THE GLENBEIGH EVICTIONS.
THOSE politicians who desire to show that in supporting the present Government, Liberal Unionists are assisting the Irish landlords in the most harsh and cruel action against their tenants, and who declare that only by Home-rule can the miseries of the Irish peasantry be alleviated, have chosen the evictions at Glenbeigh as their ground of battle. In them they tell us to find a typical instance of the rapacity and tyranny of the Irish landlord. There are to be seen tenants turned out of their houses, with every aggravation of suffering, not because they will not, but because they cannot by any possibility meet the demands of their landlord. The Home- rule Party has not generally been very happy in its arguments ; but on the present occasion it has been more than usually unfortunate. The plain and absolutely unimpeachable docu- ments, set forth in the Times on Wednesday last, show beyond a doubt that in choosing the Glenbeigh evictions as a ground of battle, the greatest of tactical errors has been committed by the Parnellites and their English allies. What- ever may have been, or may be, the crimes committed on other estates, a true narrative of the facts of the present case shows that the landlord—or, more strictly speaking, the mortgagee —has acted throughout with the greatest fairness and modera- tion ; has only used his right of eviction as a last resort, and to prevent the tenants from actually in some cases confiscating his property by the continued possession of his land ; and has, when obliged to act by means of force, acted with all the humanity possible under the circumstances. We have no desire to defend the Irish land system in the past, or to deny that many of its features have been most barbarous and unjust ; but we feel convinced that no one who has the slightest power of giving an impartial attention to the true narrative of these events will fail to find, deplore as he must the physical sufferings of the poor misled peasants, that it is the cruellest injustice to accuse either Mr. Merrick Head or his agent of having acted towards the Glenbeigh tenants with harshness or want of consideration.
Though Mr. Winn is nominally the owner of the Glenbeigh estate, the rights of the landlord are at this moment being exercised by Mr. Head, whose position is derived from his connection with a mortgage on the estate, and from a power of attorney executed by Mr. Winn. Mr. Head, it may be mentioned, is a well-known solicitor at Reigate. In August, 1886, Messrs. Darley and Roe were appointed agents for the property. No rents had practically been paid on the estate since the year 1880, and the arrears up to May, 1886, amounted to over six thousand pounds. Mr. Roe, in fulfilment of his duty as an agent, visited the estate in order to ascertain what amount of these arrears could be collected. Being satis- fied that some portion of the amount due could be paid, he demanded a settlement from the tenants. On their refusal to pay anything at all, he began proceedings against those tenants " who had taken forcible possession " of their holdings, announcing, however, at the same time, that as he considered it "hard to ask them to pay the full amount," as they had been allowed to get so much in arrears, he would give a clear receipt up to November lst, 1885, to any tenant who would pay one year's rent and costs. Pending the discussion of this offer, a meeting, got up by the National League, was held at Glenbeigh, in which the parish priest, the
Rev. Father Quilter, said that he knew that "seven out of the seventy families now to be evicted could not pay twelve months' rent." Mr. Harrington, M.P., then proceeded to make one of those frank speeches which so much puzzle and confuse the milder English supporters of Mr. Gladstone's policy, when they seek to find in the utterances of the Parrellite Party assurances that the affairs of their country will be conducted with perfect fairness and propriety by an Irish Parliament. "Let the people," he said, "strive to stick to their holdings for a few years longer ; and when, please God, there would be an Irish Parliament sitting in Dublin, as there was bound to be before long, the people would be protected and relieved from the incubus of landlordism." Mr. Sheehan, M.P., who spoke next, still further encouraged the tenants to resist, and advised the adoption of the "Plan of Campaign." When such means were taken to prevent any amicable settlement between the agent and the tenants, is it to be wondered at that " an im- portant official connected with the preservation of the peace in Kerry" should have declared that " the real meaning of the meeting was to secure a wholesale eviction," in order that the agitation in Ireland and England might be sustained by the exhibition of "a big eviction V" The next step in the proceed- ings was the making certain overtures by Sir Redvers Buller in the interest of the tenants,—overtures which were cordially welcomed and accepted by Mr. Head. The story of these negotiations, indeed, reflects the greatest credit on both parties, and shows not only how anxious was Sir Redvers Buller to protect the tenants from suffering, but how fair, reasonable, and patient was Mr. Head. Mr. Head, in fact, showed him- self ready to accept Sir Redvers Buller's advice throughout. Nothing but the persistent intervention of the emissaries of the Land League could have prevented an equitable settlement of the matter. One of Sir Redvers Buller's own phrases gives better than any description the tone in which the corre- spondence in connection with the evictions was carried on :—" I am aware that my proposal is giving way still further to the tenants after they have deliberately broken from the very -liberal arrangements made with them, with your consent, by Judge Curran. But they are poor, are ignorant, and misled, by bad men ; and I would save them suffering, if I could,—and I know Mr. Head also desires that." The final result of the correspondence was that the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kerry, the parish priest, the Rev. Father Quilter, and Sir Redvers Buller joined in attempting to arrive at an arrangement, and at last obtained the consent of the tenants to the terms which have now become so notorious. The tenants were to pay one gale (i.e., one half-year's rent) and costs, and to receive a receipt in full for all sums owed by them up