The Irish standard., 1903-03-14

| have read BurkeS "NiciSSitudeS of
| Distinguished Families know how
much religion was involved in the
transfer of Ireland's soil from the oil
Catholic stock to Protestant Dutchmau
and English Roundhead and our
| Scotch Prcsby tcrian--bitterest foe of
all.
Although more than two centuries
have elapsed since the position here
outlined was first crystaliZed, practic-
ally it was what prevailed down to
the regime Of Mr.. Gladstone, and it's
| skeleton is visible in the Irish situa-
ton of to-day. The great question ut
issue. when all subsidiary matters are
disposed of, is the retention of the
Irish people in their own natural home.
II they cannot find any adequate means
OF living there, there is no proposition
more certain than that the island must
speedily be depopulated. They are Il
Catholic population-tha is those of
them who form the bulk of the emil
grant class. When the Catholic popu-
lation is finally god rid of, who shall
take their places but the surpllsayr
Of England and Scotland? This is
what makes the Ulster Orangeman so
determined an opponent of men like
Mr.. Il. w. Russell, who desire IL pacific
settlement of the Irish land question
Anything that is likely, either remote
| ly or Indirectly, to foster the growth
of a larger Catholic population about
| the Orangcman's habitat he will op-
pose to the death.
| Gentlemen from the United States
who go TO Ireland in order to study the
complex Irish question in "thr own
country as a French lady once said
/; to me in her charming broken English,
as Il rule have no knowledge of the
conditions here described. They know
| little or nothing of the historical back
ground, and they are reluctant to in
uuirc into the religious causes that
underlay it's origin. But readers of
this Magazine stand on Il different
plane. They arc profoundly Interested
in the event. 1t is not merely the OK
istcncc of the bold peasantry, their
country'S pride" that is at stake now;
it is the existence of the Catholic faith
in Ireland. What neither penal laws,
nor gibbcts, nor cOnliscatiOns could cf
feet in the ages of the TudorS and the
Stuarts and the IIanoverians, the
slow, deliberate, mercilcss policy of
Irish landlortlisn, as it works out to-
day, is most certain to do, il some
mighty brake be not applied to the
INDUSTRIOUS machinery.
a parallel for the present situation
with regard TO the Irish difficulty may
armies of Bonapartc had tramplcd its
crown and dignity in the dust. The
Statesmen of the beaten monarchy
recognized the causes Which had led
to its overthrow, in the Serldom of the
peasantry and the tyranny of the feu-
dial jonkers. There was no time for
from ruin utter and complete. AN
agrlrian population rooted in the soil
and owners Of the land they titled, not
the slaves Of the drunken, brawlng,
brutal uristocmcy--this would be the
mollarcll's bulwarL, they rightly
grElgetl, instead Of Il source of danger.
SO Minister Stein brought in his
great measure transforming the relu
tions OF peasant and potcntatc, Ivy conf
pulsory transfer of ownership, buying
the landlords out Oh Il gradually de-
creasing rental, until their right was
finally cNtinguishcd. He did not live
to complete The colossal task, but his
successor, ilardcnbcrg, took up the
work, and laid the foundation of that
social REIMBURSEMENT which made it pos
sible for the descendants of the de-
Ieatcd llohcnZollcrns 10 turn the
tables on the French empire, the cause
Of their country's humiliation.
But for the amicable conference of
lilnd-llolucrs and lanu-cultivutors re-
Gently witnessed in Dublin there is no
parallel. 1t is an event altogether
uniuuc-alnlOst as remarkable as the
| Millelnial possibility of the accord of
lion and lamb
Are there any breakers ahead in the
new situation thus unexpectedly de-
| Ncloprd? He would be an optimist
OVERLOAD, indeed, who could shut dis
eyes to the truth. What has been lc-
conlplishcu amounts TO little more than
Il mutual confession that Il state Of
war is bad for both sides, and that ain
amicahlc understanding on the terms
of change is desirable for both parties,
as we'll as for the country ut large. The
crlN will come when the terms of
equalization are presented for discus
sion. 1t is understood that the Gle
mcnt OF compusion is to be excluded,
and the aim Of the Government con-
fined to lending assistance to both par
ties when they desire agreement--to
carry out the terms of the bargain