The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-31
The Friends of Ireland Should Organize.


According to a telegram from London, the
loss OF the seat left vacant by Lord HART
1NGTON on his assuming the title Of Duke
OF Devonshire has materially changed the
programme of the SALISBURY Government
Until recently it's purpose was to defer
the trial Of strength ut the ballot box until
the close of the present year. and there was
even an inclination on the part Of some Of
its leaders to wait until 1893, when 1t was
hoped that Mr.. GLADSTONE might cease to
be force in politics. The severe reverse
however. encountered in the Rossendale by
election caused the Cabinet to consult its
local political agents. and the result is a
conviction that the Gladstoninn tide is
rising, and that the UniOnists have moro to
lose than gain by postponing IN appeal to
the constituencies. 1t has been accordingly
determined. we are told. that tho second
reading OF the Irish Local Government bill
shall take place Immediately after the
Easter recess, when. II the measure Is op-
posed. as 1t unquestionably will be. by
British Liberals and Irish Nationalist.
Parliament will be straightway dissolved
and new general election ordered. 1t Is
now. therefore. expected that the question
whether home rule shall be granted to Ire
land will DO referred not later than next
May to the voters of the United Kingdom.
The friends OF Ireland in this country
have thus less than four months in which
to 30 strengthen the hands OF Irish patriots
as to assure the retention OF the IS Irish
seats carried at tho last two general cleo
lions. 1t is well known that those victories
could not have been achieved without the
nj hnlY r,yNft
furnished from this side OF the Atlantic,
Under the British Electoral law the mere
statutory costs imposed on candi.
date for seat in the House OF Com
mons are SO heavy as to outtax the re-
sources OF men dependent on daily work for
subsistence. yet they must be paid in full
before candidate is permitted to he voted
for. This provision is relied upon by the
Tories to cripple even the Gladstonian party
In Great britain. which. through the defcc-
tlon OF the Wing dukes. has lost the tinan-
cial support upon which it formerly relied.
Determined as are the followers OF Mr..
GLADSTONE to contest almost every bor-
ough and county in Great Britain, they will
need for their own purposes every penny
that they can command. and will be able to
contribute nothing to the cam paign fund OF
Irish Nationalists. II the latter are to dis
pute almost ull the seats allotted to Ireland
and to carry ilvc-sixths OF them. as they
did six years ago. it is the primary and In.
dispensable condition OF the struggle that
they should obtain at once the money needed
for the statutory costs. At present. the sums
collected from the needy peasantry scarcely
suffice to maintain the Nationalist organ.
izatlons In a state OF tolerable efficiency.
and they fall far short of affording adequate
relief to the sufferers from eviction. 1t will
be as impossible now as 1t was In 1886 to
raise in Ireland the large amount of money
requisite to run Nationalist candidates for
every Irish seat. 1t was only by the reso-
Lutte efforts of Irlshmen all ovcr the world
that the unprecedented triumphs Of 1885
and 1886 were won. and those triumphs can
not DO repeated without a like exhibition OF
worldwide sympathy and generosity.
The Tories. 1t seems. are calculating on
the attainment Of majority OF only 60 by
tho Gladstonians and Irish Nationalists
combined. provided the election takes place
no later than next May. This estimate Is
based on the assumption that the Nation
sllsts, vigorously backed as they were