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THE NEW IRELAND.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

THE NEW IRELAND. An interesting and instructive lecture on Ireland and the Empire, from an Irish point of view, was delivered at the Carmel Chapel P.S.A., Woolwich, on Sunday afternoon last, by Mr. Mathew Keating, M.P., one of the young stalwarts of the Irish Nationalist Party in the House of Commons. The chair was occupied by the Rev. T. Jenkins Jones, who, like Mr. Keating, is a Mountain Ash Boy," but differing in the fact that he is born of Welsh parentage. In introducing the lecturer, Mr. Jones paid him a glowing tribute as a nationalist of the front rank and a liberal supporter of the claims of all small nations. Mr. Keating was accorded a hearty recep- tion, and during his address said that "all men are nationalists, and Irishmen do not differ from their fellowmen in this respect. You are all familiar with the beautiful lines of Campbell, the great Scotch poet- Breathes there a man with soul so dead Who to himself that hath not said- This is my own, my Native Land. The spirit of nationality is one of the strongest forces in life. A French writer describes nationality as a community of memories and hopes. Every true man loves his race and his country, and an Irishman is no exception to this rule. "It is not my purpose, however, to dwell on the memories of the past, but to define the hopes of the future, and to point out, as far as I am able, the best means of realising them. But in order to make matters clear, it is necessary for me to deal, as briefly as I can, with the past and present relations of Ireland and the Empire. The British Empire is the greatest and the most marvel- lous organisation that the world has ever seen. These islands on the north-west of Europe form the pivot upon which rests the greatest amalgamation of races and nations that civilisation has ever known. It has been constructed partly by conquest and partly by consent. For centuries after the Normans came to England, the English, Scotch,Welsh and Irish were engaged in war and turmoil. Welsh political institutions were crushed out early in the struggle, but they became reconciled by obtaining equal rights with their fellow-subjects, and by the recognition of the eldest son of the Sovereign as Prince of Wales. Scotland eventually became re- conciled by the fact that a Scottish King inherited the English Throne. They obtained equal rights, and were allowed to retain most of their own national institutions. The colonists from these islands who went to America overthrew British in stitutions there, and created an independent republic, because they would not submit to being taxed by the British Parliament. The statesmen of that age regarded the colonies as mere financial tributaries, but the colonists were strong enough to resist them. In the future development of the Empire, this lesson was not lost, and all British Colonies are now self-governing nations. Ireland is the most remote country in Europe. The Romans never went to Ireland. She was one of the earliest to embrace Christianity, and in the early centuries the spirit of Christianity and culture was so prominent that she earned the title of the Island of Saints and scholars. The Danes were their greatest enemies, but, finally, they were overthrown about the same time that the Normans came to England. The native chieftains never amalgamated their interests, and so the conquering Norman soon found an excuse to visit Ireland, and to technically annex it to England. I use the word technically, because Ireland was not thoroughly conquered in the military sense for centuries afterwards. The English I Sovereign was continually at war with his Irish subjects, and the rivalry between the English and Irish nations became embittered at the time of the Reformation, so to the national war was super-added the religious war. The military power of Ireland was shattered for the time being by Cromwell. The Irish took the side of King Charles. But the Army of Ironsides destroyed, not only the King's troops in Great Britain, but the more or less independent troops in Ireland, who supported him. During these centuries the land of Ireland was gradually confiscated by the British Parliament, and English, Scotch and Welsh settlers were planted on the land, and the native Irish were dispossessed of their property. Con- sequently, the population became divided into two classes. The native Irish who escaped slaughter and transportation re- mained in hopeless and helpless poverty. The settlers possessed the land and government of the country. The final blow to the Irish military, however, was dealt by William Prince of Orange, and he was assisted by the settlers, who adopted the name of Orangemen. The Irish troops surrendered at Limerick on certain conditions. The Irish general, Garsfield, disbanded his troops, many of whom went to the Continent and served under France, Austria, and Spain. The conditions of surrender were ignored subsequently, and Limerick is known to this day as the City of the Violated Treaty.' Having dealt with the many Irish grievances in the past and the misrule under