Mr. Morley argued that the Unionists, by Section 13, did
propose to make special provision for the evicted tenants, and to place them in the position of debtors to the State. "Although you say these men were swindlers and fraudulent debtors, you thought them quite good enough to receive large advances of money from the national exchequer." The Com- mission could not have been "packed," for the landlords pro- posed to appear before it. What Mr. Justice Mathew said about Lord Clanricarde was not nearly so strong as what was said by Mr. T. W. Russell. It was no good. to compare the relations of landlord and tenant to those existing between a. shopkeeper and his customers. The Irish land system was founded on the assumption that they were entirely different. The object of the Commission was to bring landlord and tenant together, and to close the agrarian sore. The Govern- ment, he concluded, would consider in the light of the Report what course they ought to pursue, and what proposals should be made to Parliament. The debate was continued by Mr. Balfour, Mr. Chamberlain, and Sir Charles Russell, and ended in the motion being lost by 250 votes to 287. The fact that the Government majority fell to 37 on so crucial a division is significant.
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