LAND LAWS. 



527 



provisions several thousand holdings were pur- 

 chased by their occupants, who are now, as a 

 rule, more contented and prosperous than their 

 tenant neighbors. The purchase or Bright 

 clauses of the Land Act of 1870 provided that 

 the Board of Public Works might advance the 

 tenant that purchased his holding two thirds 

 of the purchase-money. This loan, with inter- 

 est, was repayable in annual payments extend- 

 ing through thirty-five years. It was, how- 

 ever, difficult in most cases for a tenant to 

 come to an agreement with his landlord for 

 the sale of a single holding, to raise one third 

 of the purchase-money at the start, and to give 

 the board satisfactory security for the loan. 

 Besides, the expense of looking up the titles 

 and making surveys, maps, and transfers was 

 often very great, amounting, in the case of 

 small holdings, to 20 or 30 per cent, of the 

 value of the land. These and other causes 

 prevented the extensive operation of the act. 

 Less than 1,000 tenants purchased under these 

 provisions. The Land Act of 1881 provided 

 that the Land Commission might, if satisfied 

 with the security, advance three fourths of 

 the purchase-money, to be repaid by an an- 

 nuity of five pounds per hundred for thirty- 

 five years. Many of the tenants were unable 

 to raise one fourth of the purchase-money and 

 to give satisfactory security for the loan. Most 

 of those who were able to purchase, with se- 

 curity of tenure, and rents reduced and fixed, 

 preferred to wait for the lower prices which 

 they expected to result from further agitation, 

 rather than pay so large a sum down, and a 

 sura each year for thirty - five years larger 

 than their annual rent. Very few purchased. 

 Meantime the low prices of agricultural prod- 

 uce, the effects of the operations of the Land 

 Commission in cutting down the landlords' in- 

 comes from their estates, and the prospect of 

 further encroachments on the rights and in- 

 comes of land-owners, made land in Ireland 

 practically unsalable, and landlords who were 

 deeply in debt and their creditors were often 

 put to great inconvenience. No one would 

 venture to buy land for investment or specu- 

 lation. The tenants seemed to be the only 

 class of persons who could buy it without run- 

 ning great risks from future agitation and legis- 

 lation, and there was a general agreement that 

 something must be done to persuade and enable 

 them to purchase their holdings. Accordingly, 

 Parliament at its last session passed the Irish 

 Land Purchase Act, providing for the loan by 

 the Land Commission of the entire amount ot 

 purchase-money at 4 per cent., and extending 

 the period of repayment from thirty-five to 

 forty-nine years. To secure the Government 

 against loss through the bankruptcy of the 

 tenant, one fifth of the purchase-money will be 

 retained until the tenant has paid a like sum. 

 While only 5,000,000 have been appropriated 

 by Parliament for loans, there is little doubt 

 that additional sums will be set apart for that 

 purpose if there is a demand for advances. 



The agreements thus far made to purchase 

 have fixed the price at from fifteen to twenty 

 years' purchase of the rent. At the latter 

 rate the annual repayments and the additional 

 taxes which the purchaser would have to pay 

 as owner would be somewhat less than the 

 present rent, while at the former price the dif- 

 ference would be very considerable. 



The dual ownership established on a legal 

 basis by the Land Act of 1881 has many ob- 

 jectionable features, and has commonly been 

 regarded as a temporary expedient, to be fol- 

 lowed by legislation that will ultimately result, 

 as did the new legislation on the Continent, in 

 transforming the great majority of tenants 

 into owners of their holdings, and the general 

 introduction of peasant proprietorship. 



Laborers' Gardens. The condition of the 

 Irish agricultural laborers has long been 

 wretched. To relieve them, Parliament has 

 given the sanitary authorities power to com- 

 pel land-owners to make allotments, to ac- 

 quire land by agreement or compulsory pur- 

 chase and build cottages, and by the Laborers 7 

 Act (1885) to compel land-owners to lease land 

 for ninety -nine years at rents fixed by agree- 

 ment, arbitration, or the court. Half-acre lots 

 of this land may be used as sites on which the 

 authorities may build cottages, or they may be 

 attached to existing cottages. The Local Gov- 

 ernment Board must approve of the plans of 

 the sanitary authorities, and in some cases an 

 appeal lies to the Lord Lieutenant and his Coun- 

 cil. The power conferred on the local authori- 

 ties is, however, very extensive. 



Scotland. The Scottish laws and customs re- 

 lating to primogeniture, entail, and settlement 

 are in many respects similar to the English, 

 and changes in them are advocated similar to 

 those that are brought forward by English 

 land-reformers. In Scotland, however, a suc- 

 cessful system of compulsory registration has 

 been established. The English law of landlord 

 and tenant, with some important modifications, 

 is also in force, and many of the recent changes 

 in this law apply to Scotland. 



The Crofters. The condition of the small 

 farmers of the Highlands and islands of Scot- 

 land has for many years attracted the atten- 

 tion of the Government, and recently great 

 efforts have been made to have their claims 

 recognized by law. The crofters claim a right 

 to security of tenure, to rents fixed by a land- 

 court, and to the use of more land for enlarg- 

 ing their holdings, making new holdings, and 

 increasing the common pastures. They base 

 these claims on certain ancient rights to the 

 land, enjoyed by their ancestors under the old 

 communal system, and afterward recognized 

 more or less generally by custom. The clan 

 organizations were abolished in 1745, and the 

 chiefs converted into landlords and invested 

 with the fee simple of the land. But the 

 tenant was generally allowed to live on his 

 holding without interruption, and the old rights 

 of common were respected. There was some- 



