The Irish standard., 1901-05-18

acre? 1t cannot be. Is it the relief
of Mafeking and of I4adysmith?. Prob
ably. The English people went crazy
over the relief of these two towns.
''The war in South Africa" says Sal
isbury, "has shown the strength of
England, which was never more con-
clusively shown. There is no power
III the world now but knows that if
it defied the might of England it
would defy one of the most formula
bic enemies it could encounter"
What nonsense! England sent some
$4,000 men to South Africa to con-
quer two little powers whose COM
bined forces at any one time did not
exceed $4,000, and after two years the
Beers are holding their own against
such overwhelming odds. If the Beers
had 10000 fighting men they would
have driven the British into the ocean,
for one Boer is more than a match for
five Tommy Atkinses. Had England
been engaged in a death-grapple with
first-class power instead of the Beers
where would she be by this time? Sal
isbury makes himself a laughing
stock by such boasting, and calls to
mind the words of Bismarck that he
is simply "a wooden lath painted like
iron."
The real strength of England is in
her navy, but naval experts think the
navy If put to the test would not
prove a whit better than the army.
All England can do with her navy is
to defend it's shores from invasion,
She can never engage in naval con-
f1ict with the United States, for in
stance. In three months after decla-
ration of war between the two Anglo
Saxon nations, British commerce
would be swept from the ocean and
the Britishers of the United Kingdom
would feel the pangs Of hunger. Ire
land would be invaded by the Ameri-
cans, and then that unfortunate island
would be free from British domination
forever. Canada would cut loose from
the apron strings of England and be-
come annexed to the United States.
Everything English on this side of the
Atlantic would be lost forever to the
mother country" before the war ter
minated. No wonder England profess
ses friendship for the United States
and is anxious for an Anglo-American
alliance.
Before closing his address, Lord
Salisbury had a whack at the Irish.
He said: eff home rule had passed
in 1898 what would England's posi-
ton, with a hostile Irish government
in Dublin, have been today? What
would our position have been if we
had not only to meet the Transvaal
and the Orange Free State, but also
an equally hostile Ireland by our side;
We know from our experience the
danger of letting Ireland have mea-
sure of independence. We know now
that if we allowed those who are lead
ing Irish politics unlimited power of
making preparations against us we
should have to begin by conquering
Ireland if ever we had to fight any
other power"
Salisbury is in his senility and should
retire from politics. Did the House
of Lords pass Gladstone's home rule
bill the Irish would be more contented
than they are today. Did Ireland en-
joy self-government we believe it
would be more loyal to England than
it is now. Were it not for Irish sol
diers in the British army in Africa
things would have been far worse for
England than they are. Irish soldiers
faced the Boer bullets when the Eng
lish kept in the rear. No more can
England raise troops in Ireland for
wars of conquest. The old Tory says
that experience has taught the danger
of giving independence to Ireland, and
yet Queen Victoria went to Ireland
to praise the loyalty and bravery of
it's sons. Ireland will ever remain n
to England until it's wrongs
are righted.