ovision of working capital for carrying out necessary
amalgamations and improvements before resale.

D. _Increase in the 'borrowing power and funds of the Congested
Districts Board,_ for the purpose of dealing systematically with
"agricultural slums."

The features of the Irish Land Act (1903), founded, as they were, on
experience and the consent of all parties concerned, became widely
popular in Ireland. But, by Mr. Birrell's Act of 1909, they were all
distorted or destroyed. A solemn treaty, framed in the interest of
Ireland, was torn up to deck with its tatters the triumph of Mr.
Dillon's unholy alliance with the British Treasury. The effect of this
betrayal on the prospects of Irish agriculture will appear from a
recital of the changes made by Mr. Birrell's Act, followed by a
comparison of the results obtained under the two Acts. From that
comparison I shall proceed to an examination of the reasons alleged for
the breach of faith, and a statement of the Unionist party's pledge to
continue their policy of 1903. I shall then conclude by inviting all
who care for Ireland to weigh the prospects of Irish Agriculture under
the Union against its prospects under Home Rule.

_Changes made by the Act of _1909.--(1) Instead of cash payments
landlords are to receive stock at three per cent. issued on a falling
market, and this stock cannot appreciate because, owing to the
embarrassment of Irish estates, about half of each issue must be thrown
back on the market for the redemption of mortgages; a result fatal to
land purchase and detrimental to the credit of the State. (2) Instead of
paying L3 5_s._ per L100, tenants are to pay L3 10_s._ without any
reduction in the period of repayment. The sinking fund remains at 10_s._
and the interest L3 is, for the first time since land purchase was
attempted, placed at a higher rate than in the preceding Purchase Act,
whilst the whole instalment of L3 10_s._ is raised, not only above the
rate of the Act of 1903, but also above the rates, diminished by decadal
reductions, of purchasers under still earlier Acts. This again, in view
of these reductions and of periodic revisions of _rent_ under the Land
Law Act of 1881, is fatal to purchase. (3) The bonus of L12,000,000--on
the application of which all parties agreed in 1903--was diverted from
the unanimous policy of that year and brought in aid of Mr. Dillon's
hobby, which all parties then rejected. Mr. Dillon is at liberty to
rejoice over