Tenantry Troubles

Vojiyriqhied by the Aulhor, 1888. Dini.iN, Ang. 23- Prior to the date o my Belfatt letter the oourse of my trave made me acqnainted to some extent will the conditions tliat aurround the farmers and "crofters" in the middle and nortl of Scolland. Sinee that time observations made In the north of Ireland have given mesóme iinderstanding of thé vd torta ilute environs of tlie Irish tenantry. The oondltlon of the former is but little better than that of the latter and the condition ofneilhertbe one uor the otiter couk fail to provoke to pity au unprejudicei] observer who should seo, as I have seen in the past ten ilays, the signsof pinchlng poverty and lx-ggarly comfort of most of those who till the soil. Holding in Sootland of one to tlilrty acres or LhereabouU constitute a " croft,'" whlle largor holdings are cotisidered worthy lo be known as farms, and thig dielinotioa markt the dlU'erenee between a "crol', er" and h farmer. Tlie average croft doet not exoeid six acres, and from the prot'i-eils of its yield of grain or other product is the orofter'i wont to pay the rent, whlle odd Macona a all sortsofoccupaUoo are the touroe of a precarloui exislence for lilmself and fiunily. The depreolated tole f prices realized from farm and grazlng prodaeU daring the few yeais hus led the largor farmers to einploy ess help than formerly, and la tliis direction the voliime ol einployment for the crotter Ims been urtailed, and Ihis liet taken In connectlon with the proportionatttly leeeeued value of whathis CTofl produces has niadt; the problem of exUteuoa indeed ¦ serions one. The l.inillord still deinands the rent and even when he grudjinly jrants a COaeetslon t la in do proportlon to (he chanpedcoBdilicms. It is nam a strujífíle agalnst siiiivation in which the gaant destróyer is not without iidvatitage. The houM in whlch tlie crofter lives is not a Ih.n-c. It is a lint with Wiills of stone, with ouly Hie carth forafioor, and with tiiatch of .-liiwor mayhe soil and heatlier fora rooi. Of windows there are wldom mure than tw, and they are only narrow openlajn that serve to ipare the cheerleei room - títere is lan-ly more tlian one - of eniue darkness. Bonte of these prisonabodet have chimneys, and from some the smoke from Ihe scanty lires of peat liunts its way to the outside woi ld through au opening in the thatch, that gives nc ceM In oppotite dlrecttoo to the fall of rain or snow, as the senson may Bugs;est. lli're lives tlie lanfily nftlie crofter, mi the Kanttest and meanest fare that may be imagined, and only ipnred from nakedness by the little wool erop yielded by the few gheep he miy own thnt feed apon the hljrhland heather. He lias bis e.iuse for complaint in the reiujal of the "Ulrd" to recognize the fact that whereas a dozen years ago a bushei of wheat broqght ten shillings the priee is now a fonrth of that amotint, and potatoes have dropped in like proportion. With no rent to p:iy, the "crofter's" lot would be at best a hard one, and under a reduction of not to exceed a third from the ruling ligare, when a ready market and high prieel awaited the liarvest of his little erop, he is now hedged about by a state of befTgary and ruin. 1 lie lands 11 Morayshire, l.yng between tlie livers Spey iind Findhorn, constitute tlio garden-spot f Scotland. The adaptation of the soil and the climate of tlie latitude tü tlie growing of wlieat made that cereal tbe sta pie product ol tlie section, and here, before the freely admitted fl'jod of tlie American product bad set In, tlie taiméis not only reaped bountiful erop bcit made a handsome protit oü tlie product at the prevaiüng piices. Of rrnts the Earl of Fife alone exacta froni bit icuants ni Moraythire $;i00,000 every year. It ia collected by a "factor" and k expended by the Erl in the free trade atmotphare of the metropolis. Tlie lields of Morayshire are still productive, tbe farmers are still industrious, as they must be, und, to the casual observtr, the laad slill rewards them richly for their labor. Uut tor llie laiidlord leeches and the pernieious economie pollo; whicli cheapciiH ilieir products, tbe fair appearances in question woukl not, as tliry do, belie lite ii ni' i'i mil tii mis. The condition of the Irisli tenantry is Indeed deplorable) and do amount of polltlcal effort on the part of the inteiested Knlish press can successfully deny wbat is patent lo any Intelligent and observing traveler tlirough the troubled Isle. Even in Ulster, the l'rotestant stronghold, th the loyality to Knglish parli imentary rule and Mibmissioii of the majoiity to oonditlona that exist, is due not to relation of equity between lanillurd and tenant, liut to the fear of tbe Protestant populutiun tliat an overthrow of lanillorili.-ni tliKJiiili the MlCOeM of the Jiationall.st p.irty wiiuld roiilt in Oathoila supicmucy ainl intolerant religious domination. Trae 10 tlii'ir lon-estublislied policy in con trolling the ulliirs of Irelund, the KiiflItïli OODtltlUB to sellislily folter tlie reliioii división, and stimulate tbe fears of the lrili l'rulestants. This is the rcason the tenants of Ulsier siibmit to the hii'l of (ipjit'ssion and refuse to cogí plaln This is the rciison uortli of Ireluiilcrs Ui-s tlie hand that .