The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-08-03
IRISHMEN IN GOVERNMENT.
An Interesting Review of the Irish
mans Notable Share in
Public Life.


"Irishmen are on their trail" This
is a phrase which has been constantly
on the lips of English people of late.
The opinion has been called forth by
the Inauguration of local government
in Ireland, and the new system has been
described as IAN experiment. "a leap
jim the dark" of which none can foretell
the consequences.
Let US take a few typical examples of
the governing Irishmen. Let us glance
| at the careers of some compatriots who
| in modern times have proved the con-
ltinuity of the national character, the
character first eNemplified in the an
cient Brehon laws, one of the wisest
| justest and most elaborate code of laws
drawn up in any age or country, the
character which again asserted itself
in 1882, the era of Irish legislative indie
| pendence, when, in the words of Graf
tan, public prosperity so crowded on
the heel of the statute shat the powers
of nature seemed to stand at the right
hand of parliament"
Spain, France and Austria are the
! three countries in which Irishmen have
n 5ehy attained renown, both as sol
diers and statesmen, but their foot
prints may also be traced in the camps
and senates of Russia and Holland, Ba-
varia, Portugal and Poland.
From the fight of the ears down to
the present day the names of lrishhmen
have been entwined with the fortunes
of Spain. ODonel. dictator at Madrid;
O'Reilly, ambassador from Spain to the
court of Louis XIV; Patrick Lawless.
ambassador from Portugal to the same
court; O'Sullivan, grandee of Spain;
O'Reiliy, Kayanagh and Nugent, Aus
trian marshaIs; Lacy and Browne, Rus
sian marshals, and these are few OF
the names which spring to ones mind,
The O'Donels of Spain, the Taafes OF
Austria and the MacMahons of France
are perhaps the foremost. O'DoneL
duke of Tetuan, is one of the most infiu-
entail grandees of Spain, Il position
which he and his ancestors have gained
in recognition of valuable services rer..
dered to the state. The career of The
Irish-Austrian Taafes is no less Jus
trious. During the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries their names have
been blazoned on the roll of imperial
Austria Nicholas Taafe. field marshal.
who in 1888 won the famous victory OF
Belgrade over the Turks, and whose
son succeeded him in turn to the post
of chamberlain to the emperor, is
picturesque figure, but as an example
of administrative genius the late prime
minister, Count Francis Taafe, is the
most notable. He is recognized as one
of the ablest of Austria's statesmen, and
it is a significant fact that his policy al
ways trended in the direction of extend
ing powers of self-government to the
various nationalities comprising the
empire. He was federalist. In 1870
the year in which Isaac Butt started his
: lone rule movement, Count Taafe rec
commended the Austrian emperor, as
member of his ministry, to grant au-
tonomy to Bohemia.
The natural ability of the Irishman
for ruling was strikingly recognized at
the time of the American war of indie.
pendence, when the French acted as al
lies of the new republic. The officers
of the Irish brigade, under La Fayette
whose regiments engaged in the cam
paign, were appointed governors of the
West Indian islands, which they had
previously conquered. O'Dunn became
governor of Grenada, Dillon of St. Chris
topher and Fitzmaurice of St. Eustache
The administration of these governors
was equally praised by the English
French and American governments.
OF all countries the United States is
that in which the Irish are the most
prominent in public life. For the pur
pose of our argument it, perhaps, af
fords a better illustration than do the
countries above referred to; for on the
continent of Europe the Irishmen who
have distinguished themselves belong
for the most part to the aristocracy, but
in the republic of the west it is the
masses, not the classes, who administer
public affairs, and the rank and file have
acquitted themselves of the RESPONSE
bility as creditably as have the nobility
of their country elsewhere.
FROM tDe IlinC When DlllOH, Vi LlIS
Irish brigade. eagerly demanded leave
Of Louis XVI. to embark his regiment
to Join the American forces to the pres
ent day. when President Mckinley, the
granddaughter of the Ulster '9S man, sits
in the white house, Irishmen have been
foremost in the civil and military at
fairs of the great republic.
The proportion of Irishmen occupy
ing the post of governor of British col
onies and dependencies, or engaged in
other administrative and Legislative
work throughout the empire, is greatly
in excess of their numbers and influence
as citizens of the same empire BY sheer
force of merit and talent they have
forced their way to the front. The fig
ures of the colonial governors and pre-
miers are perhaps more prosaic than
those of the continental statesmen.
Carving out the careers of new coun'
tries in the backwoods of Canada or
the bush of Australia may not be such
dazzling work as presiding over the des-
TIMES of the old world powers, but the
task may prove a more solid and endur-
ing one when the history of the future
comes to be written.
The governing Irishman is as active
IN Australia at present as i'm the early