The Committee stage of the Irish Land Bill was concluded
in the Lords on Tuesday, when Lord Lansdowne declared himself to be in favour of limited compulsory purchase. In his opinion, it was too late in the day for the Lords to refuse to admit compulsion in any shape or form, and, in view of Lord Crewe's statement that it was indispensable in some form or another, he appealed to the opponents of the principle to think twice before assuming the responsibility of decreeing the final extinction of the Bill and bringing land purchase to an end. Ultimately Lord Atkinson's proposals—put forward in place of Clause LXIY., and rendering compulsion dependent on the consent of an independent judicial tribunal, with a right of appeal to the Appeal Court—were carried by 106 votes to 31, the Front Bench and other Ministerialists voting with the official Opposition. We may note that in Tuesday's Times Lord Monteagle strongly supports Mr. Birrell's belated suggestion of a round-table conference on the Irish Land Bill, while pointing out the strange incon- sistency of the Irish Secretary in now suggesting at the eleventh hour what he refused twelve months ago, when joint action was not only possible, but comparatively easy.
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