is tacitl)- assumed very often that this means inequality of treatment, and therefore merits the term " Coercion." B. An attack, or attacks, on the provisions or supposed provisions of the Crimes Act of 1887, which are often alleged to be tyrannical, and therefore to merit the term "Coercion." C. Lastly, attacks are made, not on the law, but on its administration, which is alleged to be peculiarly unjust. It is stated frequently that the men who are prosecuted and punished ought not to be prosecuted or punished, and that the treatment they receive is in itself tyrannical, and therefore merits the term " Coercion." It will be found, on examination, that every alleged case of hardship mentioned by the Parnellites or their English and Scotch allies falls naturally under one or other of these heads. As Unionists insist that the state of Ireland rendered a 120 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK Crimes Act necessary, that the Crimes Act itself is in no sense tyrannical, and that the right men have been convicted and punished under its provisions, it is convenient to examine each of the Parnellite charges in turn. It should, however, be pointed out, in the first place, especially to voters whose political education is not of the highest order, that, after all. Coercion is only a Nickname. There has never been any measure known to Parliament as a Coercion Bill. The term is only an abusive epithet given to a certain class of measures by the speakers and writers of the Irish Party. It has been applied to every measure brought in of late years to facilitate the detection and punishment of Irish outrage and murder, whether Mr. Gladstone or Lord Salisbury happened to introduce it. That this is so will at once be made clear from the following interesting extract from the manifesto of the Home Rule Party issued in November, 1885, and signed by Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P. : — Mr. T. p. O'Connor on the Liberal Party and Coercion. " The Liberal Party denounced Coercion ; and it prac- tised a system of Coercion more brutal than that of any previous Administration, Liberal or Tory. Under this system jurors were packed with a shamelessness unprecedented even in Liberal Administrations, atid ifinocent men were /luiig, or sent to the living death of penal servitude The last declaration of Mr. Gladstone was that he intended to renew the worst clauses of the Act of 1882, and if our long- delayed triumph had not turned the Liberal Government out of office, Lord Spencer would at this moment be in Dublin Castle, and Coercion would be triumphant in Ireland." ON THE IJilSH QUESTIO.W 121 Mr. Parnell ox the Liberal Party and Coercion. The above pronouncement was at once ratified by Mr. Parnell, who on November 22nd, 1885, wrote as follows: — "With this manifesto I heartily concur. It was drawn up with my sanction and with my approval. . . . The Liberal Party gave us chains, imprisonment, and death." A.— A CRIMES ACT NECESSARY. The Unionist Party, however, meet the first line of attack by asserting that a Crimes Act for Ireland became necessary in 1887 owing to the paralysis of law in that country. In support of this contention reference can be made both (i) to the statement of Her Majesty's judges, and (2) to the Criminal Statistics and Returns. The Evidence of the Judges. On February 28th, 1887, Mr. Justice O'Brien — a judge placed on the bench by Mr. Gladstone — addressed the Grand Jury of the County Clare as follows : — " All these returns which I have before me, and the information which has reached me from other quarters of an unquestionably authentic character, lead me to the conclusion that law, to a great extent, has ceased to exist in this county." — Freeman's foiirnal, March ist, 1887. On March 9th, 1887, Mr. Justice Lawson — Attorney- General under Mr. Gladstone's Government, and placed on the bench by Mr. Gladstone — addressed the Grand Jury of the County Mayo as follows : — " The present state of things is morally unsatisfactory, and, according to the reports made to me, approaches as near to rebellion against the authority in the country as anything short of civil war can be." — Irish Times, March loth, 1887. 122 THF. SPEAKERS IIAXD-BOOK On March loth, 1887, Mr. Justice O'Brien addressed the Grand Jury of the County Kerry as follows : — "These returns present a picture of the County of Kerry such as could hardly be found in any country that has passed the confines of natural society, and entered on the duties and relations and acknow- ledged obligations of civilised life. The law is defeated — perhaps I should rather say has ceased to exist — houses are attacked by night and by day, even the midnight terror yielding to the noonday audacity of crime : person and life are assailed ; the terrified inmates are wholly unable to do anything to pro- tect themselves, and a state of terror and lawlessness prevails everywhere." — Freeman'' s Journal^ March nth, 1887. On March 14th, 1887, Mr. Justice Johnson — Attorney- Cieneral under Mr. Gladstone's Government, and placed on the bench by Mr. Gladstone — addressed the Grand Jury of the County Cork as follows : — " The returns from this and the West Riding — and they cover a period of only three months since the last winter assizes — show that in a considerable portion of this great county the people who live in remote and isolated districts are subject to violence, alarm, and plunder by day and by night — principally by night — from gangs of armed men, disguised mainly, wlio rove through the country seizing arms, plundering property, always Avith a show of violence, often accompanied with threats, and sometimes with assaults of the meanest and most dastardly character." — Daily Express^ March T5th, 1887. On the same day (March 14th, 1887) Mr. Justice Murphy, also placed on the bench by Mr. Gladstone, addressed the Grand Jury of the County Galway as follows : — " They " (the officials) " report to me that there is a complete paralysis of law, that it is unable to protect many of the inhabitants in the exercise of their most ordinary rights, and that lawlessness is perfectly supreme." — Daily Express, March 15th, 1887. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 123 Unpunished Crime in 1886. In the year 18S6 out of 749 cases of agrarian offences there were only 64 convictions ; out of six cases of murder there was only one conviction ; out of forty-three cases of firing into dwellings there were no convictions ; and out of seventy-three cases of mutilation of cattle there were no convictions. It was not the allegation of the Unionist Party at any time that cases of crime were terribly numerous ; the contention, which the above figures amply prove, was that life and property were rendered absolutely insecure by the complete immunity from punishment possessed by the perpe- trators of these outrages. It was not a question of ordinary crime, but of agrarian crime, committed for a definite object over large tracts of country — a class of crime to which England, Scotland, and A\'ales afford no parallel. Agrarian Outrages in Ireland. The following table of figures gives the ofificial returns ot Agrarian Outrages in Ireland from 1844 to 1886 inclusive : — Agrarian Outrages (exclu. )ive of Threatening Letters). * Against Against Period. Against Persons. Property. Public Peace. Total. 1S44-80 2,415 ... 4,506 . .. 5,382 ... 12,293 Average (1844-80) ... 63 ... 122 145 ••■ 330 iSSi 298 ... 641 . .. 1,309 ... 2,248 1882 162 ... 485 . 770 ... 1. 417 1883 55 .•■• 204 191 ... 450 1884 37 ■■• 183 . 3 ■•• 223 1885 62 ... 201 20 . . . 283 1S86 74 - 234 ■ 17 ... 325 Several instructive conclusions can be drawn from these figures. In the first place, it is quite plain that the Crimes Act of 1882 (passed in May of that year) enormously reduced agrarian outrage in Ireland. Secondly, as soon as that Act lapsed * For other figures, sec pp. 149, 150. 124 '^up- speaker's hand-book (August, 1885), outrage began to show an upward tendency. In fact, " Coercion " has never been a faikire in Ireland, but the lapsing of " Coercion " has. Why Justice ivas Paralysed. The large number of unpunished crimes was, however, the chief reason why the Unionist Party brought in a Crimes Act in 1887. There could, indeed, be little doubt how this paralysis arose. It was caused by (i) the unwillingness of witnesses to give evidence, and (2) the unwillingness of jurors to convict. Unwilling Witnesses. The unwillingness of Irish witnesses at all times to give information to the authorities will scarcely be doubted. Quantities of proof that they were unwilling before the intro- duction of the Crimes Act may be found in the pages of the evidence taken before the Cowper Commission.* {^See, for example, Answers 17,901—17,907 ; 17,279—17,284; 17,613 — It would, indeed, hardly seem necessary to dwell on this point. If crime be undetected to such an abnormal extent, there must either be scarcity of evidence and reluctant witnesses, or juries afraid or unwilling to act according to their oaths. Why Witnesses were Unwilling. There is, however, good reason to know why witnesses were unwilling, and why they must have been reluctant to give evidence. Illustrations of the treatment they received on daring to come forward are not rare. On June 14th, 1885, Mr. Cashman, a young man of twenty, was beaten * Those who cannot wade through the entire Report are recommended a selection from it, published by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 12$ to death when walking home from Millstreet, in the County of Cork, because he was suspected of giving information to the police. On September 19th, 1885, Thomas Deane, of Dysart, Corofin, was visited by Moonlighters, who wounded him in the leg because he had given information to some sheriffs' bailiffs. On October 30th, 1886, Mr. Michael Roche Kelly was shot for giving evidence at the Ennis Licensing Sessions. The well-known case of Norah Fitzmaurice, boycotted be- cause she dared to give evidence against her father's murderers, is another excellent illustration of what witnesses in Ireland may expect. Unwilhng Jurors. That jurors in Ireland were unwilling to convict in many cases will scarcely be doubted. Plenty of evidence to prove their reluctance will also be found in the Report of the Cowper Commission already alluded to. {See Answers 18,571 -18,605.) At the Clare and Limerick Assizes, March, 1S87 (presided over by Mr. Justice O'Brien and Mr. Justice Johnson respec- tively) the criminal business came to an abrupt termination in consequence of repeated failures of justice in the cases already tried. At Clare the Crown declined to proceed further, whereupon the judge said, " Having regard to the verdicts in the two cases yesterday, my opinion — my fixed opinion^s that nothing but an entire failure of justice can take place." At Limerick, owing to persistent verdicts of acquittal, the judge was asked to adjourn the assizes, which he at once did. Why Jurors were Unwilling, The following facts, however, will not only show why jurors were unwilling, but will also show that they nuist have been reluctant : — Bv the orders of Captain Moonlight (see Kerry Evening 126 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK Post — a Nationalist paper — of January 29th, 1887) two Cork butter