Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-10-15

tional purposes. There is not the slight
est fear of that. Any of us who go about
making speeches may Just as well be
talking to the wind only that the neces-
sity for a great and united organization
is beginning to sink into the depths of
the hearts of the people through the
country. 1t is literally the fact that not
League, not a single branch of the organ
ization has yet been formed by organiza-
zation from outside until the people had
first risen up and taken the matter into
their own hands and clamored to be or
gained. For instance, need not tell
you that did not know a single soul in this
parish where we are assembled until to-
day. What did know was that the par
ish of Elphin was so opposed to, and
am quite sure honestly opposed to, my
/ particular views upon past questions
so opposed that believe that at the
general elections of 1892 and 1895 none
of our candidates ever dreamed of put
ting their feet within the parish of FL
phin. l came here today not knowing,
and not caring, whether l would meet
any persons of my own particular views
in these matters but l came here per-
| fectly certain that whether | met Parlel-
lites or anti-Parnellites, would find you
all animated by one desire above all 9TH
ers, and that is that the differences
among honest Irish Nationalist in the
past should be buried a thousand leagues
under the sea, and that the man will be
here as elsewhere most welcome who
will work hardest to bring all classes of
Irish Nationalist together again into the
/ fighting line for Ireland against the land
lord and the grabber, and against the
| Saxon.
l hope that before you separate today
you will band yourselves together into
a united organization. Now, if ever
there was time when we had good
deal to fight for it is at the present mo-
ment. In a short speech would not
hope even to glance at all the work that
the united organization of the people
would have before it. This say, that
never was there a time i'll this century
when the Irish people would enter upon
a struggle against England with a more
absolute certainty of winning that ever
men had before in this century if we
are only capable of showing 1.-THE of the
courage of the self-sacrifice which the
men of 1898 expended in a losing battle
Only think what this organization has
been able to do without leaders or organ
izers or funds. 1t is simply that neces-
! sity is our organizer The prices of cat
tie at every fair are our organizers. The
judicial rack-renters are our organizers.
The gentleman who sent young MacEgan
to Sligo Jail OH Wednesday is first-rate
organizer. Why is it that the Land
Courts are making ducks and brakes of
the Land Acts? Why is it that the land
lords are keeping a pretty tight upper lip,
so to say2 1t is because they know that
they can get grabbers. As our chairman
has said to you, in a country like Ireland
it is as necessary to chain up the grabber
as it would be to chain up a raving lu-
matte. 1t is as necessary to put him in
quarantine, as our chairman said, as if he
were attacked by malignant fever-for
recollect the grabber is not in honest
competition with the Irish farmer. The
first step toward the abolition of land
lordism is to abolish the grabber. Once
you make it clear that a man will no more
touch his poor neighbours holding THAI
he would stab his poor neighbor IN the
heart, you have once more the whole
Irish question at your disposal, you will
have no longer any competitor in the
Land Courts, and you will be in posi-
ton to compel Judge Ross to sell an
estate i'll the open market, even if he had
to commit a couple of hundred of the
tenants to prison for combining not to
pay his receiver a silver until he hon
estly put the fortieth section of the act of
1896 in force.
And so you would go on until you
would have the landlords imploring the
Government to give them their money
and let them go their way. Your first
cry ought to be Down with the grab
ber." You ought not to be content with
crying it-you ought to do it, You ought
to put down the grabber by the good old
methods which were practiced in the
County Mayo. Why is it that every
farmer in Ireland at the present moment
is signing for unity and is feeling the
want of organization? Why are the land
lord journals, with view to the Novem-
Der rents, singing a regular song of tri-
umph over the fact that the potatoes and
the oats are not failure this year? Why,
every one who knows the farmer and who
knows the state of the country, knows
the farmers of Ireland were never in
lower water since the Land League sprang
into existence than they are this very
year. One of the most decided Parnell-
ties remarked to me the other day that
the farmers of Ireland are no doubt more
independent before the law, but are poor
er i'll their pockets than before Mr.. Glad
stone passed the Land Act, owing to the
tremendous growth of foreign competi-
ton. l saw it stated the other day that
those farmers of the North of Ireland,
who turn up the whites of their eyes at
the wickedness of us mere Land Leaguers,