THE Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1881. THE LAND LEAGUE IN IRELAND.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 127, 23 March 1881, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1881. THE LAND LEAGUE IN IRELAND.

" Words *T«t>iiiig»,. and Tldtop"«T "ink falling like " "~ dew upon a thought, proJucesvthi*t which makes " thJßUS&nds, perhaps millions think."

It is one of the greatest puzzles to us to know why it'is when so much indignation has been "evinced at the outrages -m Ireland — which we do not for one moment-countenance — that so little is thought of the reign of terror ••which exists m Russia, and the series of assassinations committed by the Nihilists. It is true the anomaly may be accounted for on -t-ne-pTea-thairthß p*opleof"Gr"re¥t'B ri - tain, no matter whether m England, Ireland, or Scotland, may be termed as it were, of the same kith and kin ; fbu't" it by no means follows that we should lose all sympathy for every other nation; That such is not the 'case, we have. had too much evidence m the past to believe. The ..Englishmen, and Scotchmen located m the Colonies have nobly proved that their sympathy and substantial charity stops at no creed or color. AUthat ij requi red, to^M,±n&wjsL.ig.,. "that i BuSering humanity calls for aid and the*- appeal is never made m vain. Be it a famine m India, or a national' 'calamity m Egypt, both "meet with an equally ready response. There are some countries which are "liksf~children — a scapegoat m the family, and poor Ireland, the Niobe off* Nations; has long enjoyed this urieviable position. Beside m contrasting the outrages committed m Jreland aud Russia, it must be rememberefd that the one i* fighting for very bread, and the other for an imaginary reform. We are pleased to say that a large portion of the English, people have evinced a heartfelt sympathy with the down-trod-den race, and have spoken out manfully for th;em.;-Th'ScelebYated Colonel Gordon, commonly known as " Chinese Gordon," has been over the country, and hat written a letter to the Lon^ojn^J^imjes,.".,wbick. we would wish. to be able to- publish m extonso, but our space precludes us from doing so. We will, however, make room for a portion :— The Bulgarians, Anatolians, Chinese, and Indians are better .off. Jthanjmany of them. In 1838 England gave '" freedom to' the WVst Indian slave*, at a. close of .twenty millions— worth row thirty nvllioris. This money lefb thi country and she gets nothing for it. By the expend if me. of eighty millions she mi ht free her own peop'e. She would havo a hold over the land, and she would cure a cancer. I am not woll off but I wou'd give , or his agent £1000 i' either ot them would live one week m one if the poor deviN' bouses, .and feed as these peop!e <10. Our comic prints do an infinity of harm by* their caricatures.Firstly, the caricatures are not true, for the crime m Ireland is not greater than m England ; and secondly they exasperate the people, and do no pood. Mr. Jacob Bright, member for Manchester, and brother of a Cabinet Minister, goes even further" m his denunciation of the injustice which Ireland has received. Speaking at a banquet he said ; Ireland has not been strong enough to successfully resort t> force which has ber-n denied to hpr peaceful dpmands. She has tried force azain aud again, but thnre has be^r. no chance of a sncf ssful rebellion m Ireland. lam no f so sure if it •■■ ould not have been butter both for attack and defence. The partnership would have been nr>ore equal, and I undertake 'o say that if Ireland had been m that position we should long ago understood her wants aud given her jnstic". We could also quote the evidence of Sir Wilfred L^wsosr and a host of other men who hold a foremost place m the British Senate, but we think we" have said quite sufficient to show that a canrer does exist, and that the cry for justice of the Irish people is not the Bham it has been pro, claimed. Those who assert that it ia, are blinded by self-interest, or wilfnl.ly. unjust, for there are none so Muiihas, thopewbo will not see, Havthus discovered the dTßeape,"tWnext thing is. to apply the remedy ; aud

that we find has been done by Lord Portsmouth, whose property m the County Wexford, Ireland is managed on the following principle : — The farms are heW on lease for life, bnt, it is provided that •■ life '' shall never m-an 1 ss than 3' years. The Inn ; lord lias 'h ; raw material on which he has spent nothing. The truants' right ia t<> th's imp r ovpm>'Titß on the raw mnbTial. thn farm buil ling-, t'uj fen es. and tnu-s plant-i an-1 rfpister d t.y him. If a tenant wishes to renew al asp on the expi-ati n<vf the oM one. al' such improvem nts ar« treated f»s abso'uHy bis own The tvnant ha< the ngnT'of a free "ssle of all improvoment''. n this estate w» are toH that for th" 'a^t .ib.irty.rß v n yearslbero ha^ bven.no case of | evicii n m the sens' of thn tenant being unnhlrt to ni.V r^nt and Hrc'ininiT to «■]] I hut m rach of these case^ t c tenant vvas allowed a frej. fial.-i. a£-cr- the sheriff ha<\t:ik n possession, the incoming tenant wasncce t d, the arrear pai ! to the 'ai'llord. and tie tenant received a harnlsom" balance. The surest guide to find out the merits of a case is to bring it home to one's self. How, we ask, would the leaseholder who had taken up tinfenced bush country,. who toiled for years, spending the fruits of his labour m fencing: and falling and layicg down m grass, like to see himself at the end of his term informed that the rent would be doubled or the lease would not be renewed. But it rnav be said this is not a parallel case, for m Ireland the agitation is against paying any _re.nt at all; but where there is an effect there must have been a cause ; they are inseparable.,, go on a -voyage of discovery to seek the latter. It is this very system of rent raising which has brought about the latter, until the people driven to desperation refuse to pay at all. As we commenced this article with a contrast between the outrages m Ireland and- Russia, were it not that it is far too long, we should have gone into it, but we conclude by inviting a perusal of a paragraph elsewhere m our columns entitled " Nihilist Women."