The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1886-01-23
DISTRESS IN OUR TIME.

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DISTRESS TN OUR TIME.
We publish in another column OF
TEE STANDARD the communication OF
Michael Davitt, which briefly but I'M
mistakably sets forth the prevailing
distress which exists in that section
known as the west coast OF Ireland.
The sinful and unrighteous traffic SO
eagerly sought to De established on the
souls Of those penniless and starving
peasants in their hour of need by heart
less hirelings of the British govern
rnent. must well be a subject for deep
reflection to every thinking mind. LIS
it true, as we have SO often been adj
yised, that concession after concession.
has been granted to Ireland during the
last half century by her oppressor? Ii
50, why's it that in this year OF our ex-
tended and far more perfect civilization
the same poverty and bitter destitntion
should exist that has been forced upon
those people in the past? The reason
is obvious. AS it was in the past SO it
is to-day, the direct result Of tyranny
and misgoyernmento of those who have
in hand and are endeavoring to sway
to their own satisfaction the destinies
of Ireland. The western coast OF that
country has been blessed by Nature
N it'll large and magnificent harbors for
trade and commerce We have only to
look to Galway and Mayo, with their
fountains and foods, to supply the
wants of coal wherewith to turn the
wheels of industry to give their people
occupation, and this is only one of the
many occupations that can there be re-
sorted to in gaining livelihood. And
yet, what can all these gifts of nature
avail so long as the ever blighting hand
of English influence intervene between
these gifts and the people for whom
they were intended? English Jealousy
has had much to do in hampering the
commercial prospects of Ireland, and
has never been backward i'll direct
and cowardly refusal to grant back
to the people small mite Of their own
money which was necessary to secure
and complete her harbors. 1t is the
truth. Of history that English law,
makers, after having failed in their
endeaYors to ruin Irish manufactures,
enacted laws prohibiting them. It is
this despotic lawlessness that has driven
millions Of Irishmen to foreign lands;
it was this tyrannical act, in great
measure, that brought about the famine
fever Of 1S47, when thousands of men,
women and children persisted for want
of the bare necessaries Of life. Look
ing back over the past there is cause
for wonderment / indeed, when we re-
fleet how patiently the Irish people
have borne themselves under this heavy
load Of oppression and heartless tyran-.
ny. 1t would be wrong now, yes, un.
just, to look upon those things as mat
ters of the past. History repeats itself
in Ireland to-day as true as it did then.
That government which allows land
lords to rob the people annually OF
millions and draw that money out OF
the country and which taxes the people
of Ireland for her foreign wars without
giving them any Of the spoils thus SCI
cured, refuses to grant money to the
starving fishermen to supply them
selves with the necessary equipments
to partake OF the gifts plentifnlly
within their reach. It has spent thous-
ands of dollars in fostering and pro-
tecting landlords and in swarming the
island with police and soldiery, which
if properly used would stock the bays
aud harbors with fishing -srnacks, con-
vert the marshes aud swamps into
arabic and productive land and cover the
island with factories. But why should
it2 England wants no such prosperity
in Ireland 1t would be a deadly blow
to her own best interests. A CONNER
cial Ireland would be England's ruin.
Liverpool would no longer be the great
emporium Of the worlds trade. Justice
must be wrung from England. This
has partly been done, and it would seem
that the struggle Of centuries is at last
being brought to a successful end.