The New Irish Constitution Part 15

Most of the earlier Statutes which have been summarised in the first part of this chapter deal with the rights and obligations of Irish Tenants without any attempt at Economic discrimination. No distinction was drawn between the occupiers of uneconomic holdings and those who were able to make a living and pay a rent out of their farms. Some slight recognition of the fact that the smaller tenants had a special claim to protection was shown by the Compensation for Disturbance Clause (Section 3) of the Act of 1870, which enacted that a tenant of a holding valued at 10 or under might be awarded a sum not exceeding seven years' rent, while a tenant above 100 Valuation could not in any case receive more than one year's rent. Beyond that, however, nothing was done. It took many years to get the Irish Administration to understand that something more than "Fixity of Tenure" was necessary if the periodical famines and endemic misery of the poorer occupiers of the West and South of Ireland were to be fought successfully. It was, however, finally recognised that, in many parts of the country, the average character of the holdings was below the level which is necessary in order to make a reasonable standard of living possible, and it was then resolved to adopt special means to meet the evil. The establishment of the Congested Districts Board in 1891 was the outcome of this resolve. It was the first attempt made to discriminate by legislation between the two great cla.s.ses of Irish occupiers, namely, those whose holdings were capable of affording a means of livelihood and of paying a rent; and those who were so impoverished as to be incapable of supporting themselves without a.s.sistance from outside.

The word "Congestion," as applied to land, has acquired a special and peculiar meaning in Ireland. It has become a term of art, and, like many another word of the kind, has travelled far from its original meaning. It does not mean, as might be supposed, "pressure of population." The definition of a "Congested District" given in the Act of 1891, is a district in which more than 20 per cent. of the population live in electoral divisions of which the total rateable value, when divided by the number of the population, gives a sum of less than 30s. for each person.

This definition is, of course, arbitrary, and in fact includes many districts through which a man might drive for miles without seeing a human habitation, and excludes districts in which the population is in truth "Congested."

The word connotes not the over-population of particular localities, but rather the condition of the people in those localities. Owing to various reasons, mainly historical, a population which, having regard to the means of subsistence, may be called excessive, is to be found on the large area of poor land that extends along the western seaboard of Ireland from Donegal to Cork. In some regions it is really "congested" and, as in such places the poverty of the people is most p.r.o.nounced and obtrusive, the problem was supposed to be one of "congestion," and so the word came to be used. The true area of congestion is, of course, the western part of the Island, but it must not be supposed that the same problem does not arise in other parts of Ireland-(even in the province of Leinster)-in an acute form. This was recognised by the framers of the Land Act of 1909, and now the Estates Commissioners are empowered to purchase compulsorily, not only any congested estate, but also, in the case of any estate which does not as a whole come within the definition of a "Congested Estate," any townlands forming part of the Estate which are themselves "Congested." The definition of a "Congested Estate" is "an Estate not less than half the area of which consists of holdings not exceeding seven pounds in rateable value or of mountain or bog land or not less than a quarter of the area of which is held in rundale or intermixed plots." There is a further power given to the Commissioners to acquire compulsorily untenanted lands. Under these powers the Estates Commissioners will be able to do for the rest of Ireland what the Board is doing for the Congested Districts, namely: to turn the present uneconomic holdings into economic ones by the addition thereto of other lands; and further, by the consolidation of holdings held in rundale or in intermixed plots, to put an end to the waste of effort inherent in such a system.

Statutes Dealing with Congestion

(Act of 1891-Act of 1893-Act of 1894-Act of 1896-Act of 1899-Act of 1901-Act of 1903-Act of 1909)

The Congested Districts Board was founded under the authority of Section 34 of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, to continue for twenty years, "and thereafter until Parliament shall otherwise determine." It was given power (Section 39) to aid migration and emigration within a congested districts county, to sell suitable seed potatoes and seed oats to occupiers, to aid and develop agriculture, forestry, the breeding of live stock and poultry, weaving, spinning, fishing (including the construction of piers and harbours, the supply of fishing boats and gear, and industries connected with fishing), and any other suitable industries.