merchants, who had recently served as jurors — Dominic k Cronin and Terence McMahon by name — were ordered to be boycotted. " If you do not do as requested, and boycott these tools of the Crown, you will be coerced into doing so." So ran the proclamation. How popular feeling ran in Ireland with reference to jurors may be tested by the following extract from United Ireland of December 4th, 1886 : — " There is no word of secrecy in the oath. The grand jurors (it may be in the interests of genteel jobbery) pledge themselves that ' their fellow-jurors' counsel they shall not disclose.' The petit juror binds himself by no such pledge. The marked omission of the words would seem in itself an express denial of the existence of such an obligation of silence, and it may well be that the white light of public opinion, and the hot fire of public odium, is the best remedy for the monstrous abuses that have sprung up in the jury- box under the shelter of the judicially imposed darkness. The most besotted and bloodthirsty juror will, we fancy, moderate his eagerness for conviction, if he knows there is a right of appeal from the dark security of the jury-box to the calm judgment of his neighbours in the world outside." These words undoubtedly seem to indicate that the juror who dared to be for conviction was to be reported by other jurors and punished. Whether this view is correct the sequel will show, as the article from which we have quoted evoked an indignant protest from a Mr. T. W. Rolleston, a well- known Home Ruler, who wrote as follows to Mr. "William O'Brien, M.P., editor:— " Your |)ro]iosal to reveal the names of the convicting jury- men, who, it is to be presumed, will Ije Protestants, makes mc ask myself the question, painful enough to one of my politic.il sympathies, ' Do the assurances we have received that our O.V THE IRISH QUESTION. 12/ liberties will be respected by our Catholic fellow-citizens in a free Ireland, mean anything more than that we shall be let alone if in our civic and political actions we take care never to run counter to the dominant spirit of the time and place ? '" To this protest the editor of United Ireland replied :— " In a self-governed Ireland it would, of course, be intoler- able that men should not be allowed to differ freely in the jury-box and everywhere else ; but in the state of chaotic cor- flict to which English rule reduces it, he who is not with us is against us, and must expect to be dealt with accordingly." These words show, beyond yea or nay, the fact that the Parnellites contended that jurors must, if necessary, break their oaths, lest they should help the Government by finding a conviction. "Coercion'" the only Alternative to Home Rule. It should never be forgotten for a moment that, as a matter of history and fact, the entire responsibility for the Crimes Act of 1886 rests on the shoulders of the Parnellite Party. Speaking at Glenbrien, County Wexford, on December 5th, 1886, this fact was confessed and gloried in by Mr. John E. Redmond, M.P., who spoke as follows : — " When Mr. Gladstone was defeated in England last year, and when the Tories came into power, they boasted they could govern Ireland by means of the ordinary law. Mr. Gladstone, on the contrary, told the people of England that they had to choose between ' Coercion ' on the one side, and Home Rule on the other. Home Rule was defeated at the last election in Great Britain, and I say advisedly that if in the face of that defeat the Tories had been able to rule Ireland with the ordinary law the result would have been, in England and Scotland, to throw back our cause, perhaps for a generation, and to give the lie direct to the prophecy of Mr. Gladstone. . . . Wk HAVE been .\BLE TO FORCE THE GOVERNMENT TO GIVE UP THE 128 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK ORDINARY LAW AND TO FALL BACK ONCE MORE ON 'COERCION.' " — Eiuiiscorlhy Guardian (Nationalist paper), Dec. nth, 1886. The above speech clearly proves — 1. That Coercion was not a necessary sequel to the refusal to 9 rant Home Rule. o 2. That Coercion was forced on by the Parnellites for political ends. Summary. The foregoing facts and extracts will supply those requiring them with the means of defending the Unionist Party against any charge of having wantonly or recklessly brought in a Crimes Bill. Should further particulars be required they will be found in the section entitled "The Real Coercion" (p. 148). B.— THE CRIMES ACT OF 1887. Its Provisions. What, then, were the provisions of the Crimes Act of 1887 ? The following is a full and accurate synopsis of the clauses of that measure ; but speakers are earnestly advised to have a copy of the Act always with them for reference : — Section i provides for a preliminary inquiry upon oath when a crime has been committed, but before any person is charged with its commission. Note. — A similar law exists in Scotland. Section 2 provides that " any person who shall commit any of the following offences " may be prosecuted before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction {see Sect. 5) : — Offences. I. Taking " part in any criminal conspiracy fi07C' punish- able by lawi" ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 1 29 2. Wrongfully and without legal authority using violence and intimidation. 3. Taking part in any riot or unlaivful asse/ii!>/y. 4. Taking forcible possession of premises from which any one has been evicted within twelve months previous. 5. Assaulting or obstructing officers of the law. G. Inciting any person to commit the above offences.* Section 3 provides that where recourse is not had to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, a Special Jury may be had on application by the Crown or the defendant. Section 4 provides that if the Attorney-General believes a fair trial cannot be had in a certain county, the Court sliall order the trial to be had in some other county named by him.f Section 5 provides that the Lord-Lieutenant may proclaim certain districts for the purposes of the Act. Until he so proclaims them there can be no Court of Summary Juris- diction, as in Sect. 2, save for the punishment of offence No. 3 — viz., taking part in any riot or unlawful assembly. Section 6 provides for a special proclamation by the Lord- Lieutenant of dangerous associations. Before proclaiming any association, however, he must be satisfied that it is — {a) Formed for the commission of crimes ; or {b) Carrying on operations for or by the commission of crimes ; or {c) Encouraging or aiding persons to commit crimes ; or * It will be observed that the Act does not make these things offences. It only provides that these things, which are and always have been offences in lingland and Scotland, as well as Ireland, shall be tried by a Court of Sum- mary Jurisdiction. f The Lord Advocate^Attorn»y-General for Scotland— has this power. T I30 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK (d) Promoting or inciting to acts of violence or intimi- dation ; or (e) Interfering with the administration of the law ; or dis- turbing the maintenance of law and order. The Lord-Lieutenant cannot act in this without the advice of the Privy Council. His proclamation must be laid before Parliament within seven days if it be sitting, or within seven days after its meeting, and within fourteen days either House of Parliament can address the Crown. In this section the word "crime" means "felony," "misdemeanour," or any of the offences specified in Section 2 or 7. Section 7 provides for the suppression of any association deemed to be " dangerous," as defined in Section 6. When it is proclaimed, it becomes an unlawful asso- ciation ; and those who take part in its meetings, or publish its proceedings, '■'■ ivith a view to promote''^ lis ^'"objects" are guilty of an offence under the Act.* Section 8 renews the Peace Preservation (Ireland) Act of 1881, amended in 1886 so as to make it legal to search for arms or ammunition in proclaimed districts. Sections 9 and 10 are sections of procedure. Section 11 limits punishment before a Court of Summary Juris- diction to six months, and gives the same right of appeal possessed by all persons brought up under the common law in England or Ireland before such Courts — that is, an appeal if the sentence be more than one month. It also provides that every such Court must be a Court of two resident magistrates, one of whom shall be a person of the sufficiency of whose " legal knowledge the Lord Lieutenant shall be satisfied." It also provides an appeal at quarter sessions to the County Court judge. * The words in italics are most mnterial, ON THE IRISH QUESTION. I3I Sections 12, 13, 14, and 15 are concerned merely with matters of form. Section 16 provides that no one can be punished twice for the same offence. Section iS provides that "an agreement or combination which, under the Trades' Union Act, 187 1 and 1876, or the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, 1S75, is legal, shall not, nor shall any act done in pursuance of any such agreement or combination, be deemed to be an offence against the provisions of this Act respecting con- spiracy, intimidation, and dangerous associations." Sections 17, 19 and 20 are merely formal. Parnellite Fictions about the Crimes Act. The following is a carefully selected list of some of the current Parnellite untruths about the provisions of the Act : — 1. Tkat the Act creates neiv offences. Ans7ver : (i) This may be true technically^ because on appeal an offence may be described as an offence against the Act itself, which of course could not be before it was passed ; hwt, practically, it is utterly untrue. (2) Assuming it, however, to be true that new offences are created, how is it Parnellites cannot tell the section, part of section, or word in the Act that creates the new o.Tcnce ? 2 . That the Act alters the law of cofispiracy in Ire/and so that what is not punishable iti Englajid is punishable in Ireland. Ansicer : This is utterly untrue. The Act is explicit ; the criminal conspiracy must be one which, at the date of the passing of the Act, was already punishable by law. (Sect. 2.) J2 132 THE speaker's HAND- BOOK 3. That the Lord-Lieutenant can stop public meetings in Ireland. Answer : He can only proclaim meetings of associations which are dangerous under the de- finitions of Section 6. Of course he has also the right — not under this Act; but at common law — to prohibit all meetings likely to result in riot or breach of the peace, or held for an illegal object. This is also law in England and Scotland. 4. That the press can be suppressed, and innocent news- vendors arrested. Answer : This is quite impossible. No one can be touched under Section 7 unless he acts "with a view to promote the objects" of a dangerous association. The intent of a newsvendor, for example, must be p7-oved. 5. That the Courts of Summary Jurisdiction are not com- petent. Answer: Each Court must consist of two magistrates, one of whom is a trained lawyer, of whose knowledge the Lord-Lieutenant (z>., in prac- tice the Lord Chancellor, who advises the Crown) must be satisfied. The trained lawyer must concur in the decision. 6. That prisoners are defrauded i7i Ireland of the right of appeal. Ans7e'er : This is quite untrue; they have all the rights they have in England. 