Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-09

re- affirm Edmund Burke's terrible de-
nunciation of the penal code OF Ireland.
sit was" said that great man, "a ma
chine of wise and elaborate continuance,
and as well fitted for the oppression, I'M
poverishment and degradation OF peo-
pie, and the debasement in them of hu-
man nature itself, as ever proceeded from
| tho perverted ingenuity OF man" we
can 90 further and affirm that the whole
legislation of England, touching ireland,
| for hundreds of years was intended to
crush out, and did crush out, the prosper
ity of the people.
| 1t will not do to say that Ireland's SUI
ferings are the consequences Of an infe-
| riority of the Celtic race
| Ireland is as much Gothic as
Celtic. But even if it were altogether
Celtic the example of France shows that
| Celtic people can hold its own in point
of industry, skill, intelligence and prog
| ress with any people on earth. France
has, in fact, for more than a centu-
ry past led the mind of mankind. All
the best fruits of our own revolution were
simply outgrowths of French thought.
Neither does any one pretend that the
| Highland Scotch, q people Identical IN
| race and language with the Irish, are
| inferior in industry, genius, courage or
| character to the rest Of the people OF
| Great Britain.
But we decided for ourselves, in onr
| great civil war, that a mans rights do
not depend upon his complexion or his
race; and the oppression of people can
no longer be justified by -prejudices.
Ireland's condition to-day is the re-
suit of legislation by the governing
classes of England, and of nothing else
Sydney Smith said, ''you can trace Ire
land through the statute books OF
England, as you would track a wounded
shark through the water-by the blood"
Ireland, bathed in the mists and
showers of the gulf stream, is one Of the
finest grazing lands in the
world The Irish, therefore, took
naturally to raising cattle, and they ship
ped great numbers to England. In Queen
Elizabeth's time, the English parliament,
under the inspiration of the land-ownlng
aristocracy of England, forbade the eX-
portation of cattle from Ireland The
Irish then killed their cattle and sought
to ship the sailed meat to England. An
other act of parliament stopped this out
let Ireland was not permitted to export
meat to England or anywhere else. Then
came the great fire of London. The per-
secuted Irish sent $4,000 beeves to Eng
land as gift, to feed the starving people,
and this magnificent exhibition of gen
crosby met with protest from parlia-
ment, because it violated the letter of the
law. Not being able to export cattle or
meat, the Irish turned the skins of their
cattle into leather and exported that.
ctayna6 in anaip Then the
Irish took to sheep farming and sent their
wool to England Parliament in the
reign of Charles ii declared Irish wool
contraband, and that closed up the ave-
nue. Then the Irish made the wool into
wooden cloth Parliament speedily pro-
hibited the expectation of wooden cloth
from Ireland to England or anywhere
else. The Irish then took to the silk in
dustry. British jealousy drove them
from this field Then they tried the
manufacture of glass and parliament pro-
hibited the expectation of glass
ranean ports were finally closed against
the Irish and she was shut out from COM
mercial intercourse with the whole world.
The only manufacturing industry which
she was permitted to exercise was the
linen trade.
She was surrounded as by a circle of
fire by English legislation; she was driven
in upon herself; she was communicated
from mankind; every effort at progress
was arrested; every sentiment Of enter
prise was crushed. In the language of
William Pitt, England had systematic
cally deprived Ireland Of her resources"
In the light of these events we here in
A 10 a+a - al. hat
cruel aristocracy would have consigned
the people of the United States, had we
not been able tobreak loose from their
domination. 1t was against just such
navigation and trade laws that the men
of 1776 protested at Lexington and York
town. Thank God! the human race in
this generation has emerged from under
the upas shade Of the successors of the
bastard of Normandy. But the Irish
people still lie in the slough of oppression
and despair.
England, in these later days, under the
force of foreign, and especially of Ameri-
can public opinion, and whipped forward
by the discomfort and turbulence of the
Irish people themselves, has begun to do
them tardy justice. And just so fast as the
power of the aristocracy of England
SnrlnkS ana lne power OF the
English people comes to the front, just
so fast will the Gladstones and Brights
of England help Ireland to justice and
fair play.
1t was Fenianism that led to the dis
establishment of the Irish church; and
the present Land league agitation will
not terminate until it has transferred, in
some fair and equitable manner, the
title of the lands of Ireland to those
who cultivate them. When that day
comes, when every discrimination is
| wiped from her statute books, Ireland
| will no longer appear, cap in hand, the
beggar of the nations, pleading for
| charity from a generous world, with
which to satisfy not alone her hunger, but
the ravenous demands of an Unsuitable
brood of land cormorants; but whether
we call her Celt or Gath she will present
to the world picture of industry and
thrift, peace and plenty that will equal
any shown in the garden fields of France
and Denmark.
Let US then, not as Irishmen, but as
Americans, as men of all tongues and
countries, the inheritors of this noble
| land of justice and equal opportunities,
extend a helping hand and cheering
voice to those who are trying to raise
r i L y E