Powers were also given for the enlargement of holdings whether subject to purchase annuities, or to rents to private owners, but these powers were so circ.u.mscribed and guarded, as to be unworkable. The Board was granted an income to commence with of 41,250 a year. In 1893 an Act was pa.s.sed (56 & 57 Vic., c. 35) which gave the Board power to acquire land and to hold it as landlords for the enlargement of holdings and for the purpose of the Land Purchase Acts. In 1894 another Act was pa.s.sed which enabled the Board to give to the Land Commission, on selling to a tenant purchaser, a guarantee for the repayment of the annuity. Such guarantee enabled the Land Commission to dispense with their retention of any sum out of the purchase money as a guarantee deposit, a practice which, if followed, would have seriously crippled the operations of the Board. The Land Law Act of 1896 gave power to the Board to obtain an advance from the Land Commission for the purchase of estates "in like manner as if the Board were a tenant purchasing his holding." This Act contained some provisions that greatly hampered the Board. Thus an advance could not be obtained by a tenant valued at under 10 for the repurchase of his holding from the Board. Also Section 40 (2) enabled Court tenants and temporary tenants to obtain advances under the Purchase Acts in the case of sales of estates under the section in the Land Judges' Court. This meant that the lands that were most required by the Board for the Relief of Congestion were commonly disposed of to graziers and others. The Congested Districts Act of 1899 cleared away these two obstacles to the work of the Board, and also enabled the Land Commission to make advances for the redemption of head rents and other "superior interests," and increased the Parliamentary Grant from 6,500 to 25,000. The Congested Districts Board Act of 1901 gave a limited power of dealing with obstructive tenants in the rearrangement of the estates purchased. It also gave the Board all the powers of entry on a holding subject to a statutory tenancy for the purposes of mining, quarrying, cutting timber or turf, opening or making roads, fences, drains, and water-courses, hunting, fishing, shooting, etc., given to the landlord by Section 5 (subsection 5) of the Act of 1881, and further extended these powers to holdings not subject to statutory tenancies. The Act also enabled the Board to purchase land outside a congested districts county with the approval of the Lord-Lieutenant. The Land Act of 1903 gave facilities to the Board for the purchase of estates, similar to those given to the Estates Commissioners under the Act. It also gave the Board the discretionary power of deciding whether an advance should be made to a purchaser; of what amount the advance should be; and how far the security was sufficient. The collection of the purchase annuities so made, was, however, still left to the Land Commission. The Act added 20,000 to the annual income of the Board, to be drawn from the Irish Development Grant (Section 38).

Under Mr. Birrell's Act of 1909 the const.i.tution, powers, duties and income of the Board were reconst.i.tuted and enlarged. The new Board consists of fourteen members, three of whom are _ex-officio_, namely, the Chief Secretary, the Under-Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant and the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture; nine are appointed by the Crown; and two are paid permanent members. The annual income of the Board was raised from 86,250 to 250,000, and its operations were extended so as to comprise the counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, and parts of the counties of Clare and Cork. It was enacted that thenceforward no Congested Estate could be sold under the Land Purchase Acts in a congested districts county to persons other than the Congested Districts Board without the consent of that Board; that the Land Commission before entering into an agreement for the purchase of any land in a congested districts county, should obtain the consent of the Board; and the power of purchasing estates and land compulsorily through the Estates Commissioners was given to the Board within all congested districts.

