The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-08-05

district council of each urban district
council and of each county council in
Ireland, and that three members of
each of the three councils, in ad-
diN;, the chairman, be selected to
rSoc;a ssota H::oole in the respective
o..'ety 1'Storiic. ric.;n IN which they
come; tna. lcial conven-
ton so constituted :. .egates discuss
the best means of obtaining unity and
that the chairman and the three other
selected members of each provincial con-
vention form united convention of. the
Irish race at home and abroad"
Even should this accomplish the pur-
pose aimed at it is too complicated to be
Immediately effective. In its own time,
however, unity will come, and when it
does its bonds will be all the stronger for
the conflicts of discussion it had to en-
counter. The fact is the Irish are about
as united as any other public-spirited
people; only they like to draw dark pict-
ures of the evils of conflicting opinions,
forgetting that discussion is education.
The United Irish League, with t'the
land for the people" as its shibboleth. is
becoming potent factor in the political
and industrial life of the country. 1t is
only about two years old and until re-
Gently mainly devoted its energies to the
west of Ireland. 1t is now branching
out and organizing throughout the other
provinces and is progressing wonder
fully. 1t is more radical and revolu-
tlonary in some aspects than the old
great Land League, and promises to be
as great, if not greater power than that
organization. But to win success and
the hearty support of the people at large
it must faithfully adhere to its initial
declarations to keep aloof from factional
polite and parliamentary party squab-
bles. This it has so far succeeded in
doing fairly well, although it has been
no easy task for William O'Brien, its
founder, and John Dillon and Michael
Davitt, its active champions, to merge
their personalities in the struggle. That
they have done so practically is shown,
and to their credit, by the support it is
receiving from the Parnellites, the Hea-
leyites and others. The bishops and
priests are becoming more active than
ever in its advocacy, and this, of course,
will bring the people to it in most par
dishes all over the land, though it may
be doubted if the aggressive nationality
of the movement will be intensified
thereby.
There is strong and pretty wide
spread feeling in the ireland of to-day
that religion and politics do not mix
very we'll together, but along the pro-
gram of the United Irish league there is
no reason why there should not be a
complete and beneficial commingling Of
the two for the purpose of restoring the
people to the lands of which they were
dispossessed and planting them in their
old homes where cattle now Craze. The
declared purpose of the movement is to
sweep grasping landlordism from the
country. Here is a brief statement of its
policy as recently uttered at public
meeting by James O'Kelly, M. P:
"This question is a truly national
question, for it appeals not to one, but to
every class. There is no one-landlord,
tenant, professional man, trader or la
borer--who is not intimately interested
in the settlement of this question:
question upon which the future pros
perity of their country depends. What
are they asking the people to do? To
bring back the men from the bogs and
mountains and put them once again on
the good lands from which they have
been driven. They are not seeking to
inflict any injury on the landlords or to
deprive them of any property or rights
to which they might be entitled, but they
want to have their position changed, and
it was in the power of the government,
by using the powers invested in it, to
bring about such consummation as will
result in the tenant farmer becoming the
owner of his holding. Ireland cannot
hope for prosperity so long as the pres
ent system OF landlordism continues to
be maintained" He therefore appealed
to them once more to join with their
comrades and neighbors, from whom
they had recently been divided-to join
with them for the common good, and
place in the forefront of the battle the
simple issue, "The land for the people" :"
1t may be within the possibilities that
the United league may yet bring about
the unity so much talked about and de-
sired.
A "PatriOt' for Revenge.
A Havana paper states that the ad-