The times., 1899-04-09
lRELAND'S COUNTY
COUNCIL ELECTIONS
Indications of a Sweeping Ma
tionalist Victory.
The Landlords and UniOnists Trea..-
ed to Complete Rout.
Effect of the Result Jpon English
PoIicy-Diferences of Home
Rulers StiII Unsettled.

London, April S.-Profound interest, but
little eXcitement-this sums up the attitude
of Ireland generally in this eventful week
of her history, the week of the first cleo
tons under her latest Tory Magma Charta
The transference of power from the grand
juries to the new. popularly- elected bodies
is taking place almost in a dead calm, the
people everywhere showing an admirable
sense of responsibility.
On the same day. Thursday, at the little
wayside stations of Mayo Galway. and
Glare were repeated the old pitfful tales oi
farewell. AS one more batch of Ireland S
youngest and brightest hurried south to the
White Star Liner at Queenstown. TITS bad
to be leaving the old country on the first
day of her hope" one emigrant was heard
to say.
Of course, it being Ireland these new
county council elections have been fought
on political lines. Equally of course, the
Unionists have been completely routed and
defeated They include such representa-
tives of the ruling class as Lords Castle
town. Langford Mayo. and Rosse, who
condescendingly declared their Intention by
their candidature, to keep the new councils
TO the making of roads and similar paro-
chial matters and to ward of jobbery and
corruption, but the Irish people cherish
other purposes for their new-found free
dom. They remember as one journal puts
it, that hitherto in Ireland the ruling caste
generally speaking, has been English. the
ruled Irish; the ruling caste has been Prot
estant, the ruled Roman Catholic.
To the great mass of Irishmen the new
councils came as one step toward reversing
all this. IT, they argue, ireland makes her
voice heard through nearly all the borough
councils, county councils, and district
councils throughout the length and breadth
of the land, the Saxon must lind it less
easy to ignore her claims. SO the first re-
suit of 1reland's new freedom seems. so
far as the results are yet known, to be the
triumph of nationalism, all along the line
of displacement of landlordism from local
power.
The Times shrieks in dismay that Ire
land is being handed over to Jaeobinism
and priestcraft. The real root of its dis
may is that home rule has evidently lost
none of its potency with the Irish lace, and
this victory cannot fail to have its effect
upon English Liberal policy. united and
resolute Ireland is factor which Liberal
ism never did and never can ignore 1t is
difficult also to believe that it can fail 10
put new force behind Mr.. Dilion's efforts
TO restore unity among the Nationallsts in
Parliament.
This Dew political movement in ireland
fits in with the remarkable economic
changes. new Ireland is surely rising
from the ashes of landlordism. This is the
testimony on all hands, Tory and Radical,
but especial weight attaches to the quiet
unbiased survey which a London journal
list, W. II. Nivensen, is making Here are
two bits of his report I'm Mayo and in
Achill, where existence is almost at its
lowest, ragged men and women are now
busy stripping the black earth with
trenches TO carry off the ooze, and on
mounds between they are laying their half
potatoes. covering them over with sawed
manure soil.
The Congested Districts Board is buy
ing up land and allotting it at low rents
with the right of ultimate purchase. Slowly
the people are coming back to the good
land from the mountains and bogs to
which the remnants of them had been
driven, and where their cottages still hud-
died together. They are stripping the land.
They are widening it, as they say. They