Up to February 1st, 1911, the Congested Districts Board had purchased estates of the value of 1,813,568, and of this, lands of the value of 1,710,304 then remained unsold. The remainder, so far as they were "tenanted lands," had been sold to the tenants, and, so far as they were "untenanted lands," had been used in enlarging the neighbouring holdings or in the creation of new holdings. In the latter cases, the new farms were fenced and drained and houses built thereon. On some estates where the tenants held in rundale or had joint rights of grazing over parts of the land, the Board "striped" the whole estate, giving to each tenant an enlarged and compact holding, properly drained and fenced. An example of the excellent work done on such an estate can be seen by anyone who will pay a visit to Clare Island at the mouth of Clew Bay in the County of Mayo. An example of the work done in creating new holdings can perhaps best be seen on the Dillon Estate in the County of Roscommon.

Since the pa.s.sing of the Act of 1909 the most extravagant ideas as to the powers of the Board have got abroad among the people of the congested areas, and applications are being made to them from every estate-almost from every parish-to purchase and divide up particular lands. The area of the congested counties under their control amounts to 7,658,114 acres, or about one-third of the whole of Ireland. Even a.s.suming that a large number of these applications should not be granted, there still remains a residue of work to be done which would tax the capacity of a Board many times stronger both in resources and staff than the Congested Districts Board.

At the present time the Board is possessed of large tracts of land which they annually let on grazing contracts or which they stock themselves.

This is not as it should be, for, when the people see lands taken by the Board used year after year as pasture, they begin to lose faith in the capacity and usefulness of the inst.i.tution.

It is not the fault of the Board. It would take a much bigger income than they possess and a much bigger staff than they command, to cope with the work which they have to do and which ought to be done.

Parliament has now given them enormous and compulsory powers. Immense pressure will be put on them to exercise these powers, and in many cases if the powers were exercised it would be for the lasting benefit of the country. If the Board are to carry out fully the work which they have been created to do, the Government must in the near future again come to their a.s.sistance. With their present resources, their task is well-nigh impossible.

Part III. Statutes Relating to the Provision of Allotments of Land and Dwellings for Agricultural Labourers in Ireland.

(Act of 1883-Act of 1885-Act of 1886-Act of 1891-Act of 1892-Act of 1896-Act of 1903-Part IV. of the Irish Land Act, 1903-Act of 1906)

Previous to the Act of 1883 little or nothing had been done to meet the want of better housing for the agricultural labourers in Ireland. Their condition was deplorable. The houses in which they lived were almost everywhere throughout the country of the worst description. In fact, they were little better than hovels.

By the Acts of 1883 to 1906, the Rural District Councils of Ireland were empowered to obtain loans to provide suitable dwellings and allotments of land for agricultural labourers. The loans might be applied, subject to the approval of the Local Government Board, for any of the following purposes: the acquisition of land either for new cottages and allotments or for additional allotments; the acquisition of existing houses; the erection of new houses; the legal, engineering and incidental expenses in connection with these purposes. The amount of land which might be allotted to any one labourer was not to exceed one statute acre.

The expression "agricultural labourer" is defined by Section 4 of the Act of 1886 as "a man or woman who does agricultural work for hire at any season of the year on the land of some other person or persons, and shall include handloom weavers and fishermen doing agricultural work as aforesaid and shall also include herdsmen." By Section 93 of the Land Act of 1903 (Part IV. of which is construed as one of the Labourers Acts) the earlier definition is enlarged so as to include "any person (other than a domestic or menial servant) working for hire in a rural district whose average wages in the year preceding the lodgment of any representation under the Labourers Acts affecting him do not exceed two shillings and sixpence a day, and who is not in occupation of land exceeding one quarter of an acre." These definitions are very wide and, practically speaking, enable the Sanitary Authority to provide cottages and allotments for all labourers in rural districts, who are thus placed on somewhat the same footing as artisans in urban districts are placed under the Housing of the Working Cla.s.ses Act. The Rural District Councils are given power to acquire, compulsorily or by agreement, the necessary lands from the owner either by purchase of the fee simple or on a lease for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years. If the lands are acquired compulsorily in fee, the amounts to be paid to the owners and occupiers are fixed by an arbitrator appointed by the Local Government Board; if the lands are acquired compulsorily for a term of years, the rents to be paid are fixed by the Land Commission.

