thing holds his hand for fear of loss. An Irish Parliament would be
a Parliament of confiscation, and nobody knows where they would draw
the line. Mr. Gladstone's land legislation has been a succession of
swindles. The principle of judicial rents is an atrocious violation of
the principles of business, one of which lays down the dictum that a
thing is worth as much as it will fetch. Surely the landlord ought to
be allowed to accept the offer of the highest bidder. And if you take
from him that right, and say to him you shall only accept such a
price, then you should at least guarantee the payment. But no, Mr.
Gladstone says you shall only have a certain price, and you must
recover the money as best you can. The judicial rent law, so much
vaunted, is not so good as it looks. It is often a premium on
indolence and a punishment of industry, and therefore grossly unjust.
Let me tell you how it works in Donegal.

"Thirty years ago two men took contiguous farms of exactly the same
extent, at the same rent. There was not a pin to choose in the land,
either. One of them worked continuously, improving the farm until he
almost wrought himself to pieces. He and his children were at it night
and day, and their industry did wonders, as it always does. The other
was a lazy fellow, who lay in bed till mid-day and spent half his
waking hours at fairs and dances. The land in his occupation
deteriorated until it seemed to want reclaiming. The rent of both
farms was ten pounds a year. The Land Commission had both cases before
them, and, of course, based their estimate on the present value of the
land, without reference to any other considerations. Now mark what
happened--

"The industrious man, who should have received a premium as a
benefactor of his country, had his rent raised from ten pounds to
eighteen.

"The lazy man, who should have been kicked out of the country as
worthless, and an enemy to progress, had his rent reduced from ten
pounds to two pounds fifteen shillings.

"The judicial reductions have hardly ever been of real benefit. The
average Irish peasant is so constituted that when he has less to pay
he simply makes less effort, or spends the difference, and more than
the difference, in extra whiskey.

"The Donegal peasantry derive much benefit from the Irish practice of
con-acre. Con-acre means that the land is rented for one crop. It pays
the landowner well, and he always gets his money. The man who has no
land hires