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and uncultivated and still in the same state of nature in which it has remained for centuries past. In England money has done much. Each new application of capital to the soil has brought in a smaller return, until at last the profit has become so small as to offer few temptations for its investment; but in Ireland we possess all the elements of progress. Our's is a country abounding in all the raw materials of wealth, and labour itself is almost a drug. Under the watery wastes that cover a great portion of the soil lie rich lands; valuable mines, never yet worked, exist almost upon the surface of the ground, their rich ore in many cases laid naked by the mountain-torrent; and water power, sufficient to turn the machinery of the world, still rolls on in its ceaseless course, unemployed, unappropriated. These are the elements of progress we possess; these are the things that, notwithstanding the gloom of the past and the present, inspire, in the heart of the nationalist, confidence and hope for the future, and teach us that Ireland is yet destined to be prosperous and happy, if her people will only have it so, under the blessing of Him who "hath caused the wilderness and solitary place to be glad, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose."

It would have been no easy thing, a few years ago, to have pointed out any two countries upon the face of the earth, placed in the same juxtaposition as England and Ireland, and yet so totally dissimilar in the habits and feelings of the people; and it would be equally difficult, at the present time, to discover any two nations in which the process of assimilation has advanced with more rapidity or steadiness. To investigate the causes of the social and political antagonism of Ireland to England, of her disaffection and habitual distrust in the laws, and consequently of her physical and intellectual backwardness, it would be necessary to trace down from an early period of history the selfish policy and misrule of England. This task has been frequently undertaken by others, and often executed with ability; although it must be a constant source of regret that the motive for such an investigation was rather to perpetuate discord and dissension, than to learn from the experience of the

past, apt remedies for present misfortunes. These matters, however, are now mere speculative questions. The electric telegraph, the extension of railways, and the wonderful improvements that have been made in steam navigation, have done more to further the amalgamation of England and Ireland, than all the legislative enactments of the last half century.

Where two states are situated in close proximity to one another, everything in their social and commercial condition tends to an equality. A difference in language or religion, or even a different code of laws and government, may for a long time mar this consummation. It may be delayed by natural obstacles, such as a dangerous channel, till man, by his ingenuity, shall have triumphed over such impediments; or it may be postponed by vexatious custom-house regulations, or quarantine laws; but all these things can only oppose, they can never annihilate the natural tendency of events. But where, as with England and Ireland, a narrow piece of water alone separates the two islands, once, indeed, a serious impediment to intercourse, but now the most important means of communication and traffic; and where the same government, laws, and language exist, and where, above all, the efforts of both countries appear to be directed to the removal, and not to the creation of the obstacles that hinder, in the least degree, free and unshackled international communication, this complete amalgamation and merger into each other of political individualities, must be rapidly effected.

But a few years since, party feeling ran high, and political influence was of no mean value to the holder; and in the violent contests for power that ensued, the welfare and happiness of thousands was often postponed to the selfish ends of the ambitious statesman; and, as in modern warfare, Belgium has generally been selected as the battlefield of nations; so, unfortunately for Ireland, it has happened that she has almost always been chosen as the battleground of contending parties. Laws were supported, or measures opposed, by the different rulers of the country, not according to the benefits or evils Ireland was likely to derive from their enactment, but in proportion as such measures were calculated to support or embarrass a friendly or hostile ad

ministration. We have seen salutary laws for the protection of life and property thrown out by a powerful opposition, on the plea that such laws were opposed to the liberty of the subject; and we have seen the very same party, when in power, a few weeks afterwards, propose the same measure, with many additionally stringent regulations. We have seen the government and patronage of Ireland handed over, in consideration of the mere promise of his support, to a man a short time previously denounced by the same government, and made the object of a criminal prosecution. In short, we have seen crimes tolerated, bad laws (rendered worse by bad administration) suffered to exist, the Established Church assailed, and agitation, we had almost said, rebellion, permitted to spread its desolating influence over the country, blighting Ireland's fairest hopes and prospects, however loved and cherished in their day.

