The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-01-10

ing from any other country. The Ger
man may land on our shores today.
us In the past. and, however poor he
may bc, however desperate his indi.
vidual situation, however cheerlcss
The outlook for him. he is cOnscious-
ana the consciousness of it adds to
his strcngth-that behind him Is n
powerful government. a rcglant na.
tion in Europe. whose armies arc on
the land and whose ships are on the
sea, and that in every port to which
no may so, and In every capital where
he may Soi0urn. the great German
Empire of which he is a part. pro.
trcts him: ana that, under that acyis.
ms rights are looked after by court
of ambassadors, diplomats ana con-
| SulS. And so ii is with those who
come from France ana those who come
from all the other great nations Of
Europe.
| But the lrishnmn landing in the
United States, especially in the past,
in addition to being poverty stricken
through the laws of an iniquitous gov
crnmcnt, in addition to having been
robbed of his lands and driven from
his home, had no protection, had no
national ncgis under which he could
shield himself, for the very first thing
he did when he put his foot upon the
soil of the Republic was to rcpudate
the protection of the Empire which
had driven him from the land OF his
birth. Mppausc.D And therefore,
my friends. the Irishnn,n, whether he
came in the revolutionary period and
was a soldier of Washington, or
whether he was driven out by the
pnngs Of hunger in the famine period,
when he landed in the United States
he was stripped down to nothing but
intelligence and faith. and armed with
that, and that alone. it is marvellous
and miraculous beyond anything In
history what the Irish people have
achieved in the United States Jap
plausc); that, in spite of these trc-
mcndOus handicapS-in spite Of the
centennial lies and libcls on his char
nctcr and his religion. in spite of his
principles. in spite of the adamnntine
wallis of prciudicc-the Irish have
taken n conspicuous part in the army,
in the industrial world. in the pulpit
and in the forum as you have heard
tonight. 1t is one of the most strik-
ing and marvellous things in the his
tory Of humanity. MppIausc)
Now, the Irish in America, having
passed through the military period in
which their courage had been bitterly
tested. have succeeded in the indus
trial progress Of America in wonder
full degree. Having in mercantile life
and in every pursuit. intellectual or
physical. produced men who have no
supcriors and few peers in the his
tory of our country. we have now mr.
rived Mt n pcriod-and this meeting 10
the beginning of an effort in that d.
rcction--an intellectual period in the
!, history of the Irish In America.
where they purpose. without ofrense
to the nationalities which compose this
cosmopolitan nation. to vindicate their
place in the United States as an in
; tellcctual and progressive force by the
establishment of such an institution
as the Ancient Order of Hibernians 10
endeavoring by this meeting to do.
Applause.) The Irlshman in Ameri-
ca, compelled to work so hard, to
struggle so fiercely against all the diff
fculties and dangers and prejudices
/ and handicaps which have confronted
him, has no time to vindicate his own
history. Many people will say: "Why
does the Irishman need any vindica-
ton of his history? If Mr.. Gargan
and Mr. McDonough and these gen
tlemen are right, will not that history
vindicate itself?" I want to say in
reply to that, that while in the United
States the average intelligence is very
> high and that the American mind,