The Irish standard., 1903-06-13

Ill IL itc uuluDcE VI lLc lulltiucl-
phia North American appears the fol-
lowing article from the pen of Gantly
Mcagher, written under date of May
18th, from Kinvara, Ireland. The
writer says:
Despite the allurements of the land
bill and the almost certain assurance
that the dawn of a brighter day for
Ireland is at hand the exodus from
the country continues unabatcd.
Week after week hundreds of the
young and vigorous of our people sail
away in the cmigrant ships that bear
their human freight across the Allan
tic; week after week the old ties that
should bind them to home and mother
land are sundcrcd and the very life
blood of Ireland is being drained stead
lily away.
Some of the Nationalist leaders and
organs have tried to stem the devast-
ating tide but their behcsts and their
plcndings and their advice have had
apparently no more effect than the
mandate of Canutc when he hadc the
OncOming waves on the shore of Eng
land rccedc into the world of waters
beyond.
In the older days. "a million a de-
cadc" were the figures that told of
Ern's dcpopulation. Then landlord
ism was the evil influence That dcci-
mated the island. Now landlOrdiSm
is ShOrn of much Of it's banrful power,
conditions are much better and the
outlook for ireland is brightcr--and
yet the young people go.
All this is very sad, but snddcr, per-
haps, is the fate of those untutorcd
cXilrs in the foreign land whose al
lurcmcnts beguilcd them from their
own.
| remember the time, score of
years ago, when Kinvara, the little
town on an estuary of Galway Bay,
from which l write, was one of the
most thriving in the west of Ireland.
Then the districts surrounding it were
populated, farming industry flourishcd,
ana the people were happy and, in n
measure, contentcd. though not pros
porous. But landlordism shattered
the fabric of rural wcll-bcing; impos-
siblc rents were cxactcd by spccu-
Iator who had purchased the land for
profit. and the downfall of Kinvarn
was thus begun.
l remember well the time when
Kinvara boastcd of a thriving trade
in wool, grain and potatoes; when
ships by the score left the port for
the west of England; when money cir
culatcd in the place with something
like prodigality, and when its fairs
and markets had more than a mere
local reputation.
But, under the blighting influences
of Il system of landlordism, that had
few parallels in legaliZcd infamy,
rents were raised, and then came the
inevitable eviction and it's inevitable
cvil-cXpatriation.
Young and old were forced to leave
the land in which their fathers before
them had toilcd and drudgcd, and
while the young went in the track of
the setting sun, the aged were in but
too many cases forced to seek refuge
in the poorhouse, there to eat the
bread of charity and await the com
ing of more mcrciful death.
And what is true of Kinvara is
equally true of every other district in
Ireland. Owners of the SOIL with a
legacy of cncumbranccs bequeathed
by their ancestors, were forced to sell
their properties in the Encumbcred
Estates court, and in six cases out
of ten the purchaser was some spccu-
lat0r who borrowed money at usur-
ous interest, which, with installments
of the principal. he made his unfOr-
tunate tenants pay.
No wonder it was that in those days
the peasants fed to the land of prom
isc beyond the sea-nO wonder that in
many eases the blood of the land
shark was shed on the altar of re-
venge. But now, thank God, such