CHAPTER VI

THE QUESTION OF THE IRISH LAND (_continued_)--PROPOSED REFORM OF THE IRISH LAND SYSTEM

Retrospect of the present Irish land system--Position of the Irish landlords--Position of the Irish tenant class--This not as advantageous as might be supposed--The effects of the land code on Irish agriculture injurious--The effects on the general Irish community--Confiscation, violation of contracts, shock given to credit, increased alienation of classes, and demoralisation--The land system considered on the side of ownership--'Voluntary purchase'--Mischief of this policy--It sets up a false standard against rent, and creates unjust distinctions between different classes of tenants--The results it has produced already--An instance of the system--The demand for the compulsory purchase of the Irish land caused by 'voluntary purchase'--Compulsory purchase has some hold on opinion, but is an impossible, and would be a disgraceful and ruinous policy--It would ruin Irish landlords as a class--Instances--It would ultimately bring Ireland into the state in which she was before the Great Famine--Proposed plan for the reform of Irish land tenure--Questions as to the means of compensating Irish landlords, a deeply wronged order of men 230-270