458 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. (THE GENERAL ELECTION.) 



Radical party desire to extend some of the 

 principles of the Irish land laws to Great Brit- 

 ain, and secure for the tenant-farmers of Eng- 

 land and Scotland benefits in the direction of 

 the "three F's." Although some landlords 

 spend largely in improvements, the average 

 amount is not such as to entitle them to the 

 credit they have claimed on this score. Sir 

 James Oaird estimates the annual expenditure 

 for the whole of Great Britain at 2,000,000, 

 while the rental is 67,000,000 and the capital 

 value of the soil 2,000,000,000. The sympa- 

 thies of the Radical party are still more actively 

 enlisted on behalf of the agricultural laborer. 

 A bill introduced by Jesse Collings provides 

 for the restitution of all common lands, wastes, 

 roadsides, and other inclosures and encroach- 

 ments that have been made since 1800, such 

 lands to be placed in trust of the local authori- 

 ties for the benefit of the laboring-classes of 

 the districts in which they are found. The de- 

 mand for the creation of a peasant proprietary 

 was revived. The restoration of the small cul- 

 tivator in England would be in some respects 

 an economic advantage, although on the whole 

 large farming is conceded to be the most pro- 

 ductive. A good part, at least, of the 12,- 

 000,000 worth of butter, 5,000,000 worth of 

 cheese, 4,000,000 worth of potatoes and vege- 

 tables, and 3,000,000 worth of poultry and 

 eggs, now imported from abroad every year, 

 might then be produced in Great Britain. The 

 conversion of arable land into pasture, and the 

 increase of game-preserves, were offenses for 

 which the land-owners were called to account 

 by democratic opinion. Homes and allotments 

 must be provided for the displaced laborers 

 now migrating into the overcrowded labor 

 markets of the cities. The wretched hovels 

 with a single room, in which large families 

 huddle together, must be replaced by decent 

 cottages with a garden-plot attached. Pro- 

 posals for providing such allotments out of the 

 rates were drafted into a bill. Some seek to 

 couple this scheme with a plan for securing a 

 fairer rating of the mansions and pleasure- parks 

 of the aristocracy by having the ratable valu- 

 ation declared by owners, at the risk of seeing 

 their property expropriated at their own rating 

 by the local authorities, and partitioned among 

 peasant purchasers. The democracy demand 

 that all waste lands and all lands used for sport- 

 ing purposes should be immediately taken in 

 hand and allotted among the peasantry. The 

 extreme Radicals propose also that 'a limit 

 should be fixed to the accumulation of land by 

 individuals and corporations. The abolition of 

 the game laws was demanded in no uncertain 

 tone. Mr. Chamberlain struck the key-note of 

 the land question in a series of speeches deliv- 

 ered in the early part of the year, which cre- 

 ated a sensation by their socialistic tone. He 

 proclaimed the supreme right of the people to 

 the soil, and referred ominously to the period 

 when "every man was born into the world 

 with natural rights with a right to a share in 



the great inheritance of the community with 

 the right to a part of the land of his birth." 



The democracy intend to deal more radically 

 with city property than with agricultural land. 

 They want the landlords to bear a large share 

 of the expense of the great work of providing 

 decent, sanitary, and comfortable dwellings for 

 the artisan population. The great bulk of the 

 ground is let on building leases. The lease- 

 holders have to pay all assessments for public 

 improvements and increased rates and taxes. 

 At the expiration of the lease, the buildings 

 erected revert to the landlord. Mr. Broad- 

 hurst brought forward a bill to enable lease- 

 holders to purchase the fee simple of lauds on 

 which they have built, capitalized on the basis 

 of the value at the beginning of the lease. 

 Others propose to tax vacant property at tLe 

 same rate as improved property. Building- 

 leases are almost invariably loaded with troub- 

 lesome and onerous covenants, which Mr. 

 Broadhurst and his fellow-reformers propose 

 to cancel by act of Parliament. The Govern- 

 ment made inquiries through its consular agents 

 with regard to the customs in Continental coun- 

 tries. The replies showed that in all the cities 

 of the Continent of Europe owners usually 

 built on their own property, building-leases 

 being scarcely known, except in Paris, and 

 covenants unheard of. 



The General Election. The results of the ear- 

 lier polling showed large Conservative gains in 

 the metropolis and Lancashire. The new coun- 

 ty electors were attracted by the doctrines 

 the Radicals, and cast their votes against the 

 party of the land-owners. Yet the Liberals 

 were disappointed in their expectation of re- 

 turning immediately to power with a clear ma- 

 jority over the Tories and Parnellites com- 

 bined. The result of the Irish elections proved 

 beyond question that the Irish Parliamentary 

 party represents the wishes of the entire Irish 

 people, and gave Mr. Parnell a stronger control 

 than before over the balance of parties in Par- 

 liament. The question of home rule was thus 

 made a foremost issue in the next session, but 

 parties were left in a state of unstable equi- 

 librium. The Salisbury Cabinet remained as 

 before, a provisional ministry. The pressure 

 of the demand for home rule would lead to 

 new combinations, which might be favorable 

 or adverse to Irish wishes, might return Mr. 

 Gladstone to power, or firmly establish Lord 

 Salisbury, and might result in the ascenden- 

 cy of the Radicals, or in an era of Conserva- 

 tive reaction. The Liberals in the new Parha 

 ment outnumber the Conservatives by 100 out- 

 side of Ireland. They carried 244 seats in 

 England, 27 in Wales, and 62 in Scotland, a 

 total of 333. The Conservatives won 220 seats 

 in England, 3 in Wales, 10 in Scotland, and 1 

 in Ireland, making their total 251. The 

 tionalists carried 85 seats in Ireland and 1 

 England, giving them 86 votes. The Conserv 

 atives and Parnellites together had a majority 

 of 4 votes. 



