The Minneapolis journal., 1903-03-27
GREAT FOR IRELAND.
Views Of the Irish Land Bill by
Minneapolitans Interested
in the Irish.
--------
Judge Steele Hopes It Will Pass
The Opinoin of Roger
Vail. r.. .,5.

IT will be All immense benefit to ire
land. replied Judge John III. Steele when
asked what he thought Of the Irish land
pill introduced yesterday In the British
parliament. Il hope it will pass. ="
The provisions of this measure con-
tlnued Judge Steele, appear to be such
that most Of the Irish tenants will be
enabled to purchase the land they occu-
py.s Before long. perhaps, practically all
of the farming land of ireland will thus
become the property of the farmers Such
"a change would do away with the evils
that have made Irish history so long a
record Of suffering and injustice. Absen
tee landlords, and agents bound to- extract
the last farthing ofarent, have been at
the. bottom of all the Irish troubles.
IS mo other reason exist for widespread
poverty or misfortune The people have
been the same race that has prospered
SO greatly upon this side of the ocean.
And the country could scarcely be: bet
tered. have gone through Ireland. |
know that its climate is unsurpassed, that
there Is a fertile soil. great abundance
of water and of water power, extensive
deposits of coal and iron and Of other
minerals, even a fair portion of gold.
mo reason exists why Ireland should
not be famous for it's manufactures and
it's commerce: believe that il the people
can once settle the land question; they
will devote themselves to building up trade
and manufactures. Always it has been
the. land question that has. barred the path
OF, progress, for the land of Ireland has
been confiscated,, since the earliest days,
no less than ten or Il dozen times.
| Decided encouragement, is afforded by
the result Of the parliamentary act passed
a. few years ago. It enabled about 1000
tenants to purchase their holdings, and
these people have since been satisfied and
prosperous. :" s-~~:j 'ss.s:'' .: E:....
Brought Forward by Conservatives.
''An important circumstance relative. to
the new land bill is that it has been
brought forward by the conservative par
ty. The conservatives of course, control
the house Of lords, SO that if the act
passes the commons it will probably meet
with no unsurmountable opposition in the
upper house. Had the bill been launched
by liberals, it might easily have met the
! sane fate as Gladstone's bill, which went
through the lower house only to be de-
feated: at the hands Of the conservative
peers .. :~...- - -
| Roger Vail gives the following state
ment of the situation -.
1.-The Irish land bill, introduced by Sec
Iretary Wyndham III the British parfia-
ment on wednesday,, is based :on the
agreement entered into between the rep
tresentatives Of the landlords and tenants
of Ireland at the recent Dublin confer
satisfactory to the Irish people at home
| After the passage Of the bill "a conmis-f
sion of the representative men of Ireland
will. be held in Dublin, to accept or reject
! it. But after the necessary amendments
| in parliament, the bill will undoubtedly
! be acceptable to:1the Irish nation.
II Credit Que Edwaed VII. i / ]; ];
F It is the most comprehensive niea sure
Eever iritrodlead in the Britis@ parliament
/ IN, cott Of t1,o 10 in
Ireland, and King Edward is entitled to
considerable. 7n;editSrt9r ARnointing Sir
Anthony MacDonnell to draft. the bill.
l. :sThe3 Hberal party will not oppose the
passage Of the BILL aud the house Of lords,
. which has a big tory ma iority,@ will not
veto it. Many of the members Of the, up
per house are Irish landlords, and they
| will vote for it's passage.
~ Home Rule Is Next. T
J. "Once the land question is disposed. Of
| the tory party will be likely to give home
rule to Ireland, and the upper house will
mot veto such a. measure as it did. 1.-The
| Gladstone BILL Any bill introduced by the
tory ministry in the house of commons
will pass the lords almost unanimously.
When the Irish people are owners OF the
land they cultivate and have their own
parliament in Dublin, as formerly, there
will be peace and contentment in Ireland
and the ill-feelng engendered by centuries
Of oppression will pass away. ' "''. =
: THE overwhelming majority Of the
i Irish race in America will be glad that the
| Irish question is rapidly approaching a
| solution. There are a few irresponsible
individuals who do. not desire a: settle
ment: They are the professional patriots
and chronic agitators. who attempt to
dictate, to the Irish at home what form
of government they shall have. These
noisy, mischievous demagogues belong to
a secret organization. and now and then
they issue a manifesto in favor Of an
Irish Notwithstanding the Irish peo-
pie. do not want. i The people of Ireland
| know what they want, and it is nothing
short Of irnpertineilce for American citi-
zens to dictate to them in matters of
! government The. Irish at home have
their own leaders In parliament, and they
are evidently attending faithfully to their
duties"
f.. .. INDIANS: WON'T SIGN 49,