7. That what is pimished in Ireland is what is often per- mitted in England wJien done by Trades' U?iions. Ansiver : How utterly untrue this is, the words of Section 18 fully prove. There are many other Parnellite fictions about the Crimes Act, but the best method of meeting them is by an accurate knowledge of the terms of the Act. ON THE IRISH QUEST ION. 1.33 The Crimes Act of 1882 and Scotch Law. Notwithstanding what has been said, the speaker will find himself continually questioned by persons who contend that in consequence of the operation of the Crimes Act, which is not ifi force in England, Ireland is coerced. It is not denied that the Crimes Act has altered Irish law. Before it passed, the law in Ireland, as regards crime, was identical with the law in England. Since the Crimes Act was passed, that is no longer so. Nothing which was not crime before has been made crime, but the method of dealing with crime has been altered. There has undoubtedly been a diffe?'ence of procedure. This very fact is fastened on every day as an Irish grievance. There is, however, one excellent and conclusive answer ready at hand. The methods of the Crimes Act are, and for hundreds of years have been, in force in Scotland. If these methods coerce Ireland, Scotland also must be a coerced country. The following points illustrate the identity of the Irish Crimes Act with Scotch law : — 1. Preliminary Investigations with rega?-d to Crime. The Irish members call these " Star Chamber inquiries,'' but they are in constant use in Scotland. Witnesses are continually examined in private in Scotland by the Procurator Fiscal, who takes down in writing their precognitions or depositions. If they decline to give information, they are examined on oath before the sheriff. If they still decline, they are committed to prison for contempt. This is called "coercion" in Ireland ; // // is, it must also be coercion in Scotland. Coercion, after all, can hardly be a matter of latitude or longitude. 2. Summary Jurisdiction. The crimes which are tried by a Summary Court in Ireland can alsc) be tried by 134 THE speaker's hand-book a Summary Court in Scotland. In fact, in case of any difficulty or disturbance in Scotland, the Lord Advocate, an officer who corresponds to the Attorney- General in England or Ireland, has the undoubted power of his oivn motion of directing whether the offence shall be tried with or without a jury. In 1885 and 1886, under Mr. Gladstone's Government, cases were summarily tried at Stornoway, Portree, and Lochmaddy, which in a normal state of public feeling would have been tried by a jury. As regards the constitution of the Summary Court — in Ireland there are two magistrates, in Scotland one sheriff or sheriff substitute. As regards appeal — in Ireland there is an appeal on the facts from any sentence exceeding one month, and an appeal on a law-point in every case. In Scotland there is no appeal at all, except on questions of law. This state of affairs is called "coercion" in Ireland; if it is, there must also be coercion in Scotland. 3. Removal of Trial. In Scotland the Lord Advocate, as Public Prosecutor, has almost unlimited power of fixing the place of trial ; it is a matter of continual practice in Scotland. For example, from 1880 to 1887 whole batches of Crofters were brought 300 miles and tried by a jury drawn from the Lothians. This is called " coercion " in Ireland \ if so, Scotland must also be coerced. 4. Proclamation of Districts. It will have been observed that in Ireland the Crimes Act in its main provisions is not of general application ; it is only to be put in force in exceptional circumstances. But the procedure we have been considering applies to all Scotland and at all times. This may be "coercion" in Ireland, but if so, Scotland is far more coerced. on the irish question. 135 Justice of the Crimes Act. What has been said will fully demonstrate the absurdity of those who contend that anything must be "coercion" which is not law in England. The following questions may, however, be justly asked : — 1. What is there unjust or harsh in asking for information upon oath about a crime before any one is charged ? 2. What is unjust or harsh in trying prisoners before a Summary Court when trial by jury has broken down? 3. What is unjust or harsh in punishing " taking part in a criminal conspiracy now punishable by law," or intimidation, or violence, or riot, or assault, or incite- ment to these? Similarly, a speaker may well go through the Crimes Act of 1887, clause by clause, and demand of his opponents what it is that is really oppressive in each clause, utterly apart from whether it is law in England or Scotland. Mr. Gladstone's Coercion of 1882. It may be convenient to compare here, in parallel columns, the provisions of the two Crimes Acts — viz., the Prevention of Crimes Act (passed by Mr. Ciladstone in 1882) and the Criminal Law and Procedure Act of the present Government. Mr. Gladstone's Act of 1882. The Act of 1887. Sects. I, 2, and 3 provide for a Special Commission Court to try treason, murder, arson, attacks on dwelling- houses, &c. The Commission to consist of judges without a jury, and to have jjowers of life and death. No such provision. 136 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK I\Ir. Gladstone's AlI of ]SS2. Sects. 4 and 5 provide for Special Juries in criminal cases. Sect. 6 provides for " change of venue " of trial. Sect. 7 defines intimidation, and declares that whoever is guilty of it is guilty of an offence against the Act. Sect. 8. — Every one who in a proclaimed district takes part in riot, forcible re-entry, assault or obstruction of officers of the law, is guilty of an offence against the Act. Sect. 9 ■ — Every one who knowingly is a member of an unlawful association, or takes part in its operations, is guilty of an offence. Sect. 10. — The Lord-Lieutenant may pro- hibit any meeting which he has reason to believe to be dangerous to the public peace or the public safety. Sect. II. — Persons out of their house one hour later than sunset or before sunrise may be arrested by a con- stable on suspicion, and if a Court of Summary Jurisdiction tJwiks he was not on lawful business, it may sentence him to three months' im- prisonment. Sect. 1 2 provides for the arrest of strangers found under suspicious circumstances. The Act of 1887. As in Section 3. As in Section 4. As in Section 2. As in Section 2, As in Section 7,* No such provision. No such provision. No such provision. * Saving that Section 7 of the Act of 18S7 goes further in the direction of protecting the offender. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 137 Mr. Gladstone's Act of 18S2. Sect 13 provides that the Lord-Lieutenant may seize any newspaper. Sect. 14 provides for searching for arms and illegal documents. Sect. 15 applies this .\ct to aliens. Sect. 16 provides for preliminary inquiry. Sect. 1 7 provides for apprehension of absconding witnesses. Sect. 18 provides for additional consta- bulary force. Sect. 19. — Power of Lord-Lieutenant to give compensation in cases of murder, maiming, &c. Sect. 2 1 .^Any person guilty of an offence against the Act is liable to six months with or without hard labour from a Summary Court. Sect. 22 provides for a Summary Court of two resident magistrates. Sect. 23 provides for the proclamation of districts by the Lord-Lieutenant. Sect. 32 excludes Trades' Unions. Sect. 33. — Saving for associations which act " by such means as arc not un- lawful." Sect. 34 defines unlawful associations as ihose^ [a) formed for commission of crimes ; The Act of 1SS7. No such provision. No such provision. No such provision. Section i. No such provision. No such provision. No such provision. See Section 2. As in Section 2. As in Section 6. As in Section 18. Such associations cannot be so in eluded. [See Sec- tion 6.) 138 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK Mr. Gladstone's Act of 1882. The Act of 1887. (/') carrying on operations for or by commission of crimes ; (c) encouraging or aiding per- sons to commit crimes. Crimes being offences against this Act and indictable offences. See Section 6. Mr. Parnell's Coercion Bill. It is well to remind those who talk of " Coercion " that in 1882 Mr. Parnell himself was willing to agree to the introduc- tion of a " Coercion Bill." This statement has been made by Captain O'Shea, ex-M.P. for Galway, and corroborated by the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain (see Times, August 2, 1888), and it has never been denied by Mr. Parnell. The Results of the Crimes Act. What, however, have been the results of the Crimes Act ? The following tables will give accurate information, the figures being taken from official returns : — Table of Irish Crimes for the Years 18S6-87. Class of Crimes. iS36. 1887. Decrease p.c. Agrarian Crimes ... ... 2,195 ^i^Vl '^2 Non-Agrarian Crimes ... 1,963 Ij633 15 Threatening Letters ... 1,139 954 i6j Takle of Agrarian Crimes for the Six Months ending July, 18S7. Jan., 18S8. Decrease p.c. Agrarian Crimes ... ... 495 364 27 Threatening Letters 172 1x6 33 Table of Cases of Boycotting. Number of Persons On July 31, On Sept. 30, 1887. 1888. Decrease p.c. Wholly boycotted ... ... 870 79 9o| Partially boycotted ... 3,965 1,093 72 ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 139 The following table gives a practical view of the effects of so-called "Coercion " on crime. It gives the returns for Clare and Kerry for a series of years :— Year. Outrages in Outrages in Total. Remarks. Clare. Kerry. 1S77 . 5 8 •^ No Agitation. 1878 . 8 5 1879 ■ 21 13 34 Land League begun. 1880 . .. 91 298 389 1881 . .. 213 401 614 1882 . .. 207 347 554 Mr. Gladstone's Crimes Act begun. 18S3 . •• 55 146 201 1 Crimes Act in full work. Crime 155 1 reduced. 1884 . .. 38 117 1885 . .. 88 180 268 Crimes Act ceased. Crime increased. 18S6 . .. I4t 209 350 No Crimes Act. Matters worse. 18S7 . •• 153 108 261 Crimes Act begun. 1888 . \ Crimes Act working. Crime re- (to Sept. ■30) ^5 70 '55 j duced. These tables surely demonstrate the efficiency of the Crimes Act of 1887. C. THE ADMINISTRATION OF IRISH GOVERN- MENT. Quite apart from attacks on the Crimes Act, attacks are made daily on the administration of the law and of the Government in Ireland. Chief among these come the attacks recently made on the Chief Secretary for Ireland. It must not be forgotten that the Chief Secretary is bound to enforce every law passed by the Imperial Parliament, and tliat it is not a matter of option with him whether Mr. Dillon, Mr. O'Brien, or any other member of Parliament who breaks the law should be prosecuted or not. In the case of almost every Irish prisoner it is of late customary to hear four distinct pleas brought forward. These pleas are : — T40 THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK 1. That it is a shame to arrest the leaders of the Irish people. 2. That they only committed a political offence. 3. That they only broke a bad and coercive law. 4. That they are badly treated in prison, having to asso- ciate with criminals. 