84 THE IRISH AGRARIAN PROBLEM. 



Over 100,000 tenants were in such a position 

 that in spite of the Land Act they could have 

 been evicted.^ In order to open the benefits of 

 the Act to them an Arrears Act was introduced, 

 the effect of which was to wipe out all arrears 

 for farmers paying less than ^^30 rent, who were 

 willing but unable to pay, provided that they 

 brought in one year's rent. The State provided 

 another year ; and the landlord, on receiving 

 the two years' rent, renounced all further claims. 

 The Irish landlord, who was usually so en- 

 thusiastic a champion of the rights of property, 

 offered no resistance to this radical method of 

 wiping out debts. It meant in fact that in 

 place of so many years of unrealizable arrears 

 he received two years' rent in hard cash. Of 

 135,977 claims for relief under the Act, 129,952 

 were admitted. The sacrifice made by the State 

 amounted to ^^812, 321.^ 



The Irish Party did not vote for the Land 

 Act, for the majority of the Government was 

 strong enough to ensure its adoption. They 

 were thus in a position to reap the fruits of the 

 reform legislation without undertaking any re- 

 sponsibility for it.^ They raised a number of 

 justified objections to it. They urged that in 

 view of the probability of a further fall of prices 

 fifteen years was too long a term for a fixed 



^ O'Brien, "Life of Parnell," L, p. 340, note 2. 

 ^ Shaw-Lefevre, " Agrarian Tenures," p. 126. 

 3 O'Brien, "Life of Parnell," L, p. 294. 



