The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 2, 1919, Page 5

Lord Scully s American Tenants Revolt Illln01s Farmers Who Pay Tribute to Irish Noble Go to Legislature to Save By Special Correspondent HIS“is Grundy county, geograph- ically a part of the state of Illinois. Really it is a part of the estate of William Secully. The name “William Scully” is written over two whole town- ships and portions of other townships in the-county map at the recorder of deeds’ office in And 70 farmers of Grundy county the courthouse. pay tribute to— Lord Scully, X ~Scully Castle, Ireland. Mostly they are of Scandinavian ancestry, all good Americans now, and from whose farms went nearly 100 sons to fight for world democracy. Some of them haven’t returned yet. A few will never re- turn, except in spirit. It was for these boys that the good people of Grundy county put up a sign on their courthouse lawn. The sign reads: “WELLCOME HOME GRUNDY COUNTY BOYS.” ) _However, Lord Scully- has provided another 'sort of welcome home for the boys. He raised the rent they and their fathers have to pay. Lord Scully owns more .than 8,000 acres of the best farming land in Grundy county. He owns as much more in Living- ston county. He owns other farm acres in other Illinois counties. He owns 100,000 acres in Illinois. He owns about 200,000 acres in Nebraska, Kan- sas and the South. RENTS ARE RAISED TO $10 AN ACRE Lord Scully has been renting his Grundy county land to these farmers, some of whom have been on the land for a quarter of a century, at $6 an acre. In addition they had to seed in clover each year about a third of the land, and turn it under for fer- tilization. They had to furnish the seed and labor: Lord Scully furnished the " land for fertilization. Now Lord Scully in- sists they pay $10 an acre rent. He refuses to make leases for more than a year. He adheres to'the clover - seeding clause—at the ’ tenant’s .expense. He told them, when they said they couldn’t pay $10 an acre rent: “If you can’t pay, move. I can get other tenants in Europe who will be glad to come here.” But these Grundy coun- ty farmers own the build- ings on the land they rent " from Lord Scully. They own the barns, fences, or- chards, silos, windmills, everything which makes _of bare land a farm. When they put up. the ®improvements the old Lord Scully told them that they might stay as long as they pleased and that if they decided to quit he wouldn’t h§ would not pay the leaving tenant actual value for the improvements. The old Lord Scully kept his word. But he died. Not even a landlord can live forever, but the Lord Scully estate threatens to do that. Young Lord Scully, chief heir, came into power, over there in Scully castle, Ireland, and Scully mansion, London. Seventy years or so ago Lord William Scully came over to the United States. He was long and well experienced in landlordism, and knew how to . handle tenants. He knew about the “rack rent” sys- tem under which absentee landlordism had cut into the very heart and soul of Irish peasantry, and made of Ireland, for years, one vast poorhouse for the people. .. . Well,“this Lord Secully bought. 100,000 acres of Illinois land. He paid $3 an acre. He didn’t as much as turn over his hand to improve the land. He never dug one single fencepost hole. Never cut down a bush, and never planted a tree.. He went back -to Ireland, and from there, in the years to —Drawn expressly for the Leader by Congressman John M. Baer. Unorgamzed Farmer' “I’ve got to find some way to get out of this ho}e. I’d like to try that rope, but rent to a.eothertenantwho, L R e l’m afraid it might breuk." Homes When Rent Is Raised Again follow, managed his American estate through banks and bankers. Little by little, and year after year, Lord Scully boosted the rent on his Illinois subjects. Once the Illinois legislature aimed a legislative blow at for- eign landlordism, but it didn’t hit Lord Scully. He came over, stayed long enough to acquire legal resi- dence in Illinois, took out his naturalization papers, and sailed back to his British castle. Then, upon his father’s death, young Lord Scully took charge of things, including his American tenants. He raised rents faster and higher than his easygoing father ever had. He thought he had the farmers under his thumb because they had invested all their savings in farm improvements on his land. It wasn’t easy for them to move. Last summer these farmers were paying $6 an acre rent. None of them made any money for themselves. They were too much occupied making money for the young Lord Scully. He took the bit of extra profits war prices might have brought « | : . IN THE HOLE i them. But that wasn’ enough for this overseas landlord. He wanted more. Now, we’ll step back a few months. Lord Scully’s country— where he lives and plays the titled nobleman’s part in aristocratic society— was at war. All Great Britain and Ireland was fighting for liberty, free- dom, democracy, and the young men by the mil- lions ‘went into the bloody carnage to obtain those priceless principles of hu- manity. Young Lord Scul- ly didn’t go. Managing his American tenants kept him too busy to go to France to fight for his country. And his country called loudly and long to~ America for help — for men, for young men; such " as young Lord Scully. LORD SCULLY COMES - TO VIEW ESTATE And millions of “our young men sprang to arms, and we went over to . France to fight. And while we were do- ing this, indeed at the very moment when our boys were giving battle to the German enemy on the fields of France, Lord Scully left his castle to give battle with the Amer- ican tenants on his land in Illinois. He came over here in regal splendor, the well-groomed, haughty nobleman, to see what “the Grundy county peasants are doing.” Last October Lord Scul- ly came. He rode out among his tenants. They spoke to him, greeting him as one American greets his equal. Not one bowed low" before the young lord. That shocked him. Not a tenant took off his hat and stood with downcast eyes awaiting his lord’s com- mand. They looked him square ‘in the eye, and called him “Scully.” That angered the proud Lord Scully spirit. , He had expected to find cringing, scraping, bowing- peasantry, and what he saw was a bunch of cour- - ageous, upright, inde- pendent American farm- (Continued on page 14) et 1 ST f