The Irish standard., 1903-10-10
One of Two Great Objects of Irish League
The Abolition of Landlordism-
is Accomplished.
The Forces and Conditions Which Have De-
stroyed Landlordism, Can Destroy
Dublin Castle.

G'rrlrd and won. We don't vet half
realize it. We are none of us half
grateful enough for it. Hlt the fact
Is that no generation of lriShinru hnyc
lived in this island for ages past
whose efforts have been SO "loriously
rewarded as those of this present gem
GRAFTON. For my part, if il pleased the
Almighty to terminate my own span
OF life in the morning. it would he
happiness beyond anything | ever
hoped or dreamed of to have been
even the least of the men over whose
graves il can l,r written that we found
our frllow-countrymcn slaves and we
will lrav" them mrn--tllat we found
them srrfs, with no more legal right
to their own homes than the hare on
the hills, and we will leave them the
masters and the owners of the land
of Ireland. And it is not the leaders
alone. or even chiefly. who can make
that proud boast. 1t is equally the
glory OF every village hero who stood
up against the tyrnnt of his fields. and
or every man of the rank and file who
beat drum or faced II baton charge
through all those years, when the
timid ana the selfish stood aside, be-
cause 1t can never be too often insisted
that 1t is the people, and not the lead
ers. who have been the makers of the
United Irish League, and ii is the peo-
pie, and the people alone, who again
and again have saved the situation.
So much for the past ro-morrow 1
hope to have an opportunity of dealing
| with the liew land act at some length
before the city executive of the
League. ] will reserve all that | have
to say upon the subject until then.
But with this new land act we have
not come to the end We are 0niy in
the beginning, especially those who
| have the privilege of being young in
| this evcntful hour are only in the be-
ginnllS-of greater and gr,nder
| achievements for Ireland The better
now before us. There are donbtcrs
and nlnrjoyS who will tell YOU that
the settlement of the land question is
the dratll-bl0w of home rule. They
would have you to believe that Irish
nationality is II sort of famine sick
ness that attacks hungry people. and
| that the moment we are all well fed
| we will turn into comfortable English
men. They might as well expect to
turn us into lions ana unicorns fight
ing for the crown. They might as well
expect our venerable friend, J. Il. X.
O'Hricn in his old days to haul down
his cOlors and put on the uniform Of
the Royal Irish cOnstab,llary who sur
rendered their arms to him that night
long ago at BallyknOckane. No. my
friends, Irish nationality is living
principle twenty millions strong; and
for good or i'll, so long as this planet
rolls through the everlasting heavens,
this race of ours, to it's last hour and
to its last man, will bear the imprint
of that separate and indestructible ma
| tionlity which the Creator has stamp
ed upon the iron frontiers of our is
land. and has infused into the marrow
OF our bones and into the very sanctu-
airy Of our souls. Shame upon these
ignoble fears! 1t follows as certainly
as the day follows the night that a
race of freeholdcrs and freemen who
are once owners of the land will never
rest until they are also it's rulers and
its law-makers-until our taxes and
our national resources are taken out
of the custody of bungling strangers,
and until we are free to follow out our
own national destinies, according to
our own ideals, under the inspiration
Of that liberty and self-government
without which no people in recorded
history have ever accomplished any
thing that makes nations life worth
living. Well, now, upon that subject
or the future l have few remarks TO
submit to the serious consideration of
my fellow-countrymen The first thing
nave to submit is that the success