England, the lecturer went on to remark that- The first glimmer of liberty afforded the Irish people was the Emancipation Act of 1829, which allowed Catholics to vote and sit in Parliament. The abolition of the Established Church in Ireland in 1868 was another step forward. Up to 1880 the agricultural tenants in Ireland were the veriest slaves of the land- lord, who was merely a drawer of rent. The great bulk of the people of Ireland are engaged in the agricultural industry, and the landlord had the power of life and death over them. The great series of Land Acts initiated by Gladstone in 1881 have changed all this. The Irish farmer can now pur- chase his holding if the landlord agrees, and the State advances the money to be repaid in 68tt years, including capital and interest. 2 The urban district councils can borrow money to build suitable cottages for agri- cultural labourers, and over 50,000 of these cottages have been built which the labourer enjoys, with an acre of land, at an average rental of Is. per week. Great improvements have been made in providing funds for Primary and Intermediate Education, and for a National University, at which Catholics may attend without conscientious objections. All these reforms have altered the situation of the agricultural population to such an extent that I am personally of opinion that we have seen the end of the period of social and economic discontent in Ireland. There is an entirely new spirit in existence. With the disappearance of these grievances there has been a revival of the Irish language and literature, and a de- termined attempt to save existing Irish industries and promoting new ones. The The question of political discontent remains. Over three-fourths of the population cherish the national ideal of a native Parliament for dealing with purely Irish and domestic affairs. The other fourth is opposed to it partly because of personal interest in the shape of Government salaries and partly through fear that Catholics will persecute Protestants. On this aspect of the question I would advance two points for considera- ion. The first is, that purely Catholic counties in Ireland enthusiastically support Protestants who are in sympathy with their political aspirations. Most of the Irish National leaders have been Protestants, such as Woolfe Tone, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Gratton, and Flood, in past generations, and John Mitchell, Isaac Butt, and Charles Stuart Parnell in modern times. Indeed, the only prominent Catholic National leaders of Ireland are Daniel O'Connell in the past, and John Redmond, the distinguished Irish leader, at the present time. The second point is, that Protestants are eagerly sup- ported for positions on public bodies and for public appointments in Catholic counties whenever they are in sympathy with the people. I regret to say that in the few Protestant counties in Ireland there is scarcely a single position allotted to Catholics. If further evidence may be quoted I would refer to the singular fact which emerged from the last election. It is well-known that Messrs. William O'Brien and Timothy Healy and their few followers are out of touch with the rest of their colleagues. In their constituencies they received the sup- port of the Orange bigots, and of Cardinal Logue and Archbishop Walsh, against the Irish Party candidates. Another fact to be remembered in this connection is this. In most of the British constituencies you will find that the average Irish Catholic supports the democratic party, whilst the average English Catholic supports the Tories and Unionists, who are opposed to a Catholic country like Ireland. In my judgment it is wholly fallacious to assume that men hold- ing the same religious views will act together in political affairs. I should like to deal, before I finish, with the theory that the Irish are essentially opposed to the Empire. Now that is a most ludicrous argument. The Empire is very largely managed by the Civil Service, the Army, and the Navy, and it is no exaggera- tion to say that, in the absence of other em- ployment, a tremendous number of Irishmen flock into these services. I think I am well within the mark when I say that over half of our Civil Servants are Irish, and the Army and Navy are largely composed of Irishmen. If you scan the list of Colonial appointments, such as governors, &c., you will find a large number of Irish names. No, the hostility of Irishmen is not directed against the Empire, but against the system of British Rule in Ireland against the system of maintaining a useless horde of officials and policemen, who are a burden upon the people against a system of taxation which extracts from Ireland an annual amount of over two millions more than she is entitled to con- tribute against an old, antiquated, tyran- nical bureaucracy like Dublin Castle. The solution is to give Ireland a representative body which will legislate for Ireland and administrate Irish revenue for the benefit of the people. Let the Imperial Parliament have full and unquestioned control over Imperial affairs, such as Army, Navy, and Foreign affairs."

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