Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-05-03
Considera tom of the Ma tional
Situation of the irish Question,
FROM AN HISTORICAL STANDPOINT.

take care of her subjects in Ireland
but transports them TO foreign lands
to get rid of them? The answer
usually given, and apparently peril
nent to the question, is, she manages
to take too much care of them, and
will not let them take care of them
selves.
To understand this seeming cor
trariety, it is necessary to refer to a
small portion of history in the mat
ter, consisting of facts, and observa-
tons on facts As to the facts: 1t
cannot be longer concealed that in
Ireland the struggle against misrule
and oppression has taken a new
departure. which even "Curfew Law
and reinforced garrisons through
out the provinces cannot successfully
combat, or obstruct. The outrages
and disorders in society are contin-
ually increasing. The English au-
thorities are on the alert to discover
the lawless and is affected suspects,
for punishment and torture, until all
Irishmen now hold as renegade
any of their fellow-countrymen who
will in anyway lend aid and com
fort to the hated oppressors of their
country and race. The prolific
sources of this sad state of affairs
may be traced to the following
causes:
The subjugation of ireland under
Cromwell was the most cruel and
bloodthirsty of England's conquests,
being Of that sort, which beginning
with Ionians and Dorians continued
through the whole period of Greek
and Roman history, and afterward
transformed the face of Europe in
to a battle ground, which after the
battle of Hastings crossed over the
channel to England, and has con
tinued and fourished there to the
present, for the subjugation of peo
pies, and the acquisition and hold
ing Of territory-of land held in
feudal right by landlord-class emf
to rule their tenants with
irresponsible ard absolute sway
After this Cromwelian conquest Of
Ireland the former possessor Of the
land lost his property and right
therein, hardly anything remaining
to him but the "right to work" q
right which his lord and master ex
acted freely Of him, and without
stint.
We will now turn our attention to
the condition of the same class on
the continent Of Europe. There
when "feudsl rights" went from the
landlord. class, one after another, no
one thought that the newly acquired
rights Of the people could be other
than identical with that of the
ground he occupied In continental
Europe it was not the peasant, per
sonally, who came to be free, but the
land with him also became free;
that is, the peasant became free upon
his free land.
Now notice the fact that the Stu
alton in Ireland is the very reverse
of this. There the conquerors did
not make the Irish peasant, person
ally, a Se1f or Siaye,-"personally UNI
Free" but mark you, definitely sepa-
rated him from his holding-that is,
took it away, conhscated it, kept it.
The Irish peasant was personally
under no man; no one, not even the
government, was responsible for his
person or keeping He could not
own a single foot of land, lest by
virtue Of it, and his own industry,
he might aspire, or could belong to
the ruling landlord-class of the
country. His, hitherto, family tribal
relations ceased altogether with the
conquest, with every right of posses
sion and ownership, and now if he
wished to live as a free Brlton, he
must hereafter, to use an American
phrase, "root hog or die" Thus
circumstanced, and necessity having
no law, especially to effect those
who can make their own terms, tho
poor outcast was absolutely forced
to make a free agreement with his
oouquerors, in regard to his labor, q
condition that sealed his fate; max
ing him from q possessor who was
free, to freeman without possession,
and this, too, on the very ground,
and under the canopy Of heaven,
where his forefathers lived and
breathed their last breath on earth,
before the robber disposition Of at.
fairs came to this pass in Ireland.
Now, when this heartless new
owner of stolen property had made
the Irish peasant tepapt-at-witi, he
lies himself away to England, or to
Che continent, to live in luxury on
the fruits Of his il-gotten posses.
sions, leaving agricultural labor
without capital, and inextricably IN
trrmingled with Church and State
and Land Question. This is Situa
ton of Irish affairs today that ap