We have analyzed the main provisions elsewhere, but we may
here state that the Bill includes besides them Mr. Bright's plan for assisting tenants to become owners. If a landlord wishes to sell and his tenantry to buy, and they prove their sincerity by a deposit of one-fourth the purchase-money, the Board of Commis- sioners will purchase the estate and vest it in the tenants, receiv- ing from them in lieu of principal and interest 6 per cent. per annum, which will be recoverable in the same way as the tithe-rent charge. Of course the tenants can pay up all at once if they like. The operation of this scheme may prove to be extremely important, all estates in the market going to the tenantry through the Board, thus re-creating an Irish yeomanry; and this is clearly Mr. Bright's idea, but the scheme still needs a good deal of explanation as to the method of enforcing the joint liability of all tenants. In the cage of an estate covered with little holdings, joint liability may involve some injustice and much political danger. In India, where families, often 100 in number, hold estates as co-partners, each can apply for an order defining his liability and his rights ; and the Bill, as we have read it, will require some such provision.
