The New York herald., 1879-10-10
Views of Prominent Nationalists
On the Situation.
DRIVE THE LANDLl RDS OUT
Nobody Knows Who Sent the Offer of
a Quarter OF a Million.

|
element that has grown out OF its agitation in Great
Britain. HERALD reporter called upon several
prominent Irish nationalists in this city yesterday
and learned from them that nothing. fur as they
knew, had been done in that direction. They could
not tell whethor any such despatch had been sent.
and. for the most part not willing to believe
that any such offer had been made by the national
lists. They talked very freely on the subject. Their
views are given below.
MR. pArhicK FORD ON THE MATTER.
The first person visited was Mr.. Patrick Ford. the
editor OF the Irish Wo'ld the organ OF the antrent
movement in Ireland He is regarded author
| ity on this question. and spoke quite freely
"You will perceive by the nows In TINS mornings
paper that it is stated that telegram had been
ceived in London from Now York guaranteeing the
sum OF s250.ooO IL an Irish member OF the advanced
party will visit tho United statesY asked tho HERALD
reporter of Mr.. Patrick Ford. "what do you know
| of such otfer?"
weli. know nothing at all OF it, Tho first knowl-
edge had of anything of the kind derived from
the HERALD itself. do not helieve, however. that
tho proposition emapated from any responsible
source"
"Havo you any idea as to who could have sent it9'
| "Well. cannot imagine"
| "If such telegram sent what could havo
been tho object OF the sender?"
"Not having any knowledge of the person who
"Do you think. supposing that tho telegram werc
genuine. 1t could be possible to raise that any
other sum of money for the purpose Of buying out
the landlords?"
"No, do not. In the first place, II would require
hundreds Of millions to buy out Ireland. and Irish
people in America have not the means. even had
they the WILL to do anything Of the sort. Then the
Irish mind is undergoing change this land
question. The idea is beginning to take hold
of the people that the natural gifts OF God
land. air. light and wator-are things not to be
bought sold; that these things the free gifts
OF the Creator to the whole human family that
reason and Scripture unite this point that moth
ing is e mans own property absolutely except it be
the result Of his labor. and thnt therefore, all the
improvements all the man-created wealth in Ireland
to-day is the property of the tiller of the SOIL"
HAVE SENT MILLIONS ALREADY.
"But $250.OOO is q small sum. comparatively
speaking. and might easily be bestowed for good
object by the Irish in this country. might 1t not9
"We don't know that any such sum offered at
ALL and is useless to speculate further It. OF
course the Irish In America willing to encourage
and contribute OF their means toward any move.
ment that looks to tho emancipation Of
their brethren across the sea- With respect
to tho question OF compensation, however. the
landlords have been paid twenty times
| which In equity they entitled to y far
naS % tne q soa isa iers
OF rents to the landlords one-third more than the
national debt OF the United states Ireland has
been bought and paid for twenty times and yet
tho Irishman does not own an inch OF Ireland
| 1t used to be joke that the Dutch have taken
Holland and I hope tho day is not tar distant when
the may be said in real earnest OF Ireland and
| tho Irish To-day somo twenty thousand men claim
to own all Ireland. Many OF the bogs morasses and
mountain sides. reclaimed by tho labor OF the peo-
ple and which. until that exclamation. utterly
worthless, yield princely Tribute to the ever
consuming and non-producng landlord. Many OF
those landlords tkuown absentees) not only be-
stow no labor or o,r. attention snt on the land. bus
amid tho disspations OF the gay capitals Europe
| London Paris. the 'hells' OF Baden Baden aud
the aaes sns in s
| money. He writes to his agent for It. The agent
puts on the scrows and tho tenant unable to meet
tor money to pay the rent and save HIS family
from eviction. For generation past many
| millions of dollars have gone from this side
TOR that purpose Into whose pockets does all this
Auorcan money. the absolute result OF Irish Amer-
can industry. find its way Maugre small portion
which paid tor passage tickets and other little
comforts to English steamship companies. tho great
tenants simply had the pleasure of handing it to the
agent. who surlily told them they could remain till
their masters ran short again.
OUT ISsTEAp BUYING OUT
In view OF those facts do not beliove that Irish
farce any longer Whatever money may be co"triS
uted will bc given. not to 'compenssto' the land
lords. but to drive them from the soil. We have
state OF war exists in ireland. For ages the land
lords on the ono side have been evicting the
people. It Is time for the people to set
about evicting the landlords. The Irish land
lord has no more right to compensation for
what he calls his property than the Southern slave
holder bad for what he called his property The
Irish landlord has not even as much right. for the
expressed will OF the American people, recognized
the proprietary rights Of the stakeholder In his
'chatteI slave Therefore the whole Ameri.
can people. sharing in that sin. bound to
the pccunary responsibility attending its expiation
Now, tho Anglo-irish land systom. which has cursed
/ hat m
fortunate people through Are and sword by
nslsna and 70 this day tho Irish peop, have never
There descendants, Mr.. Ford. in ireland of
English and Scotch men who settled there during
the times OF conhscaton. They ARE patriotic in
many instances and suffer equally with the rest OF
the tenantry to-day. Would you drive them out.
"No: certainly not. I regard them equally with
the Milesan. whether their ancestors came over
Cromwell or William III. To-day they all Irish
they arc not adventurous their fathers we're but
bond fde settlers on the island aud have acquired
right to their share OF the soil by their labor. On
this question have strong hope that the Irish peo
common PLATFORM aud that in the glo wing light now
dawning upon ireland the old and bitter feuds Of
the dark past will forever disappear"
MIR. JOHN DEvoY's VIEWS.
The next gentleman visited was Mr.. John Dewey,
tho well known nationalist and Fcnan exile. His
"Mr. Dewey, have you heard the statement con-
cerning the offer made to tho advanced party ire
| landY
III know nothing about It except tho fact of see.
| ing IL In the HkRALD." =
| do you think IL was gcnuino?"
mot in the that Il cmanated from anv
responsible nationalist In America. have no doubt
that some irresponsible party may have sent such n
telegram. We have q few dozen discont cntcd
persons who are continually postufng as the leaders
OF the national party In America aud trying to make
political capital out Of It. Somo of those people NAV
have sent such telegram; but representative OF
the organized nationasts had any ything to do with
it," -
.Do you suppose Mr.. Parncll or any of his party
will be influenced by II y"
IL think not but he would make n prcat mistake
IL he acted upon any thing vague"
THE SITUATION A NuIsuFrI.
Mr. Devoys attention was called To tho statement
made by Mr. Ford. aud he asked what was really
meant by driying ont rathnr than iur nut ha