The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1891-11-25

elect them For this purpose Mr..
Parneil took control and perfected
the machinery of the Land'League,
which had been organized by Mich
ael Davitt.
1t is difficult. for Americans to /
appreciate the Irish land question.
Real estate with us is sold and ex- !
changed as freely as any other COM
modify. The necessities of a spend
thrift in London, losses at the gam
bling table at Homburg, or the irri-
tation of the lord against his vassals
would raise rents beyond the posi-
bility of their being earned and
evict thousands to die by the road
side without compensation for i'm
provements or opportunity for de-
Tense. 1t is a frishtful commentary
on the situation, that during the
famine which carried owe, million
of men, women and children to
their graves there was plenty of
food produced in Ireland, but it all
went for rent, while the potatoes,
the sole resource of the tenant, rot
ted in the ground. The ship from
America laden with provisions for
The starving passed at the entrance
of the harbor OF Cork, three vessels
sailing out and filled with export
wheat.
HE MADE THE IRISH QUESTION
FOREMOST.
Thus in gaining control Of the
Land League Parnell had the deep
est interests of the people AS the
foundation for political sentiment
and personal loyalty. When he en-
tered Parliament at the head of SO
out of 1913 representatives from Ire
land, he held in one hand party
power and in the other the homes
aud the fortunes of his people. He
had returned in triumph. The
Commons were bewildered. The
calm and confident leader who had
deiied them with three followers,
now faced them with the larger
number of the Irish members be-
hind him. y have come with the
majority you demanded,' he said,
will you listen now?' Frem that
hour the Iri h quest on "ecAme the
foremost factor in British po'iDcs,
and Parn.ll The most j-'wtrfu
member of Tie iiouN.. ii Commons.
He became the potential ior,e in
the government. He made and I'M
made cabinets. He hurled the
Gladstone Ministry from power and
defeated that of Lord Salisbury.
He compelled the adjournment of
arliament and an appeal to the
country. The conversion of Mr..
Gladstone to home rule for Ireland
is the most momentous event in
the English politics of our genera
ton. He saw that Parnell repre-.
sented the Irish people and formu-
lated a home rule bill to meet their
demands. His defeat, coming, as it
did, through the detection of cher.
ished friends, intensified his ardOr
and confirmed his purpose. He
made the principle of home rule
the cardinal doctrine of his party
and challenged Tories and Liberal
Unionists to go to the country upon
the issue.
IRELAND THE STAKE OF ENGLISH
PARTIES.
Ireland no longer fights with one
arm tied and the other held back
by false friends. Parnell freed
them both. Ireland no longer strug-
giles alone. Her cause is the stake
of one of the great parties of Eng
land, and made so by Parnell.
Where all others had failed he sue
ceeded. The weary waiting, the
almost hopeless struggle of a CEN
tury for local sslf government, has
nearly ended, and the victory is
practically won, because with the
existing and growing sentiment
and party support in England, Scot
Land and Wales, backed by a united
front from Ireland, the first act of
the Parliament to be elected next
year will be a complete and salts
factory measure of home rule. This
is the triumph of Parnell. The
laws now in force for the benefit OF
Ireland, which are the direct result
of his efforts, would immortalize
the memory of any statesman, and
give him high rank on the list OF
patriots.
The lesson of Parnell's life is the
superiority of constitutional over
revolutionary methods. He dem.
) onstrated that nothing is impossi.
BILE for Ireland in the Imnerisl Par,