-mili-s Ihem and explains tlicir loyality to a power that panders to the interesLs ol tlieir oppreuoTS, The story of Ireland's wronjrs constltutes the darkest page in Kiifjliali hlstory, and though tbe Igbt of treedon f rom her bitter and lon;-continued tliralldom is breaklng the hour before the dawn bas been olie of scvorest trial for lier people. Duriiijr theyeir MUOeedtaft tbe close of the AiiHTiean lebelllon untll 187ti, the lai Micis in most productive Ulster countlet v.i'ic like tlieir Scotch compatriota comparatively prosperous, and after inakiiiK tlieir (fcneroiis contributlons to the cofl'er of the absent lords, bad nioney witb Whlcll they bulld good houses and otherwise iinproved tbeir holdings. Even ther brief prospcrity proved not to be a blesinir, but a misfortune in digy;ui8e. Slnfrular as the statement scems t is true, for the Imprwvementi which enhanced tlie valué of the holding, in the competltlon for lts tenantry, provoked the landlord to advance the rate of rental. The tenant whOM industry and tbrift bad Klyen values to the right of occupation, uiuat jiay the prlce demanded or make way for a successor. Under the "Ulster custom" he ratffht sell bis "tenant rlght" at wliat it would bring, as a compensatlon for h!s yeara of toil in rearing a home and rendering the place productive, but fallara to take timcly advantage of tuis privilege and default In the payment of the rent w:ip the precursor of eviction and the conliscation of the laborsof a lifetime. Even lo the diiys when the prices realized from the preducts of the tarm afForded the landlord's claim and comfort to the families of the farmers in the favored countie?, such as Antrim, Down and Derry, t mere existence above the exactions of the lord was the best that the tenauts of the rocky and unproducllve región in the west of Donegal could expect, and it was common for the farmers of that section to spend a portion at least of the harvest seaon in the the service of the farmers of Antrim. Derry and other nortfl and eastei n counties, atid use the prooeedl of tbelr summer's toil to liquídate the rental on the littlc holdings they called home. The bctter eounty farmers, pronipted by the depression in priees and the disproportionate reductions in their rents, employ less belp tlian foimcrly, and have abridged the volume of employment open to their poorer DlhboM. Ie is still a tact, however, that the childreu of the farmers in the west of Donegal, a? young as 10 years of age, ara bound out to the service of the nortli and eastern farmer?, at a pittanci - iis low as thirty shillings for a half yeui's service - to aid in sparing the family of eviction from their miserable boldlnga, for occupying wlitdi they shoiild be paid a bounty, rather than forced to pay a rental. The homes of tenant farmer! in Antrim and Derry are comfortabie, but the Inquirer learns that they vvere builr, the must modern of them, at least a dozen years ago, before the foreign deluge of ;he products of the farm and Jichi had ceme, and now that disproportionate rents prevail on a basis of the good times gone, the better bouses are a mockery and a remiuder to their occupants of past irosperity. They have no moncy now with whlch they could build f they would, ind liaving taken a lesson from the pist, they woulJ not if they could. It is the garden spot of the best of Ireand I have pictured, and wliile it rests deeply In the shadow of the Indimii.il lepressloil that lias provoked and kipt ifliline 1 1 1 e; present agitatation, it san íden compared with the southern and Mtorn counties, and even easteru Düiiefl, which I saw by a tour on jaunting cars, Dolnta iti lesson of ormressinn nd ho povorty of the oppreased. Mtle after nile through farms, every tillable incli if Whlch II mude to do its duty, led me y liuls and liovels, whicli serve as hoines - uot better tlia'i the orofter bovels in lio north and west of Bootland. The ord whoowna the land lives in a London lace, and bel pa shape tlie laws that liuve to a pauper-producing minimum he pricea Ol Ills tenauts' pruductl and so he latter must tabmit and pay tribute n such uipas-ure as is (iemanded or out lie oes from the home bis h;mds have enrod. Sume figure M to tlie chance in prices re significant in connection witli the roubles of tlie farmers. ()rtts and POtaoes were Ion tr thu staple lrish product?, whlch tl ix was fnr a time a most imKrtant auzillary, while the cnttle were n prolita ble requi reine nt. Before the ays of depressiou carne, oats brought as j;h as fourteeu pence per stone or two euts a pound. Ñow they bring six and x and oiie-half pence per stone- 14 ounils- a drop of more than half, while ntatoes bring less than half their former rlce and because of other foods that ome In duty free and so cheaply, are in oor demand. Flax was a money-makig erop with the north of Ireland farmer, but Rusia, France and Germany can produce it cheaper and now furnlih more than halt of the factory (Iemands at a reduction in the price of 65 per cent. Before the American cattle breeders began to send the producís of the Western plains through the free trade portáis of Great Britaio an lrish yearling broujfht as high as S50, while $40 was no uncouimoü price. Now $18 is the maximum ligure to be realized. The pollcy of Engliind in Irtliind, as ín all her colonia, has buen to crush out their home productions and supply their want In manufactured goods, compelling the tillers of the soil, the while, to accept the price of n puiiper peasantry as tlie fruitage of their industry. Her motives in establishIng her trade relations with a nation of prodiga] consumera euch as the United States are not more kindly, and the American, be he of native birtli or foreljro bom, who would cherish hls dearest present interest will combat witli most potent energy the economie policy that Englaud preaehea. Before every other citi.en of Ainerica's adoption, none who know the history of ttieir native land should be found to outdo the sous of Erin in their zalous oppositiou to the English octopus