Milford chronicle., 1883-05-04
THE IRISH CONGRESS.
One Thousand One Hundred and Fiftynve
Delegates Pre- ent at Philadelphia and
Much Enthusiasm.

The Irish Congress met in Philadel-
phia on Thursday, the attendance being
large with delegates from all the States.
In calling the convention to order, Alex
ander Sullivan, of Chicago, said:
eve have met to tell our brethren in
Ireland that tits theirs tochoose the road
which leads to liberty, and ours to march
with them upon it. The racial blood
that flows IN our veins shall feel the
same pulse beat as theirs" After urg-
ing all Irishmen to put their whole soul
in the cause he closed by saying: 'In
the spirit in which Robert Emmett died
we live; and in his words, we are de-
termined on delivering our native country
from the yoke Of foreign and unrelent-
ing tyranny and to place her independ-
ence beyond the reach of any power on
earth. ,"
The permanent organization was
effected by the election Of M. A. Foran,
of Cleveland, as President, with five
secretaries and a long list of Vice
Presidents.
A cablegram was read from PaTnell,
e!ery line of which was cheered to the
echo. He said that his presence was
| impossible on account of the explosives
/ bill which re-enacts the worst provisions
Of coercion. He expressed confidence
in moderation and firmness of the con-
vention.
During a lull in the proceedings
/ delegate offered a resolution rendering
the sympathy of the Convention to Mrs.
Pmnell, in the affliction caused by the
death of her lamented daughter Fanny.
The members rose in silence and
adopted the resolution. A delegate said
that arrangements had been made to
strew Fanny Parnell's tomb in Mount
Auburn with flowers ON Decoration Day.
ODonovan Rosa distributed circulars
among the delegates, advocating the
use of dynamite as a means of warfare
but a test vote in the Convention
showed that the dynamite party was
hopelessly in the minority.
The platform adopted by the National
League gives a summary of English |
rule in ireland, and says: "There is no |
form of retaliation to which despair or
madness may resort for which English |
cruelty in ireland is not exclusively re- |
sponsible." 1t declares that Ireland has |
been bound and gagged, and plundered.
Irish manufactures have been deliberately |
destroyed. Her immense water-power
turns no wheels. Her canals are all but |
impossible. Her rivers are obstructed.
Her useful clays and valuable minerals
are untouched. In her beautiful har-
bors are few ships, except those of her
enemy, and pledges as follows:
ResOLUed, That we pledge our unquali-
fed and constant support, moral and ma
terial, to our cOuntrymen in ireland in
their efforts to recover national self
government, and in order the more ef-
fectually to promote this object by the
of all our resources and
the creation of one responsible and au-
thoritative body to speak for greater Ire
land in America, that all the societies
in this Convention, and all
that may hereafter comply with the con-
ditions of admission, be organized into
the Irish National League of America,
for the purpose of supporting the Irish
National League of Ireland, of which
Charles Stewart Parnell is president.
The platform sympathizes with the
laborers in Ireland, and earnestly coun-
sells our countrymen in Ireland to buy
nothing in England which they can pro-
luce in Ireland, or procure from America
0r France. ]
The platform closes as follows: 5
Res0Jved, That the policy of the En-
ylish government in first reducing the
Irish peasantry to abiect poverty and
hen sending them penniless to the
United States dependent upon American
charity, is unnatural, inhuman, and an {
outrage upon the American government ,
md people. We respectfully direct the
attention of the United States govern
nent to this iniquity, protest against its
and instruct the officials {
Who shall be chosen by this Convention t
o present our protest to the President i
# the United States and respectfully but :
irmly to urge upon the President that
t is the duty of the government of the
United States to decline to support pau s
,ers, whose pauperism began under and j
S the result of English misgovernment,
nd to demand of England that she send
10 more of her paupers to these shores
o become a burden upon the American
,eOple.
The new organization of the Irish Ma '
ionai League of America was organized t
nth bylaws and constitutions, its OBJ t
ect being to earnestly and actively sus- q
ain the Irish National League in Ire
md with moral and material aid in
self-government. The execu- /
i've committee was appointed and the |
league adjourned amid much enthusi- c
SIN, 7