The Irish standard., 1902-01-18
A SAMPLE OF GRASS IGNORANCE.

An esteemed correspondent at Rich
Valley, Mimi, who is not subscriber
draws our attention to a communica-
ton in the st. Paul Dispatch in which
an anonymous writer alleges that
ireland is the freest country on earth
and enjoys the greatest amount of
liberty" Our correspondent, who
bears good old Irish name, says he
is not sufficiently acquainted with the
present condition of Ireland to know
whether the unknown writer in the
Dispatch is justified in making such
a statement and so he asks the Irish
Standard to enlighten him on the mat
ter.
We shall do SO with pleasure. 1t is
almost superfluous to deny such a
statement. Any man who says that
Ireland is the freest country OH the
globe and enjoys the greatest liberty
does not know what he is writing
about. The American republic enjoys
that pre-eminence. The people of the
United States. who make their own
laws and are free from royalty and
aristocracy, enjoy the greatest liberty
Of any people on earth since the dawn
Of time.
ireland today is governed by Eng
land and without any regard to the
wishes of Irishmen. Owing to Eng
fish misgovernment of Ireland the pop
ulation, instead of doubling. has de-
creased one-half in sixty years. No
country under the canopy of heaven
has had such Il sad experience from
criminal aggression as Ireland dur
ing the reign Of Victoria. The dcpop-
ulation is still going on in spite of
every effort to stop it. and if emigra-
ton continues at the present rate, the
old Celtic race will have vanished
from the island before the end of this
century.
The writer in the Dispatch is appnr-
emily ignorant of Anglo-Irsh affairs,
else he would not have INDUCED in
such claptrap as the following:
"Wh0 will be bold enough to deny
that alcohol, agitation and anarchy,
which lead to idleness and degrade
ton, are not the principal causes of the
largest percentage Of the misery in all
countries, and Ireland is no exception?
May it not also be said that if Ireland
is subjected to more misery it stands
at the head Of the list in the consump-
ton of alcohol, and as for agitators it
is far away ahead of any other spot
on the globe. and with much less rea-
son for complaining. A people that
sends about 100 members to the Brit
lsh parliament for four millions of a
population, while the city of London,
with population Of 100000, has to
be content with about forty members,
surely has nothing to complain of in
regard to representation. They ought
to be treated to dose of Krugerism
where they would be compelled to do
without any representation at all.
And as for liberty Of speech and lib
erty Of the press, where is there
spot on earth with SO much liberty?
England or the United States. the
freest nations on earth, cannot COM
pare with the Emerald Isle"
English official reports indisputably
prove that Ireland stands at the foot
instead Of ut the head in the con-
sumption of alcohol in the British
Islands. This was shown by Mr.. Ed
ward Blake, Of Canada, in his mas
terly reply to Arthur ]. Balfour in the
House of Commons, when the govern
ment leader said Irish taxation could
be considerably reduced by drinking
less whiskey. According to the late
Leslie NJ. Kelley, of bichloride-of-go
fame, there is less intoxication in Ire
land than in any European country he
had visited in 1891.
AS for anarchy, the Irish ut home
and abroad are free from it. There is
no such thing in Ireland. There have
been agrarian crimes committed
once in awhile. Landlords have been
shot down in Tipperary and other
places, but killing landlords is not
anarchy. The late Petroleum ".
Nasty David r. Locke declared that
If Irish landlords were in Ohio they
would be shot down every day in the
week. He blamed the Irish for not
killing more of them.