There will be a great debate on Monday on the
Report of the Evicted Tenants Commission, That Commission, pre- sided over by Mr. Justice Mathew, decided, it appears, that "the combinations into which the tenants entered "—the "Plan of Campaign," to wit—" could not be denounced as fraudulent and dishonest," though "they were pronounced by high authority to be criminal ; " and they, therefore, recom- mend that the Land Commission shall determine the rent upon which "the petitioners shall be entitled to be rein- stated." If the landlord desires it, however, an evicted tenant must purchase; though even then, the Land Commission may extend the time for payment of instalments, and Boards of Guardians are authorised to lend the tenants money to restock their farms ! The Commission will settle what compensation, if any, is due from the evicted tenant to the new occupier whom he is to evict. As this report in substance directs that tenants guilty of such combination shall be pardoned, and even rewarded for their action—the increase of time in which to pay instalments being in the nature of reward—swallowing it will be something of a strain even to Gla,dstonians, some of whom have tenants of their own, and may be a little afraid of Irish precedents. Others, again, will perhaps feel that the Nationalists are pressing the yoke upon their necks a little too sharply. It is possible, of course, that the Government may suggest some compromise ; but they are, unluckily for themselves, unable to plead the only solid ground for one,— namely, that the combining tenants were not free agents, but withheld their rents under terror. That is just what they deny.
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