Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-10-20
MICHAEL DAvITT,

MICHAEL DAvITT,
The Hero Of Old Ireland:
Though this world.renowned Irish pa
triot might not recognize. in this great
mining camp, my resemblance to the EN-
erald lsle-the land. of his birth-as regards
natural scenery, yet, the stentorian voices.
coming from Irish throats, that greeted
him on his frat appearance in our city,
must have satisfied him that the Land
League, Home Rule and kindred subjects
all more or less interesting to lovers OF
| iuetice and freedom, found many warm
supporters for Ireland and Ireland g cause.
| Michael Davitt lectured last evening to a
most appreciative audience. his entrance
at once arousing the enthusiasm OF
| bis countrymen, who were eager 10
award him a hearty reception.
That he thoroughly deserves the worlds
applause is beyond a doubt. LIE is un-
q~uestionably the friend of the people; the
friend of the poor, suffering peasants of ILL.,
governed Ireland. Not born with a silver
spoon H. his mouth-quite the reverse-he
has experienced poverty, and for years his
laree-hearted sympathy has been with his
down-trodden people. DAvltt was ev1-
IDENTIFY born to become q leader in one OF
the most cruel struggles the present CEN
fury has witnessed; a struggle between an
intelligent race OF people like the Irish, on
one side, and an obstinate English aristoc-
racy on the other.
Irish Home Rule will be a triumph at.
tanned in the near future and the names OF
| Davitt, Gladstone and Parnell will be re-
Numbered in the hearts Of the present suf-
fering people. An Indt pendent Irish Par
lament is what the people want and are
Justly entitled to, ind moreover they will
| fight for it to the bitter end, and at last
will he rewarded. A firm belief in the is
sue Of the controversy makes men
like Davitt and Parnell keep
their hands to the plough.
The lecturer last night was a living wit.
ness tn the cause OF Home Rule; he stood
before us as an exponent of Irish wrong,
and to engage the attention OF willing
listeners on q theme ever interesting and
OF great Importance. 1t gives one the i'm
preston that he believes in success, ulti-
mate success; hat What his hand has
| His position on the platform had u two
fold motive-6rstly, to ventilate the sub
iect of Home Rule for Ireland in this west
ern territory; aud secondly, to benefit the
cause OF the Land League. In appearance
he conveys the idea of being q remarkable
man. He might easily be picked out as Il
man born to command. His manner,
voice and delivery carry much weight and
there il a certain force which satisfies the
hearers. He is no ordinary man. His life
is so we'll known that we hardly need touch
upon the many Incidents that have
crowded into his very eventful career. AS
lie stands before ue VIC hardly realize it is a
man, the man who had spent years of his
life in a solitary prison.
Marcus DAILY, our representative citizen,
presided; he had generously thrown open
his house and home to the distinguished
visitor and gave him all the opportunity
of making the acquaintance, personally, of
one of the most notable men OF the present
time.
The speaker, then being introduced, stood
be'ore the vast assemblage that greeted him
with thunders of applause. Bowling his &C
acknowledgements, his tongue was not slow to
give utterance to words his heart felt, and
Ireland's champion sought to reach the
minds of bis hearers and awaken an inter
est in the cause he spoke upon. His re-
marks were substantially as follows:
wish to make a few PREPARATORY remarks
to express the gratitude l feel when l look
ronnd this vast a~ssemblage | realize your
interest in the question l propose to speak
upon tonight. | may say that l have
Travelled many thousand miles to come
here; but l feel that it is well compensated
for, when l think OF the kindness and court
esy shown TO me by your citizens general
ly. [ shall CARRY home the recOllections
and your brethren will listen to the ac-
count OF my reception in Butte City.
The task l have set myself tonight is to
put before you the policy relative to Ire
land, without the effort OF bringing for
ward grievances. Ireland and IreIand's
cause have go often been ventilated with a
long list of grievances that will not ven
ture touching upon them generally. bur
will condne myself to certain facts that l
am here to speak upon. American heirs
Of liberty will readily understand why this
anxiety OF Home Rule is the burning gues-
ton OF the day for irishmen. And perhaps
patriots of other countries will be surprised
when they hear of the wrongs OF Ireland;
that more direct methods are not used to
obtain their desired result. l may say
that | can prove that our cause under
Parne.l 1cheersi will succeed in two or three
years. We may say that it is not a false
hope. We glance at the defeat CT Glad
stone, but do not look upon it as a dis
aster.
The proposal to give an Irish Parliament
to it's people was too sudden for the Eng
lish to grasp. Gladstone'sland scheme also
wal unpopular. then the INSCRIPTIONS tao
tics of the Tories all combined to check the
movement favorable t. Ireland. The
ignorance and prejudice Of the English peo-
pie looking upon the cause as revolution
airy, having a conviction that il there were
an Irish Parliament it would be used IS a
lever to crush England and her power. One
opposisg element used to crush Home
Rule was what is termed the Loyal and
Patriotic Union, but it might well have
been called the Lying Patriotic Union.
Paid speakers belonging to it went
far and near, raising a cry
OF alarm, then another female wing of the
British %aristocracy composed of duchesses.
countesses and other titled danes collect
ed money for their male friends to use with
the plea of saving England IRON disgrace.
One. and the one great factor in the cause
of the defeat. was this, that Home Rule
was not confined to the Irish ideas only;
the question had been SO we'll ventilated
that Scotland and Wales began to think
they wanted a parliament of their own;
then again these a an objection With re-
gard to the Land Purchase Bill to the
Irish landlords being paid out OF English
pockets.
The split in the Liberal party, Lord
Hartington's inveterate animosity and
finally Chamberlain's inconsistent and dis
honest policy c%onspired to defeat a desired
measure that would eventually give the
Irish a parliament of their own. Chamber.
lain, in 1885, had strongly urged the claim
of Ireland, but to his disgrace, had CONTRA |
his own words.
1t had been said that Gladstone was a man
with q heart. but Chamberlain an eye
glass and long purse. Now, to show the
results OF this Home Rule agitation the
votes in Ireland were four and a half to
one, and in Scotland three to two in favor
IF such movement. Had Gladstone had
thousand nor votes Zone Rule
would have been sanctioned. Looking up
these broad facts we may consider our
cause as a triumph. Progress is going on.
n 1881 Gladstone ignored Irish affairs
md Irish people and acted with despotic
Five years after results are pro-
luced in effect all that should be asked.