The Irish standard., 1902-05-24


the tenants. He admits our whole case,
but gives the landlords all the bene.
fits OF his verdict (groanS) while as to
the laborers and the evicted tenants.
their very existence is forgotten by the
trainers of the bill (groans). This is. l
think, a fair summary Of what the re-
suits would be, and if that is the best
proposal Mr.. Wyntlham has to make
in reply to our agitation in Ireland. |
: am afraid there is no denying that. to
some extent. perhaps it is our own
, fault (hear. hear. In one respcct-that
, is. the avoidance of crime or hloodshed
the country has behaved magnti-
Gently. Their wisdom. their self-re
straint, is beyond all praise. 1t is one
of the most marvellous things in his
tory. The crimelessncss of the C ull-
: try is the despair of our enemies. and.
as long us that crimelcsSness lasts. all
the power of England cannot penetrate
our ar,nor loud cheers. But within
the lines of lawful combination and of
| Irresistible public opinion. am afraid
enough has not been done outside IL
few districts to reduce those general
principles into practice in particular
cases Qhear, hear. There is nobody in
particular to be blamed. 1t certainly
was not for want of Il warning by Mr..
! Redmond last autumn that Il mere
mcnacing and dangerous agitation wtlS
needed (hear hear. 1t is not the fault
of the party. nor the fault of the peo-
, Pile. Both the party and the people
were and are full Of pluck and spirit.
and ready for anything the MON ut
they arc shown the way Qoud cheers.
All that WAS wanted WAS some definite
would enable us to bring pressure to
bear against every enemy of the pco-
pie in his own particular ncghbor-
hood, at his own door. and in his daily
life by those methods which are law
full for every workin%man in the land
in the most trumpcry industrial dis
putc. Now, believe it would be quite
possible to devise ways AMI means ljy
which we could make landlorlliSm too
hot for the landlords. and grnzicrism
too hot for the graZiers and grabhcr-
ism too hot for the grAbbcrs. 1t would
not bc beyond the wit of man to lay
down the lines of some such system of
warfare. and | have never wavcrcd in
my conviction that the most practical
and the most effective methods in Ire
land under present circumstances.
would he based upon those rights of
trades union combination which have
been the secret of the strength of this
combination from the beginning
(cllcers)-and which the government
has never mustered up the courage to
assail: combinations which would
bring home to every enemy of the peo-
pie. from Clonbrocks down to the most
sortld grabher in the land efficacy of
the peoples rights of picketing them,
of refusing to deal with them. Of ex-
pelling them from society. and treating
them as the Duke of DevOnshire treat
cd Willoughby loud cheers: and
County Councils and District Councils,
such as the country WILL please God.
elect next month Qoud cheers: men
-1,n l,,
crowns of their heads to the soles of
their feet Continued chcring). Those
county councils and district councils
will have the means in certain contin-
gencieS. and if we are driven to it
(chccrs) OF extending that combination
further and further to the complete
paralysis and DISCRIMINATION of Eng
fish government in Ireland prolonged
checrlnE). All that. in my opin II.
would he feasible and would he alSo-
lutcly UNSUITABLE on scvery moral and
even legal principle il the people are
to h" allowed to retain any wcnp1n of
self-OefcnSe ut all (clccrs,. But one
thing is certain. that the responsibility
for any such policy must not be left
on the shoulders of few individuals
or a few localities Nhrar, hear. Ii it
were judged to he the right thing. the
responsibility would have to be faced
by the whole party ami the whole
country (cheerS). and the fight would
have to he prosecuted with all their
authority and all their might. so that
1t might never again lie IN Mr.. Wynd-
hams mouth to brag that he is only
dealing with Il few individuals, and
that the fighting area is confined to
thirty or forty branches (hear. hear.
More than that. if we are driven to an
other land campaign, it may possibly
he necessary to overhaul to some de-
gree the principles on which the land
agitation has hitherto been conducted,
and to make it clear that the Irish
land question is not n mere huXtcring
struggle for half-a-crown an acre more
or less in the rent but that the essence
of that question is the unnatural and
intolerable fact that only two million
acres of the poorest land of Ireland
are devoted to the sllsterance of men,
while twelve million acres are devoted
to the worship of the beasts Cloud
cheers). That is the real root of the
cnnker: that is the true reason why