The
Exchequer was empowered to retain grants due for various purposes in
Ireland and to recoup itself in proportion to the defalcation in any
county. It should be added that individual failures have been rare to
the point of insignificance, and that no combined refusal has been
attempted, or advocated, even during periods of agricultural unrest.
Under the Acts of 1891 and 1896 in the course of just over twelve years
more than 44,000 tenants became owners by virtue of advances which
amounted to over L13,000,000. Here we must note that the success of
these Acts coincided with, and depended on, a rise in the price of
gilt-edged securities. The number of applications rose from 1503 in the
year ending March 31, 1896, to 6911 in the year ending March 31, 1900.
But, with the fall in the price of stock, land purchase showed signs of
coming to a standstill. By 1902 it was evident that new legislation was
needed, and in the next year the Irish Land Act of 1903 was carried.
The Irish Land Act of 1903 was not, as some suggest, a short cut to the
millennium, evolved on the spur of the moment, and translated into
fantastic finance.
Pages:
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419