These things, however, have greatly changed. Party feelings of the same intensity and virulence no longer exist; nor do the same means of pandering to the prejudices of the vulgar remain. The failure of the potato has loosened the tie that seemed to bind the Irish peasant like a Helot to the soil. Already he lifts his eyes from the ground, and, whilst thousands, unfortunately despairing of receiving in their own country the fruits of industry, seek in the far West the land of promise; thousands more, determined to raise themselves by their own exertions (abandoning all connexion with land), have already given an impetus to our manufactures unexampled in the history of this country. The spread of education, as well as the possession of freehold estates by persons who not long since despaired of ever becoming "landed proprietors," has already created an independence of feeling, and a habit of thinking for themselves, instead of blindly following a leader, to which the Munster and Connaught men have hitherto been strangers. All these things must conduce to good government; and bad government has hitherto been the only cause of all the crimes and outrages that have hindered the advent of capital, and the only impediment to the prosperity of Ireland.

Although it would be ridiculous to assert that bad government had wholly

ceased, yet it is certainly true that the motive for bad government, a desire to gain temporary popularity with the anti-landlord party, has greatly decreased; and that where it does exist, its effects have been considerably weakened and counteracted by the superior force of the education and intelligence of the people. Apart from political or agrarian outrages there is scarcely any country in the world so free from crime as Ireland. The revolting and awful murders that have so often taken place have all been, more or less, connected with the possession of the soil: for "hunger will cut through stone walls, though the gallows stood in the gate." This great incentive to crime has now ceased. The intense desire of obtaining land upon any terms has altogether disappeared as one of our characteristic features; and at the same time the power of obtaining it, by those possessed of capital, has been greatly facilitated. This fact is placed beyond doubt by the last Report of the Incumbered Estates Commissioners, by which it appears that out of 587 estates sold in that court, nearly one-half of them have been purchased by parties for sums of £1000, and under. Thus a number of small landed proprietors are becoming scattered through the country, possessed of sufficient education and fortune to command the respect of the poorer classes, but not placed so far above them as to excite their envy. These estates, like forts scattered over an unsubdued country, form the ad. vance posts of civilization, and the rallying-points of industry and self-reliance.

Society is in a very unsound state where

"One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade."

The poorer classes then look upon those above them as placed, by some unjust laws, in a position which they can never expect to attain; but a middle class connects the rich and poor, as it were, with a ladder, each step of which the humblest member of the community feels he can climb by good conduct and a little selfdenial. The position of the rich man then ceases to be one of envy; and the pomp, pride, and circumstance of wealth is regarded as a splendid prize, open to all; a constant stimulus to

renewed exertion and honest emulation. In another respect, too, the small proprietor confers inestimable benefits upon the locality in which he resides. A natural prejudice always exists in the minds of the people against adopting the improvements suggested by a wealthy proprietor. Such

persons have generally their "hobbies;" and perhaps the most innocuous, or even the most useful hobby ever cherished, is a praiseworthy desire to advance the state of agriculture in their district. But the people know very well that such hobbies are adopted less as a source of profit than of amusement. They know that the percentage produced by the money sunk in the undertaking is only a secondary consideration, and that the actual amount expended is seldom accurately known: they are, therefore, unwilling to risk their hardearned savings upon such a venture. The case, however, is very different when the improvements are made by a farmer in the neighbourhood. They then know that every shilling expended is an object of attention to him. They know that the profits he makes are his only means of support; and, judging from the experience of his former success, they feel the highest degree of confidence in his ability and good sense. In such a case, too, they have a greater power of becoming acquainted with, and testing the merits of any innovations upon the established

usages of the district, by examination and conversations with the small proprietor, which their deference for a more wealthy person, however affable and kind, might, perhaps, make less agreeable to them. Their knowledge also of the character of a person placed more nearly on a level with themselves must be much greater, as well as the opportunities of conversing with him, and of consulting him in their private affairs and difficulties.

These things are sufficiently evident; but the real facts of the case, and their practical tendencies, are much stronger. An embarrassed proprietor possessed of an extensive estate, surrounded by debts and difliculties hopeless and despondentunable to manage his own crippled aflairs, and, of course, less able to advise or assist others, is deprived by the operation of the Incumbered Estates Act of a portion of his unwieldy property. The part he retains, should he be so fortunate as to retain any portion, engrosses all his care and attention; and, freed from debt, he is able for the first time to undertake its management with that amount of capital, without which land can never be worked with profit. So that in a few years' time it will probably bear a very different aspect from the estate which had been handed down in his family from heir to heir, in the same unimproved condition. The residue passes to perhaps fifteen or twenty

It must not be presumed from the above that we approve of the very low rate at which estates have been lately sold by the Commissioners. The following is an extract from their Report lately presented to the Lord Lieutenant :

"The total amount of incumbrances on estates sold to March, 31, 1851, as taken from the schedule lodged with the petitions, is £4,086,192 13s. 4d., but several of these incumbrances are returned in duplicate.