1. To the first of these pleas the obvious answer is that all depends upon what they were doing. The doctrine of class privilege was never asserted in a more odious shape than when it is asserted that members of Parliament, or priests, or Lord Mayors, or editors of newspapers, are to become privileged classes, superior to the law. 2. To the second plea the answer is that it arises from a con- fusion of ideas. To break the law for political purposes is not necessarily a political offence, nor does an offence become political because it is committed by a politician. On such a principle it might be argued that the Phoenix Park murderers merely committed a political offence. 3. To the third plea, the answer is that no individual can be allowed to choose for himself what laws are good and what bad. If Home Rulers may break laws they think bad which are passed when a Unionist majority is in power, it will be allowable for Irish Loyalists to break laws they consider bad when passed either by Mr. Glad- stone or Mr. Parnell. If such a principle be admitted, society must come to an end, and anarchy begin. 4. With regard to the fourth plea, it is monstrous to hear persons pretending that the sacred person of John Dillon or of William O'Brien should not be sent to a common gaol, while the poor peasant who has only obeyed the orders they have given him has to go there. It may also be pointed out that this plea is only raised for party ends. No Gladstonian expressed any sympathy with ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 141 Mr. Cuninghame Graham, M.P., when he was obliged to go to prison during the present year. Irish Prison Rules. It should also be remembered that the Irish Prison Rules (disciplinary) were settled in 1878. ^I'hey were approved by Parliament, and were examined and reported on by the Commission of 1884. Part of the reference to that Com- mission was " the points of difference at present existing between England and Ireland, and the desirability of rendering the two prison systems as nearly as may be uniform." The Commissioners included Dr. Sigerson, of Dublin (Nationalist), Dr. Robert M'Donnell, of Dublin (Home Ruler), and Mr. T, A. Dickson, now a Parnellite M.P. They made a Jiimuimous repori in August, 1884, and on the 20th of March following, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, M.P. (then Chief Secre- tary), stated in the House of Commons that the recommenda- tions of the Commission had been carried into effect. The Dietary Rules in England and Ireland are similar, except that in England no milk is included, while in Ireland, for a prisoner on second-class diet, two pints of new milk are allowed three days a week, and eight ounces of extra bread on the other days, in lieu of each three-quarters of a pint of milk. A prisoner sentenced to two lunar months' imprisonment, without hard labour, would undergo four weeks' second-class diet and four weeks' thirdclass diet. Parnellite Methods of Dealing with Crimes Act Cases. There is a familiar Parnellite method of dealing with cases under the Crimes Act, strictly analogous to that pursued by them in reference to evictions — that is, to create an effect by the wholesale suppression of essential facts. For example, diaries and lists of Coercion are published in which cases appear as follows : — A.B. ... For making a speech ... Three montlis' imprisonment. 142 THE SPEAKER S HAND-BOOK It will be noted that in this familiar form every fact is omitted ; and it should be borne in mind that no man can be prosecuted in England, Scotland, or Ireland for making a speech, though he can be in any of the three kingdoms for what he says in the speech, should he counsel violence or incite to crime. In view of some of the extraordinary stories disseminated by the Parnellite Party, it may be as well to state here precisely the charges for which some of the Parnellite members of Parliament have been imprisoned under the Crimes Act : — Inciting others to break the law. Publishing reports of a dangerous association with the view of promoting its objects. Ditto, ditto. Inciting persons to resist police in the discharge of their duty. Publishing reports of a dangerous association with the view of promoting its objects. Taking part in an unlawful as- sembly,* i.e., unlawful under the common law. Taking part in a criminal con- spiracy " now punishable by law " to compel and induce people not to fulfil their legal obligations. * An unlawful assembly is an assembly of three or more persons — (a) With intent to commit a crime by open force ; or (b) With intent to carry out any common purpose, lawful or unlawful, in such a manner as to give those courageous persons in the neigh- bourhood of such assembly reasonable ground to apprehend a breach of the peace in consequence of it. William O'Brien, M.P. T. D. Suhivan, M.P.... Edward Harrington, M.P. David Sheehy, M.P.... Alderman Hooper, M.P. J. R. Cox, M.P. Patrick O'Brien, M.P. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 143 Douglas Pyne, M.P Inciting persons to obstruct officers of the law in discharge of their duty. J. C. Flynn, M.P Criminal conspiracy punishable before the Crimes Act passed. J. Gilhooly, M.P Intimidation. J. Dillon, M.P. Inciting persons not to fulfil their legal obligations. The above list may prove useful, and may suggest the question, What would be done to these members of Parliament, or to English and Scotch members of Parliament, if they acted similarly on the British side of St. George's Channel ? Every other imprisoned Parnellite member has been arrested for some offence precisely similar to those in the above list. Parnellite Fictions about Coercion. Within the limits of this book it is only possible to suggest general lines of argument. It is quite impossible to do more than illustrate the methods of the Parnellite Party. In order to do this, two or three of the more transparent fictions will be briefly dealt with. The Mandeville Fiction. It has been alleged by scores of Gladstonian and Parnell.te speakers that the late Mr. Mandeville was killed by the treat- ment he received in prison. The following brief record of the sworn facts, in the teeth of which this false story was manu- factured, will be useful : — October 31st, 1887 Sent to prison. Weight 17 stone. December 24th, „ Released. Weight 16 stone, 11 lbs. Christmas Day, „ Spoke on this bitterly cold winter's night at Mitchelstown. 144 THE SPEAKER S HAND-BOOK New Year's Day, 1888 January 13th, „ January 20th, „ Jan. 27th-Feb. 29tb, ,, March ist, ,, March 2nd-Apl. ist, „ April 2nd, ,, April 22 nd, ,, May 20th, „ May 2 1 St, „ May 3olh, ,, June 3rd, „ Addressed a meeting in a snowstorm ; also spoke at meeting of Killichy branch of National League. Spoke at meeting of Mitchelstown National League. Made a speech, declaring imprison- ment had not " knocked a feather out of him." Addressed several meetings during these five weeks. Made a speech, declaring that he "was never in better health in his life." Spent this month in his usual active fashion, constantly out of doors, and out late, in robust health. Addressed an open-air demonstration. Addressed an open-air demonstration, the interval being busily occupied in the usual agitator's business. After a similar interval, spent as before, with no complaint of ill- health, addressed an open-air demonstration at Mitchelstown. Drove home late at night, and was present, perhaps only as a spec- tator, at a drunken row. No complaints or illness in the interval, took part in another out- door demonstration. Attended open-air meeting in Cork, and made a si^eech. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 145 June 4th, June 5th, June 6th, „ June 7th to i6th, ,, June 14th, ,, June 17th, June i8th, „ June 19th to 22nd, ,, June 21st, „ June 2 2ncl, ,, June 24th, „ June 2Sth, „ June 29th, „ July 2nd, July 4th, July 5lh, K 1888 Takes part in demonstration at Mitchelstown, „ Attends demonstration, staying out in the rain all day. „ Again attends demonstration, and again stays out all day in the rain. ,, Constantly from home, at cattle sales, &c. „ At Fermoy (14 miles from home). Stays in public-house till after 10 p.m. Then goes home. „ Speaks at meeting at Killabeg. „ At meeting at Fermoy, and at a demonstration. In Cork, Fermoy, and Mitchelstown, involving many miles' travel. In a Fermoy public-house at 11.30 p.m. In same place till 5 p.m. Helps to present address to Mr. Condon, M.P. In Mitchelstown. In Fermoy, in the same public- house. In Fermoy, drives home at 3 o'clock in the morning on an outside car. In Mitchelstown. Complained that he could not eat solid meat, and proceeded to his father-in-law's, a mile from his own residence, for dinner. 146 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK July 6th, 1888 First complained of not being well, and wanted to attend the meeting of the Mitchelstown Board of Guardians, but prevented by Mrs. Mandeville. July 8th, „ Death of John Mandeville. July 9th, „ Important discovery (?) made by Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., to the effect that John Mandeville was killed by his prison treatment, and having entered prison a strong man, left it an invalid ! July loth, „ Mrs. Mandeville wired Mr. O'Brien, objecting to an inquest. The Mitchelstoivn Fiction. The current Mitchelstown fiction is as follows : — The Nationalists were holding a perfectly legal meeting ; the Government tried to interfere with them by forcing police through the meeting ; the police, being forced to retreat, behaved barbarously, and shot two men. The police were therefore guilty of murder. Against this fiction, sedulously propagated with a great deal of added colour by Mr. Gladstone, who has probably been in this, as in other cases, deceived by some mendacious corre- spondent, the following facts should be borne in mind : — The Government have a perfect right to have a reporter present ; and the police advanced to protect him. Not a single blow was struck by the police, who only asked the crowd to make way, till after they were attacked by men on horseback with crowds of black- thorns. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 147 That the Nationalist press chronicled with delight the fact that the mob charged after the police, and that their helmets were kicked down the street. That the meeting, which may (though this is doubtful) have been legal, became illegal when the attack on the police began. That one constable was kicked and beaten within an inch of his life, and will never be fit for any work again. The first shot saved his life. That the police only fired when men advanced to attack the barracks. That, if the police were wrong, a verdict of guilty should have been given against the officer who ordered them to fire. No such verdict was returned, even by the hostile coroner's jury. The Brave Little Girl Fiction. Here is a good example of the Nationalist lie, as circu- lated. Mr. Harrington, M.P., in his pamphlet called "A Diary of Coercion," on page 13 has a section headed "Imprisoning Children." In his note he says: "In this case a number of school-children groaned two men named Stephen Murphy and Daniel Murphy ; " while Mr. Samuel Laing, in referring to the same case, talks of a certain Mary Anne Lawlor (mentioned by Mr. Harrington as a little girl), as " a little girl of fourteen who was sent to gaol for a fortnight for saying ' boo ' to an emergency man." This story, circulated in thousands of copies through Great Britain, is only a specimen of shameless falsehood. Mary Anne Lawlor was no school-girl, but a determined woman who gave her own age as twenty-six ! She assembled with some men outside the Murphys' house, where they shouted, yelled, and blew horns. Being a woman, the magistrates offered to let her off if she would promise not to annoy the Murphys again, but she refused. K 2 I4S THE SPEAKERS HAND-BOOK We have given this only as a specimen. To the same category of fiction belong the stories of the old women of seventy-five who have been imprisoned, and of the little boys vending newspapers. Most disgraceful of all is it, that detection never seems to kill the Home Rule lie. The false story of Mary Anne Lawlor is still circulated. The speaker who is con- fronted with these or similar tales, should insist on having chapter and verse given for each statement. Once he gets the alleged name and date, he will invariably be able to prove either that the entire story is false, or that it is based on a wholesale suppression of material facts. He may, also with efi"ect, ask under what section of the Crimes Act is such a fiction possible ? THE REAL COERCION. As to the Coercion practised by the Nationalist tyrants in Ireland, it is equally impossible to give instances at length. It is only possible to refer the speaker to those sources from whence he can procure reliable information and full particulars. Two main forms of Coercion have been for the last nine or ten years practised on tenants in Ireland. These are — 1. Murder and outrage. 2. Boycotting. It will at once be seen that within the limits of this work it would be quite impossible to give a full account of each crime. The following list may, however, prove useful : — Murders and Attempts to Murder for Agrarian Objects. Year. Number. Year. Number 1879 4 1885 ... 8 1880 ... 38 1886 ... 12 1881 ... 32 1887 21 1882 1883 ... 63 1888 (to Aug. 6th) 16 ... 25 1884 ... 9 228 0\ THE IRISH QUEST I OX. 149 The following are the actual cases of murder committed for agrarian objects during 1888 : — 5 Reason. Uenounced for dis- , obeying the { League. His employment. { It was thought he , < would pay his ( rent. \ Working for a hoy- ■ I cotted farmer. i Taking a farm from J which an evic- ■ \ tion had taken ( place. J Working on an \ "evicted" farm. In a publication called "The Sanction of a Creed," issued by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union, will be found full particulars of each of the chief murders and murderous attacks since 1879. Official Return of Agrarian Crime from 1879. In the year 1879 the Agrarian Crimes were ... ... 870 1880 they rose to 2,585 1 88 1 they rose to ... ... ... ... 4,439 In the first six months of 1882 they rose to 2,597 Date. Name. Status. Jan. 31st .. . James Fitzmaurice ... Farmer May 7th .. . James Quinn ... ... Rent Warr May 27 th . Peter McCarthy . . . Farmer July 2Slh . .. James Ruane .. Labourer July 29th . John Forhan ... Farmer Nov. 13th .. . Jeremiah Lynch Labourer 5, On the I2TII July 1882 the Prevention of Crimes Act passed. Result. In the last six months of 1882 Agrarian Crimes fell to 836 In the year 1883 they fell to 834 „ „ 1884 they fell to 744 From January to June, 1885, they fell to ... ... 373 I50 THE SPEAKERS HAXD-BOOK On the I2TH OF July, 1885, the Prevention of Crimes Act expired. Result. From July to December, 1885, Agrarian Crimes rose to 543 From January to June, 1886, they rose to ... ... 553 Again falling off {see p. 138) on the introduction of the Criminal Law and Procedure Act. Boycotting. Boycotting has been the second method employed to coerce the tenantry of Ireland. The following list of offences for which this punishment has been applied is of interest : — Driving the police. Not voting for Na- tionalists. Being appointed a National School teacher. Being suspected of having paid rent. Not paying rent to local trustees. Having dared to ob- tain compensation for beins shot at. 1. Caretaking. II, 2. Herding. 12 3- Being a landlord. 4- Acting as agent. n' 5- Associating with those already boycotted. 6. Supplying the police. 14, 7- Accommodating ob- noxious persons. 15' 8. Not joining the League. 9- Being related to a boy- cotted person. 16, 0. Giving evidence. 'O What is Boycotting ? So much misconception exists in Great Britain on the subject of boycotting, that it is right for the speaker to inform English and Scotch audiences of what boycotting actually is. It means — 1. Deprival of all social intercourse. No one will speak to you. 2. Ruin in your business. No one will buy what you have to sell. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 15 1 3. Starvation. No one will give you the necessaries of life, even in return for money. You become de- pendent on the police. 4. Education denied to your children. The children of a boycotted man are often driven from school. 5. It may besides mean, and often does mean, refusal of coffins to the dead ; and it certainly entails — 6. Mutilation of your cattle. Boycotting not Exclusive Dealing. That boycotting is 7iof mere exclusive dealing is not only evident from the above, but has been asserted by Mr. Glad- stone himself in the following words : — " Exclusive dealing is a totally different thing. That has nothing to do with combined intimidation exercised for the purpose of inflicting ruin, and driving men to do what they do not want to do. That is illegal, and that is the illegality recommended by the hon. gentleman" (Mr. Dillon). — Speech in the House of Commons, May 24th, 1882 {ffansai'd). The Initiation of Boycotting. Boycotting in Ireland, as an insfitution, is entirely due to Mr. Parnell. The following words embody his official direction to adopt it as a policy : — - " When a man takes a farm from which another has been evicted you must show him on the roadside when you meet him, you must show him in the streets and the town, you must show him at the shop counter, in the fair, and in the market place, and even in the house of worship — leaving him severely alone by putting him into a moral Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of his kind as if he were a leper of old : you must show him that that is your detestation of the crime he has committed." — Ejuiis, Sept. i2>th, 1880. 152 THE SPF.AR'F.r's HAND-BOOK Boycotting still the Parnellite Policy. " I want to tell you here to-day to mark the enemy and shun him. The word used to be in the old days agitate, agitate, agitate : the word in the present day is boycott, boycott, boycott:'— Mr. John O' Connor at Tipperary, Oct. ph, i88S. A Home Ruler on Boycotting. A well-known Irish Protestant Home Ruler, Mr. T. W. Rolleston, has lately (May, 1888) quarrelled with the National League on the question of boycotting. He has written a sixteen-page pamphlet on the subject, the following extracts from which will be useful for quotation. It should be ex- plained that Mr. Rolleston's paper was written in reply to one by Mr. Samuel Laing, formerly M.P. for the Orkney and Shetland Islands : — "I have known a man ruthlessly boycotted by a whole country side, and his life attempted, simply for taking a situation from ivhich a drunken, dishonest bog-ranger was dis- missed, who used to take money from the neighbours to let their cattle break in upon his master's land. The Coercion Act saved that man. He stood to his post, prosecuted his enemies whenever he could. At last they got tired of it, and he is now, I believe, rather a popular person in the neighbourhood. 'I, or any man, would ten times rather have spent six months in Tullamore Gaol, with or without prison clothes, than in the state of persecution in which this man lived for longer than that time. And, measuring his release against Mr. O'Brien's imprisonment, I am not prepared to call the Coercion Act a purely oppressive measure. w ■«* -^ W ^ -JP " Mr. Laing argues as if boycotting simply meant the punishment (he again and again shirks all definition of the nature of the punishment) of persons who take farms from which others had been harshly evicted. Jt has in i-eality become an engine for the ivholesale suppression of independent ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 153 thou};7it, of honest enterprise mid i?idiistry ; for the handicapping of sober, honest, hardivorking men all over Ireland down to the level of the drunkards and idlers, of those who would rather get twenty-five per cent, off their rent by clamour and intimi- dation than treble their profits by toil and thrift. The future of Ireland demands that this vice be cut away root and branch. It is folly to talk of restricting and guiding it : its introducers have never tried to do so, and who else can? Only with unqualified and universal condemnation can it ever be effec- tively met. ^ -w Vi* -vt- -if ^ " Now, boycotting in Ireland never is confined to ' moral ' coercion ; and no one would care a straw for it if it was. The refusal of social intercourse can always be lived down, and a man will endure it for a time for the sake of gain. The refusal of the necessaries of life, itself a kind of physical violence, is now little felt, unless, perhaps, mortal sickness comes in to assist the moral coercionists. There are societies for the combating of the latter, whose ramifications extend throughout all Ireland. Few boycotted persons need, I take it, be unsupplied with necessaries at the usual prices. It is deeply to the disgrace of the Irish gentry if there are any. But no boycotted person is safe without a police escort. " The fact is that^ speaki?tg broadly, boycotting is fnurder. " And when Norah Fitzmaurice, on her return "^ Kerry, is fiercely boycotted, and two of her persecutors sent to gaol — miscreants proved to be guilty of something even baser than the murder itself — a Parnellite member gets tip in Parliament, with the tacit approval of his party, to protest against the severity of their setitetice. (On April 24th, 1888.) I have striven long — perhaps too long — to resist the evidence for this solidai'ity of crime. I can resist it Jio lojiger. Too clear it is to me that approval or support of the Irish National League means a consent to iniquities than which the chronicles of the world's 154 THE speaker's hand-book worst causes, bloodier though they sometimes be, can show nothing more abominably vile." Mr. Gladstone on Boycotting. " What is meant by boycotting ? In the first place, it is combined intimidation. In the second place, it is combined intimidation made use of for the purpose of destroying the private liberties of choice, by fear of ruin and starvation. In the third place, that being what boycotting is in itself, we must look to this : that the creed of ' boycotting,' like every other creed, requires a sanction, and that this sanction of ' boycotting,' that which stands in the rear of boycotting, and by which alone ' boycotting ' can be made effective — is the murder which is not to be denounced." — Speech in the House of Coj/unoiis, Aug. 24//;, 1882. Report of Royal Commission upon Boycotting. The foregoing will be effectively corroborated by the words of the Report of the Cowper Commission : — " We deem it right to call attention to the terrible ordeal that a boycotted person has to undergo, which was by several witnesses graphically described during the progress of our inquiry. The existence of a boycotted person becomes a burden to him, as none in town