Mr. Morley has yielded to the pressure of the Irish
Home- rulers so far as to reawaken the Rent question. In a letter of September 26th, addressed to Mr. Justin McCarthy, he informs him that Mr. Balfour had admitted that the evicted tenants. of Ireland had deserved consideration, and had inserted in the Land Act of 1891 clause 13, (under which tenants, evicted since May, 1879, obtained a prior claim to buy their freeholds). This clause had failed. The extra police, rendered necessary by disquiet among evicted tenants, number 600, and cost £45,000 a year, while 753 persons are under police protection. In one notorious district alone, the disturbed condition " has cost the country £13,000 since 1881,"—eleven years. The necessity of curing this "social mischief" remains as urgent as ever ; and the Government, therefore, propose to appoint a small and impartial Royal Commission to inquire and report promptly on all cases where disputes between landlords and tenants still exist, on the numbers of evicted tenants, on the circumstances of eviction, and on the offers of settlement made from time to time. The letter is, of course, subject to two interpretations. One is, that it is a mere device to gain time, Mr. Morley knowing perfectly well that nothing will, or can, be done; and the other, that it is sincere, the Government really- intending to bring in a Bill. In the first case, Mr. Morley is a deceiver; and in the second, and much more probable case, he has levelled a deadly blow at the security of landed pro- perty in Ireland. Grant perpetuity of tenancy, and still, if rent be not paid, there must be eviction, without which, in truth, little freeholders and purchasers of tenant-right could raise nothing from their properties, even from the gombeen man. Mr. Morley is doing terrible mischief in Ireland.
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