AGRARIAN TENDENCIES IN EUROPE 49 



Agrarianism has had an interesting history in 

 Ireland in recent times. The struggle of the Irish 

 peasant to secure the "Three F's" fair rent, fixity 

 of tenure and free sale is familiar to most students 

 concerned with rural welfare. The conflicts between 

 alien landlords and the tenant class and between the 

 divergent interests these classes represented, brought 

 about more definite results than were obtained in 

 any other section or country of Europe. 



The Deasy Act of 1860 was the first attempt by 

 legislation to give the tenant the full advantages of 

 free contract. But this act proved to be illusory. 

 A more successful effort was made through the pro- 

 visions of the Land Act of 1870. The principal 

 object of this law was to prevent the arbitrary 

 eviction of farm tenants by landlords. The Land 

 League of Ireland, a strong agrarian organization, 

 influenced Gladstone to extend further aid by legis- 

 lative means. "It is essential/' says one of the 

 reports of this league, "to recognize the state of 

 things existing in Ireland and to acknowledge the 

 co-ownership of the tenant with the landlord in a 

 more complete manner than would the law of 1870." 

 As a result of this report the Act of 1881, which 

 has been called "The Magna Charta of the Irish 

 Peasant/' was passed. This act secured for the ten- 

 ant a regular rental charge and complete security in 

 his tenure as long as he lived up to the conditions of 

 his contract. The Ashbourne Act of 1885 and a 

 more comprehensive measure passed in 1891 made it 



