Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-03-13

"A COrrobpouuoub VI NoW 1OIk paper
has lately interviewed the venerable
statesman Kossuth, at Turin, Italy. He
is in his eighty-eighth year, and is now
literally citizen of the world and man
without country, the Austrian empire
having passed law that voluntary ex
patriation for a period of ten years de-
prives man of citizenship. He is still
hale and hearty, however, and retains
. remarkable command of intellectual
faculties rarely surpassed for activity ant
insight. He earns his own livelihood by
the work of hand and brain and his con
tributions to current literature are fre
quent and voluminous, and highly valued
as we'll.
Any views emanating from this vener
able publicist could not fail to possess
great interest. His review of the condi
ton of Europe will elicit widespread at
tention, his speculations outlining
amongst other things, two Germanys
but we shall devote the brief space at oul
command to his ideas about Great Brl'
tain. Undismayed by the fact tina
the drumbeats of England are now hearC
all over the world, Kossuth has the
hardihood to say that England is wan
ing power, that she has seen her peri
helion and has entered upon period o.
declension which will be rapid and IN
checked. He is led to think that it will
be rapid because, with the telegraph
and steam, everything moves with won
derful celebrity in this age. These facts
make Ireland practically contiguous to
the United States.
But perhaps the most striking portion
OF Kossuth's outgivings to the reporter
was that in which he said that there
were middle-aged men now living who
would see Ireland State of the Ameri
can Union. There have been speculs-
tions in this country as to whether o no
it would be- we'll to extend our territory
to the north or the south, to the east or
the west; questions have arisen as to
whether we should buy or take Cuba,
and General Grant initiated an abortive
movement to acquire San Domingo;
some of our statesmen have looked long
ingly towards Mexico, Canada and the
Sand wich islands, but the boldest of
them all have not, in their most auda-
cious flights, suggested the annex alton
of the Island of Saints to the United
States. And it ls really somewhat singu-
lar that it should be left to Hungarian
to hint at this contamination. On refec.
ton, we reject the word "hint" as a
misnomer, for Kossuth unquslifisdly
asserts that this union is Inevitable.
The detachment OF Ireland from Great
Britain would of itself go far to bring
about the decadence of the British EN-
pire 1t was the Hanoverian George the
First who, after the battle of Fontenoy,
the issue of which was decided by the
far famed Irish Brigade, exclaimed,
"Cursed be the laws which have de.
prived me of such soldiers" 1t was a
fortun ate day for the military prestige of
Great Britain when tho Irish began tc
enlist in large numb bers in the English
armies. Their headlong valor was OF
the greatest i'm aginable service in estab.
fishing the status of Great Britain ir
everv quarter Of the world as an invinci
BILE power. Today the Irish contri butte
proportion of the English army which il
not generally understood, for the reasor
that they 60 to make up the roster of ia
NOUS regiments which are credited t
portions of the U nited Kingdom outside
of Irel and. Thus, in the case of the
noted Highland regiments, recent stats
tics show that half their mem bsrship
and in one case more than half thei
membership, was drawn from Ireland
The same rule holds good in many of tn
regiments that are supposed to be dis
tincsively English.
Those who are familiar with the Irisl
fondnsss for war are not surprised at this
The claim was often made by Democrats
that their party contributed more thar
half of the Union soldiers that went from
New E lgland to the war. The dispute
ran high, and Gen. Benjamin F. Butler
was drawn into controversy. He saic
that he had had good many opportuni-
ties of obtaining reliable information or
the subject, and that in his opinion thu
Democracy furnished at least two-thirdt
of New England's quota in the ''lste un.
pleasantness, - and that half of the whole
New England contingent were Irishmen
They not only thronged to the front in
great mum bers, but when they got there
they stayed as long as they could ge
anybody to keep them in countensnce
Col. Corcoran and his famous Sixty-nintE
Regiment-all Ifish-were the last Unior
soldiers to leave the field at the frs
battle of Bull Run, and all through ths
war this splendid record was maintained
In view of the Irish record in war, il
is not a strained mption that the
mere severance of Ireland from Grea
Britain would of itself be leading ele
ment in the decadencs of the latter
country.
We next come to question which ad'
mits of very brief discussion. How would
the people Of the United States look
upon the prospect Of Ireland's applica.
tion for (admissivs 70 the American