The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-11-13 00:00:00

THE LAND AGITATION IN IRELAND.

A great land meeting was held at Athlone on Sun-
day, when the platform fell and more than one hun-
dred persons were precipitated to the ground, but no
serious injuries were reported. Mr. Parnell spoke to
a resolution cautioning farmers not to become tenants
of land,from which another tenant had been evicted.
He declared that that magnificent demonstration was
the first answer of Ireland to the attempt of the
Government to strike down the leaders of the people.
Those who had commenced the agitation would
never cease fighting until their aim was ac-
complished. They had given the Government time
to inquire into this land question, but what had
been proposed for the benefit of the farmers of
Ireland had been thrown out by the House of
Lords. He condemned the action of the Execu-
tive in organising the Land Commission on which
there was no representative of the tenant farmers,
and sending thousands of police into the starved
counties of Galway and Mayo to be supported by
tenants, ninety per cent of whom had been ill receipt
of relief from America and almost every other place
with the exception of England last winter. The Go-
vernment having failed in giving them redress it was
full time they took off their coats and saw what they
could do themselves. When every county in Ireland
was organized they would put an end to coercion.
First they wanted low rents, and afterwards total
abolition of rents. They would never cease until the
men were owners of the soil they tilled.

With respect to the State prosecutions, the Dublin Corre-
spondent of The Tznies, under date November 7, writes :

"The country has had fuE time to express its
opinion of the prosecutions, and it must be admitted
by every candid observer that the expression of in-
tense and bitter indignation which they have called
forth is very limited. It might have been supposed
that every district would be, ablaze with excitement,
and that the passion of the people would have
found vent in some emphatic, not to say formidable
demonstrations. But, on the contrary, the news
has been received as calmly as if it referred to
mere ordinary and not unexpected occurrences. Of
course, the various branches of the Land League
have quivered when the trunk was shaken, and
there is a rustle and angry murmur in the leaves,
but the scene around is tranquil and serene. Those
who expected to see a political earthquake, a great up-
heaval of the masses, threatening to bury society in
ruins, will be disappointed, and must look out for
some other sensational event. It may be that the
calm is more alarming, and that under the quiet sur-
face there are elements of danger collecting which will
some day burst forth to startle and affright the world.
Timid people talk despondingly of the ominous state
of things which they see around them, men carrying
arms at all times with a confident and even defiant
air, clubs forming in the souther' and western dis-
tricts and practising rifle shooting under the eyes of
the police, and flaunting their license in the faces of
the constables if they challenge their right; bodies of
men marching here and there in military style,
obedient to the orders of appointed leaders, under
national banners, and displaying significant emblems,
the mixture of trained Militia among them to teach
them something more than the goose-step; and more
than all the infusion of a reckless spirit imported from
and the temptation held out to the people in
the tangible form of the land which they covet. These
timid people are alarmed when they see the movement
extending, and the leaders of it still telling the people
to "organise, organise, organise." They watch with dis-
may and sometimes feel the effects which immediately
follow in the wake of the movement in acts of violence and
systematized intimidation ;,...,and they picture to them-
selves a terrible catastrophe when the evil which is
now only growing and yet is so noxious shall have been
fully matured. They are earnest in warning otheis,
and especially the Government, against underrating
the greater danger which lurks under that which they
now admit to be serious. It has been too much the
practice, they say, to pooh-pooh and ridicule the notion
of an insurrectionary movement because the abortive
and absurd attempts of 1848 and 1867 always occur to
the mind in connexion with the idea; but they contrast
the position of the country now and in those times,
and point to the proofs of a more complete organiza-
tion, with an ample supply of arms, and without the
re ,ressive powers which the Government then possessed.
They remind those who do not share these fears that
the rebellion of 1108 was confined to two or three
counties, and yet gave great trouble to the authorities
to put down after it had been partially successful, and
inflicted great suffering on the loyalist classes, although
the insurgents were only armed with pikes and scythes,
and the country was covered with Yeomanry, and the
gentry in every county prepared for an outbreak.

"It is not easy to allay the apprehensions of such
persons' but as the Governnient has been fitting up
barracks in the West and distributing troops, it must
be assumed that they are quite alive to any possible
danger of any insurrectionary movement, and prepare
to crush it if it should be attempted. There is no
sign, however, beyond the circumstances referred to
which warrant any fear wf a popular rising, although
it diay be. part of the policy of the agitators to en-
courage the idea of such a contingency, in order to
overawe their opponents and influence the action of
the Government. There is certainly no expression
of public feeling which would lead any intelligent
observer to suppose that the people are deeply moved
by the prosecution of the Land Leaguers, and ready
to do some desperate act in their wild exaspera-
tion. The truest test of popular passion, after
all, is the money test. They have been appealed to
for subscriptions to the Defence Fund with all the
earnestness of the Freeman's Journal, and what is the
response? The list was headed with a donation of £5O
by that journal It now amounts to exactly £lBO Os.
There are 14 contributions amounting to £O5 Os.
to-day, of which four are members of Parliament asso-
ciated with the Land Leaguers, and these give £25,
leaving ten to represent the Irish nation with an
enthusiastic subscription of £4O Os. No doubt the list
has been open only two days, but such distant places as
Athenry and Cork have seen it and have sent in their
offerings'and the appeal has been long enough before
the citizens of Dublin, the merchants and traders,
who owe so, much to the agitators for the great influx
of customers which they have had and the
large pi-ofits they have Made during the last
two years. It might have been expected that there
would have been a spontaneous outburst of grati-
tude and sympathy for the distinguished leaders
who have been labouring so successfully to promote
the prosperity of the country. In „Qtriking contrast
with the response to the appeal for the Defence .Fund,
is that given to the appeal on behalf of Captain
Boycott. A sum of £5OO was asked for to enable a
gentleman, who volunteered to do so, to bring down
a body of labourers to save his crops. Within four
days the money was forthcoming, and more than £250
beyond the required sum has been subscribed. In
fact, it became necessary to refuse any further sub-
scriptions, and the relief expedition is now being
actively organized. The public may be excused if
they are reluctant to contribute to the Land .League
Defence Fund, as there is a very strong belief that the
League has a very full exchequer, although they do
not like to dip into it for the purpose of giving fees to
lawyers."

