Another quantity of property has been flung into the legislative
crucible. Mr. Crilly, a Member for Mayo, on Wednesday moved the second reading of a Bill (Ireland) compelling the owners of houses, if they removed tenants, to give them compensation for their improvements, even if made without their consent. He was supported by Mr. M'Donald, and both rested their arguments upon assertions that in Ireland whole towns became dilapidated because the tenants feared that if they repaired the houses, the landlord, on the expiration of the tenancy, would raise their rents. Mr. Sexton also argued that the shopkeeper had as much claim as the farmer; and Mr. E. Russell (Liverpool) followed with the same statement. Mr. Crompton (Staffordshire), Mr. Fenwick (Northumberland), and Mr. Conybeare (Cornwall) were all on the same side ; and Mr. Gladstone, though guarding himself against any acceptance of the Bill, and observing that it was not an Irish question, but one for the Three Kingdoms, consented to a Select Committee of Inquiry into the whole subject. It is believed that Mr. Goschen will be Chairman of the Committee, and that the entire question of house-tenure will be opened, including the expediency of granting to leaseholders the right of pur- chasing the freehold at a fair price, a method to which Mr. Goschen, in discussing the Bill, declared himself in principle favourable.