If the Council cannot agree with the owner as to the price to be paid, they must prepare a scheme showing the lands it is purposed to take, and the scheme must be confirmed by an Inspector of the Irish Local Government Board. Any person interested can appeal, at their option, either to the County Court Judge or to the Local Government Board. In either case the decision is final. There is no appeal against the price fixed by the arbitrator unless the amount awarded exceeds one thousand pounds.

Prior to the pa.s.sing of the Act of 1906, the loans for the purposes of the Labourers Acts were advanced by the Commissioners of Public Works and were repayable by annuities which included princ.i.p.al and interest. The rates of interest varied according to the number of years during which the annuities were payable, and at the pa.s.sing of the Act of 1906 were as follows:

Period. Rate of Annuity Interest. covering Princ.i.p.al and Interest.

20 years 3- per cent. 7 0s. 9d.

30 years 3- 5 12s. 2d.

40 years 4 5 1s. 1d.

50 years 4- 4 17s. 2d.

The Act of 1906 enabled the Rural District Councils to obtain advances for the purposes of the Labourers Acts up to 4- millions from the Land Commission out of the Irish Land Purchase Fund, and provided that such advances were to be repayable in like manner as the advances under the Irish Land Act of 1903, that is to say, by annuities at 3- per cent.

(covering both princ.i.p.al and interest) and payable for 68- years. This annuity rate has been continued in the case of advances for the purposes of the Labourers Acts by the Irish Land Act, 1909, which Act increased the annuity rate to 3- per cent. in respect of all advances for lands purchased under the Land Purchase Acts since September 15th, 1909.

It will thus be seen that the terms of repayment for loans under the Labourers Acts were made much easier by the Act of 1906 than they were under the previous Labourers Acts. That Act further provided that only 64 per cent. of the charge was to be borne by the local rates; the remaining 36 per cent. being defrayed, as to 16 per cent. out of the Labourers'

Cottages Fund established by the Act, and as to 20 per cent. out of the Irish Development Grant. There was placed at the disposal of the Local Government Board the following sums for the purposes of the Labourers'

Cottages Fund: A capital sum of 150,000 taken from the Petty Sessions Clerks' Fund; a princ.i.p.al sum of 7,000 taken from the Ireland Development Grant, an annual sum of 6,000 to be deducted from the Exchequer Contribution mentioned in Section 5 of the Land Purchase Act of 1891, and an annual sum of 9,000, equivalent to the savings to be effected by the abolition of two Irish Judgeships and a reduction in the salary of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

By an amending Act pa.s.sed in 1911 a further sum of 36,000 cash, and 2- per cent. Consolidated Stock to the nominal value of 30,000, both taken out of the Fund of Suitors in the Supreme Court, were added to the Labourers' Cottages Fund.

The effect of the change made by the Act of 1906 has been to reduce the charge per 100 on the rates from 4 17s. 2d. (the lowest amount payable before that Act) to 2 1s. 7d. the amount payable now-a reduction of almost 57 per cent.

Under the Acts of 1883 to 1896, 22,588 cottages were built, and the loans sanctioned amounted to 3,600,000. Under the Act of 1906, 12,821 additional cottages have been built, 5,057 are in course of erection, and others have been sanctioned or are awaiting sanction. The loans sanctioned under the Act amount to close on 4- millions. This is the amount provided for by the Act of 1906. Another million on the same terms as the 4- millions was provided by the amending Act of last year.

The average cost of each cottage built has been 175, and the average rent paid for a cottage with half an acre of land is 10d. per week, and for a cottage with an acre of land about 1s. per week.

