Forster, on 18 June 1880 as a temporary measure to deal with a deteriorating situation in Ireland brought about by the Irish famine and Land League agitation.
[1] Sir Charles Russell made a reference to the Irish land question and the Bill in his speech at the Special Commission on Parnellism and Crime in early April 1889: It empowered courts in certain cases to compensate a tenant upon eviction even if the eviction was for non-payment of rent, provided that the tenant could prove that inability to pay was a direct result of agricultural and economic depression.
The Bill was to apply to designated areas in the west and south of Ireland for a period of eighteen months only.
Contemporary reports estimated that the House had rarely been so crowded as during the debate on this Bill which so deeply affected the landlord class.
Joseph Chamberlain remarked "The Bill is rejected; the civil war has begun".