A most important debate on Irish land came off on
Wednes- day afternoon. lir-Dickson has proposed a Bill for purchasing Irish estates and selling them to the tenantry through a corpo- rate body, to which Government would lend ten millions sterling. On the second reading of this Bill Mr. Parnell stated his view, which is that the State should lend to County Boards -or other local bodies 210,000,000 a year for ten years, that this money should be spent by the Boards in purchasing land for the tenantry, and that it should be repaid by the tenants in in- stalments extending over fifty-two years. The ultimate risk, lie was assured by good actuaries, would not exceed fifty millions, and he believed that if his proposal were adopted, the ansaleability of land in Ireland would cease, large sections would be transferred to the tenants, and the agrarian question would be nearly settled. This proposal would not be an unreasonable -one, considering the necessity in Ireland for enlisting opinion on the side of property, if only Mr. Parnell could give the smallest guarantee that the instalments would be paid. But the people might revolt against them ; and a Government can no more evict whole populations on its own behalf than on behalf of the landlords. It is possible that if the tenant-right were thrown in as security, the fear of losing that property -without eviction might induce payments ; but the pressure on Parliament to extend the term would be very great.
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