Ireland and the Home Rule MovementMcDonnell, Michael, Sir
History
Ireland and the Home Rule Movement
McDonnell, Michael, Sir
Home rule -- Ireland; Ireland
If purchases are proposed outside the zones, in which, that is to say,
the annuity proposed is under 10 or over 40 per cent. of the judicial
rent, the estate must, before sales are effected, be surveyed by the
Estates Commissioners in order that they may see whether the security is
sound, and whether the equitable rights of all parties concerned seem to
be safeguarded, and without this sanction advances will not be made in
the case of sales in these circumstances. The amount received by the
landlord, of course, does not, if invested in Trust Securities at 3-1/4
per cent., provide the same income as did his rent roll, even when one
takes into account the 10 per cent. for collection to which we have
referred. On the other hand, he is secured from the possibility of
further reductions in rent in the future, and there is a likelihood that
the securities in which he invests may rise, but, in addition to this,
a sum of twelve millions of bonus is to be devoted to bridge the gap
between his former rent from the tenant and his present income from his
investments.
Under this provision every landlord gets 12 per cent. bonus on his sale,
and this sum is part of his life estate, and need not, therefore, be
invested in trust securities, but may be invested in stock yielding a
higher rate of interest. This point was not clear in the Act of 1903,
but was explicitly enacted in an amending Act of 1904.
In order further to accelerate sale an investigation of title deeds,
documents which a great English lawyer--Lord Westbury--once described as
"difficult to decipher, disgusting to touch, and impossible to
understand," is not necessary prior to sale; for an enjoyment for six
years of the rents of an estate brings with it the right to sell, and
proof of title is needed only after purchase has been completed in order
that the vendor may establish his right of disposal of the proceeds, and
as further inducement he gets a sum not exceeding one full year's
arrears of rent, or at most 5 per cent. of the purchase price.
The good results which have accrued where a peasant proprietary has
arisen are admitted on all sides. Mr. Long himself, in words which form
an illuminating commentary on landlordism, confessed that the blessings
and advantages of a change of ownership are obvious. Everyone is agreed
that the happiness, bred of security on the part of the occupying owner,
brings in its train sobriety and industry. The business of the gombeen
man is going, and one may well hope to see arise before long that thrift
and energy characteristic of the peasant proprietor, whether in France,
Belgium, or Lombardy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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