While the circumstances of the agricultural class in Ireland are by no
means ideal, a great deal has been done to improve them. At the present
rate of progress, however, it will take from twenty to twenty-five
years, if not much longer, to accomplish the results intended by the
Wyndham Land Act of 1903, which was expected to bring about the Irish
millennium. That act provides that an owner of a large estate may sell
to his tenants the holdings they occupy, and his untenanted land to any
one who desires to buy it, in such tracts and at such prices as may be
agreed upon, corresponding to the income now derived from that
particular property. No landlord can sell a few acres here and there of
good land under this act, although, of course, he is at liberty to
dispose of any part of his estate at any time at any price that he may
consider proper. But the terms and privileges of the Wyndham Act can
only be enjoyed by a community of tenants in the purchase of the whole
or a considerable portion of an estate. A board of commissioners which
sits in the old-fashioned mansion in which the Duke of Wellington was
born, on Merrion Street, Dublin, is authorized to use its discretion in
the application of the law and in granting its privileges to those for
whose benefit it is intended. Nothing can be done without their
approval. The landlord and the tenants may arrange their own bargains to
their own satisfaction, but they must be submitted to the board before
they are carried out.
When such agreements are reached and approved by the commission,
--including the area sold, the price, and other terms,--the government
is expected to furnish the purchase money from the public treasury. The
landlord is entitled to receive the cash in full, and the tenant, who
pays nothing, gives a mortgage, as we would call it, upon the property
to the government for sixty-eight years or less, and agrees to pay an
annual installment of 3-1/4; per cent of the purchase price, of which
2-3/4; per cent is interest and 1/2; per cent goes into a sinking fund
to cover the purchase money at the end of sixty-eight years. A purchaser
may pay off the mortgage at any time he pleases, and receive a clear
title to the land; or he may sell it whenever he chooses, subject to the
mortgage, which follows the land and not the person. If he is unable to
pay his annuities, the government can turn him out and dispose of the
land, subject to the same terms and conditions, to another person. It
can make no allowance for crop failures or cattle diseases. It cannot
extend or modify its credits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account