l based on the "three F.s"--fair
rent, free sale, and fixity of tenure--but it was rejected by 290 votes
to 56, and several other amending Bills were thrown out by the House of
Commons between 1876 and 1879. In 1880 the Government were at last
stirred to action in the introduction of the Compensation for
Disturbance Bill, which caused the retirement of Lord Lansdowne from the
Cabinet, and was followed by threats of resignation on the part of the
Duke of Argyll. Under the Act of 1870 only those occupiers were entitled
to claim compensation for disturbance whose rents were not in arrear. By
this Bill it was proposed to extend the right to that claim to all those
who were unable to pay as a result of bad harvests, and who were willing
to hold their farms on just and reasonable terms, which the landlord
refused.

After passing through the House of Commons, in spite of Lord Randolph
Churchill's denunciation of it as the first step in a social war, the
Bill, although there had been a large majority in its favour in the
lower House, was thrown out by the House of Lords at a time when the
need for remedial legislation was illustrated by the presence in Ireland
of 30,000 soldiers and 12,000 policemen for the protection of life and
property.

The Royal Commission, under the chairmanship of Lord Bessborough, which
was then appointed, reported in the following year that the Land Act of
1870 afforded no protection to the tenant who remained in his holding,
since compensation for improvements could only be claimed on giving up a
tenancy. The Commissioners, by a majority of four to one, declared
themselves in favour of the "three F.s," which the leader of the
Opposition denounced as "Force, Fraud, and Folly," and the Commissioners
justified their attitude by this statement, which was echoed by the
Richmond Commission, which reported soon after,--"freedom of contract,
in the case of the majority of Irish tenants, large and small, does not
really exist," the reason being that tenants in occupation were ready to
pay any rent rather than sacrifice the capital and labour they had sunk
in their holdings. The good seasons after 1870 had made this rise in
rent possible, but with the bad winter of 1880 the results became
disastrous.

In this manner the "three F.s," which the Land League demanded, and
which were secured by the Act of 1881, were conceded against the will of
the Government by sheer force of circumstances. A rumour which gained