The Irish standard., 1903-03-14

dub the war in ireland, "a rebellion"
and on this ground the laws of treason
were applied, for the purpose of hav-
ing the lands of the rebels given over
to the adherents of the Prince Of
Orange, the only genuine rebel in the
case, albeit the successful one. Consid-
erably more than 100000 acres We're
embraced in this final act Of robbery,
and nearly 100000 of these We're be-
slowed by the noble monarch upon one
Of his mistresses the Countess Of
Orkney. Upon re Ginkle, Schomberg's
family, and the more prominent Dutch
commanders other hundreds of thou
sands We're bestowed, and the remain
der, fell into the possession Of the Prot
estant neighbors O. the Catholic OWL
efs, either dead Or fled. All this was
done in open violation of the stipula-
I ton agreed to by Dc Gink1e and the
! other commissioners who, on behalf Of
the King, negotiated with Sarsfield and
the other Irish commissioners the
terms of capitulation before Limerick.
This was the epoch which inaugural
ed the social and political system
which wrought the downfall of the
country and produced the conditions
which confront its people today. 1t
marked the beginning Of the system of
absenteeism, depopnlation, and disaf-
foresting which changed the whole
economic position & the island, it
marked the commencement of that or
ganiZed plan Of pers ccution which, I'M
der the guise Of zeal for the monarchy
and the Protestant "ascendency" was
designed to fitch fro n the Catholics the
remainder of their landed property and
make them helotS aud slaves In their
own country. 1t III trked also the ORR
gin of that system Of industrial mon
opoly by England by means Of which
all rivalry of Irish products was rem
dered impossible The great and flour
ishing wool trade OF Ireland was de-
strOyed by direct act on of the English
Parliament and the Dutch king, and
dustries which had grown out of 1t
shared in it's fall. Jhe policy of con-
fiscation was equally runous in it's re-
suits in other directions. In forestry,
for instance, Ireland had been cspec-
tally rich. Immense woods had fur
nishcd timber in abundance for ship
building, architecture. fuel, and other
requirements. No sooner We're the
greedy newcomers settled down upon
the Catholics lands, than many Of
them fearing that somehow they might
in turn be ousted, BEGAN systematic
onslaught Oh this source Of national
opulence. Commission crs appointed to
inquire into tho condition of the con.
fscatcd estates, iii the public interest,
\ found that the cutting; down Of the
woods had everywhere been rcSortcd
ITO. On one estate they found that
trees to the value of twenty-five thou
sand pounds had been demolished; on
another to the value If twenty-seven
thousand. Those on whom the con-
fscatcd estates have been bestowed,
or their agents." these commissioners
reported, "have been so greedy to
sieze upon the most triling profits that
large trees have beer cut down. and
sold for siXrcucc cacl.' All this was
done in The reign of King William. So
widespread and sweeping was this
wicked devastation That in Dean
Swift's time it was impossible, as he
wrote, to lind timber for ship-buil,ling
OF the Housing Of the people.
Then was begun also the process OF
turning tillage land into vast sheep
walks, and driving The population
thereof into the towns aud the sc;,-ports
to wait for shipping to bear the more
hardy and a'venturous to other climrs.
This startling inn;;raticn was bitterly
denounced by Swift. ".iJaX was mad"
he wrote "whcn he mi>took's flock Of
sheep for his enemies; but we shall
never be sober till we are of the same
way of thinking Then also was be-
gun the pcrnicious system of short
leases and facile ejcctm ,nts, rackrcnt-
ing, and discouragcment of good cult
walton by means Of tho short lease
system and the raising Of the rent OH
renewal, in consideration Of the i'm
provemens made by the tenant. THUS
II u.s." bitterly complained Swift, that
honest industry is restrained; the
farmer is Il slave to his landlord; and
it is well if he can cover his family
with course homespun frieZc." The
competition for the land became so
keen, rs a result of the clearanccs, that
the mercilcss landlords had no dill
Guilty in getting tenants, OH any con-
ditions they were pleased to exact.
Many would have gone ilto the towns
to try their hand or get their children
taught in the walks OF trade or manu-
facturc, We're it not for the HtrociouS
operation Of the penal code, which
made it criminal for Protestant arti-
sans or merchants either 70 take Cath
olics for apprentices or enter into bust
ness relations with them. The decay