The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1879-09-12

oachSon was dylnS, nc SAID IN MS dellr.um,
"lct us cross over the river aud rest in the
shade of the trees"
AS the years pass by the Confederate
soldier fu'tils these dying words of the great
Jackson The ranSs are slowly forming
over the river. The great Captain is alrea-
dy there, and one by one his generals arc
taking their places by his side, and the
brave men who followed them are slowly
crossing to their rest under the shade of
the trees of the Paradise of God.
,sesas lsEsass s,si';r A. n; 2 :s A I, @
Sroweh of$ trouble, ntfc snsa6d siggt
ieant than the chronic politician broils which
afflict that lovely ISLE The riot at Lurgan
on last Lady Day" took the conventional
form of Il conflict between the police aud
the Home Rule mob, the Orangmen acting
i'll this instance on y as sort Of proximatc
causes of the row. The efforts of Home
Ruler to ''gct att an autagonistic Orange
man led to the arrest Of the former and of
course, as 4 natural consequence, to an at
tempt at rescue. Thcu the police fired
on the mob, several persons were killed or
wounded. and coroncrs inquest was held
in which the Orangcmcn had majority
Of the jury, and brought in verdict
justifyiny the police. a minority verdict
signed by eleven Home Rulers found the
facts exactly the other way, and so Irish
opinion is, as usual, divided, and when Par.
Lament meets again new cause for agta-
tion will be ready for the honorable mem.
bcrS.
But at the bottom Of the present distur.
banee is more important and ominous
question than the difference between Orange
and Green. y movement has been recently
started looking to the abolition of the pres
ent Land laws Of Ireland which promises
to cause most serious trouble in the immc>
diate future. Parliament ut its last session
repealed the act making it illegal for any
number of persons to meet in Ireland as a
convention" elected to represent special
classes or interests in the country, and the
result has been that already convention
has met at Castlebar and has established
The National Land League of Mayo
with most elaborate and .eemgrehensiye
providing Of machinery "fof the protection,
as far as may be, OF the tillers Of the soil
from rack renting landowners, and the
ultimate abolition OF the present Land
laws Of Ireland, and the substitution in
n their place Of such system as shall be
in accord with the social rights, the tradi-
tions, and the moral sentiments Of the Irish
race" The Irish landlords read this as
The starting of an agitation to abolish them
The Irish Land laws arc admittedly, even
now, largely in the interest of the landlords,
and if these laws are abolished, with such
substitution as that indicated, the landlords,
as an inevitable consequence, would go
overheard with them.
y movement like this presents plat
form upon which almost all the disaffcctcd
classes i'll Ireland can stand together. AS
u matter of fact both Fcnians aud Orange
mn~. p~n."~t"".o ."d O".hulive, o,o cur
mlttcd to its support. The breaking up of
the great landed estates aud the establish
mcnt at peasant proprietary arc advocated
by Journals representing all shades of poit
lcal opinion. AS the case now stands, three
persons own over 5000 900 acres
Of Irish land, twelve Of the three hundred
owning 1927, ,SSS acres between them.-
The agricultural population have no inter
est in the soil, and their condition, even in
times Of comparative prosperity, is most
degrading and dcplorablc. But the pres
ent time Is one of unusual depression. The
annual return of the Registrar General for
Ireland shows Il decrease within the wear of
20, 600 milch COWS, over II 900 sheep and
l?1 400 pigs. The potato crop shows signs
Of rot, and is said indeed to be in condi-
ton closely resembling that of the ever
year 1913 And, to crown all,
the effect Of American competition upon
the cattle market has been most disastrous.
American live stock and American meat
can be carried from America to England
us chcaply as from Ireland to England, and
OF course this means ruin to the Irish era.
zicls.
1t is probable, therefore. that this agita.
tion over the Land laws will have very i'm
portant consequences. From every point
OF view the question is bcsct with difficulty,
and, with a turbulent and discontcntcd pop
uIation ut their back, the Irish agitators
will be certain to give serious trouble. Eng
land has her hands full already without
this additional problem. 1t remains to be
seen how Parliament will deal with it.
NcpS and C""ri,r.
.