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CHAPTER II....continued
In no one proof of progress or evidence of solid and substantial comfort were the Irish settlers behind their Scotch or English or native-born neighbours. Their land was in as good condition, there was as great activity in clearing, their cattle were as numerous and as valuable, their hay and their potatoes were as good and as abundant; there was not even the suspicion of inferiority in any respect whatever, whether of capacity or in success.
I had the satisfaction of seeing the interior of several of the dwellings of my countrymen--men who were indebted wholly to their industry and energy for all that they possessed; and the interior in no way belied the promise of the exterior. Homely comfort was the prevailing characteristic. In Ireland these men would be described as 'warm farmers,' or 'strong farmers.' Not a few of them had bought the fee-simple of their farms at a moderate price, and they then held them by a title as good as that by which Queen Victoria holds her crown. Were there nothing in the name or in the manner of the settler to denote his origin, the little library--the dozen or twenty of Irish books--stirring prose or passionate poetry --would be evidence sufficient of his nationality. The wrongs, the sorrows, the ancient glories, the future hopes of Ireland--these are the most acceptable themes to the expatriated children of the Irish race.
There was life and bustle in every direction, the farmers being hard at work getting in their potatoes, which were large and perfectly sound; and in this agreeable work men and women were actively engaged.
'Come,' said my companion, 'let us look in upon a friend of mine, who by the way is from your part of the country. He is a justice of the peace too.'
Passing through a spacious enclosure we arrived at the house, a well-built, comfortable-looking dwelling, where we found the wife of its owner, a comely kindly matron, with all the natural courtesy of her country. To the enquiry 'Where was himself?' she replied that he was 'out with the boys, getting in the potatoes.' We proceeded in search of the master of the house, and had not gone far when we saw a sturdy strong-built man of middle age leading a strong horse with a cart-load of potatoes, full-sized and of healthy purple hue. He was one of the many thousands of his countrymen who landed on the shores of America without a pound in their possession. Like them, his capital consisted in his strength, his intelligence, and his capacity for labour; and so successfully had he employed his capital that, as he was leading his horse into his spacious farm-yard that day, he was an independent man, not owing a shilling in the world, and having a round sum in the bank. Rubbing his clay-covered hands in a little straw, and giving them a final touch on the sleeve of his working coat, he favoured me with a vigorous grasp, such as would have crippled the fingers of a fine gentleman; then, after having offered us a hearty welcome, and a cordial invitation to partake of his hospitality, he fondly enquired after the dear old country. He was greatly 'put out' when he learned that we could not stop--that we had to return to Charlottetown before night set in. 'Not stop! Oh, that's too bad entirely! Not take pot luck! not even wet your mouth '. Oh my! oh my! that's hard! Well now, I'm ashamed of you to treat a man so.' But go we should; not, however, before the brief story of his early struggles and their crowning success was had from his own lips.
What a contrast did his air and manner offer to that of the Irish farmer in one particular--in its manly independence of bearing. At home, the tenant is not--at least in too many instances is not--certain of his tenure, of his possession or occupancy of the land which he cultivates, and for which he pays a rent that is absolutely incredible to the farmer of Prince Edward Island--indeed of America throughout; and manly bearing and independence of spirit are scarcely to be expected in his case: possibly any special manifestation of their existence might not be prudent or beneficial. Quite otherwise with his countryman in this little colony, who cannot be disturbed in his possession of his farm so long as he pays the rent--about tenpence per British acre; or who has bought it out, and feels that he stands upon his own property, of which he is the undisputed owner: therefore, while clad in his homely working suit, with the red soil sticking to his strong shoes, and his hands rough with honest toil, he looks at you, and speaks to you, as a man should address his fellow-man, with modest dignity and self-respect.
Strange that in this, one of the smallest of British colonies, very grave and important problems, involving the most cherished of the so-called 'rights of property,' should be practically solved in a manner not only in accordance with the universal public sentiment, but with the sanction of the representatives alike of the people and the Crown.
From the days of the Gracchi to the present hour, the land question--the occupancy or possession of the soil--has been a fruitful source of turmoil and embarrassment. It was so in ancient Rome; it was one of the causes of the most tremendous social convulsions of modern times; and, because of the deep interests it involved, it is destined to play a conspicuous part in popular movements in favour of fundamental changes. Leaving the shores of Ireland, where the land question is the one which most stirs the heart of its people, I cross the Atlantic, and reach a small island of which not very many in the old country have ever heard; and, to my amazement, I find this irrepressible land question the question of the colony, though for the moment absorbed in the more immediate and pressing topics of Confederation or Non-Confederation. I had supposed that a 'Tenant League' was one of those things of which I had probably heard the last, at least for some time to come; but I learn with no little surprise that the most troublesome movement, or organisation, which Prince Edward Island had witnessed within recent years was known by that title, and that its origin was owing to a systematic opposition to the payment of rent. The Irish demand, during the existence of its Tenant League, never went beyond 'fixity of tenure,' possession of the land by the tenant so long as he fulfilled his primary obligation of paying his stipulated rent.
Struck by the similarity of the name, I enquired of an intelligent friend what were the exact objects of the colonial organisation.
'Oh,' replied my friend, 'it was a combination to get rid of rent: the people here don't like the notion of paying rent; they are not satisfied until they have the land in their own possession.' The answer was calculated to put my moderate opinions to the blush.
'Then I suppose the rents are rather oppressive? What are they on the average?'
'As for that, the rent is but a shilling an acre.'
'A what?' said I.
'A shilling an acre--yes, a shilling an acre,' was the tranquil reply, made as much in answer to my stare of astonishment as to the exclamation with which it was accompanied.
'Why how, in the name of common sense, could anyone object to such a rent as that--a rent inconceivably small to one coming from a country where the rent per acre is twenty times, thirty times, even fifty times, nay, in some instances, nearly one hundred times greater?'
'Well, as compared to rents in the old country, it is no doubt low; but you see the tenants took the land in its wilderness state, and they had to do everything to it to make it what it now is. And the rent, small as it may appear to you--5l. the 100 acres--comes heavy enough; and when there are arrears falling due besides, it is a serious thing, I can tell you. But small or large, our people have an aversion to paying rent; they want to have the land their own, and they are willing to pay a fair price for it too.'
A shilling an acre! I could scarcely realise to my mind the idea of this being a burden, or its payment a grievance; still to many the burden was felt to be intolerable, and the grievance one of real magnitude. And, as the strangest confirmation of the existence of this feeling, there is the policy of the leading public men of the colony, which is to free the actual cultivators from the obligation of rent-paying, by converting the occupying tenant into a fee-simple proprietor. Already much had been done in pursuance of this popular policy. Extensive properties--mostly held by absentees--had been purchased by the State, and resold to the occupiers on easy terms, ranging from 5s. to 10s. or 12s. per acre. The last great property thus purchased by the Government, with the view of being resold, belonged to the representatives of the late Sir Samuel Cunard. It consisted of 212,000 acres, partly reclaimed and partly in the wilderness state, and was sold for 53,0001. British money; the purchase money including a considerable sum in arrears, generously flung into the bargain, or indeed practically given up. There being no difference of opinion with respect to the policy of converting tenancy into fee-simple proprietorship, and the only dispute being as to the best or speediest mode by which this conversion can be accomplished, it is probable that a short time will be sufficient to bring about a satisfactory solution of the 'difficulty' which has its origin in the Land Question of Prince Edward Island.
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