The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-07-23
LEADERS offTbot,glit and Influence
Agree THAT She IS Facing
ii Crisis
PEOPLE FLEEING Nc. COUNTRY !. !
Population Only Half What It
Was Fifty Years AgoH
for Brighter Future.
By Plunmner +. Jones.
(snccInl Il Tbe 1,lmes-Djspatch,,

Especial TO The Times DispatchD 1s. IN
sgFLONpON, July Ill spent n large
portion Of the afternoon yesterday In tho
private refrestlimcnt gardens Of tho
Houses Of Parliament OH the banks OF
the Thames, discussing with Hon. Il. II.
OConnor, tho well known Irish member
Of Parliament the social and Industrial
condition OF the Irish people. / had trav-$
eled all through Ireland. and had yls-
q tied every section Of the country. had
speedcd on tho railroad trains. sailed
Z on the steamers, ridden on the tram cars,
< driven FAR and wide on the Irish jatlnt-
< Ing cars and had walked for miles over
the Irish btEs ana climbed her green
81 hills. ! had come in contact with every
class Of the Irish people from tho sim
pic tlrf-cutters or Conncmarn,&to tho
merchant princes Of Belfast and Dublin.
and i had discussed the irish situation
With every single man, woman and child
who would talk with me OIL the subject.
III had even had letters Of Introduction
4 to such men as Sir james Henderson,
the noted Oranscmhn, now owner Of
u the Belfast News Letter, and DR. Fran
els Crossel. Of the North Of Ireland, and
! had formulated TO a considcrlpie 'ic-
gree my own opinion of the Irish pro-
blcm.
SO II was with an unusual degree OF
interest That tailed with Mr.. O Connorh
upon the conditions OF hat country, with
which he is so closely identified. ard
learned Ills views as TO the state of at
fairs In ireland. q
Conditions Are Awful.
3rrhc condition Of affairs in ireland
is simply awful, awful ireland is the
charnal house Of the world. II Is the
only country upon earth. IN civilized
lands. that is rottlng and Sdcchying 4 De =
y fore the eyes Of the people. It Is awful
] cannot go TO ireland. 1t makes me
sad even TO step my foot. on Irish soil. sl
S,,cl, were almost the verbatim re-
marks made to me by Mr.. O'Connor IN
the first five minutes Of our talk. Ana
II ! was convinced more than ever. and
E mite beyond any further doubt, WAT
s. the old country OF Ireland is passing
through a crisis; The like Of which inc
IA civilized world has never known.
The United Kingdom Is flooded VIII
hooks ard pamphlets dealing with the
& ,r;s,,, situation. and ninc-tenths Of them
+ from whatever party standpoint 'hey
K ,.nv Ia 30 been written agree In one
,,n;nt i least. and that is that lrciand
s. 4, ,,eca ting as rapidly ms ;sny counhirS
on,,d decay. not excepting Rome at me
line Of her great disilvegration. a
And this means something lre!a a ~
n IS no ln,mportant factor IN the " ,l't,s
"a affairs Directly or&t Indirectly, ss' ne p
"a elosnlv3 identified with the whole worin
H -, Id, and downs must, in {. meas
,,re cxcrt AN influence that will be icit
ayorvwhere espccially IN England, ncr
f nome government, and America, me
ndontrd homo. Of the Irish people,
~ rcems remarkable but 1t Is true.
mat in 1s3l Ireland had a population OF
5000 coo people, all busy and al ensassa
IN making Ireland the most De autiiui
country, to exterior view. upon the "iole
face OF the earth; and to-day. after
ianso NJ sixty years. the country has
mi 100000, or just about half the popu-
intIon of 1874. TO a traveller In ireland
athis condition OF affairs presents 10 the
.yc the strange picture OF desolhtloil any
ruin. While i admit that Ireland IS 10
day n far more beautiful country so lar
as landscape Is concerned, than f'hsittnHu
E nr Scotland, yet the ruins and me decay
4 cverywhcres so apparent IN mat strinsc
country give to the traveller thoughts
more gloomy and sad than can possibly
he Imagined by one who has never looked
,Inon such scenes of stngnationi
Misery and Poverty.
While in Ireland saw pictures OF
misery and poverty which ! hhrdlS
dreamed existed X OulSlue u .'1o >7H'y''eS
Il regions OF Africa.49I saw in the western
mountains Of ireland more hungry7looKt-.
ing and poverty-strickcn people IN a day
Than | would see in America in the course
of n year. saw more beggars on the.
streets of the city Of Cork than ! nave
ever seen or ever ttpect to see III any
part of The United States In all my
lie.
found by talking with the Irish peo-
p)c that practically all of the young peo-
ME are leaving the country and going to,
Inc United States, Canada, Australia and'
Z south Africa. Everywhere asked the
nlestlon: ..Are manyiof the Irish people
cmirratng ~ And the uniform answer
wns. "There's nothing loike IT lver
known sur: they're leaving by The thou
sands-thcy're all leaving And the CEN
sus statistics actually prove me trutfl
of these statements.
OF, the thrty-four counties or lrelahd'
thirty-one showed an enormous decrease
T IN the census of 1900 from the census o
1891 Only the three counties of Dublin,
Down md Antrim showed an Increase
and these three counties represent mat
small section of Ireland under alien IN
fluences, which can hardly be called
'Irelhnd" at all
number of intelligent Irish people OF
entirely different views In religion and
politics. told me that they had no idea
where this thing would stop, IT IS an
paling and astonishing" they said. IN