or village are allowed — under a similar penalty to themselves — to supply him or his family with the necessaries of life. He is not allowed to dispose of the produce of his farm. Instances have been brought before us in which his attendance at Divine service was prohibited ; in which his cattle have been, some killed, some barbarously mutilated ; in which all his servants and labourers were obliged to leave him ; in which the most ordinary necessaries of life, and even medical comforts, had to be procured from a long distance, in which no one would attend the funeral of, or dig a grave for, a member of a boycotted family ; and in which his children have been forced to discontinue attendance at the ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 155 National School of the district. Had we thought it necessary for the purpose of our inquiry, we could have taken a much larger amount of evidence to prove the existence of severe boycotting in very many districts. We did not, however, think it necessary to examine more than a sufficient number of witnesses to inform ourselves and to illustrate the cruel severity with which the decrees of local self-constituted tribunals are capable of being, and are actually, enforced." Cases of Boycotting. The speaker who desires these is recommended at all times to choose the latest possible cases. These he will find recorded each month in the Liberal Unionist newspaper, or in Notes from Ireland (a weekly publication of the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union). Numerous instances are to be found of course in the evidence taken by the Cowper Commission, or in the extracts from that Report published by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. Gladstonian Speeches about Coercion, It is hardly necessary to say that the speeches of Sir George Trevelyan are a perfect mine for those who desire to seek for quotations in support of the Crimes Act, or against the Coercion of the League. The following extracts are samples : — " The party of order includes every farmer who does not want to rob the landlord of his due, and who does not want to be forced to pay blackmail to agitation — every poor fellow who desires to be at liberty to earn a day's wages, by whomsoever they are offered him, without being shunned, insulted, beaten, or too probably mur- dered." (Speech at Hawick, Feb. loth, 1883.) "Why did Lord Spencer leave such a very hateful memory? I should imagine the reason was that he vindicated law and order." (Speech in House of Com- mons, April 8th, 1886.) 156 THE speaker's 11 AND- BOOK " Nothing but the fact that the pohce and resident magistrates were in the hands of a strong central govern- ment preserved certain districts in the south-west of Ireland from wholesale massacre." (Speech at Selkirk, June 30th, 1886.) " What is called Coercion was merely the putting in force of the steps which are required to ensure conviction, and to carry out the ordinary law." {ib.) Almost equally effective for the same purpose are the speeches delivered by Mr. Gladstone himself in the House of Commons in the Sessions of 1881-82, and set out \n Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. Thus, speaking of the failure to administer justice in Ireland, Mr. Gladstone said : — " That breaking-down means the destruction of peace and all that makes life worth having ; it means the placing in abeyance of the most sacred duties and most cherished rights ; it means the establishment of the servitude of good men, and the supremacy and impunity of bad men." (Jan. 28th, 1 88 1.) " By ' boycotting,' he " (Mr. Dillon) "means nothing but merely ruining men who claim to exercise their private judgment in opposition to his ; that is all he means. What I say is this, that men who resort to illegality as a policy, a system, within certain limits, have no right to expect the observance of those limits by others"'' (May 24th, 1882.) "The article of justice satisfies me perfectly; but I must remind the hon. member that it means justice to all and to every one. Unfortunately, this includes the use of force for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of all who do well." (May 19th, 1882.) "We shall not cease to press our proposals on the British Parliament, and we feel confident that we shall ON THE IRISH QUESTION. I $7 have a truly national assent and support to this assurance, that our eftbrt is an honest effort to restore to Ireland the first condition of Christian and civilised existence." (Speech on introduction of Protection of Property Bill, Jan. 28th, 1881.) Respect for the Law a Radical Doctrine. With the above quotations we may well compare the following extract from a speech delivered by Mr. Chamberlain at Birmingham (Jan. 29th, 1887) : — "If a law is bad, let us strenuously endeavour to amend it.; but as long as it exists, respect the law because it is the law, because it is the collective expression of society, the voice of the community for the protection of all its members. Respect for the law is the only thing which stands between us and that pernicious doctrine that might makes right, which it has been the boast and the glory of the democracy to supersede. What is the law ? The law is the security of the weak against the strong ; it is the protection of the poor against the rich ; it is the safeguard of the few against the many. If you destroy the law, which is the highest expression of the democratic idea of equality, you will have to take your choice between anarchy on the one hand and despotism on the other ; and, to my mind, it is a suicidal course for any Radical to lay sacrilegious hands on this great edifice of our freedom." In conclusion, we may once more point out that the speaker should on all occasions make it clear that the (luestion is one of the " Coercion " of the Law versus the Coercion of the Law-breakers. 158 THE speaker's HANDBOOK ?part IV, SUPPLEMENTAL. Under this heading we add a few paragr.iphs giving informa- tion on certain points which hardly fell within the three main divisions of this work. The Parnellites. In view of the fact that a Special Commission is at present sitting to hear evidence about the antecedents and past doings of these gentlemen, silence on many matters is at present requisite. There are, however, some aspects of the matter well worthy attention. Their Literature. The chief weekly paper of the Parnellite Party is United Ireland. Of that journal Mr. Parnell is part proprietor and Mr. William O'Brien editor. The following are specimens of its attacks on English Liberal Ministers : — " He " (Lord Spencer) " stuck at nothing— not at secret torture ; not at subsidising red-handed murderers ; not at knighting jury packers ; not at sheltering black official villainy with a coat of darkness." (June i3lh, 1885.) " What is to be thought of the honour or decency of men like Earl Spencer and Mr. Trevelyan, who, knowing the atrocious crimes of which French has been guilty, not only keep him on in their service and allow him to draw his salary, but connive at his shamming to escape from justice?" (Aug. 3rd, 1884.) " In the art of wriggling, the eel and George Otto Tre- velyan lick the whole animal kingdom." (Sept. 27th, 1 884.) ON THE IBISH QUESTION. 159 " Mr. Trevelyan continues to maintain his reputation as, upon the whole, the meanest, poorest, spitefullest creature who ever held sway in Ireland in the name of England." (Oct. 24th, 1885.) Scores of similar quotations compounded of filthy abuse and lies without measure will be found in " United Ireland on Spencer, Trevelyan, Gladstone" (a pamphlet issued by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union). The best condemnation of this wicked method of attack is to be found in Mr. W. O'Brien's own evidence tendered in the course of his action against the Cork Constitution in July, 1888:— "After reading an article in C/nited Ireland com-panng 'Lord Spencer to Strafford, Mr. Atkinson, Q.C., asked Mr. O'Brien — ' Does not the article convey that Lord Spencer was guilty of killing innocent men?' A. 'It condemns the system.' Q. ' Does it not condemn Lord Spencer?' A. ' Unfortunately it does ; somebody should be taken as the responsible person. Earl Spencer was the figure-head, and he had to be attacked.' Mr. O'Brien then explained that ''now they knew' Lord Spencer's real character, they regretted they had said a great many things that they now knew to be scandalously false as of himself, but most unquestionably true in every particular of that system of government for which he was responsible. However, if Lord Spencer were to bring an action against him for libel, he" (Mr. O'Brien) "would offer a very humble apology, and would put in a plea of justifiable criticism." (See lYnies' verbatim report, July 27th, 1888.) The importance of passages Hke these lies in the fact that Englishmen and Scotchmen are now asked to believe the same things of the present Government by the same men. Are the con- victed liars of 1882-85 to be trusted as truth-tellers now when they repeat the same old story ? But the Parnellites have also a daily paper in Ireland, the l6o THE speaker's HAND-DOOK Freeman^ s Journal. From that organ the following extracts should prove useful : — " We contend that the good government of Ireland by England is impossible, not so much by reason of natural obstacles, but because of the radical, essential difference in the public order of the two countries. This, considered in the abstract, makes a gulf profound, impassable — an obstacle no human ingenuity can remove or overcome. " It is that the one people" (the Irish) " is Christian, and the other" (the English) " non-Christian ; the one animated by a supernatural principle, the other by a natural. Now, the methods and aims of two such societies must radically differ. There is between the two orders an incompatibility, not only antagonistic, but destructive. They cannot freely co-exist in the same society. They may be present, but it must be, not as equals, but in subjeccion and domination ; not in peace, but in conflict. . . . " Let us, as stout old Johnson advises, ' clear our minds of cant,' and we will find ourselves bound by reason and logic to deny to English civilisation the glorious title of Christian, for it contradicts in its form and essence the first principles of Christianity. . . . To put the contrast again in the plainest form, the one order of civilisation is Christian, the other non- Christian ; the one i)eople" (the Irish) "has not only accepted but retained with inviolable constancy the Christian; the other" (the English) " has not only rejected it, but has been for three centuries the leader of the great apostacy, and is at this day the principal obstacle to the conversion of the world. . " The Christian idea is absolute, and will brook nothing that is not itself" {Freeman'' s Journal, Feb. iSlh, 1886.) Their Speakers. Chief among the men sent down to constituencies to delude the British public are such gentlemen as the following : — ON THE IRISH QUESTION. l6l Mr. John O'Connor, once a member of the Fenian body. Organised an insulting demonstration in 18S5 against the Prince and Princess of Wales. In December, 1886, headed a mob, on whom he called to cheer for a couple of notorious murderers, and to whom he cried, "Down with the Cork Juries!" (See Cork Weekly Herald, December 4th; 1886.) Twice imprisoned on suspicion of treasonable practices by Mr. Gladstone. Declared in November, 1886, "that he had lately been using language in favour of moderation and conciliation to such an extent in England that he feared he would not know how to address a Land League Meeting." {^Freeman's Journal^ Nov. 22nd, 1886.) Mr. John Dillon, once a medical student, but no more. Described by Mr. Gladstone as " the apostle of a creed which is a creed of force, which is a creed of oppression, which is a creed of the destruction of all liberty." {Han- sard, May 24th, 1 88 2.) Famous for his opinions on — (a) Rent. " I will show him men who can pay and won't pay, because I tell them not to pay." {Freeman s JouruaJ, Jan. 24th, 1887.) {b) Vetigeance. " Let that man be whom he may, his life will not be a happy one, either in Ireland or across the seas, and I say this with the intention of carrying out what I say." (Freeman' s/ojirna/, Aug. 24th, 1887.) " It is the duty of every man in this country who has an Irish heart in his breast, and who feels for his country, to do everything in his power to injure everybody who helps Hamilton " (a land-agent). (Speech at Ar]i.