"The total amount of purchase-money for estates sold to March 31, 1851, is £1,350,616 Os. 4d. Of this amount £94,404 13s. 4d., or about one-fifteenth part, has been allowed in payment of incumbrancers, who became purchasers.

"The Commissioners have paid out to creditors and claimants up to this date, 3rd day of May inclusive, the sum of £838,356 Os. 1d.

"The 253 estates sold to March 31, 1851, have been disposed of to 587 purchasers, nearly one-half of whom are purchasers of lots that sold respectively for sums not exceeding £1,000."

From this it would appear that on the estates already sold the creditors suffered a total loss of £2,735,576 13s., leaving, of course, no residue for the owners. And after making every allowance for the " duplicate incumbrances," the loss to the creditors will still appear almost incredible. This loss falls upon the middle classes in this country. The wealthy capitalist rejects all but the best security, and is contented to receive even a moderate rate of interest paid with the greatest punctuality. Such creditors, generally English capitalists, have almost invariably the first charges, and must of course be paid. It is upon the puisne incumbrancer that the heavy blow falls; men who, availing themselves of the fatal facilities af

new purchasers. Some of these probably the persons who once tilled the lands they now call their own. Instead of one unimproving landlord, in most cases an absentee, the district will possess fifteen or twenty enterprising and energetic proprietors; the friends of industry, the supporters of the laws, the advocates of order, the instructors of the poor.

The wilful misgovernment for party purposes, to which we have already alluded, has enveloped Ireland, and everything connected with her affairs and condition, in a kind of cloud of mystery which it is no easy task to penetrate. Peculiar properties and qualities have been attributed to the Celtic atmosphere, which have been considered amply sufficient to account for every anomalous phase in her social condition. This was long adopted as an axiom by every English statesman. The broad principle that mankind, placed under the influence of the same causes, will always act in the same manner, though forming the leading proposition of every work upon political economy, was never supposed to extend to Ireland. It was found easier to mystify facts than to justify bad government; and instead of comparing England and Ireland together with a view to assimilate the existing state

of laws in both countries, the very dif.. ferences that existed (to the prejudice of Ireland) were made still greater and more injurious by blind legislation. For instance, it was well known that, in consequence of the frequent confiscations, and grants of forfeited property to English adventurers, absenteeism existed in this country to a deplorable extent; and that, in consequence of the obscurity of Irish titles (partly from these causes), and of the difficulty of selling, Irish estates were irretrievably embarrassed. The remedy for these evils was sufficiently plain-to facilitate the transfer of property. Such would have been the remedy adopted in England; but in the case of Ireland Pigot's Judgment Act was passed, facilitating the embarrassment, but practically restricting the transfer of land. The result that might have been predicted soon followed. The landlord became inextricably embar rassed, the tenant oppressed and discontented, the district disturbed, the capitalist alarmed and driven to a more peaceful land. The evidence taken upon this subject by the Devon Commission is declared to be "at once conclusive, painfully interesting, and most portentous in its character." measure giving to the Irish Courts of Equity a fifth part of the powers since

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forded by the Judgment Acts, advanced all the savings of their lives, amounting to sums of £50, and upwards, to the neighbouring proprietors.

The average rate of purchase for estates is from thirteen to fourteen years for all Ireland, head rents, &c.; and (exclusive of fee-farm or head-rents and rentcharges) from eight to ten years for properties in Munster and Connaught, in many cases, according to the valuation taken under the direction of the Commissioners. Since the Report of the Commissioners, however, a manifest improvement has taken place in the selling price of land.

