LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOE."] SIR,-It may not be without interest to your readers to know the dgnouement of the "Plan of Campaign" referred to by Mr. McHugh in his letter to the author of "Castle and Cabin." The two ringleaders of the " Plan " on the estate in question who alone were evicted, redeemed their holdings before the expiration of the six months allowed to them by the law, and expressed to me their great regret and sorrow at having made such fools of themselves. One of them has since died, as people express it, of a. broken heart. He never got over the way his advisers had made a cat's-paw of him, and the loss he sustained through following their advice, and being consequently for six months out of occupation of his land.
As soon as Mr. Balfour's rggime made itself felt in the country, and the small farmers saw how they had been deceived, they threatened law proceedings against the holder of the money they had paid under the "Plan of Campaign," and it
was returned to them by him with a deduction of 2s. 6d. in the pound for working expenses on money paid, and also a deduction of 2s. 6d. in the pound on money not paid, but promised.
There are no vacant farms on the estate. In one case the original tenant has been allowed back after being excluded for three years, on his making a most humble apology, and. promising for the future to stick to farming, and eschew both "politics and potheen," which he assured me had been his ruin.
So fax from helping the tenants, the "Plan of Campaign" has simply involved them in debt, as during its progress the tenants, believing they would have no more rent to pay, made- no provision for the future, and are now, consequently, heavily in arrears. To their credit, however, I must say that they are now doing their best to make up for lost time, and are being met in a like spirit.
The progressive times from 1870 to 1878 involved the man farmers in debt, they having borrowed largely from the banks, and being heavily indebted to the shopkeepers. The " No-Rent " movement was consequently eagerly seized upon by them as a. means of relief. This I believe to be the real origin of the agrarian movement. The Parnellite leaders knew where the shoe pinched, and were not slow to avail themselves of it.
As regards Mr. McHugh, he is now undergoing a period of six months' seclusion in Londonderry Gaol for urging through his paper the boycotting of certain people.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Corrado°, Boyle, December 25th. OWEN PHIBES.
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