The Irish standard., 1888-02-04
SCOTCH CROFTERS PROTEST
Against the Iniquities Of British Land
Land Laws and Despotic
Legislation.

Land Laws and Despottc
Legislation.
EVEN TIE WOMEN SPEAK OUT.
The Highlanders Are Determined to Look
No Longer to Parliament for
| Redress.
| A meeting was held in the City Hall,
Glasgow, to sustain the crofters in
their struggle,
MI. Cunningham. hranam, M. T.,
said, about one hundred years ago the
Highlands core a teeming population,
and he asked had the climate of tae
Highlands changed, had the spirit of
the people weakened, and had the
strength Of the grass degenerated to
day that population had decreased
(cheersl. The )and that could support
deer could support men thear, hear, and
cheers). Desperate diseases wanted
desperate remedies, and as past Gov
ernments had allowed the land of the
people to be- juggled away. now they
had lit was the law of nature) to spend
money in emigration and invest capital
for the benefit Of the people. The Gov
ernment must do that, because it was
obliged to do SO; or it must make up
its mind To face in Che future blood
shed and revolution {chaers). That
was not sediiion ilaughter)-it was
dealing with a practical issue in q prac
tical way. It was recognized that The
land of a country must be owned by the
people Of that country (cheers). AS to
the deer raid. Che speaker said if his
wife and family were starving be would
certainly so Out and kill deer Cloud
cheers} The deer forests ought TO be
abolished. It was mems labor that
made money, and ii they had been q
population settled in the waste lands
OF the Highlands their commerce and
trade among themselves would produce
more money, and infinitely more com-
Portable lives than they would under
the present state Of affairs (applause)
In conclusion, he asked them to sup
port the crofters when they came to he
tried for the deer raids in the High
lands. They would oAly have tss fair
d trial as he himself would at the Old
Bailey ilaughter.) The crofters would
be placed before a jury as il they were
missionaries standing before 81 jury in
Dahomey, each iuryman ready to have
a cat at the jvint (iaughter). The crof-
teys yyould be tried before a jury that
would be arranged, If not packed,
and would be prejud,ced against tbs
poor people (appIause). lie would tall
the audience lha1 not only the clofters,
bat all the people would have to work
out their oWlA Interest. The future
battle would be between the rich and
Door, and it would be war to the kuite
between those TWO classes {ci!aers).
MIR. John Ferguson having spoken on
the politlco economic aspect OF the Ia nd
question,
Mrs. cunningham Graham, wife of
the member for North West La1l&rik,
addressed the meeting. She was re
celyed with enthusiastic cheers It
WAS not the custom, she said, for Women
! to speak OH s. pubsic platform, at least
in Scotland, b1t the times We're SD crit
icdl, and tbs disposition OF tue ruling
classes was SO very uyral.nie II, that she
hoped she would be parloned. 1t had
always been Wonlan's S mission to speak
for the poor and oppressed, and to al
leviate as much as possible the wrongs
and miseries OF humanity. Surely there
was something wrong III the present
condition Of the law in the Highlands.
The pleasure ground OF the ricb, that
beautiful romantic country where still
SO much of the Old " orld ways exist
ed and where SO late as l745 people
fought for an idea lcheeIs), the High
lands grew men and kept them there,
but now civilization had reserved the
land for deer, thrust the Highlanders
out OF the country, to be the back bone
of other LANDS, to carve out fortune for
themselves far from the heather. and
condemned the remnant at home to
starve. All the laws in Great Britain
were Said to be just-iaws that give one
man the right. the. power, to turn
another mans family out i'll the snow,
that allowed one mau to make his
brother slave for him: that made a
deer's life more sacred than mans |
(cheers). But this civilization with its
fearful evils afforded itself the cure Of I
its wrongs The men crowded togeth
er in that city had given the opportuni- /
ty by their arms and the power OF their
vote to undo much Of the evil that had /
crept into their midst (cbeersl She t
would be content II she. one woman, |
had impressed upon them their duty in .
this matter and had done something
L. :.l~Ss j