The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-10-22
A STORY OF MlsGOyERNmENT.

| SuHlclent merit to obtain prominent
place on this page of the Irish Stand
ard:
A Mr.. Kerr, member of the British
parliament. stopping for a few hours in
Minneapolis, was interviewed by Il Times
representative. The following is IL por-
ton of his talk with the reporter:
NO one takes; tn" Irish politician serious,
ly.' said Mr.. Kerr. in reference to home rule
for the island. "roliticul intrigue is tn,
breath Of his nostrilS. The Irish leaders
don't want home rule. mud would not know
what to do If it should he allowed them
| They want 1" remain in the imperial parla
mcnt and continue before the eyes of Tho
! world" Mr.. Kerr admitted that he spoke
/; from the stand of the Conservative party
ana as follower of the Salisbury govern.
I mcut.
1t is quite evident that the English
| government does not take Irish politics
very seriously. What Mr. Kerr says may
be measurably true of the Irish politi-
clan, but the wrongs of whole people
cannot be justified on the ground that
some of their leaders are demagogues
who make politics and patriotism and
the wrongs of their nation Il means OF
livelihood. But the situation in ireland
cannot be disposed of in this Indifferent
and contemptuous way.
When Il whole people are found to be
/ half the time in starving and disas-
trons condition and all the time in con-
dition of poverty and distress. the first
thing to be considered is their history.
! Ireland is not in it's present disturbed and
miserable state by accident. The truth
is, that though often temporarily defeat
ed, Ireland has never been really sub
jugated, and has never absolutely SUBJ
mitted to the British crown. When
Henry VIII took the title of king of Ire
land only a small portion was really
under his rule. Matters were not diff
fcrent during the reign OF Elizabeth.
The troubles of the crown in England
from l64l forward intensified the social
and religious animositics of Ireland. The
military successes and the considerations
of Cromwell followed: but though four
ffths OF the Irish soil went into English
hands, and though the subsequent VIC
tories of William of Orange resulted in
like conliscations of the soil, there was
no submission of IL majority of the peo-
pie; and from that day to this there
never has been any.
| For a century there was persecution of
the CathOlics-sucll persecution as would
not be attempted, or if attempted would
fail at the present day. The penal laws
against those of the Roman communion
would now be regarded as not only cruel
but preposterous From that time until
the present nothing has been settled. The
union made matters no better. Sir Robert
Peel. in his speech upon the Catholic
emancipation bill, admitted that hardly
| for single year since tic union had
Ireland been governed otherwise than by
fnsurrectlon acts, martial law or the sus-
pension of the habeas corpus.
Since then there has been no end of
legislation; there have been great and
important classes; there have been the
, efforts of O'Connell. Mitchell, OBrien
Meagher. Duffy. not to mention others;
yet what has Ireland gained? There has
been the agitation for home rule. Fenian-
ism was tried and failed. But the revo-
lutionary spirit has never been quieted
in Ireland since the time Of the Tndors:
and today this restless, uneasy. unyield-
ing people. decimated by starvation,
| weakened by emigration and subjected to
all the disastrous consequences of a des-
rotic and alien government is sill un-
, conquered and as far as ever from sub
mission.
Where Is there anything like it in his
tory? According to all the rules of hui
man experience the Irish people proper
should long ago have been swept from
the face OF the earth. at least from the
face of Ireland. In sense it has proved
indomitable. 1t has been put down, but
it has not been kept down. It.has never
submitted for a whole generation. 1t is
as uneasy and as disobedient to English
law now as il was in the days of Eliza
| pSsh' 'IANA DSIhG CNuii, IFS pei
sistence must long ago have resulted in
Irish independence. The change of a
thousand miles III geographical position
would have changed the whole record.
lrishmen could emigratc but the island
could not float away from the fatal neigh
bOrhood
| We hear constantly of faults in the
Irish character. We are told that it has
proved incapable of self-government.
Rich in many qualities Which makes IL
people prosperous. peaceful and happy,
the Irish, it has been claimed, are lack
ing in those attributes which secure peace
and PROSPERITY. What they might have
been under happier auspices has not
been taken sufficiently into account
Their annalists have sadly shown what
they were in earlier times--warlike, eru-
dite and comparatively enlightened.
Without going back to antiquity we may
consider them as a people. III the first
instance unfortunate in being iisunited.
and subsequently acquiring all the i'm
pducences and prejudices of race only
partially subjugated, always ill-gOyern-