Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-26
IRELAND'S POVERTY
The Condition Of Her People is Most
Distressing.
TALK WITH TIE UNDER SECRETARY
Senator WoIcott's Recent Mission
to the British Capital.
ROYALTY OUT AT ELBOWS
ROYALTY OUT AT ELBOWS
LONDON. Novemher 10 Is


the visitor brings away is that of pathos.
A haze of melancholy broods over the re-
membrance Of the country such as follows
one from the funeral of friend. The tenn
permanent of the Irish is so sunny, their
condition SO miserable: they are a people
so brainy. SO gifted with wit. with all the
clements of happiness, and there is so little
to inspire these elements in the life of Ire
land Today that the contrast kindles SYM
patny. The average Irishman rises head
and shoulders above the average English
man in the same sphere wherever one
meets him. whether he be the country
squire in scarlet jacket, who dsmounts
from his hunter to point the way to the
| ancient ruin which one is seeking. and gees
mile out of MS way to put the Traveller
on the right track, where the EEglshman
would have pointed vaguely with his whip
and galloped along: the carran who jostles
you over the cobblestcnes of Dublin on his
sldcsadole vehicle, reckless of life and
limb. boiling around corners with your
hair On end, while he discourses on local
history and legends with the sparkle of a
Miles U Reilly through his talk, where the
beer-sodden London cabman would have
been plotting lies to blk you cut of an en-
ira shilling, or the village priest. who. see
ing stranger, asks what service he can
do you, while the English parscn stiffiy
touches his hat aid marches along.
Yet the poverty of Ireland is to the pow
erty of England as the poverty of England
to that of the United States. Much SYM
rathy is wasted over The hard times in
America Icy the London newspapers, with
half-starving Ireland on their che hand and
wholly starving India on the other. These
are considered prosperous days in England.
Yet were Cleveland times in the states
half SO typified by unemployed, by beg
gars. by ostentatious rags and newspaper
chronicles of starving men and women on
the streets, by homeless families sleeping
on the wet grass under the glare of the
lamps from the palaces overlooking St.
James Park. revolution would be i'm the
air. the looting of the dwellings of pluto
Gratis, which the Bryanites are credited by
their opponents with thirstinS for, would
begin. Statesmen may brood over causes
and remedies. the reporter has only to re-
late the sights which fall under his eye. 1t
is enough strain on the sympathies and the
purse to stroll about London streets. be-
sieged by pleadings for pennies. offerings
of matches, shoestrings. flowers, the din of
street singers, barrel organs, sweepers and
the SwarmS of VENDORS whose business is
but ihinly disguised besgary, but Ireland
is many degrees worse.
Poverty is Evident.
Even in these sharp October days-Octo-
Der in Ireland is like New England October
plus the pervading dampness-many chill
dren are running Darefooted and bare
headed in the streets of Dublin, while the
few garments they wear between head and
feet are beautifully We'll ventilated. In beg
gary they quite surpass the English, but
their pleas so much more skillful End
SO adroit that even where one doubts their
need it is worth while to encourage them
for the sake of drawing out their uneN-
pected retorts. But the reeds Of most of
them are too plainly visible to be uues ION
ed. Raggedness and poverty find their
homes in Dublin. though the puzzle is rot
why there should be such pervadiag want
there as how, in the absence OF almost any
visible means CT support, the people man
age to live even Well as they do. FOR
Ireland is country with nothing but
past, not as prosperous past as might
have teen, but with even less prosperity
in the future. Dependency is the prevail
ing tone of all classes of people who dis
cuss her prospects. From Dublin Castle
down TO the beggarS, they all tell the same
story, that the youns men are leaving the
country, that the old folks are living MAN.
ly on remittances from sons who have
gone abroad to make their liviBgs; that
there is no more money in farming; that
manufacturing cannot be made to pay. The
people blame the government for the adj
mitted bankruptcy of the country. while the
government on its side blames the native
politicians, but none differ about the facts.
Farming lands are being deserted every
where, and given over to pasturase, and in
the villages and cities most of the fac
tories have their windows boarded over.
The Drink Hypothesis.
Temperance people declare that over
prcduc ton of whisky is the complaint from
which Ireland suffers, which seems piaus-
ible theory in view Of the fact that an
Irishman who does rot regard his Satur-
day night foreordained occasion where
on to get drunk is of the minority.
But an Irishman primed with whisky
wherefrom bubbles a stream of bulls AMI
repartee is preferable to the Briton who in
hi drtva IL H..
right to beat his woman" The drink by
pCthesiS fails moreover to solve the ques-
ton because the flow of alcohol keeps
pace in England with Ireland, though the
condition Of English workingmen is con-
stantly lettering, while that of the Irish
men is hardening.
There are two sides TO the stories of an
Irish famine in the coming winter. The
government asserts that there is nothing
more to the talk than politicians famine
The politicians, with many of the clergy
and citizens at large. contend shat the dis
tress will be nearly equal to that which
overwhelmed the island during the crop
failures in the seventies. That there will be
much suffering all parties admit, though no
one claims that it will approach the famine
of AZ. Each side has reasons for painting
the picture as dark or as bright as posi-
He. Government officials explain that it is
for the interest Of the agitaters to magnify
distress because such conditions bring dis
tress upon the ruling powers, and they hint
off from relief funds which they expect
America to contribute. The politicians re-
tort that the government is trying to cover
up the famine because it is largely due to
ofilcial incapacity. Probably the truth lies
between the two extremes, as the truth
generally does. The government admits
that there is suffering but asserts thar its
officers are keeping watch upon every conn
ty, ard will be fully able TO cope with the
needs of the people. The officials decline
to furnish specifications of the distress or
10 explain how they will allay it, but thar
Is TO be done presumably by public works.
the under secretary for Ireland, Mr.. J. r
Dougherty. who is considered one of the
most impartial and fair-mfnded men OF fhe
government. gave his views to the writer.
The Under secretnry's Views.
There are several counties on the west
coast where the people have a hard time tn
attain self-support under the best condi-
lions. and it takes but a small push TO
Sc nd them over the border line into de-
tendency, he said. with but a small
falling Off In the crop they are obliged to
look for cid from outside. This win be
the case in parts OF the western coast this
winter undoubtedly. but people who pre-
dict another '4S are talking the merest