The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-01

govern rs worse than we are governed now A
few official figures for county Kerry. and IL will
not need the keen eye Of political economist to
of her people.
The greatest length of this county is 60 miles
and greatest breadth So miles, comprising an
area of l. l65. 916 acres Of which 165570 are an
der tillage 500 $50 in pasture. IL. 242 in planta
tons, 4U4,z!4 waste, bog, mountain, ETC.. vi, S0Z
under water. The occupations are dairy farm
ing, niiage and fishing, the chief crops potatoes,
oats and turnips. Coal and iron. copper and
lead ores are found in considerable quantities.
Slate and haestone of superior quality are
found in great abundance This slate is used for
building purposes to such an extent as to make
it valuable roofs, floors, as well az siding for
buildings, being made from it. IL properly de-
velopec, these slate quarrfes alone should furnish
employment for the overplus workers in farm
ing and fishing. This county has population
of 200 souls. One hundred and fifty three
men own all the land twelve men owning the
greater bulk of 1T. Lord Kenmore owns 81 900
acres OF the most productive part of the county.
Mr.. Arthur Herbert owns 46, 900 acres 1t is upon
the demense of Mr.. Herbert that much of the
magnificent scenery and the Lakes of Killarney
are situated Sixteen thousand acres of this estate
are kept for gentlemen" to shoot over, afford
ing nne run for sportsmen who come from all
parts OF the country to shoot woodcock hare
and an occasional deer, while the whole As, 600
acres are under the will of Mr. Herbert's guns.
All this waste from production, and the people
starving for what it might produce visited
some of the tenants on their farms and found
these farms averaging from ten to thirty acres
each The house is oneroom onestory stone
building, with straw roof usually no floor. con-
tanning the most meagre furniture, 1t furniture
the miserable trash can be called. The farm is
so carefully cultivated that it looks ike well
kept garden, and we'll may these farmers watch
every weed. Mr, Herbert's tenants living near
the town of Killarney pay yearly rent of from
$l5 to $50 per acre, and when they cannot pay
this they are evicted. Think of it, ye farmers
of Illinois, who own your miles of fertile land.
and tell me how long it would take you to be-
come "bloated bondholders" If you could enjoy
the felicity Of English landlordism for short
time When, by failure of crops or misfortune,
such as the death Of family pig, overtake these
farmers, they get in debt and are evicted.
They are driven from these miserable aoodes,
and find home under the canopy OF an ever
weeping sky or in the work-house. In this coun-
ty there are ak of these warehouses; (poor-
housesl, having population, all told, of 5000,
men, women and children. These are supported
at the expense of the tax-paying citizens, in
door relief costing this county alone $500, 600
during the past year At another time | hope
to describe these institutions.
have learned to respect the Roman Catholic
Church more than ever before since my visit to
this county. Everywhere / find the converts
filed with the children of the poorer classes, be-
ing given an industrial Standardization who
would otherwise grow up in ignorance and vice.
AL Inc convent OF henmare IOunQ nearly UF6
hundred children received as day pupils. Many
of these children came from five and eight miles
in the country, so poor that d breakfast was
necessarily given two hundred OF them upon
their arrival and piece of dry bread before
they started for their homes at evening. The
magnificent buildings of the convent were the
donations of one man. who is buried beside the
altar in q cathedral adjoining Lace making Is
taught here, and was shown the bed-spread
ordered by Queen Victoria, which was being
misses in these schools. Said the gracious Sis
ter. MAYBE you can mention our laces to the
Americans. that they can order Of Us, for we
support ourselves entirely through the gener-
osity Of those who love and see the necessity OF
our work, for our people are very poor" In the
overcrowded work houses saw these gentle
hammered, sweet-faced Sisters ministering in
sickness and in death. In this district find the
percentage of crime very low; theft Is almost
unknown, Notwithstanding their poverty; women
are virtuous to an eminent degree | believe
this to be owing to the strict surveillance of the
Roman Catholic religion upon the conscience of
these people. They live more for the rewards
of eternity than they do for the pleasures of the
present. So long as English landlordism regns
in Ireland let the Roman Catholic priest alone,
that the latter may exercise police power that
keeps the soul from degradation that besets the
body through poverty or sure physical distress.
Each year the farmers pay rent one and one
half times the ratable valuation OF the land In
this country. These people are prohibited from
fishing in the numerous lakes that lie in the
mountains, unless they pay SIS per year for the
privilege; and they are not allowed the posses
sion OF firearms with which to shoot game.
They are shut in at every point of escape from
this misery by English-made laws.
History teaches that when the land falls into
the hands Of the few. the masses become impov-
erished. These Irish are worse off than Our
slaves ever were; the stakeholder had property
interest in the negro that made him SOLICITORS
for his temporal wants. In Ireland the landlord
has not this concern, for when one tenant goes
another is as willing to grasp the least ray OF
nope. The new conner puts the roof on the walls
from which Ii was burned to keep the evicted
tenant from returning to it for shelter, aud re-
peats the old story of try. try again. The land
lord receives his enormous rent spends 1t in
London or on the continent, royalty keeps up its
glitter and show, and poor Ireland groans under
English landlordism, the sum of all viiainies,
behind law.
HELEN M. COUGAR