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The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[DECEMBER, 1923
years
of government, when
the present
financial state of
the country apparently
does not admit of the Government offering
more generous terms than those which have
been offered.
It is submitted, however, that the Govern
ment of Great Britain should be reminded
of its honourable obligation to aid in this
completion, and be
requested
to do
so
through or with the approval of our Govern
ment.
Not only in respect to what may be called
the lessor's interest but also in respect to
the interest of the lessee of large holdings,
great and unusual powers have been reserved
by the Act to the Land Commission, and it
is to be hoped that these powers shall be
exercised with wisdom, and with recognition
that the man farming and grazing on a large
scale who does justice to his lands in the
course of agriculture, or in the improvement
of cattle breeding, is an absolute necessity
for agricultural progress.
For centuries the land question has been a
festering sore in Irish political and economic
life.. Note the following words:—"These
poor people have been accustomed to as much
injustice and oppression from their landlords
the great men, and those who should have
done them right as any people in that which
we call Christendom. Sir, if justice were im
partially administered here, the foregoing
darkness and corruption would make
it
look so much the more glorious and beautiful."
It may surprise some of my listeners to
learn that these words are
taken from a
letter of Oliver Cromwell. But even before
the date of that letter, in the reign of James I,
a similar reproach was made by Sir John
Davis in his " Discovery of the state of
Ireland."
What we have to deplore now is, that
ameliorating
legislation
came
so tardily,
or in so incomplete a shape, as sometimes to
render conditions worse.
After the lapse
of over two hundred years from the date of
Cromwell's letter, the first ameliorating Act
was passed.
This was the Land Act of 1849,
establishing the Incumbered Estates Court.
That Act was baneful both to landlord and
tenant, and certainly the Land Act of 1860
was not helpful to either.
We senior members of the profession know
how frequent and how unsatisfactory the
land law legislation was subsequent to 1870.
Perhaps the most comprehensive and most
equitable measure for the settlement of the
land question, as between
landlord
and
tenant, was the Act of 1903; but its full
operation was frustrated mainly by
the
British Treasury, and many land owners
as well as tenants were misled
that the
operation of the Act of 1903 was not carried
to the completion.
Historians tell us that the foundation of
property in land is political, not ethical; but
whatever historic sanction there may be for
this proposition, it is manifest that where
ownership of
land, such as that which
existed for centuries in this country, has
become during that long interval the subject
of sale and purchase, and the most important
foundation of the commercial credit of the
country, compulsory acquisition by the State,
is both dangerous and inequitable unless
with adequate compensation.
The Government of the Free State, as I
have submitted, appear to be doing their
utmost in the rate of compensation provided
for by the Land Act, 1923, having regard to
the financial state of the country ; but in all
honesty, supplemental to this, the British
Government should assist.
The present
and its needs cannot be properly understood
without reference to the past, and I have
therefore ventured to remind you of the past
by this short retrospect.
We must hope
now that the Act of 1923 will not only end
the long standing Land question, but in a
wise administration will begin a new era
of agricultural prosperity in the country.
A matter which, though it is one of deep
concern to the whole community, yet more
nearly touches the interests of the profession,
is the judiciary Bill which is still pending in
the Dail.
To what is stated on the subject in our
report, I have only to add that it was with
extreme reluctance that your Council con
sented to the extension of the jurisdiction
of the proposed Circuit Courts to actions in
contracts up to £300, and
in
tort, £100.