Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1891-10-03
Platform Adopted at YeSter-
days Session.
REPORT OF The SECRETARY.
President Fitzgerald Is Succeeded
by NJ. v. Cannon.

|
| treasurer and secretary were reelected with
out opposition. There was at that convention
an element of discord. but overawed by the
| preponderance Of men who loved the cause
they were poweress To mar the harmony OF
that great body Of Irishmen, which would not
and could not listen 10 men whose stock In
| trade was making charges and faillnGto prove
them. President Fitzgerald returiN TO his
| home in the whole belief that great organ
| ized body OF lrish-Amercans stood behind
| him united like brothers in the holy cause OF
| Irish liberty. He found his mistake. Like
| Garrett the great Earl OF Desmond, and the
| still nobler Lord Edward, he found Irish
traitors ready TO stab him in the back. The
cowardly conspirators. who. failing In their
| vile purpose of creating disscnsion and dis
union, had sneaked out Ike beaten ours from
the last Chicago conyention, renewed. under
cover of secret plots, their attempt to demor-
alize and disrupt the league.
Beginning with letter from Mr.. Par
nell, and few weeks after the Chicago
convention, entreating President Fitzger-
aid TO raise funds to help the unfortunate
evicted tenants of Ireland, as the treasury
of the Irish league was almost exhausted,
the report outlines a startling narrative.
with letters and kilograms in chronology
cal order, 70 show that time and again a
convention Of the American league was
the officers of the league, for not holding
one, were abused by factionsts in this
country, encouraged by Parnell and his
colleagues, who are exhibited rs sedulously
Ignoring tho League OfiiciaIs
whenever opportunity offered. President
Fitzgerald is stated to have headed the
anti-eviction fund with personal sub
scription Of 5000, and to have raiS"l to-
al 81 L., L. Il. ,O, g., . Ia.
struggling farmers in Ireland. "while n
reverend editor Of Buffalo was srecrrg at
his want Of education"
One peculiar disclosure made by Secre-
tary Sutton is that during October, 1883.
Parnell, finding himself bound 10y agree
ment to turn over to his lawyers the full
amount of The Times defense fund, then
unexpectedly large. begged of President
Fitzgerald, through James j. O'Kelley, TO
have the fund retained in America. The
wishes of Mr.. Parnell were complied
with" says the report, "and very soon
there was howl from the handful Of fac
| tionists in Chicago, New York and Phila-
| delphia, who acted energetically In behalf
of the London Times by sowing the seeds
| Of mistrust in their statement that lever
end DR.. O'Reilly was retaining money for
improper purposes"
Information from Timothy Harrington
| that the money was retained at Mr.. Par
neu's request, the report says, did not pre-
vent them from continuing TO raise the
same charge, as their only object was to
burst up every Irish organization in
America. Indeed they might fairly have
been called the anarchists OF ~&e Irish
movement, for they were determined to
ruin what they could not rule. The
Climax of Mr.. sutton's Document
is letter dated House of Commons, May
q, 1890, from John Dillon TO President Fitz-
gerald. marked strictly confidential" say
| ing Parnell suggested that the executive
| should address communication 10 him
| ParnelD recognizing the difficulties ere
ated by American party complications and
| advising that he (ParnelD should take
| steps to reconstruct the present organiza-
| tion in such manner as would allow the
| various branches to communicate direct
with Dublin. II the executive can see
| their way to act upon the suggestion, Mr..
| Parnell authorizes Inc to say that in reply
| TO a communication from them he will
| himself write, thanking them for their
great services to the Irish cause, strongly
| disappearing Of the attacks that have
been made upon them and stating that
| having inquired into the charges made
| against the executive Of the league he is
| satisfied that they are utterly without
| foundation"
President Fitzgerald, replying, said the
| executive could not conceal their astonish-
ment at the tenor Of the communication
| 70 them, adding:
We cannot but dissent from the supposition
| that American politics have in any way inter-
F.! fered with or complicated the administration
] of the league. The record shows that while
\ tho members Of the executive were OF differ
ent political affiliations s, they were unanimous
| in their resolve 10 prevent any such interfer-
| ence with the government of the league. As
| 20 the undesirabiity OF the central organiza-
| tion in America. that Il a question which per-
| tains exclusively 10 your jurisdiction. Re-
| garding the proposition Of addressing
| a letter TO Mr.. Parnell, "recognizing
| the difficulties created by American
party complications and advising that lac
| should take steps to reconstruct the present
| organization in such manner ms would allow
| the various branches 10 communicate direct
| with Dublin" IL j. one which the conscience Of
| the executive cannot conform to. We are not
| now nor have We ever been. unmindful of the
| fact that We took Office under pledges 10 con-
| duct the league ~ a body auxiliary TO the ma
| tional party in Ireland, and as such, we have
| always been guided by their advice and direc-
| tion. We do not propose at this latedate Ia
| adopt different policy; but we are not seek
| ing n certificate OF character from any one for
! having acted In every instance In conformity
| with Mr. Parnell's expressed desires.
The red-hot contest over the platform
developed into the unexpected
Open split OF the Com niittee,
| and, at 2 p. m, Sharon Of Iowa, Donuelly
of Wisconsin, O'Byrne OF Georgia were
| framing a minority report against neutral
ity toward Parncl.
Secretary Sutton was given leave TO omit
the reading Of bis report, owing TO its
| length The convention, however, when
the motion was made, adopted II over
whelmingly
The report Of the platform committee
was presented by NJ. V. Cannon Of Omaha.
Great cheering broke out when, contrary
70 expectation, IL took n slap at Parnell,
though without mentioning his name, al
ludiug to the differences Ia Ireland as due
| 20 one-man domination. Donneliy of Wis
consin presented the expected minority re-
port.
". V. Cannon Of Omaha vas elected
president in place Of Mr.. Fitzgerald. Sec
rotary Sutton was reelected. Gleason OF