The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-05
DOING GOOD WORK.

Since the disappearance Of the late
Charles Stewart Parnell from the worlds
stage, Irish politics has steadily degen-
Grated, and but comparatively little at
tention has been bestowed upon the con-
duct Of the Irish representatives in the
British parliament. Whatever attention
they have been able to command Of late
years from the American public has not
been such as to add to their own reputa-
! ton, or to promote the national prestige.
The purely personal contests which have
gone to absorb apparently the greater
part Of the energies of these gentlemen
have not always been Of the most digni-
fled kind, and have wrought sad havoc
with the faith of many in the ultimate
success Of the Irish movement
The position assumed by the Irish ma
ticnal members in the British parliament
during the recent debates on the Boer sit
uation has been such as to go far to-
ward redeeming them in the judgment of
intelligent observers. They have succeed
| ell In bringing home to the minds of the
British people an enforced recognition Of
certain facts touching the conduct of the
British empire in the present crisis of
affairs in South Africa, which, no doubt.
| Dr'ti%h politicians and public alike would
wish dearly to ignore. They have let no
cia@s of imperialist politicians get away
fronl the settled conviction which prevails
in every land outside Of England that the
COURSE pursued in South Africa by Lord
Salisbury's government casts an enduring
strain upon British honor In doing this
they have rendered a service not only to
England. but to humanity, and they have
discharged their task with unexpected
ability and comprehension
Acting in concert with such men as Mr..
| Irish members will no doubt win some
of their old-time prestige on the floor Of
parliament before the end of the Boer
struggle has been reached Mr.. John
Dillon puts the case very tersely in his
resolutions, demanding that, before
more bloodshed takes place a proposal
be made in the spirit Of the recent con-
ference at The Hague, with a view of
finding IN arbitration settlement of the
differences between the British and the
TraIsvaal governments, and in order
| that an ignominious war be thus averted
| between the overwhelming forces of the
| British empire and those of two small
| nations. numbering altogether less than
2Ge,o9o souls" In sustaining these resolu-
! tons Mr.. Dillon denounced the pretext
thai the present contest had for its sole
aim the freedom of the outlanders. and
dec!ar~d that the uprising of the Beers
was directed against the projected i'm
naS:s.nn OF the yoke of Cecil Rhodes upon
Il cir shoulders. He boldly asserted, what
10 now recognized by all disinterested OBJ
servers to be true, that the convention of
isA wes smashed into fragments by the
| Ecltish ministry for no better reason than
because gold had been discovered in the
| T'rsnsvaaI
Mr.. Michael Davitt and Mr.. William
Redmond also succeeded In causing the
government moro than one uneasy quar-
Ear OK an hour. The former characterized
| the conflict as war between a giant and
a dwarf, and declared the whole word
outside OF the British empire cried shame