CHAPTER XLIX
AN EMPTY COUNTRY - RAPACIOUS LANDLORDS.
From Roscommon I drove to Lanesborough where Longford and Roscommon
meet at a bridge across the Shannon, and where a large Catholic church
stands on each side of the river. The bridge at Lanesborough, a swing
bridge, substantial and elegant, the solid stone piers - all the stone
work on bridge and wharves is of hewn stone - speak of preparations for a
great traffic which is not there, like the warehouses of Westport.
Seeing all facilities for trade and all conveniences for trade prepared,
and the utter silence over all, makes one think of enchanted places
where there must come a touch of some kind to break the charm before the
bustle of life awakes and "leaps forward like a cataract."
One man stood idle and solitary on the wharf at Lanesborough as if he
were waiting for the sudden termination of this spell-bound still life.
My glimpse of Longford from the neighborhood of Lanesborough showed a
place of wooded hills and valleys covered with crops, and with this
glimpse we turned back over the plain of Roscommon. The road lay through
peat bog for a good part of the way, and the mud-wall cabins were a sad
sight indeed.
Empty as the country is, eviction is still going on. Many have occurred
lately, and more are hanging over the people. From Roscommon to Boyle,
across more than one-half the length of this long county, from Roscommon
to French Park, the country is so completely emptied of inhabitants that
one can drive a distance of five miles at once without seeing a human
habitation except a herd's hut. The country is as empty as if William
the Conqueror had marched through it.
Several persons called upon me to give me some information on the state
of things in general. I also received some casual information. One
gentleman of large experience from his position, a person of great
intelligence and cultivation, while utterly condemning the Land League,
admitted that some change in the Land Law was absolutely necessary. He
instanced one case where a gentleman acquired a property by marriage and
immediately set about raising the rent. Rent on one little holding was
raised from L2 to L10 at one jump. In no case was it less than doubled.
This landlord complains bitterly that the people under the influence of
the Land League have turned against him. They used to bow and smile, and
it was, "What you will, sir," and, "As you please." Now they are surly
and sullen and will not salute him.
The farmer who holds a good-sized farm always wishes to extend its
borders and is ready and eager to add the poor man's fields to his own.
Concentration of lands into few hands, reducing small farmers into
laborers, is the idea that prevails largely.
My Athleague friend, a very interesting old gentleman, after mentioning
the great depopulation of Roscommon, spoke of good landlords, such as
Lord Dufresne, Mr. Charles French, the O'Connor Don, Mr. Mapother; but
he paused before mentioning any oppressive ones. "Would his name
appear?" No. His name should not appear. "Well, for fear of getting into
any trouble I will mention no names, but we find that they who purchased
in the Encumbered Estates Court are the most rapacious landlords."
One gentleman, who was representing to me the discouragement given to
improvement, mentioned a case where a person of means who held a little
place for comfort and beauty, but lived by another pursuit than farming,
sought the agent to know if he could obtain any compensation for
improvements which he had made, and which had made his place one of the
most beautiful in Roscommon. He wanted to be sure that he was not
throwing his money away. When he sought the agent on this subject he
found him on his car preparing to drive away somewhere. He listened to
his tenant's question as to compensation for outlay, and then whipped up
the horse and drove away without answering.
I had a call from an elderly gentleman, before I left Roscommon, who
gave me his views on the question very clearly. He thought as God had
ordained some to be rich and others to be poor, any agitation to better
the condition of the poor was sheer flying in the face of the Almighty.
Under cover of helping the poor the Land League were plotting to
dismember the British Empire. There never had been peace in the country
since the confiscation, and there never would be until the Roman
Catholic population were removed by emigration and replaced by
Protestants. The blame of the present disturbed condition of the country
he laid upon four parties: First, the Government, who administered the
country in a fitful manner, now petting, now coercing, while they should
keep the country steadily under coercion, for alternately petting and
coercing sets parties against one another more than ever. Second,
landlords and agents, who rented land too high and raised the rent on
the tenant's own invested improvements. Third, the priests, who could
repress outrage and reveal crime if they chose to do so. Fourth,
Catholic tenants who took the law into their own hands instead of
patiently waiting for redress by law.
According to this gentleman, the only innocent persons in Ireland were
the Protestant tenantry; so to root out the Catholics and replace them
by Protestants was the only possible way to have peace in the country.
Boycotting he referred to especially as a dangerous thing, which
paralyzed all industry and turned the country into a place governed by
the worst kind of mob law.
Another gentleman of position and experience said that a strike against
paying rent led easily into a strike against paying anything at all;
that society had really become disorganized.