The Labourers Act of 1906 included agricultural labourers in the cla.s.s of persons to whom a parcel of untenanted land might be allotted by the Estates Commissioners, where the agricultural labourer had for a period, not less than five years immediately preceding, been resident on the estate or in the immediate neighbourhood thereof, but it provided that in no case should any advance be made to a labourer to purchase a parcel of land so long as he was in occupation of a tenancy under the Acts. The Act also empowered the Estates Commissioners to make advances to Rural District Councils, as trustees under Section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, to purchase parcels of untenanted land for the purposes of the Labourers Acts.

The Labourers Acts and their administration have been, on the whole, extremely successful. No legislation pa.s.sed during the last thirty years was more entirely needed, and none has been more beneficial to the country. The benefit is one which no one who travelled through Ireland thirty years ago, and who travels through it again to-day can fail to remark.

Where dilapidated hovels stood formerly, decent cottages stand to-day. A great deal still remains to be done, but what has been done has been, on the whole, well done. Up to the present there has been no inquiry ever asked for into the working of the Acts. That fact in itself shows that no serious dissatisfaction has been felt with their administration. However, from time to time complaints are heard which should be attended to; complaints as to the unsuitability of the people for whom cottages have been built; as to the size or workmanship of the cottages; as to a number of the cottages, remaining untenanted; and more often as to jobbery in respect of the sites chosen. Considering the amount of work done, it is surprising that the complaints have been so few. Nevertheless, it would be well that an inquiry should be held. It would tend to prevent any existing abuses from increasing.

Part IV. Compulsory Registration of Land in Ireland.

In the year 1865 a Record of t.i.tle Act was pa.s.sed for Ireland. Its operation was confined to lands sold through the Landed Estates Court.

About 680 t.i.tles were recorded under it. It failed, largely because it was not compulsory.

In the year 1891 the Local Registration of t.i.tle (Ireland) Act was pa.s.sed.

All lands sold under the Land Purchase Acts and vested in purchasing tenants subject to land purchase annuities, are thereby required to be registered in the central or local offices of the Land Registry. There is a local office in each county in Ireland and a central office in the City of Dublin, which is also the local office as regards lands in the county of Dublin. When the holdings are vested in the purchasing tenants by the Land Commission that department furnishes to the Land Registry the necessary particulars for the registration of the lands. These particulars are entered on the registers and the boundaries of the holdings are delineated on the registry maps. A certificate, which is a copy of the folio of the register, is then issued to the purchaser.

All subsequent dealings with the land must be registered, and no estate is acquired by the transferee of registered land until his name is put on the register as owner of the lands transferred (Section 25).

All registered land is divisible on the death of the registered holder intestate "_as if it were personal estate_" (Section 85).

Lands acquired by Rural District Councils under the Labourers Acts are also compulsorily registered in the Land Register.

The t.i.tle of each purchasing tenant is registered on the application of the Land Commission and without any application by him. As no investigation of any of these t.i.tles is possible, each holding is registered "subject to equities," that is, subject to any rights of third persons interested in the land. Before a transfer of the holding is executed these equities are, as a rule, discharged.

When the work of the Land Purchase Acts has been completed, practically the whole land of Ireland will be registered. The princ.i.p.al effect of such registration will be to facilitate the sale of land by reducing the cost and simplifying the process of transfer. Registration of t.i.tle exists wherever a peasant proprietary has been established. It is almost a necessary concomitant of such ownership.

The Irish Act has been conceived on right lines, but it will in the near future need much amendment.

It needs simplification. The process of registration is too complicated and too slow; there are too many burdens on the lands which do not require registration, and in consequence, there are too many matters which, on a sale, must be inquired into and so add to the price of transfer. Above all, registered land should be declared to be personal property and should not merely be made to descend "_as if it were personal estate_." These words have already on numerous occasions occupied the attention of the judges, and their full meaning has not yet been made clear. The effect of the various decisions is that, while registered land descends on a death intestate to the next of kin as if it were personal estate, for every other purpose it is to be regarded as "real estate." To a lawyer the position is full of interest; to the ordinary layman it is absurd; for the community it is most mischievous.