Contents
| PAGES | |
| [CHAPTER I] | |
| IRELAND IN 1901 | |
| Ireland has passed through a revolution in the Victorian age—Material progress—Dublin—Belfast—Improvement inCatholic places of worship and in the habitations of the people—State of the Irish community—Symptoms of retrogression—Declineof agriculture—The progress of Ireland much less than that of England and Scotland, and why—State of the Irish land system—Recentlegislation has done some good, but it has been unjust, and has had pernicious effects—Ireland divided into three peoples—Notwithstandinggreat reforms Catholic Ireland is still, in the main, disaffected—Presbyterian Ireland—Cry for the confiscation of theIrish land—Protestant Ireland—Fall of its old ascendency—Discontent among the landed gentry—Nature of the governmentof Ireland by the Imperial Parliament—Its merits and defects—Attitude of the greater part of Ireland towards it—Theadministration of Irish affairs—The bureaucracy of the Castle—The Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic IrishChurches—The administration of justice in Ireland—Irish literature and public opinion—General survey of the presentstate of Ireland—Irish policy of Lord Salisbury’s Ministry—‘Present Irish Questions’ to be discussed in this work | [1-38] |
| [CHAPTER II] | |
| THE QUESTION OF HOME RULE | |
| The question of Home Rule not extinct—The reasons—Butt’s scheme of Home Rule—It is denounced and ridiculed byMr. Gladstone, and defeated in the House of Commons—Deathof Butt—The Home Rule movement becomes allied with a foreign conspiracy—Davitt and Parnell—The LandLeague—Mr. Gladstone’s surrender to it—The movement makes no progress in the Parliament of 1880-85—TheGeneral Election of 1885—Mr. Gladstone suddenly adopts the policy of Home Rule—The probable reasons—TheHome Rule Bill of 1886—Its nature and tendencies—Decisive objections to the measure—It is rejected at the GeneralElection of 1886, having been previously rejected in the House of Commons—Policy and conduct of Mr. Gladstone—TheHome Rule movement makes some progress in England, and why—The Home Rule Bill of 1893—It ismuch worse than that of 1886—The reasons—It is rejected by the House of Lords—Home Rule under different forms—TheUnion must be maintained—Proposal that Parliament should occasionally sit in Dublin—The over-representation of Ireland should be redressed | [39-83] |
| [CHAPTER III] | |
| THE QUESTION OF THE IRISH LAND—SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE LAND SYSTEM OF IRELAND TO THE YEAR 1870 | |
| Great importance in the history of Ireland of the conditions of land tenure—The ancient Celtic land system and its characteristics—TheNorman conquest of Ireland—Norman feudalism in the Irish land—The policy of Henry VII., and especially of Henry VIII.—The era of theconquest and confiscation of the Irish land—The possessions of the O’Connors of Offaly wrested from them—Forfeiture of the domains ofShane O’Neill, and of the Earl of Desmond—Attempts at colonisation—All Ireland made shire land—The extinction of the old Celticland system—The Plantation of Ulster—Progress of confiscation during the reigns of the two first Stuarts—The Civil War—Immenseconfiscations made by Cromwell—His scheme of colonisation a failure—The era of confiscation closes after the battle of the Boyne and the fallof Limerick—The Penal Code of Ireland—Its fatal effects on the Irish land—Dismal period in Irish landed relations—Gradualimprovement—The period described by Arthur Young—Evil traces of the past remain—Whiteboyism and agrarian disorder—State of Irishlanded relations up to the rebellion of 1798, and after the Union—Over-populationand the results—Distress after the Peace—State of Irish landed relations up to 1844—The Report of the Devon Commission—TheFamine and its effects on the Irish land—The Encumbered Estates Acts—State of Irish landed relations from 1848 to 1868 | [84-129] |
| [CHAPTER IV] | |
| THE QUESTION OF THE IRISH LAND (continued)—THE IRISH LAND ACT OF 1870—THE LAND LEAGUE ANDTHE NATIONAL LEAGUE—THE LAND ACT OF 1881—SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION AS REGARDS THE LAND SYSTEM OF IRELAND | |
| State of landed relations in Ireland in 1869-70—Mr. Gladstone Prime Minister—The Land Act of 1870—Its merits anddefects—A short period of prosperity in Ireland—Ominous symptoms—Michael Davitt—The teaching of John FintonLalor in 1848—The ‘New Departure’ in Fenianism arranged in America—Foundation of the Land League—It was aforeign rebellious conspiracy, with an agrarian side, under a constitutional mask—Parnell the master spirit of the League—Hisvisit to America and the results—A short period of distress in Ireland—Conduct of the Irish landlords—Progressof the Land League—Mr. Gladstone again Prime Minister in 1880—The Compensation for Disturbance Bill rejectedby the House of Lords—Outburst of agrarian crime, as the Land League increases in power—Rents at Griffith’s valuation—Boycotting—Frightfulstate of Ireland in 1881—After a short attempt to repress it, Mr. Gladstone surrenders to the Land League—The Land Act of 1881—Mr.Gladstone breaks the pledges he had made in 1870—His promise of compensating the Irish landlords—The Land Act of 1881 abad and unjust measure directly inconsistent with that of 1870—The ‘No Rent Manifesto’—The Kilmainham Treaty—ThePhœnix Park tragedy—Coercion—Parnell founds the National League, the successor of the Land League—Renewalof agitation in 1886—Struggle with law and the Government—Subsequent agrarian legislation for Ireland—This is reallya concession to agitation, for the benefit of Irish tenants, and to the injury of Irish landlords | [130-187] |
| [CHAPTER V] | |
| THE QUESTION OF THE IRISH LAND (continued)—THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS | |
| The administration of the Land Act of 1870 in the main good—Difficulty about claims for tenants’ improvements—The administrationof the Land Act of 1881, and of its supplements—The Land Commission and its Sub-Commissions—Allowancesto be made for these tribunals—Principles which the Land Commission should have adopted in fixing ‘fair rents’—Theprocedure and practice it ought to have established—It made mistakes as to both—The nature of the Sub-Commission Courts—This wasobjectionable in the highest degree—These Courts have, however unconsciously, done grave wrong to Irish landlords—Causes of this—Characteristicsof their proceedings—They disregarded the principles they ought to have followed, and adopted faulty and erroneousmethods—Different illustrations of these grave mistakes—The Land Commission and appeals as to ‘fair rent’—Importanceof this subject—Faulty procedure of the Land Commission in appeals—Valuers—The second Land Commission—Itsprocedure worse than that of the first—Theory of occupation right—This another wrong done to landlords—TheFry Commission and its report—Confiscation of the property of Irish landlords—The proofs of this—Apologiesmade for the Land Commission—The administration of the Land Purchase Acts | [188-229] |
| [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 asadvantageous as might be supposed—The effects of the land code on Irish agriculture injurious—The effects on the general Irishcommunity—Confiscation, violation of contracts, shock given to credit, increased alienation of classes, and demoralisation—The land systemconsidered 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—Theresults it has produced already—An instance of the system—The demand for the compulsory purchase of the Irish land caused by ‘voluntarypurchase’—Compulsory purchase has some hold on opinion, but is an impossible, and would be a disgraceful and ruinous policy—It wouldruin Irish landlords as a class—Instances—It would ultimately bring Ireland into the state in which she was before the Great Famine—Proposedplan for the reform of Irish land tenure—Questions as to the means of compensating Irish landlords, a deeply wronged order of men | [230-270] |
| [CHAPTER VII] | |
| THE QUESTION OF THE FINANCIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND | |
| The subject briefly considered—Financial position of Ireland before 1782, and under Grattan’s Parliament—Her taxationand debt small before 1798—Ireland financially a distinct country—At the Union, Pitt wished to ‘assimilate her infinance’ with Great Britain, but this impossible, and why—Ireland’s contribution after the Union—This was unjust, butit left her financially a distinct country—Ireland made nearly bankrupt—The compromise of 1816—The Irish Exchequerclosed, and the Irish and British debts consolidated—The object of the compromise was rather to relieve Ireland fromher burdens than to assimilate her in finance with Great Britain—She still remained for many years financially distinctfrom Great Britain, and is so still to some extent—The conduct of Peel a striking proof of this—Mr. Gladstoneimposes the income tax on Ireland, and her spirit duties are largely raised—Injustice of this policy—The Committeeof 1863-64—Ireland does not obtain financial justice—The Report of the Childers Commission made upon a referenceby Mr. Gladstone following Mr. Goschen—The Commission declares that Ireland has been greatly overtaxed for many years—Evidenceon which it has founded this conclusion—Examination of arguments to the contrary—AnotherCommission promised, but the promise not fulfilled—Importance of settling this question | [271-308] |
| [CHAPTER VIII] | |
| THE QUESTIONS OF IRISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION—OTHER QUESTIONS—CONCLUSION | |
| Irish county government—The grand jury system in the eighteenth century—Its merits and defects—The grand jurysystem in the nineteenth century, and especially since 1836—The Irish poor law system—Elected and ex-officio guardians—Thelocal government of cities and towns in Ireland—Municipal institutions founded in Ireland by the Norman kings—Whythey did not prosper—Boroughs and municipalities founded by James I. and the Stuarts—Their condition in the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies—The Municipal Reform Act of 1840—The Towns Commissioners Acts—Attempts to reform the municipal system of localgovernment in Ireland—The Local Government of Ireland Act, 1898—Complete change in Irish local government—TheCounty Councils—The County Borough Councils—The District, Rural, and the Urban District Councils—Theirfunctions, rights, and duties—All these bodies placed on a democratic basis—Attitude of the County Councils in thesouthern provinces—Education in Ireland—History of primary education—The National system of education—Theprinciples on which it is founded—How it has worked, and what its results have been—Secondary education in Ireland—Itshistory—Its present condition very imperfect—The Intermediate Education Act—University education inIreland—Its history—Trinity College—The Queen’s Colleges and the Queen’s University founded by Peel—Their comparativefailure—Mr. Gladstone’s Bill to reform University education in Ireland—Its glaring errors and failures—TrinityCollege thrown open in 1873—The Royal University founded in 1879—Present state of University educationin Ireland—The true principles of reform—Other Irish questions—Conclusion | [309-360] |
| Appendix | [361-428] |
| Index | [429] |
Present Irish Questions
CHAPTER I
IRELAND IN 1901
Ireland has passed through a revolution in the Victorian age—Material progress—Dublin—Belfast—Improvement in Catholic places of worship and in the habitations of the people—State of the Irish community—Symptoms of retrogression—Decline of agriculture—The progress of Ireland much less than that of England and Scotland, and why—State of the Irish land system—Recent legislation has done some good, but it has been unjust, and has had pernicious effects—Ireland divided into three peoples—Notwithstanding great reforms Catholic Ireland is still, in the main, disaffected—Presbyterian Ireland—Cry for the confiscation of the Irish land—Protestant Ireland—Fall of its old ascendency—Discontent among the landed gentry—Nature of the government of Ireland by the Imperial Parliament—Its merits and defects—Attitude of the greater part of Ireland towards it—The administration of Irish affairs—The bureaucracy of the Castle—The Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic Irish Churches—The administration of justice in Ireland—Irish literature and public opinion—General survey of the present state of Ireland—Irish policy of Lord Salisbury’s ministry—‘Present Irish Questions’ to be discussed in this work.