Another way in which Gladstone attempted to pacify Ireland was through the First Irish Land Act of 1870, this helped to pacify Ireland as the force of law was given to tenant right. No tenant could be evicted provided he paid his rent on time
when a tenant gave up his farm at the end of a lease the landlord had to pay the tenant for whatever improvements the tenant might have made on the farm (e.g. by adding buildings, drainage, roads). This did not apply if the tenant was evicted for non-payment of rent the "Bright Clauses" attempted to help tenants to buy land, so that they would no longer be tenants. Not many could take advantage of this. It had been clear for many decades (and certainly since the Potato Famine) that there were numerous problems on the land in Ireland. However, coming up with a solution was far from easy, especially since so many competing interests (and some of them in the British Parliament) were tied up on the land. Gladstone concluded that the main problem lay in the relationship between the landlord and tenant (who required greater economic security). The vast majority of Irish Farmers were known as ‘tenants-at-will’. This meant that they could be evicted with little notice and no compensation, after what might have been a lifetime of toil on the land. Under these circumstances there was a great deal of rural uncertainty and no real incentive for tenants to improve their land. Gladstone’s legislation, whilst undoubtedly well intentioned, fell short of the 3 F’s (fair rent, fixity of tenure & free sale) demanded by pressure groups such as the Tenant League. Gladstone tried to achieve his aims of pacifying Ireland as he hoped to strengthen the bond between the landlord and tenant, so that Irish landlords would become more like their English counterparts – ‘a position…marked by residence, by personal familiarity, and by sympathy with the people among whom they live.’
However, although the Irish Land Act passed through Parliament with little opposition, there were a number of problems with the Bill. It was very difficult to define precisely where the ‘Ulster Custom’ existed. The land sale clause also had little impact because there was little incentive for landlords to sell and few tenants could afford the one-third they were required to raise. The eviction clauses had little impact because there was no provision to control rents. It could also be argued that the Land Act did not really address the true problems in Ireland as they existed in the early 1870’s. Poverty was perhaps not due primarily to the attitudes and actions of landlords, but resulted from a lack of economic growth and cultivable land. In the 20 years after the famine rents were moderate and evictions were few. Furthermore, some of the weaknesses of the legislation were masked by the fact that industry was enjoying a period of prosperity at the time.
Gladstone also tried to pacify Ireland through reforms in education. University reform was much needed since although Catholics controlled a number of small colleges, they had no major degree-awarding institutions of their own. Trinity College Dublin was an Anglican foundation and the non-denominational colleges established by Peel in the 1840’s were denounced by the Catholic clergy. Gladstone’s plan was a new national, non-denominational University of Dublin, which would embrace both Trinity College and the present/future Catholic colleges. There were a number of potential problems with such a measure. One issue was how to teach controversial subjects such as History and Theology. Trinity College also had no desire to be involved in such an institution. However, the biggest stumbling block was proviso that any new Catholic college would not receive any state grant. In March 1873 the Irish Universities Bill was defeated in the Commons by 3 votes, due to the abstentions or opposition of Irish Liberal MPs. Gladstone subsequently resigned, but Disraeli declined to take office, so the Liberal Government limped on until the 1874 General Election. However, it was about this time that an Irish Home Rule Party (also referred to as the Irish Parliamentary Party) was beginning its rise to a position from where it could mount a serious challenge to the established political parties.
The final way in which Gladstone attempted to achieve his aim of pacifying Ireland was through Home Rule. Gladstone promptly introduced his 1st Home Rule legislation to Parliament, which contained 2 main Bills. The decision to introduce Home Rule in such haste was a huge gamble, which did not pay off. Gladstone allowed himself no time to unite the Liberal Party around his proposals (it had of course not been part of the Liberals election campaign). His haste was also possibly due to a miscalculation regarding the revolutionary potential in Ireland at the time. It was these circumstances that prompted Lord Randolph Churchill’s famous remark that Gladstone was ‘an old man in a hurry.’ Gladstone introduced his Home Rule Bill to the Commons on 8 April in a 3 and a half hour speech. He ended with a famous appeal to the Commons, since he believed this was perhaps the final opportunity to solve Ireland’s problems peacefully. Parnell supported the Bill ‘I accepted the Bill as a final settlement of our national question and I believe the Irish people will accept it.’ He did however believe that some of the financial arrangements were unfair on Ireland. However, the Bill was bitterly opposed by the Conservatives and some leading Liberals including Joseph Chamberlain and Lord Hartington.
By 1885 Gladstone realised that he had failed in his attempts to pacify Ireland through religious and land reform and vested his hopes in the issue of Home Rule. However, again the political and economic reality had escaped him. Gladstone completely underestimated the obstacles that stood in the way of Home Rule, he ignored the significant unionist sentiment in his party, the problem of Ulster and perhaps most formidably the House of Lords, dominated by staunch Unionist feelings. When Gladstone’s support for Home Rule was publicly announced a Liberal resolution on Home Rule was put to the Commons. The resolution passed, Parliament was dissolved and Gladstone thus set up his 3rd ministry with the aim of achieving Home Rule. He lost no time in ‘grasping the Irish nettle’, a ‘faux pas’ which would prove fatal for the administration. There were 2 fundamental flaws with the first Home Rule Bill. The first was not so much in reference to the Bill itself but rather to Gladstone’s tactics, ‘the task he had now set himself was undertaken in the worst possible circumstances’. He failed to educate either the electorate or his party about Home Rule, about his hopes or intentions for Irish legislative independence. What is more, Gladstone failed to take into account the disunity within his party, and he could achieve little without a strong and united party. Professor Southgate wrote what Home Rule did was to ‘turn the growing tide of seceders into a flood by presenting a major and dramatic issue’. Loyalty to the Union superseded loyalty to the ‘Grand Old Man’, the Bill failed and the ministry broke up. Despite this rebuff, even in the face of the deep diversity of opinion within his own party, Gladstone did not lose any of his ardour for Home Rule and attempted another Home Rule Bill in 1893. He faced the same problems as in 1886, and once again failed to fully consider the problem of Ulster, it seemed beyond him to understand that Home Rule could not work in Ireland if it included Ulster with its built in allegiance to the Union. Due to the complexity of Home Rule and in the face of such incredible opposition especially in the Unionist House of Lords, Home Rule was doomed to fail from the outset. Even many committed Gladstonians considered that ‘to continue with it in such circumstances seemed…sheer perversity’. The Bill failed and Gladstone resigned within months.
In conclusion Gladstone’s mission to pacify Ireland had its successes and failures. The successes were the Irish Church Act, since it removed the major religious grievances of the Irish Catholics. It did not by any means solve religious differences, Protestants still owned much of the land, and they still dominated the resented landlord class. The consequences of the act were more symbolic than practical, it did very little to pacify Ireland. Some historians have gone further to say that the Land Act was more to the advantage of Gladstone than it was to the people of Ireland and that it was simply a political stroke to ‘bind Ireland to the Union…by proving that the Westminster Parliament was prepared to legislate for what the mass of Irish people considered to be their legitimate grievances’. Overall Gladstone failed in his attempts to pacify Ireland as most of his acts and reforms failed and the final Home Rule Bill led to him resigning within months of it.
