456 



sciujsrcu. 



[Vol. VI., No. 146. 



thus fixed, he cannot be disturbed in possession by 

 the landlord, except on the payment of a fine 

 known as ' corapensation for disturbance.' The 

 tenant may sell his tenant-right to another, who 

 has then all the privileges as against the landlord 

 which the original tenant enjoyed. In this way 

 are secured the three ' F's,' — Fair rents, Fixity of 

 tenure, and Free sale. In this way, also, the land- 

 lord is almost completely deprived of any real con- 

 trol of his property. 



The act has not been, by any means, a dead 

 letter. Eighty-five sub-commissioners were, in 

 1883, engaged in the work of determming ' fair 

 rents,' and the number was afterwards somewhat 

 increased. As a result a general reduction in rent 

 was effected, amounting on the average to about 

 twenty per cent, and in some cases to thirty per 

 cent and upwards. This virtually amounts to a 

 confiscation of from one-fifth to one-third of the 

 capitalized value of landed estates in Ireland. Its 

 moral effect may lead to a still further reduction 

 in value : for who can be sure that a govern- 

 ment which has confiscated one-fifth of the estate 

 will not subsequently confiscate it all if peace and 

 quiet shall not follow as a result of the present 

 measure ? 



Both acts above mentioned contained provisions 

 intended to favor the growth of a class of peasant 

 proprietors. The purchase of holdings by tenants in 

 the case of estates which fell under the jurisdiction 

 of the encumbered estates court, was favored by 

 the authority given to the Irish board of works, 

 in 1870, to advance two-thirds (increased in 1881 

 to three-fourths) of the purchase-money at three 

 and a half per cent interest, to be repaid at inter- 

 vals during a period of thirty-five years. It has 

 already been proposed to extend this authority so 

 as to let them advance all the purchase-money at 

 a lower rate of interest, for a longer time. 



He would be a bold man indeed who would 

 assert that these acts, sweeping as they are, con- 

 stitute any real contribution to the actual solution 

 of the Irish j)roblem. Such a statement could only 

 be made by one who had a political point to gain, 

 or who had given but little attention to the actual 

 investigation, even at second hand, of the social 

 and economic conditions which prevail over a large 

 part of Ireland. The difficulty lies deeper than 

 any mere landlordism, and it will not be long until 

 the Irish land question will be again to the front, 

 and that, too, whether Ireland be under English 

 or Irish rule. 



These acts, however, mark a new era in Enghsh 

 legislation on this subject. They indicate (and 

 herein lies the hopeful feature of the case) that 

 the English people are now ready to take up this 

 and similar questions in earnest. They are now 



willing to throw to the winds all doctrinaire theo- 

 rems of laissez-faireism, to disregard alarmist 

 speeches about approaching communism or social- 

 ism, and to close their ears to the old song about 

 the supreme sacredness of private property. They 

 are now determined, after getting aU the light 

 they possibly can from economic and historical 

 science, to make use of the only means which 

 promises any solution whatever, viz., that of 

 actual experimentation. The outcome of the 

 recent experiments in Ireland, to which the late 

 acts have been practically limited, wiU afford 

 great assistance in the solution of the Scottish 

 and English land questions, which must soon come 

 to the front. E. J. James. 



THE BLACKFOOT TRIBES. 



At the late meeting of the British association 

 for the advancement of science, a committee of 

 the anthropological section presented a report 

 (prepared by Mr. Horatio Hale) on the tribes of the 

 noted Blackfoot confederacy. The report com- 

 prises many particulars relating to the origin and 

 history of the tribes, the character of the people, 

 their mythology, languages, and mode of govern- 

 ment, and their present condition. The facts 

 have been mostly derived from correspondence 

 with missionaries now residing among the people, 

 and from official documents, with some memo- 

 randa made by the author of the report during an 

 exploring tour in Oregon. Only a brief abstract 

 of the information thus brought together can here 

 be given. 



The tribes composing the confederacy are, or 

 rather were, five in number. Three of these, 

 forming the nucleus of the whole body, are the 

 original Blackfoot tribes, who speak the same lan- 

 guage, and regard themselves as descended from 

 three brothers. These are the Siksika, or Black- 

 feet proper ; the Kena, or Blood Indians ; and the 

 Piekane,or Piegans (pronounced Peegans), — a name 

 which is sometimes corrupted to ' Pagan Indians.' 

 To these were added, when the confederacy was 

 at the height of its power, two other tribes, — the 

 Sarcees, who joined them from the north ; and 

 the Atsinas, who came under their protection 

 from the south. The Sarcees are a branch of the 

 great Athabascan or Tinneh family, which is spread 

 over the northern portion of the continent, in con- 

 tact with the Eskimo. The Atsinas, otherwise 

 known as Fall Indians and Gros Ventres, are 

 shown by their language to be akin to the Ara- 

 pohoes, who once wandered over the Missouri 

 plains, but are now- settled on a reservation in the 

 Indian Territory. 



The dividing line between the United States and 