In noticing the case of Captain Boycott, the Daily
Telegraph remarks :

" One-of the historical difficulties of ruling Ireland is pre-
sented in a piece of news that comes from the North. The
position of Captain Boycott in Mayo has naturally aroused
considerable indignation and sympathy among the Pro-
testants of Ulster. Besides being agent to Lord Erne, he
also occupies land of his own ; and his sense of duty to his
employer hasoinfluenced him to remain at li!s post under
circumstances sufficiently serious to daunt even a brave man.
The whole mass of the peasantry around him have entered
into a conspiracy ; and some through hatred, others through
fear, shun his house and his lands. His farm servants have
been frightened away ;• he cannot even get messengers
to take his letters and telegrams to the post, and he
and his wife, aided by an English bull-dog, and watched at
every step by two armed constables, are obliged to herd five
hundred sheep, while his potato and other • crops lie un-
gathered, and in ajew weeks must rot in the ground. Some
days ago he went into the neighbouring town, and had to be
rescued by the police and military from a furious mob. In
Dublin a fund has been raised to send down, from the North,
five hundree labourers, to help the beleagured agent. The
money has been subscribed and the men are ready to start.
But it is well known that a band of strangers thus descend-
ing upon Mayo would be met by, at least as many thousands
of the disaffected peasantry, and it has been, there-
fore, suggested that the - emigrants from the North
should be armed. No Government, however, could
permit such a direct beginning of civil war. The
importation 'of Northern labourers may be as right
as it is necessary, but if they require protection it ought to
be given by police, and they must not only
encamp on Cap-
tain Boycott's farm, hut bring their own provisions with
them. They would be surrounded during their stay by a
fiercely hostile population, and their presence would add
tenfold to au already intense local excitement. From the
point of view of a far-sighted politician there are other objec-
tions to this calling in of the North. The men who propose
to come are inflamed altogether by sectarian hatred ; they
wish to invade Mayo, not because it is disaffected, but be-
cause it is Roman Catholic. They represent the combative
Protestantism of the Orange faction, and the consequences
of a collision between that element and its hereditary rival
are usually disastrous and sometimes fatal."

Writing on Monday from Dublin, the Corre-
spondent of The Times says :
"The case of Captain Boycott has assumed a new phase,
and is causing considerable excitnuent. Reports received
from Westport to-day stated that it was rumoured that a
large body of Orangemen were about to march from Ulster to
Captain Boycott's residence, and a collision was apprehended.
The news was conveyed to the Land League here, and
telegrams were despatched in various directions in conse-
qunice. There was no foundation, however, for the report.
The movement started in Belfast for the relief of Captain
Boycott was originated by a gentleman, who, under the
name "Combination," wrote to the Daily Express, offering
to head a party of men to save Captain Boycott's
crops if the sum of 400 were subscribed to defray
the expenses. Nearly ZSOO was subscribed in a few days,
and all that remained to be done was to organise the
party Offers of hundreds of men came from various parts
of the north, but the projectors of the expedition and a
few volunteers who joined in carrying out the arrangements
resolved to limit the number to 100, lest it should be sup-
posed that they were going to make an armed demonstration.
It was thought right by some of the promoters of the un-
dertaking, as they were on the eve of starting, to apprise
the Government of their intention, so that protection might
be afforded and all riots and disturbances avoided, but the
authorities at Dublin Castle, the Lord-Lieutenant, the
Chief-Secretary, and the Attorney-General, had a confer-
ence to-day on the subject, and determined not to allow so
large a party of armed men to go through the country at
a time of great popular excitement, being of opinion that,
, in the circumstances, it would be illegal and be cal-
' culated to provoke a preach of the peace. They held that
the proposed number was unnecessary for the object
avowed. In a letter from Captain roycott it was stated
that 20 men would be sufficient to save his crops, and they
undertook to guarantee' the protection of the number he
required, but would not permit any more to proceed. It is
stated on the part of a gentleman who was engaged in the
matter that so small a narty as 20 men, unarmed, would not
be induced to go, and that a larger number will certainly
be required, as the tenant farmers and farm labourers who
have offered their services could not afford to remain more
than three or four days, and that Captain Boycott
could not have known that fact when lie stated that 20 men
would be enough, but must have contemplated the employ-
ment of a small force for a much longer period. An applica-
tion was made to the Midland Great Western Railway Com-
pany for a special train to bring the contingents from a
specified place to Galway, whence they were to proceed by
steamer to Lough Mask-house, and the directors agreed to
give It; but later in the afternoon the chairman and traffic
manager declined. to give it unless the safety of the train
was guaranteed, as they apprehended that an attempt
would be made to upset it, so the matter now stands at a
deadlock. The Government are ready to protect twenty
labourers or more, if Captain Boycott requires them, but
refuse to allow so large a number of armed men as " Com-
bination " and his friencb thin% it necessary to bring with