hich is forthcoming to meet sales already effected.
By the financial provisions of the statute, so as not to demoralise the
market, a definite check was put upon the issue of the land stock, and
just before the late Government resigned Mr. Long, as Chief Secretary,
made a proposal, which was not received with enthusiasm by the parties
concerned, that the landlords should in future be paid partly in stock
at a nominal value and partly in cash. Nothing has since been done, and
the only step taken so far has been the appointment of a judge in
addition to those formerly so engaged, to accelerate the judicial
inquiries necessitated by the process of transfer. The whole cost of the
finance of the Act falls on the Irish taxpayer, and before the
introduction of Mr. Wyndham's proposal the idea was mooted--only to be
abandoned--of reviving a proposal made by Sir Robert Giffen in the
_Economist_ twenty years ago, which would have made the annuities paid
on purchase the basis of the funds from which the local bodies in
Ireland would draw their revenue, while the Imperial Exchequer would be
relieved to an equivalent amount by deductions from its grants to local
services.

The cost of the flotation of the Land Stock is borne by the Irish
Development Fund of L185,000 per annum, which is the share of Ireland,
equivalent to the grant for the increased cost of education in England
under the Act of 1902. More than one-half of this fund has already been
hypothecated for the costs of flotation of the twenty millions of Land
Stock which have already been issued, and under the present system of
finance, after a further issue of another twenty millions of stock, the
whole loss will be thrown on the County Councils, and through them on
the ratepayers, who have already been called upon to pay L70,000 to meet
certain of the losses in this connection, which amount to twelve per
cent. of the value of the stock floated.

The breaking up of the grazing lands, which in many instances the
landlords are keeping back from the market, has not met with much
success under the Act, and it is difficult to see how compulsion is to
be avoided if the country is to be saved from the economically
disastrous position of having established in it a number of occupying
owners on tenancies which are not large enough to secure to them a
living wage.

Under the Land Act of 1891 was created the Congested Districts Board,
with an annual income of L55,000, for the purpos