The Irish standard., 1903-07-25

'hhieuSc HaJOrlly against the Irish
demand, and the question was quietly
allowed to drop until the next session
gave opportunity for repetition of
the same inanc performance. Those
were the days when 1.-THE three F's,"
representing tiXity of tenure, fair
rents and free sale were commonly
regarded even by advanced British
Radicals as the full symbols Of all
that was needed for the complete set
Element of the Irish land question.
Then there came the days of the
policy commonly described by its op-
ponrnts as that of parliamentary OBJ
strnction. The genius of Charles
Stewart Parncl first discovered and
applied this new ana indomitable
force to its proper destination. Isaac
Butt had led for long time the Home
Rule party in the house OF commons
But Isaac Butt had never dreamed
that anything could be done for ire
land hN 50 active and so original a
policy. He was Il sincere lover of his
country and sympathizcd fully with
her just claims, but he was essentially
the advocate Of strictly conventional
proceedings in the house of commons.
He had a profound respect for the
ways and forms of the house, and he
did not understand that the need Of
lrclnnd's claims had utterly out
grown these antiquatcd forms, that
the case was desperate and that there
was no choice left but that between
parliamentary and national reyolu-
tion. PnrnrlI saw That the house Of
commons must be compelled to listen
to the claims of Ireland ana that such
compulsion could only come from the
policy of obstruction. The whole prin-
ciplc of his action was embodied in
the declaration that if the house Of
commons would not pay adequate at
tcntiOn to the vital business of Ire
land, 1t should not for the present be
allowed TO attend to any other busi-
ness whatever. The situation was
like that illustrated in Il poem written
by an lrishman, which tells Of the
widowed woman, who flung herself
down on the ground before the Roman
cmDerOr's charger and declared that If
lie would not listen to her prayers for
the hearing Of the grievances of her
and hers, she would with her own
weak from bar his progress, and he
must either hear her story Or trample
her to death. We can all remember
how Parncl and his seven or eight
followers carried out that policy of
obstruction for session after session.
in despite of every effort, legal or ex-
ira legal. which could be brought to
bear against them. BY this policy,
and by none other, was brought about
that reduction of the franchise which
put Parncll at the head of a large ma
jority among the representatives Of
Ireland.
1t must ever be among the bright.
est memories of my life that 1 had
for many years the opportunity Of
serving under Parncll in the MAIN
tenance of his wise and successful
policy. 1t is a pleasure to me also
to remember that there were at least
few independent and enlightened
British representatives who acted
generously and faithfully with Par
nell's party in his endeavors to secure
n hearing for the national voice of
Ireland. One Of these English men,
bers is now again in the house Of
commons after an absence of some
years-Sir Wilfrid Lawson. Another
is Henry Iabouchere, who has held
his seat without interruption in the
house. Then there came troubles to
the Irish party into which it is not
necessary to enter now, for they wer"
but short lived, and Ireland has once
again thoroughly united and nation.
nj party, under leader who holds the
full confidence Of the Irish people, In
the meantime and after a period of
terrible trouble, often coming to the
verge of civil war, and during which