The San Francisco call., 1898-12-04
VIEWS OF NOTED ENGLlSHMEN
THEY EVIDENTLY FEARED THE
 IRISH LEADER.
Dublin in the Throes of General Election, for the Whole Cor poration Is to Be Renewed
 in January.
BY J. J. CLANCY.
Special Correspondence of The Call.

Special Correspondence of The Call.
 DUBLIN, Nov. 19.-"The Life of Par nell" by Barry O'Bren, has been the subject of universal discussion during the past week, both in England and in Ireland. The work has been looked for ward to for some years past with great interest. because it was known that MT. O'Brien had been seeking and had ob- tained exceptionally good information regarding the inner history of the great Irish leader and of the movement which he conducted This expectation has not been disappointed, for the work is full from beginning to end of original mat ter, and although it will not change the estimate which has hitherto been formed of Parnells character and work it brings out the salient characters both of the than ever. Among the new things which Barry O'Brien's book reveals is the fact which has hitherto not been made plain before-namely, that the English politi- clans with whom Parnell contended throughout his public career had even a higher opinion of his abilities and of his power than his own countrymen. MT. Gladstone, MT. Chamberlain, MT. Bright, Sir Charles Dilke and many other prom inent English statesmen have, in inter views with MT. O'Brien, testified in striking language and in various ways to the greatness of the man as poliu- cal leader. MT. Gladstone called him the most remarkable man., the most mar vicious man. mot the ablest man he had ever met, but quite the most remarkable man of whom he had ever had eXperi- ence" Sir Charles Dilke's testimony is, perhaps the most remarkable or all. 'He always treated us, said Dilke, "as if we were dealing with a foreign pow or utterly different from all other Irish leaders in temperament and manners- so much more like an EngIshman 10 all outward appearances than an lrishman that the English never really under stood him and that they feared him in consequence A An9fhs5 Iac6 b6ox fse11ag s fbat he was a thorough and determined hater of England throughout his whole career, and this motive spring explains ms whole policy. The result was that With out an army at his back and with country not half as determined as nm self, he imposed his will on both the as completely as if he had been con Querer Tn the field of battle.
 Barry O'Brien, it may be added, Who Whloo has undertaken the writing of the ,iie nie of Parneli, is an Irishman at the English bar and has already distinguished nm nm self in literature by several WorkS qeal, ing with the political history or Ireland during the last sixty years. Although an Irish Nationalist he has been on terms of intimate friendship with all the lead ing English politicians Tor the pas1 qodar- odi,- done more than a mans snare Tn spTeau- ing true views in England on the Lish question, especially by his latest Work;
 We are already here in Dubnn Tn the throes of a general election. Under the new local government act the munlcipal franchise has been extended to the parlla- mentary level-in plaln words, S. the ho9 eiio- i1- creased from about S00O to nearly oO,UOo, and as a consequence the Whoie corPoratloIl of the city is to be renewed Tn January next, The city is divided into ffteen wards. for each of which one Alderman and three Councillors have to be elected Under ordinary circumstances this gen eral election would probably have passed over in a humdrum fashion and without any exciting circumstances and there cer- tainly would not have been any dlsposl- tion to exclude from the corporalloIi d fair representation Of the minority. But, as I long since explained in The Call, an attempt was made last summer to cap ture the Mayoralty of the city for the completely the whole current or a1alrs. The National party have felt that, while they could safely surrender many things, they could not surrender the chief place in Dublin, if not in Ireland, outside the Government, without running grave polit- ical risks. Accordingly, the whole electo- ral battle now in Dublin turns on the question of the Mayoralty A universal determination has been arrived at among Nationalists to vote for no man unless he pledges himself distinctly not to vote either next year or any other year for a Unionist Lord Mayor-until home rule is conceded to Ireland. The very thought of opposition to this programme has aroused almost every ward in Dublin during the past week. During the last two or three days candidates have been selected at public meetings, all of whom have been obliged to take the pledge re- ferred to- and there can be no doubt from 4 " elected, although some of their opponents have been men who have deserved well of the citizens in their capacity Of corpo- rators, the only complaint against them, in fact, being that on the vital question of the Mayoralty they outraged the National feeling and opinion. More events of the same kind promise to come off during the coming week, the result being that the Reformed Corporation of Dublin will, for the first time in history, consist entirely, or almost entirely, Of Nationalists. In one sense this will be regrettable, for, un- doubtedly, 1t would be desirable that there should be a respectable opposition in the corporation. Nothing is so healthy as an opposition, and the "loyaliSt' minority in Dublin does contain certain number of capable men. In another sense it is but just retribution. For 25O years at least a small minority in Dublin, devoted to the English Government ruled the roost During that time the minority in question not only kept everything to themselves. disposing of every office, in their gift among themselves and their favorites but committing the most disgraceful job bery and corruption. In the last century the Orange corporators of Dublin assigned away whole streets of houses in after dinner orgies to various persons for nom- inal considerations. they themselves, how ever, having received bribes of consider able amounts. This is the origin of the vast Dublin estates of two or three Eng fish noblemen, including the Earl of Pem- broke, who has no other connection with Ireland. All this. of course. is borne in mind by the citizens of Dublin to-day, and all things considered it will be no wonder if it does not whet their appetite in the coming contests, especially when the uues- tion is between home rule and foreign rule.