The Greeley tribune., 1905-01-19
NEED THER|
FAMINE SUFFERING IN IRE
LAND IS HORRIBLE
Efforts to Belittle Movement to
Send Help Must Fall Flat
in View of Follow
ing Account

From New \ Ofk American, sun
day Ian. S-London, Jan. !.
From reports which are arriving
daily from the famine-stricken coun-
rios of western Ireland it is now GER
,sin that the failure of the potato
crop will plunge those districts into
n,ore hitter and acute distress than
IN, been experienced in half CEN
,ury. In spite of the sneering re-
ferences to the impending period
Of want by the government organs, it
is known that the realization of what
tbs conditions in the stricken dis
rricts will be is complete enough in
England to inspire an unusual
amount OF preparation fo- its relief.
That such relief. even when it is
combined with that to be afforded by
the more prosperous sections ofIreland
will fall far short of the needs of
the situation is clearly shown by
those who have recently visited the
counties of Connaught, Connemara
and Meath. While it is admitted
that the full effects Of the failure
of the potato crop will not be felt
until the end OF January, the
misery, want and suffering among
the people OF the afflicted districts
are already very great.
Beyond Comprehension.
Comparatively destitute in their
prosperous seasons, the conditions
of the poor tenants Of the patches of
clayey land between the boulders of
the western counties is beyond the
comprehension of those who are ac-
customed to see the lowest mark of
restitution registered by poor cloth
ing and insufficient food.
While the cattle belonging to the
wealthy landlords are fattening on
he fertile tracts of pasture land,
from which the tenants have been
driven, the tillers of the arid patches
Find their families are actually Starv
ing. Starving, too, in the very be-
ginning OF their winter, with their
crop total failure and the only
chance of continued existence lying
with the relief committees and
boards of guardians, who have ad-
mltted their inability to successfully
deal with the situation.
y letter written recently by the
blshop OF Meath gives some insight
mo the situation in that county.
he Bishop writes:
one We're not in practical touch
WIN the world and did not see the
reality of things he would hardly
oeiieve IN the existence of such pov-
FfW III Meath. 1t is a county of
atse area, thinly populated and
las a richness that would more than
uihll the blessings of Isaac for his
Son.
Ihe auctioneer, who fills the
'."ce oil subsheriff in Meath, adver-
Uses IN one issue of the local papers
VINE ''ooo acres of grass land and
,'e safe OF some few farms. Here
ne nhest land in creation is half
o',eh 10 the want of drainage, the
teuses untrimmed and growing into
ne helds, the thistles and the net
sies @ Hourlshing. What dreadful
picture it presents. But while the
pioo'em awaits solution the poor
must not be allowed to starve.' -
hvery unprejudiced visitor to the
'. 't'cNeh counties ascribes the same
,, u"So'' lor the periodic seasons of
'""v winch are about TO reach their
vr'ole climax of destitution and
,"neflhg this year-the tenant driven
w u,e uhproductive lands, which can
'0C oe depended upon.
S'r Arthur Macdonald, in letter,
~. .''ies that the government does
wv Wv YET half appreciate the serious
~, ms vi the situation in Connaught.
,, "e 'alillre OF the potato crop in the
sSV .., ol ireland has occurred regu-
,h' '' ana persistently since lS45 and
,yo, soNerhment is ais helpless as
Nef' he declares.
r,'. .N"olher writing to a Dublin paper
'o'n ~, Connaught says:
IN The west the humble peasants
10 'nve ra TO face with the dread spec
Nj, i'''lhe. The potatos have failed
If I,as seAr on the miserable patches
'"'u TO which the tenants have