The Irish standard., 1898-10-22

justice and human right can look with
Indifference upon the struggle that Ire
land is making today against her op-
pressor. The heart of every true Ameri-
can should beat with sympathy for those
who are working to attain what they
should have been given long ago-the
| right to govern themselves Why should
Canada enjoy home rule" and Ireland be
denied? 1t is only the old conflict be-
tween liberty and despotism, which is
as old as history itself From the time
that God sent the ten plaques against
the Egyptians that the 1sraelites might
be set free from bondage, down to the
! present time, the conflict has ragged in
one form or another. Might and pow
er combined with selfish ambition or
greed makes the oppressor, and power
once acquired is reluctantly surrender
| ed. The scmi-servitude, with all the in
suits and degradation, which the Jews
suffered under the Roman yoke for cen
turtles, makes a page in history, illus
tratiye Of mans inhumanity to man."
| The rise of the Dutch republic and the
i overthrow of the dynasty of Charles V,
was victory for constitutional liberty
| The almost superhuman efforts of lit
| tie Poland against the overwhelming
Russian tyrant aroused the sympathies
of the world. Our own struggle with
England, which resulted in the over
throw of the British yoke, and the es-
Establishment of our independence, is a
matter not only Of national pride, but
| was great step forward in the pro-
gress of constitutional liberty and equal
rights.
| Heavy as was the Roman yoke upon
| the Jewish people, we have almost a
parallel in the treatment of the Irish
people by England.
| Just as was our cause in '76 it was
/! not more just than is the cause of "home
rule" in Ireland today
The colonists complained bitterly Of
| the unjust and burdensome taxation
imposed upon them by the parent coun-
| try, but it was hardly 1.-THE compared
to the eStortionate rents wrung from the
Irish farmers by the English land own
ers, for centuries. What was the re-
suit of this long and cruel oppression?
| Ireland has not always been the Ire
land of today. For three centuries she
| led the world in education and learn
f, ing Her colleges were patroniZed by
all nations Her industries thrived and
her people were happy and prosperous.
Nor was her greatness material and in
| tellectcual alone.
| During that period when the world
was submerged in moral and religious
darkness, Ireland alone stood true. Many
of her patron saints in their lives of
examples to the world which have never
| been excelled, and rarely equalled. 1t
was Ireland who first sent missionaries
| to England to christianize the Britons.
| Let the condition of Ireland today be
| the answer.
Her colleges crumbled, her factories
closed, her population depleted, and the
larger part of the people today working
like slaves to pay the landlords their ex-
| tortionate rents. 1t is a sad contrast
with her once former greatness and pros
perity What picture is that drawn by
Mr. Carpenter. of the Cleveland Leader.
during his recent travels in Ireland.
Farmers paying from $40 to $40 per acre
rental, and how is it done? To many a
diet of skim milk and potatoes, bread a
| luxury. and meat only on Christmas.
I.aborers working for 40 cents day,
and men found breaking stones upon the
road at shilling day.
| Out of 2o,0OO,O0O acres of land in Ire
land. three men own 100000 apiece.
Fourteen own $4,000 each, while ninety
own between 10000 and $4,000 acres
each.
This condition cannot continue much
longer; no settlement Of this question
will be permanent until it is settled right,
and this question will never be settled
fully until those people are allowed to