The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-06-14
England's Failure in ireland.
(From the st. Paul Globe.)

In the house of commons recently
Mr.. John Dillon, one of the Irish ma
| tionalist members, presented a very
amusing view of the operation of the
| so-called Crimes act in Ireland. 1t was
a thoroughly ridiculous situation which
| he portrayed. The serious feature of
it was found in the conclusion reached
| by one of the special courts convened
under the Crimes act in having de-
clared the accused innocent of the
charges made against them, yet SEN
| fencing these same accused to three
months confinement in prison.
| Ireland is now being governed chief
| ly through the operation of a special
penal law capable of producing the
| shocking results pointed out by Mr..
Dillon. OF course, there is nothing ex-
| ceptional in this as a matter of Irish
! experience. Since the rebellion of 1898
| the Irish people have been so governed
perhaps the greater part of the time.
Modern progress and enlightenment do
! not appeal to English statesmen in this
connection. The present English rep
resentative in Ireland had long de-
manded the suspension of the habeas
| corpus, in order to enable him to cope
! with the new Irish league. The gov
eminent withstood the demand as long
! situation in South. Africa was really
| threatening. Then it did as all other
| tory governments and many liberal
ones have done, it set itself to the task
of ruling ireland through the prison
and the bayonett.
One hundred yearso of this sort of
thing has brought nothing but misery
| to both the parties to the political
union between England and Ireland.
One thousand years of it will produce
no different result. The Irish are a
| virile race. They have survived the
| worst devices put forward by English
soldiers and statesmen for their an
nihila ton since the days of Elizabeth;
| and that they will survive and rule in
their own land ultimately is as certain
as the existence of the British empire
itself.
Then why not let them do so peace
fully? The present state of things is
maintained to perpetuate the rule of
the little garrison of soldiers, pension
| ers and landlords which now alone rep
resents British ascendancy on the is
] land. That little garrison has been
steadily growing less and less during
all the years. 1t is now in a condition
| of final decrepitude. England boasts OF
| the wisdom of her government of hel
colonies. Why does she not try g
little of that wisdom in Ire
| land? Why not help the people tc
develop the industries of the country
| to make the country self-sustainlng
| The young men and women are fleeing
] from that land TO this, as they havt
been doing steadily for sixty years. The
| Irish exodus began when the flower OF
Irish manhood, enlisted in the Irish
army of General Sarsfield, decided In
1851 to enlist in the armeis of the con
tinent. 1t has continued since to the
present hour. But the island remains
as ever. a garrisoned possession OF
England, and its people are as thor
oughly hostile to British rule today. as
ever, from the beginning.
Since neither penal laws nor enforced
emigration. nor the Jail nor famine
nor the halter, has been able to change
the attitude of the Irish toward Eng
| land, it is surely nation OF block
heads that will persist in the policy
represented by the crimes act, and viii
not try the policy of justice and com
mon sense.