to May, 1886, and were also to have the full right of going to the Land Court for an adjustment of their rents. The rents, it was settled, were to be paid on December 13th of last year. On that day, however, Father Quilter wrote from Glenbeigh that, at the last moment, the tenants, except seventeen, had withdrawn from their promises. " You have done," he tells Colonel Turner, "your own part, and General Buller has acted a kind-hearted part, and my Bishop his part; but let Mr. Roe now do his part with them. I think that we have done all that could be done. I shall never again, during my time in Glenbeigh, interfere between landlord and his tenants. I have poor slaves who will not keep their word. Now let Mr. Roe, or any other agent, in future deal with Glenbeighane in any wise he likes." As Sir Redvers Buller wrote, there was "nothing now to do but to go on to execute the decrees." The history of the execution of the decrees need not be told again. A word or two, however, must be said on the subject of the burning of the houses. Naturally enough, such a pro- ceeding seems terribly severe, to some, indeed, inhuman. Wo have no desire to say one word in favour of a violent exercise of the right of eviction. It must be remembered, however, that at Glenbeigh special circumstances rendered it necessary to completely demolish the buildings in those cases in which the roofs were burnt. Twenty-one houses were taken possession of by the Sheriff, but only four were burnt. In these four cases, the tenants were holding over,—that is, were not occupying under any agreement, but as trespassers had retaken posses- sion of the holdings from which they had been previously evicted. It would appear that in these instances, and, indeed, in many others, all rent had been withheld for so long that the tenants were on the point of acquiring a legal right to the land under the Statute of Limitations. The tenants were put out in order to prevent this happening. Had the houses been left standing, they would have been at once reoccupied, an event which might have made the whole process of eviction ineffectual. In these cases, therefore, eviction was useless without demolition to prevent reoccupation. But demolition was only practicable and effective by burning. There is everything to show that Mr. Head and his agent regretted extremely being obliged to tike the course they did ; but there was none other left them but that, or an abandonment of the estate. Sir Redvers Buller is no friend to harsh landlords ; but it is evident that in this case he did not disapprove of the demolition of the houses, for he specially asks that those cases in which the levelling was to be done should be taken first. " Perhaps," he says, " the levelling of the houses might have a good effect on the others."
That the poor people of Glenbeigh were slaves, as their parish priest said, is obvious enough. The National League had absolutely deprived them of any choice in the matter. They were like the soldiers a despot forces to fight his battles. You cannot allow the despot to triumph because his army is full of unwilling soldiers. It is hard that they should suffer in the attempts to destroy their master ; but, unfortunately, that is what must happen. For Mr. Head to have yielded• in Glenbeigh after he had ascertained, as he had, that his terms were perfectly reasonable, would have merely meant a victory for the National League, and an abandonment of his interest in the property. That the National League prevented a settlement at the last moment, will be seen by any one who reads the letters that passed between Mr. Roe and the Par- nellite Members on Friday, January 21st. Their game was to go as near obtaining a settlement as possible, so as to appear to the best advantage before the English public, but at all hazards to end by not obtaining one, and thus to procure the spectacle of " a big eviction," to be used in their Parliamentary warfare in England. Their sinister determination unfortunately succeeded, and with those results of misery and suffering to the peasants of which our readers are aware, and which Englishmen of all parties so deeply regret.
We have thus attempted to tell shortly the true story of the Glenbeigh evictions. We do not believe that the story can, if impartially considered, fail to show that if evictions are ever justified, they were justified at Glenbeigh, and that those representing the landlord's interest by no means acted without humanity or justice. Let people who pity, and rightly pity, the Irish peasants, remember that evictions often inflicting far more misery and suffering take place every week in London, without a word of condemnation being passed on the landlord, or the Government that permits them. Poverty, and misery, and suffering are always fit subjects for pity. They are not less so when produced by the schemes of bad and designing men. But let us not forget that they occur else- where than in Kerry, and are not always, either there or else- where, to be remedied by an Act of Parliament or a change of G 3vernment.
We must add that we cannot help noticing with regret that the Dublin correspondent of the Times has thought fit to con- demn the share taken by Sir Redvers Buller in the Glenbeigh evictions. Surely nothing could be more unreasonable than such a view. Sir Red vers Buller acted throughout in concert with Mr. Head, and never in any way attempted to use undue pressure. It is evident from the correspondence that Mr. Head—the person wronged, if any one was wronged—did not resent, but cordially welcomed the intervention of Sir Redvers Buller. Mr. Head speaks of having had " the advantage of an interview with General Buller." He tells his agent that his proposals have " the approval of General Buller." He says that " General Buller has moat kindly offered to give these matters his best consideration, and to assist me." Finally, he tells his agent that he leaves matters "entirely to General Buller's and your decision," and he cordially expresses his sense of General Buller's " kindness," and of his "courtesy and consideration." For ourselves, we consider that all Unionists, and all friends of good government in Ireland, should look on Sir Redvers Buller's action as not only kindly and humane, but as calculated in the highest degree to check and overthrow the tyranny of the National League.
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