The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-03-28
ARE They GRouNpLEss1

Ii has been SO often asserted always
from pro-BritiSh authority, that the
complaints of the Irish are entirely
sroundless and the agitation TOR bet
ter conditions baseless, that a study
of real conditions is instructive and
worthy of more than ordinary atten-
ton. Going over the history Of the
past ten years, English rule in Ireland
has been ut it's best. During that
period coercion laws have been in
force, with what effect is we'll known.
In 1891, or thereabouts, land law
was adopted that promised some re-
lief to the people Of Ireland, yet ac-
cording to the following from the
Lenten Pastoral of Bishop Gaffney,
the last decade has been disastrous to
Ireland. Bishop Gaffney's diocese in
cludes most of West Meath, Meath
called the garden spot of Ireland, vet
he shows that within period of ten
years the County Meath alone has
lost fully 10000 people. There is GER
trinly reason for this. People are not
in the habit of leaving the land in
which they were born and bred unless
the conditions are such as to utterly
drive them to such Il course The fol.
lowing extract from the Bishops
Lenten Pastoral referred to will be
read with interest:
1T was thought that in 1891, after
fifty years Of dreadful waste, we
had reached the low water mark Of
population, yet what has occurred in
the ten years previous to last census
Chat of 19OD? The figures are record
ed and are official. In the County of
Meath nearly 1000 homes and 5000
people have disappeared. In West
Meath nearly 700 homes and 1000
people; in Kings county and the parts
of other counties in the diocese the
decrease is proportional. We have
lost i'm the Meath diocese 1000 homes
and 10000 people in these ten years.
What drain on depopulated and
desert land! But, startling as these
figures are, they do not represent the
actual facts. Not to complicate fig
ures, let us take the County of Meath,
which happens to be substantially an
accurate sample of the others. In
Meath the births exceed the deaths
in, the decade by 1884. We have to
add this to the net total of decrease to
find the real waste which has occur
red, and it raises it to 10000. Where
have they gone? The death rate does
not account for any; it is balanced by
the birth rate, of which we have only
taken the excess. We learn from the
census that 1854 emigrants left Meath
and this leaves an unexplained bal
ance Of nearly 1000 people who fled
from the country. These are the
broad facts that between migration
and emigration 10000 people in the
last ten years of the last century have
left, one county sparsely populated,
rich beyond comparison in fertile
lands, whose wealth lies buried from
want of human hands to till it or
care for it and extract it's boundless
treasures"
Still another extract taken from the
Pastoral of the Bishop of Elphin and
bearing upon this same subject is here
included. He says:
"The industries of Ireland have
dwindled with it's population. and the
decrease in the population during the
decade Immediately preceding 1901
was deplorable indeed. In the year
1901 the total population of the Dio,
cese of Elphin was 147,991. which in.
cluded 139,33S Catholics. In 1901, ten
years subsequently, the total popula
-tion stood at 49,. 4O4, which included
125, 743 Catholics. These figures show
that in the ten years referred to the