Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-01-15
The Wrongs of Ireland.

"ateTs from the Ireen Isle. Under
the subjection of heartless landed
aristocracy, upheld by the power of
the British government, the condition
of the Irish peasantry has gone from
bad to worse until at this day it has
reached a depth of degradation and
poverty that excites the sympathy and
commisseration of the civilized world
outside of England. To add to the
misery of the poverty-stricken masses
a famine now stares them in the face,
and unless speedy and abundant re-
lief is afforded them by more favored
communities the misery and suffering
of men, women and children, in land
that should, and, under reasonable and
benign influences, would be one of the
garden spots of the earth, will be such
as the mind cannot conceive or pen
describe.
The wrongs of Ireland are an old
story. The policy of the British gov
ernment in its treatment of Ireland
and the Irish people has always been
narrow, selfish, overbearing and often
tyrannical in the extreme. The worst
of the evils under which the natives
of the country suffer flow from an un-
just and oppressive land system under
which the actual tillers of the soil are
at the mercy of few owners. Mr..
Parnell, the Irish member of Parlia-
ment, now in this country, asking aid
in behalf of his starving people, drew
the following sketch of the Irish land
system in his speech before a great au-
dience, at the Academy of Music, in
Philadelphia, on Saturday night;
1.-THE lands are In the hands OF two class.
Is directly opposed TO each other One class
are owners aud the other tillcrs On the
one hand the English conquerors, who came
and forcibly seized the lands, and whosare
| for the most part not residents OF Ireland
On the other hand NO have The Irish or
Celtic race, who remain on the lands, but
have no control over them beyond their
cultivation. This odious system has been
tried in various other countries and In
every instance it broke down by its own
unjust weight. The system existed in
France, but was abolished by the Revolu-
| ton. Since that abolition France has
been one OF the most prosperous countries
in Europe and one of the fret nations Of the
earth. The same iniquitious system was
In vogue in Prussia, and when the King,
obliged by the dangers threatening his
throne, sought for advice, he WAS told to
give the land to his people. He followed
that advice, and il was well for the consol-
idation of his kingdom that he did so.
From the very beginning this system in
Ireland was without the small signs of
succeeding that it might have had in
| France or in Prussia All conditions
were unfavorable for il, because we had n
class of people, who were the owners, at
war with the tillers. The consequent evils
have been hundredfold worse in Ireland
than in France or Prussia. Now, we ask
u
be followed in ireland. This system must
be abandoned. We propose to abolish
this system with the least possible dam
age to the landlords who have performed
their duties so badly. One Of the most
iniquitous features of this system is that it
deprives the tenant Of all security and per-
mits heartless evictions and arbitrary rails
ing of rents. A struggle has commenced
which must decide which shall go, the
landlords or the tenants. But the trouble
about sending away the landlords is that
no people seems very anxious TO take them
to their bosom. They value themselves at
high price, saying that it would take
ESQ, 900, 600 10 buy them. Well, we'll
see after awhile whether they can't be
brought down little"
1t is under this system of oppression
that the Irish peasantry have groaned
for centuries 1t has reduced them TO
beggary, and at this hour it is estimat-
ed that quarter Of million of them
are suffering for want of bread. Sure
ly their condition strongly appeals TO
the charity and sympathy Of the
world. In the cities of the United
States which Mr.. Parnell has visited he
has met with hearty receptions, and his
humane mission with much encourage
ment. We trust his success will con-
tinue. A sense of duty to suffering
fellow-creatures demands that it should.
But aside from the requirements of
duty, the. generosity of other people
may yet awaken some slumbering
spark of liberality in the English heart
that will grow into sentiment suffi-
GENTLY strong to compel redress Of
wrongs, and end in obliging the Brit
ish government to deal justly and fair
Iy by q long suffering people.