\ow, Freeman's J^ourn a/, Dec. 3rd, 1887.) (e) Cattle Maiming. " If the landlord should put cattle on them, the cattle won't prosper very much." (Speech at Kildare, Aug. 15th, 1880. OJlJicial Report — Qiiee?i V. Parnell.) L 1 62 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK 3. Mr. T. D. Sullivan, ex-Lord Mayor of Dublin, from the impoverished ratepayers of which city he received ^6^000; a poet who has written the following doggerel lines : — "England fears for India, For there her cruel work Was just as foul and hateful As any of the Turk. But when God sends us thither, Her i-ule to overthrow, With fearless hearts, rejoicing. To work His will we '11 go. Stupid little England Thinks to say us nay. But paltry little England Shall never stop our way." Mr. Sullivan has composed a eulogy on the murderers of a IDoliceman.* He still prints, publishes, and sells these poems, and also a book which he and his brothers have compiled, called " Speeches from the Dock," in which Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa and other scoundrels appear for admiration. 4. Mr. William O'Brien. — This gentleman's career as editor of United Ireland is well known. In that capacity he grossly libelled Lord Spencer and Sir George Trevelyan. Famous for his " breeches " and his " sandwiches." Went out to Canada in 1886 to insult Her Majesty's Viceroy. Put in prison on suspicion of treasonable practices by Mr. Gladstone. 5. Mr. T. p. O'Connor, President of the Irish National League of Great Britain. He and his colleagues issued the following manifesto to the Irish voters in Great Britain on Friday, November 20th, 1885. It had been submitted to Mr. Parnell, and by him approved and ordered to be circulated : — * See Song, " God Save Ireland." " High upon the g.iIlows-tree Swung the noble-hearted three " — i.e., Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien, who murdeied Sergeant Brett at Manchester. ON THE IRISH QUESTION. 1 63 " To Our Countrymen in England and Scotland. " The Liberal Party are making an appeal to the confi- dence of the electors at the General Election of 1885, as at the Election of 1880, on false pretences. . . . We feel bound to advise our countrymen to place no confidence in the Liberal or Radical Party, and so far as in them lies to prevent the government of the Empire falling into the hands of a party so perfidious, treacherous, and incompetent. In no case ought an Irish Nationalist to give a vote, in our opinion, to a member of the Liberal or Radical Party, except in some few cases in vi'hich courageous fealty to the Irish cause in the last Parliament has given a guarantee that the candidate will not belong to the servile and cowardly and unprincipled herd that would break every pledge and violate every principle in obedience to the call of the Whip and the mandate of the Caucus. We earnestly advise our countrymen to vote against the men who coerced Ireland, deluged Egypt with blood, menace religious liberty in the school, the freedom of speech in Parliament, and promise to the country generally a repetition of the crimes and follies of the last Liberal Administration. " (Signed) T. P. O'Connor, President of the Irish National League of Great Britain. "Justin McCarthy, Thomas Sexton, T, M. Healy, J. E. Redmond, James O'Kelly, J. G. Biggar, Executive." The above gentlemen are supposed to constitute the " stars " of the Irish Party on the platform. List of Useful Books. The following books are earnestly recommended : — " England's Case against Home Rule." Professor Dicey. L 2 164 THE speaker's HAND-BOOK. "As It Was Said." Published by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. " History of the Legislative Union." T. Dunbar Ingram. LLD. " The Truth about Home Rule." Edited by Sir G. Baden- Powell. " The Irish Union, Before and After." A. K. Connell. "Chez Paddy." ("Paddy at Home.") Baron Mandat Grancey. " Ireland Under Coercion." W. H. Hurlbert. Together with all publications issued by the Liberal Unionist Association and the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. Conclusion. '\\'e have now completed this survey of the Irish Question. The student may well say, in the words of Mr. Gladstone, which were true when they were spoken at Aberdeen in 187 1, but which Land Acts, Arrears Acts, Franchise Acts, Relief Acts, have made incomparably more true in 1888 : — " I have looked in vain for the setting forth of any practical scheme of policy which the Imperial Parliament is not equal to deal with, and which it refuses to deal with, and which is to be brought about by Home Rule. . . . There is nothing Ireland has asked, and which this country and this Parliament have refused. This Parliament has done for Ireland what it would have scrupled to do for England and for Scotland. . . . What are the inequalities of England and Ireland ? I declare that I know none, except that there are certain taxes still remaining which are levied over Englishmen and Scotchmen, and which are not levied over Irishmen ; and, likewise, that there are certain purposes for which public money is freely and largely given in Ireland, and for which it is not given in England or Scotland." END. INDEX Abercorn, Duke of, Unfairly At- tacked by the Freeman! s Jour- nal, 69. Acre, The Irish, 56. Act of Union, History of, 27 — 30. Agrarian Crime, Statistics of, 123, 138, 149. Agriculture the Irish Industry, 54. Pastoral chiefly, 55. Statistics of, 55. Analogies, False, for Home Rule, 38, 39- Anglo-Saxon Inhabitants ot Ire- land, 9, 18, 20, 21. Appeal, Right of. Under Crimes Act, 130, 132, 134. Archbishops and Ijishops (R.C.) on Act of Union, 27, 28. Areas and Majorities, ^o, 11. Argument from the Land Acts, The, 88. Arguments for Home Rule, List, 3. 4- Arrears, The Case of, 74, Si, 94. and Fair Rent, 74. Act of 1882, 81, 82. Ashbourne's Act, 1885, 82—87. Assizes postponed in 1887, 125. Associations, when Dangerous, 129. Attainder, the Great Bill of, 24. B. Banks of Ireland, The, 35. Bannerman, Mr. Campbell, on Glenbeigh Evictions, 105. Belfast, how Built, 18. Population of, 34. • Working Men of, 14. Bill of Attainder, The, 24. Bill of 1886, The Home Rule, 40. Bishops of Ireland (R.C.) and the Act of Union, 27, 28. Books, List of Useful, 163, 164. Boycotting, Initiation of, 151. Nature of, 150. Offences punishable Ijy, 150. Cases of, 155. Statistics of, 138. Cowper Commissionon, 154. Mr. Parnell on, 151. Mr. Gladstone on, 151, 154. — Mr. J. O'Connor on, 152. Mr. T. W. Rolleston on, 152. Bright Clauses in Land Act of 1870, 65. Brooke Estate, The, no. Butt, Mr. Isaac, Scheme of, 52. Campaign, Plan of, see Plan of Campaign, 106 1 66 INDEX. Cantwell, Rev. Mr., Speech in Dublin, i8S6, 114. Catholics (Roman) and Act of Union, 27. Celtic Inhabitants of Ireland, 9, 18. Census Returns (1881), ZZ, 36, 54, 55- Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J., at Bir- mingham, 157. on Respect for Law, 157. Chambers of Commerce, Opinion of, 15. Change of Venue, 129, 134, 136. Charles II., Reign of, 23. Church of Ireland and Home Rule, Clancy, Mr., Misrepresentations of, 84. Clare, Lord, Speech in iSoo, 31, 32. Coercion, 37, 39, 119, 127. only a Nickname, 120. Acts of Grattan's Parliament, 26. I4j Acts before 1800, 37. Acts since iSoo, 37. of Mr. Gladstone, 135. of Mr. Parnell, 138. forced by Parnellites, 127. Parnellite Fictions about, y ]\Ir. Parnell on, 121. Mr. T. P. O'Connor on, 120. Sir G. Trevelyan on, 155, 156. Mr. J. E. Redmond on, 127. The Real, 148—157. Colonies, The, and Home Rule, 38. Commerce and Home Rule, 14, 15. Commercial Progress of Ireland, 35- Communities in Ireland, 10 — 15. Compensation for Disturbance, 62, 63- for Improvements, 62, 63. how Lost, 64. paid to those who Voted Against the Union, 29, 30. Composition of Parnellite Majority, 14. 15- Conquest of Ireland, The, 17, 21. Consent of Irish People to Union, 27, 28. Conspiracy, Law of, 129, 131. Constituencies of Ulster, 13. Cork, how Built, 18. Corporation of Dublin and Rack- rents, 116, Counties in Great Britain with falling Population, 34. Cowper Commission, References to, 68, 76, 124, 125, 154. Statistics of, 68, 76. fjvidence before, 124, 125. on Boycotting, 154. Crawford, Mr. Sharman, and the Law of Improvements, 61. Crime in 1SS6, 123, 138, 149. Crimes Act of 1SS2, 133, 135 — 138. Crimes Act of 1887, Provisions of, 128— 131. -Justice of, 135. Necessity for, 121 — 127. Results of, 138, 139. Fictions about, 131, 132. Crofters, The, and Arrears, 81, 89. and Change o: Venue, 134- Cromwell in Ireland, 22. Cromwell's Legislative Union, 22. Cultivated Land in Ireland, 56. Custom of Ulster, 64, 65. INDEX. D. 169 Daily News, The, on Plan of Campaign, 113. Danes in Ireland, The, 18. Dangerous Associations, What are ? 129. Dates of Irish Plistory, 16. Davies, Sir J., on Irish Population, 18. Davitt, Mr. M., 115. Deasy's Act of iS&o, 60, 61. Decline of Population of Ireland, 33- of Prices, "](>. Definition of Home Rule, i. Demand of Majority for Home Rule, 4 — 15. Derry, how Built, 1 8, 21. Siege of, 24. Desmond, Farl of, 20. Destitute Poor, Act for Relief of, 60. Diary, The Mandeville, 143 — 146. Dicey, Professor, on Federalism, 53- Dillon, Mr. John, M.P., at Inver- , ness, 2. 1 on Home Rule and Local ' Government, 2. ! on Rent, at Glenbeigh, 161. ! on Vengeance, 161. on Cattle Maiming, 162. Mr. Gladstone's Opinion of, 161. Distribution of Seats in Ulster, 12, 13- Donegal, S.E., Illiterate Vote in, 15- Drogheda, how Built, 18. Dublin, how Built, iS. Corporation as Landlords, 116. Dublin University and Home R IS- Dunne, Mr. J., enters a Racehorse at the Curragh after his Evic- tion, 109. E. Education in Ireland, Progress of, 36. Elizabeth, Ireland under, 20. Emancipation, Roman Catholic, 26. English Pale, The, iS. Episcopal Church and Home Rule 15- Europe, Home Rule in, 38. Eviction, Law of, 96 — 98. Facts and Figures of, 98 — 103. Notices of, 98. Numbers of, 100— 102. Necessity of, 103. Alleged Injustice of, 104. Mr. Mulhall on, 100. Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union on, loi — 103. at Glenbeigh, 105. Excise Duties, Growth of, 35. Exclusion of Irish Members, 46, 47. of Tenants from Land Act ofiSSi, 73- F. F's, Tiie Three, 70 — 72. Fair Rent, Moaning of, 71. Misrepresentations about, 72. Fall in Prices in Ireland, 76. False Analogies for Home Rule, 38, 39- 1 66 P nine, The, of 1846-47, 58, 59. Sir C. E.Trevelyan on, 58. Mr. A. M. Sullivan on, 59. Farm Produce in Ireland, Table of Prices of, 68. Federalism, Professor Dicey on, 53- Fiction, "The Brave Little Girl," 147. The Mandeville, 143 — 146. The Mitchelstown, 146, 147. Fictions about the Act of Union, 27 — 29. Crimes Act, 131, 132. Crimes Act Cases, 141 — 148. Final Settlement, Home Rule not, 53- Finton Lalor and the Plan of Cam- paign, 115. Fishmongers' Estate, Sales of Tenants' Interest on, 81. Fitzmaurice, Norah, 125, 153. Fixity of Tenure, 71, 72. Flood, Mr., 25. Frccinaii's yournal, The, on the Irish Question, 160. Free Sale, Meaning of, 72. Examples of, 78. Statistics of, 79. INDEX. G. Gale, The Hanging, 57. Gal way, how Built, 18. Geographical Position and Home Rule, 8. Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., on Irish Landlords, 18S1, 70. at Liverpool, 1886, 9. on Boycotting, 151, 154, 156. on Plan of Campaign, 112. Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., on Irish Descent, 9. on Irish Grievances, 164. in House of Commons, April 6, 1886, 49. • on Retention of Irish Mem- bers, 49. in Daily 1888,49. his Home Rule Bill, 40—43. ■ on Mr. John Dillon, 161. imprisons Mr. Parnell, 90. Niivs, July 20, Gladstonians, Attitude of, to Land Acts, 90. Glenbeigh Evictions, The, 105. Grattan, The Younger, Strange Fiction of, 28. Grattan's Parliament, Facts about, 25, 26. Great Rebellion, The, 22. Green, Mr. J. R., on the Great Bill of Attainder, 24. Griffith's Valuation, 66. H. Hanging Gale, The, 57. Harcourt, Sir W. Vernon, and the Landowners, 95. Harrington, Mr., M.P., on "The Brave Little Girl," 147. Healy, Mr. T. M., M.P., at Boston, 1881, 113. at New Orleans, 188 1, 113. Heniy II., Invasion of Ireland, 17. Henry VII., Ireland under, 20. Henry VIII. makes Ireland a King- dom, 17. Historical Growth of Ireland as Argument for Home Rule, 8. History of Ireland, Synopsis of, 16 —25 INDEX. 169 History of Land Question, 57. Holdings, Size and Valuation of, 55, 56. Home Rule, I — 53. Definition of, I. not Local Government, i, 2. False Analogies for, 38, 39. Impracticable, 45. ■ in Europe, 38. in the Colonies, 38. in the United States, 38, 39 Arguments for, 2. ■ and Dublin University, 15. Bill of 1886, 40—43. Bill of 18S6, Objections to, 43- not a Final Settlement, 53. Mr. John Dillon on, 2. Home Rulers, Protestant, 15. Housing of Irish People, Progress in, 36. Hurlbert, Mr., "Ireland under Coercion," 118, 164. Illiterate Voters, 14, 15. Imperial v. Local Affairs, 51. Improvements, Tenants', 61. Increase of Rent, how sometimes Justified, 67 — 69. Invaders, Foolish Argument about, 19. Ireland a Nation, 5 — 9. and Scotland comjiared, 8. and Early Civilisation, 18. Early Population of, 18. Irish Acre, The, 56. — Church, The, and Home Rule, 15. Government, Administration of, 139- M Irish Landlords, Present Position of, 91- Loyalists and a Second Parliament, 11. M.P.'s, Exclusion from Westminster, 46, 47. M.P.'s Imprisoned, Why, 142. M.P.'s, Retention at West- minster, 48. Nations, The Two, 10, 12. Parliament, The Old, 19, 25, Race, Mr. Gladstone on, 9. Tenants v. English Tenants, 88, 89. — Working Men, how They Vote, 14. J. James II., Ireland under, 23. Johnston, Right Hon. Mr. Justice, on State of Country, 122. Joyce County, how named, 23. Judicial Reductions of Rent, Mean- ing of, 74—78. Jurors, Unwilling, 125. how Punished, 126. United Ireland oxi, 126. K. Kenmare Estate, Evictions on, 99. Kenny, Dr. J. E., M.P., Speech in Dublin, 1 14. Kilbride, Mr. Denis, M.P., and the Plan of Campaign, 109. Kilkenny, Statute of, 19. Kingdom of Ireland, The, 17. Kingston Estate, The, 108. I70 INDEX. L. Laing, Mr. Samuel, on M. A. Lawlor, 147. Lalor, Finton, Inventor of Plan of Campaign, 115. Lambert Simnel in Ireland, 20. Land Acts, Argument from, 88. and the Pamellites, 89, 90. ■ by whom Passed, 89, 91. Land-grabber, INIeaning of, 1 16. Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, 70 — 72, . 1887, 87, 88. prior to 1870, 59 — 61. Landlord and Tenant Act, i860, 60, 61. 1870, 62, 63. Landlords, Mr. Gladstone on, 70. Position of Irish, 91—93. Land Movement, Real Object of, 113— 116. Landowner, Sir W. Harcourt on, 95- Land Purchase Act, 1885, 82—84. Examples of, 83. Misrepresentations of, 84 — 86. Statistics of, 84. -118. Land Question, The, 54- Language of Ireland, 9. Lawlor, Mary Anne, Case of, 147. Lawson, Right Hon. Mr. Justice, on State of Country, 121. League, The National, and Evicted Tenants, 80. Leaseholders admitted to Land Act, 87. Legislation for Ireland since Act of Union, 26. Legislative Union of Cromwell, 22. Legislative Union of 1800, Alleged Failure of, 31. Liberal Party, Principles of, vio- lated by Mr. Gladstone, 43. Limerick, how Built, 18. List of Recipients of Money in 1800, 29, 30. Literature, Parnellite, 158—160. Local Government not Home Rule, 2, 3- Mr. John Dillon on, 2, 3. Lord Clare, Speech on Union in 1800, 31, 32. Luggacurran Estate, The, 109. M. Magistrates and the Crimes Act, 132, 134- Majority for Home Rule, 4 — 15. Majorities and Areas, 10. Majorities and Minorities, 10, 11. Mandeville, Mr., The Case of, 143 — 146. Massereene Estate, The, 107. Meetings, when Illegal, 130, 132, 142. Members and Constituencies in Ulster, 13. Minorities and Majorities, 10, 11. Misrepresentation of Land Purchase Act, 84-86. Mitchelstown Fiction, The, 146, 147. Morley, Rt. Hon. J., M.P., at Chelmsford, 46, 118. on Exclusion of Irish Mem- bers, 46. on Land Laws, 118. Moroney, T., his Case, no. Mulhall, Mr. M., on Evictions, lOO. Murphy, Mr. Justice, on State of Country, 122. INDEX. 171 N National Argument, The, 4 — 15. — — Schools in Ireland, Growth of, 36. Nationalist Vote in Ulster, 13. Nationalities in Ireland and Great Britain, 4— 15. Nation, Marks and Signs of, 7. Rights of, 6. Rights of, not believed in by Gladstonians, 6. Nations, Two in Ireland, 8, 11. O'Connell on, 13. New Offences under Crimes Act, Alleged, 131. Newsvendors, when Punished, 130, 132. Nonconformists and Home Rule, 15- North America, How we Lost our Colonies, 48. O. Objections to Home Rule Bill of 1886, 43. Offences under Crimes Act, 128, 129. O'Brien, Hon. Mr. Justice, on State of Country, 121, 122. O'Brien, Mr. V.'., M.P., at Carrick- on-Suir, 114. at Gorey, 44. at Tulla, 1 14. on Jurors, 126. on Lord .Spencer, 158, 159, his Antecedents, 162. O'Connell on Two Irish Nations. 13- O'Connor, Mr. J., M.B., on Boy- cotting, 152. M 2 O'Connor, Mr. J., M.P., on Moder- ate Language, 161. his Antecedents, 161. O'Connor, Mr. T. P., M.P., in St. Louis, U.S.A., 114. his Manifesto, 162. on Coercion and the Liberal Party, 120. O'Grady Estate, The, 109. Oliver Cromwell in Ireland, 22. O'Neil, Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, 20. " Orange" Vote in Ireland, 15. Pale, the English, 18. Paralysis of Justice (1886-87), 121 — 126. Parliament, Grattan's, 25, 26. Parnell, Mr. C. S., M.P., at Gal- way, Oct. I, 1880, 113. at Ennis, Sept., 1880, 151. at Cincinnati, 1880, 44. at Dublin, April 29, 1880, 44. at Ennis, Nov. 3, 1S85, 44. his Land Bill, 95. on Coercion and the Liberal Party, 121. his Coercion Bill, 138. Telegram of, Sept., 1881, 90. on Evictions on Kenmare Estate, August, 18S6, 99. Parnell and Commerce, 15. Parnellite Literature, 158. Misrepxesentations of Pur- chase Act, 84 — 86. Parnellite Speakers, The, 161. Parnellites, The, and Crimes Act Cases, 141. and the Land Acts, 89, 90. 1/2 INDEX. Pastoral Character of Irish Agri- culture, 55. Peerages created in 1800, 30. Penal Laws, The, 24. Edmund Burke on, 24. Petitions for and Against the Union, 28. Pitt, Motives of, in Proposing Union, 26. Plan of Campaign, The, 106, 112. Daily Ne-os on, 113. Protestants and, 107, 109, III. and Mr. Parnell's Bill, 112, 113- Judges on, 106. Instances of, 107, III. -, Summary of, 112. Plantation of Ulster, 12, 13, 21. Political Offences, What are, 140. Examples of, 142. Ponsonby Estate, The, 107. Poor Relief Acts, 1838-43, 59. Population of Belfast, Growth of, 34- Population of Ireland, Variations in, 33, 57, 58. Classification of, 54. Post Office Savings Banks, Statistics of, 35, "7, "8. Poynings' Law, 20. Presbyterians and Home Rule, 15- Press, The, and the Crimes Act, 130, 132, 137. Prices of Irish Farm Produce, Rise and Fall, 68, 76. Prison Rules in Ireland, 141. Progress of Ireland since the Act of Union, 35. Protestant Episcopal Church and Home Rule, 15. Protestant Tenants and Plan of Campaign, 107, 109, iii. Home Rulers, 15. Public Meetings and the Crimes Act, 130, 132, 136. Queen Anne and Dublin Parlia- ment, 25. R. Racial Argument for Home Rule, 9, 10. Rackrents, Meaning of, 65, 66. and Corporation of Dublin, 116. Rebellion, The Great, 22. Redmond, Mr. J. E., M.P., at Chicago, 45. at Glenbrien, 127. on Coercion, 127. Mr. W. H. K., M.P., in House of Commons, 44. Reductions of Rent, 74, 77. Reformation in Ireland, The, 21. Regency Bill, The, 26. Rejection of Mr. Parnell's Land Bill, 95, "2. Religion and Ireland, 10, 21. Rent, Reductions in, 72—78, 87. Representation and Taxation, 48. of Ulster, 13. Respect for the Law, and Radicalism, 157. Retention of Irish Members, 48. Revenue of Ireland, its Growth, 35. Rights of a Nation, Enumeration of, 6. INDEX. 173 Ripon, Lord, Mistake of, 98. Rolleston, Mr. T. W., on Boy- cotting, 152. on Irish Jurors, 126. Roman Catholics of Ireland and Act of Union, 27. Russell, Mr. T. W., M.P., 89, 112. Sample Speeches of Home Rulers, 43. 44. "3. "4- Savings Banks Returns, 35, 117, 118. Scotch Law and Coercion, 133, 134. Scottish Settlers in Ulster 18, 21. Separatist Objects of Home Rulers, 4- Sexton, Mr. T., M.P., in Dublin, 44. Sheehy, Rev. Eugene, C.C., in New York, 114. Shipping of Ireland, its Growth, 35- Small Holdings in Ireland, 55. Spaniards in Ireland, The, 18, 20. Speakers, The Parnellite, 161. Spencer, Lord, United Ireland on, 158, 159- *' Star Chamber Inquiries," The, 128, 133. Statute of Kilkenny, The, 19. Strafford in Ireland, 22. Sullivan, Mr. A. M., on Irish Land- lords, 59. Mr. T. D., M.P., on Eng- land, 162. his Antecedents, 162. Summary Jurisdiction under Crimes Act, 128—133. Synopsis of Irish History, 16 — 25. of Home Rule Bill, 40—43. of Land Acts, 60 — 88. of Crimes Act, 128 — 131. T. Taxation and Representation, 48. Tenant Right, Ulster Custom of, 64, 65. Tenants' Improvements, 61, 62. Irish V. English, 88, 89. Trades' Unions and the Crimes Act, 131. 132- Trevelyan, Sir C. E., on Irish Famine, 58. Trevelyan, Sir G. O., at Hawick, 1883, 155. in House of Commons, 1886, 155- at Selkirk, 1886, 156. Two Communities in Ireland, lO — 15- Tyrconnel, Earl of, 23. U. Ulster Custom, The, 64, 65. Question, The, 12. Representation of, 13. Sales of Tenant Right in, 79- Uncultivated Land — Ireland, 56. Undertakers, The, 20, 21. United Ireland on Jurors, 1 26. on Lord Spencer, 158, 159. United States, Home Rule in, 38, 39- Useful Books, List of, 163. 174 INDEX, V. Valuation of Holdings, Sir R. Griffith's, 66. Vandeleur Estate, The, 57, no. Venue, Change of, 129, 134, 136. Votes in Ulster, 13. W. Waddy, Mr., and the case o( Tuohy, 68. Waterford built by Danes, 18. 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