The Irish standard., 1901-02-23
THE IRISH AT WESTMINSTER.

SeA~ SA~ASAA ga w VASArAAANS AkNs
The parliament opened by King Ed
ward IN London OH Feb. IA was char
acterized by much pomp and ceremony
The son Of Victoria delights in page
antry and made Il grand appearance
before the lords and comm0ners of his
kingdom in the national assembly He
read ''the kings speech" which was
written for him by one of the minis
tcrs, who appears to be ignorant Of
the rules of syntaX, and after getting
through that performance he retired
to divest himself of his royal trap
pings and started for his palace to
partake Of refreshments and rest his
weary limbs.
The Nationalist members from Ire
land took 10 part in the ceremonies
naugurating the reign of Edward
Eighty of them met and unanimously
resolved to keep aloof from the page
ant and let the English, Scotch and
Welsh honor the new king in any way
they pleased. They expect but little
from him and consequently they re-
Trained from joining in the demonstra-
ton. While the Britons were paying
homage to his majesty the Celts were
&&":te.,nlIlg a plan of campaign to make
him acquainted with the fact that Ire
land was not governed as an integral
part of the United Kingdom. Now
that the queen is gene the Irish are
determined to criticisc the king if he
proves derelict in his duty to their
country. AS John Redmond puts it:
Having a man to fight. Ireland will
rclinquish her chivalrous attitude to
the late queen, and we mean to know
once for all whether our constitutional
rights are to be awarded to us or not"
At the present time in Ireland the
people are forbidden to assemble peace
ably to discuss their grievances; news
paper editors are being prosecuted for
criticising the government judges in
selecting juries for conviction; and
of parliament are prohibited
from addressing their own constituents
on matters pertaining to their welfare
In view of these facts, the Irish Ma
in parliament will make
things lively for the new king and his
Tory ministers during the session. For
the first time in ten years eighty Irish
are united to make the raf-
ters in Westminster hall ring until JUS
tice Is done to their native land. They
will give no quarter and ask none of
their hereditary oppressors, but con-
time to plague them day and night.
For the first time in hundred years
the Protestant and Catholic farmers
of Ireland demand the abolition of
landlortism. II. w. Russell, as the
of the Ulster tenants
will join the Nationalists for compul-
sorry land purchase and present Il
scheme for buying out the landlords to
enable the tillcrs Of the soil to become
sole proprietors thereof.
The other day Thomas O'Donnell.
member for West Kerry. created
great sensation by arising in his seat
with his hat on, and catching the eye
of the speaker of the house he began
an eloquent speech in the Irish Ian
guage. After uttering Il few sentences
he was called to order and reminded
that the Irish language was foreign to
the house, OF course, O'Donnell knew,
that as well as the speaker. When
Daniel O'Connell addressed parliament
in the most eloquent English that ever
dropped from the lips of man he was
hssed and hcoted by British members.
Now a member from O'Connelrs ma
tive county stands up in parliament
fifty years after and tries to get the
ear of hostile assembly by delivering
a speech in the mellitluous language of
the Gael. Thomas O'Donnell has
shown that Ire is Indifferent to the
praise or censure Of the British major
ity, and he is the right man to repre-
sent the ancient Kingdom Of Kerry on
the banks of the Thames.
If the Irish members make things un-
pleasant for the British king and minis
ters during this session of parliament
they will regain the respect of their
kindred on this side Of the Atlantic.
Let them beard the British lion in his
den and denounce the atrocities of
Chamberlain & Co. in Europe, Asia
and Africa. Let them hold meetings
In their own country whenever neces-