ish Exchequer receives 4 per cent. on
the net rental only. The repayment of the interest due by the Irish
Authority to the English Exchequer is in no wise dependent on the
punctual payment of their annuities by the Irish tenants, nor does the
English Government in any way figure as the landlord or creditor of the
Irish tenants. The annuities payable by the tenants are due to the Irish
Government, and collected by them, while the interest due to the English
Government is a charge on the whole of the Irish Government funds; and
further, these funds themselves are paid into the hands of the Imperial
officer, whose duty it is to liquidate the debt due to his master, the
Imperial Exchequer, before a sixpence can be touched by the Irish
Government. It is not, then, any exaggeration to say that the Land
Purchase Bill of 1886 provides for the settlement of the Irish Land
question without any appreciable risk to the English Exchequer, and with
the advantage of securing a fair price for the landlord, a diminution of
annual payments to the tenant with the ultimate acquisition of the fee
simple, also a gain of no inconsiderable sum to the Irish Exchequer. In
order to obviate the difficulties attending the investigation of title
and transfer of the property, the Bill provides, as stated above, that
on the completion of the agreement for the sale between the landlord and
the Commission, the holding shall vest at once in the tenants: it then
proceeds to declare that the claims of all persons interested in the
land shall attach to the purchase-money in the same manner as though it
were land. The duty of ascertaining these claims and distributing the
purchase-money is vested in the Land Commission, who undertake the task
in exchange for the 1 per cent. which they have, as above stated,
deducted from the purchase-money as the cost of conducting the complete
transfer of the estate from the landlord to the tenants. The difficulty
of the process of dealing with the purchase-money depends, of course, on
the intricacy of the title. If the vendor is the sole unencumbered
owner, he is put in immediate possession of the stock constituting the
price of the estate. If there are encumbrances, as is usually the case,
they are paid off by the Land Commission. Capital sums are paid in full;
jointures and other life charges are valued according to the usual
tables. Drainage and other temporary charges are estimated at their
present value, permanent rent-