The Portland daily press., 1881-01-10
THE IRISH LAND WAR.
The Lecture of James Redpath.

Portland Theatre was well filled by an in
teiiigent and highly appreciative audience
Saturday evening to hear the distinguished
phllanthrophist, James Redpath lecture on
'Ihe Irish Land War" AT exactly o'clock
Mr. hedpath came upon the platform accom-
panied by the officers of the Land League Of
TINS city. He was introduced by Mr.. James
cunningham in a Every appropriate speech,
and was received by a hearty and prolonged
outburst of applause, repeated many times
Mr.. Redpath is not an orator in the common
acceptance of the term. His periods have not
the graceful flow and scholarly finish OF
some Nor does he resort to the many arti-
fees of rhetoric which the careful student of
oratory employs to enforce point or make an
impression. His voice is not powerful. But
Mr.. Redpath is nevertheless powerful speak,
er. He impresses the listener with an earnest,
devoted lover of liberty. His voice is sweet
and full of emotion. His sentences are terse
and epigrammatic, and he never fails to make
himself clearly understood For two hours
half he held hiss audience by the most graphic
description of the iniquities of the landlord
system in Ireland we have ever heard. The
DISCOURSE
Ireland is the Gethsemane of Europe For
seven centuries she has been plunged in the
dark midnight of woe,-her fields blasted, her
houses consumed, her temples desecrated and
destroyed. 1t is 700 years since England Sc
cured foothold in Ireland. A great source
of error in American journals is regarding Ire
land as nation. In point of fact in the mat
ter OF this land law there are three Irelands,
the Protestant provinces of Ulster, the west of
Ireland where there are leases, and the east of
Ireland where there are tenants at will. Prev
lous to the the time of Henry VIII the land
generally was under the control of the Irish
Henry commenced to confscate land in the
north, and gave it to his own mobiles, and this
policy was followed by Elizabeth and Crom-
well. 70 appease those who rose in rebellion
the three Fps-hxity of tenure, free sale, and
fair rents-were given, but only to the people
in the province of Ulster because they were
Protestants This is the reason why the Ul-
ster tenants are more prosperous than those in
the other parts of Ireland
An invidious comparison is made between
the Protestant and Catholic sections of Ire
land. Catholics and Protestants in Ulster are
equally prosperous, while members of the
same sect side by side in other provinces are
equally unfortunate. The religious question
has nothing whatever to do with the present
phase of the land war. The Orange meetings
held in Belfast and other places to denounce
the Land League are attended mainly by the
serfs of the linen mills, and in no respect rep
resent the Irish people.
Mr.. Redpath advised his hearers to ''Boy-
cott'' all Irish linen, or rather Orange linen,
for all the great linen manufacturers are Or
angemen.
In the west .of Ireland nine-tenths of the
people can be evicted at the will of the land
lords. The Gladstone law of 1870 is dead let
Ter for every magistrate is landlord and
will not enforce it. No poor man can go to
law because of the enormous expense and the
80 Ill 49,
for the Irish to apologize for killing landlord
even II it is an agrarian outrage. From 1S47
to 1871 the landlords killed by famine and
eyictions over one and a half millions of peas
ants When million and a half landlords
are gone then will I weep over their graves.
The terrible destitution in the west of Ireland
is not due. as many English writer
would have us believe, to the
Catholic religion, laziness, extravaganza and
drunkenness. A more industrious and frugal
nation than Ireland is not on the globe. At
six fairs in Ireland saw only four persons
drunk. Statistics show that the per cent. of
drunkenness is much greater in England and
Scotland. The reported outrages are greatly
exaggerated. There is far less crime in Ire
land than in England or Scotland. Mr.. Red
path characterized Lord Leitrim and Lord
Mountmorres as drunken Hbertines and in
famous scoundrels who met deserved fate.
He said Lord Leitrim was killed by a young
IriSh-American of Chicago, whose sister was
one of many he had ruined
The lecturer then gave an interesting ac-
count of "Boycotting," illustrating it with
many anecdotes and personal experiences, and
said he wished the Irish in America would
practice on British manufacturers. Thus in
less than twelve months every manufacturer
in England would be calling for justice for
Ireland. What then has the Land League ac-
complished? 1t has !. reduced rents
down to the Griffiths' valuation, made the law
of 1870 operative, and changed the peasantry
from covering slaves to resolute, defiant free
men. The death of Irish landlordism is COM
ing, and we want to be its executioners. The
next great event in Ireland will be the assem-
bling of an Irish Parliament in College Green
Then will follow the unfurling of the green
banner of the Republic of Ireland.