Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-27
IRISH HOME RULE:

formed It's readers that the crown
trials at Dublin indicated clearly that
Irishmen were unfit to govern their
own country, and that English officials
and English methods must continue
supreme at Dublin. We fail to See
what bearing the agitation of the last
three years has upon the question oil
the fitness or unitness Of the Irish
people for self.government. If the
agrarian revolt or the crime which has
followed In it's wake had been direct
cd against Irishmen or an Irish gov.
eminent, the argument would
not be without certain
plausibility. Continued revolt against
a popular government provided always
that that government Is n of the
liberal tendencies may 60 far towards
demonstrating the un6tness of the In.
surrectionists for liberal institutions.
Dissatisfaction and open or secret op-
position to q rule which Is repugnant
to every instinct of 3 people and
whose object Is to prevent a united
nationality seem to rs to be no argu.
ment against the fitness Of the iusur.
r~ectionlsts to rule themselves. On
the other hand II furnishes . strong
presumption that they would be at
least a. successful In maintaining q
stable government and protecting per-
sons and property as the present re
CLINE at Dublin castle.
It 10 this very refusal Of the crown
to afford the Irish people a share In
the making and enforcing Of those
laws which affect their own INTEREST,",
which has been chiefly responsible for
the disorder and crime which has af.
flcted iceland ever since the repeal Of
the act creating the Irish parliament.
The whole country has been tprned
over to he hands Of foreign officials
whose only object has been to earn
their salaries and protect the property
Of absentee landlords by uphold
Ing their extortions and crushing out
all evidences of discomfort. That they
have failed to do 80 Is only q proof
that Irishmen protest against Q wlping
out of their nationality and refuse to
surrender their claim to govern them.
selves by laws of their own making
ana enforcement. The successive
~agitations with this object In view have
been stamped out by armed force aud
the gallows, but the spirit which ami
mated the insurreotionists of 40 Ia
still powerful In their sons. It has
taken a different form In the agitation
by the best of the Irish patriots
for home rule and resent.
meut against English oppression
has unfortunately for Ireland and her
cause shown Itself In oowardly crimes
like that In Phoenix PARK. But It Ia
the height Of folly to charge the entire
Irish people with the madness Of q
band Of secret assassins or to argue
that because . grave and political
crime has recently been committed In
that country, her people are unfit to
govern themselves. II the Lord Lieu.
tenant Of Dublin Castle and the Score.
tary Of State for Ireland had been
Irishmen, and II an Irish parliament
had been intrussed with the drafting
Of q law for the relief of a plundered
p~easantry, the tragedy of Pheoni1
Park would never have taken place.
With no apology for lawlessness,
which exhibits itself In the garb of as
sausination, or Of protest against
tyranny, used as the mask for murder
and llnoendiarism all the unfortu
nate events which have accompanied
the Land League agitation, emphasize
most strongly tho belief that Ireland
will lever be ruled by anything but
forcej until her people are allowed al
least a limited home rule and Q voio'
In their own government.