The severity of compelling every landlord to discharge all his liabilities at a period of unexampled depression, under the constraint of a most arbitrary law, is sufficiently evident, and its policy very questionable. Suppose the same policy had been adopted during the commercial panic of 1847, what would have been the result? If every merchant had been compelled to discharge all his liabilities, and if the credit system had been totally abolished, it is probable that the commercial and manufacturing interests of England would have received an amount of damage which, perhaps, scores of years would have been unable to repair, But a contrary course was adopted, and the operation of an Act of Parliament was suspended on the responsibility of a minister, so great was the urgency of the case, and so evident the necessity of supporting commercial credit at a period of unwonted depression. And again, in the commercial panic of 1811, the committee of the House of Commons made their report (May 7th), stating "it to be their decided opinion that the commercial distress was of such a nature as to render Parliamentary relief highly expedient and necessary," and recommending "that Exchequer bills to the amount of six millions should be issued for that purpose," which was accordingly done. The landlords assert that they, too, should have been given time to put their houses in order.

All these things, however, operate as so many additional inducements to the future purchaser; for, in proportion as the present proprietor suffers, he will benefit.

VOL. XXXVIII.-NO, CCXXIII.

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given to the Incumbered Estates Commissioners, would have gradually effected what has now called for such violent remedies; and by removing the cause of agrarian outrages, have taken away the only obstacle that has hitherto prevented the investment of capital in the improvement of a country that offers so many and such great induce

ments.

It has often been said of the Irish, that as long as they remain in their own country it is idle to expect reformation in their habits; but when released from the fetters that bind them in their native land, they seem to breathe a free air, and to develope physical and moral virtues that they scarce seemed before to possess. This is partly true and partly false. It is true so far as it admits that under different circumstances the Irishman will develope more moral virtues; but it is false so far as it appears to insinuate that the same change will not take place at home under similar circumstances. Seventy years ago Arthur Young said of the Irish, " they were grateful to me for speaking civilly to them." And it requires but a very superficial acquaintance with the country to know that there are no people in the world more easily won by kindness, or more willing to place the fullest confidence in him who relies

On Erin's honour and Erin's pride."

And if the Irish labourer abroad be industrious, faithful, and honest, we may rest assured that, if treated at home with equal kindness and justice, be will be found equally assiduous in his offices, and equally attached to his employer. This trait in the national character is fully proved by the evidence of Mr. Charles Bianconi, himself a foreigner, but at the same time one of our most deservedly popular men. At a meeting of the British Association he said, "I never yet attempted to do an act of generosity, publicly or privately, that I was not met by manifold reciprocity." And this statement will be corroborated by the numbers of foreign and English merchants and traders, who, having overcome the absurd prejudices that exist against Ireland, are now receiving the meet reward of their enterprise. At present the greater pro

portion of wealthy merchants in Limerick are English or Scotch. In Galway, Cork, and most of the other towns in the south and west, they form no inconsiderable proportion of the monied interest; and we cannot call to mind a single case in which their foreign or English origin has prejudiced their claims to the highest positions, or municipal offices, which they would otherwise have been entitled to fill.

It is impossible to pay too much attention to the great change that has been effected in the social condition of the Irish people by the occurrences of the last two or three years. As long as the potato continued to prosper, the possession of a small plot of ground was all the peasant required. It was his only means of support, and the only barrier that stood between him and inevitable starvation. Now land has become comparatively useless to the cottier. These circumstances have produced a great revolution in the character and feelings of the peasantry. Whilst all their hopes were centred in a few perches of ground, they looked with unmitigated aversion upon any one who appeared, even in the remotest degree, likely to disturb their possession. Hence arose their extreme jealousy of strangers, and all the crimes and outrages connected with land. But these circumstances have completely altered. The cottier now feels that land is no longer of any value to him, and looks to labour as his only chance of support. The arrival of any person possessed of the means of employing the population is hailed as a public benefit, and the peasantry contend with one another in their efforts to make the locality agreeable to the new-comer. The pauper landholder feels that he is in the position of a person who has obtained possession of a bale of raw cotton, but who has neither the machinery nor the capital requisite to bring it to a state fit for the market. He must either sell it to a manufacturer from whom he will probably obtain employment, or else starve. This is precisely the case of the cottiers in the south and west of Ireland, and they know it. They are now willing to give up those tenements for a few pounds of meal, or a few shillings, to which they would have clung five years ago with the tenacity of despair, and defended at the price of bloodshed and murder.

In the foregoing observations, we

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