The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1906-03-30
kpvERrIsINa RATES :
THE HOME CIRCLE.
REV e. J. E0AN
WRITES OF CONDITIONS IN IRELAND
SEA BRIGHT, N. J

WRITES OF CONDITIONS IN IRELAND.
sEABRIGHT, NJ
MARCH Is, 1906
princes and lords may flourish Q, may fade.
But u bold peasantry. their cou"try's pride
When once destroyed can never be supplied
To the Editor of The BEE; Dear
Sir:-I promised to write you another
letter on the condition Of Ireland, and
give you some Of my impressions,
formed during my recent visit. on the
state Of the country. Before l went
to Ireland I knew that she was poor,
and that her people were e, being Id. driven
knew that her leaders were doing their
best to stay the tide of emigration and
prevent the island from becoming de-
populated. Their hope is to save the
country from the calamity referred to
In the verses quoted at the beginning
of this letter. The verses are from the
Deserted Village" written 135 years
ago, by that genial, thriftless, Irish
man, Oliver Goldsmith. They come to
mind to-day, as We think OF Ireland's
problems. For that is what she fears,
her 'bold peasantry" will be destroyed,
II something Is not done to keep the
people home.
The object Of England, since the con-
quest of Ireland, has been
TO KEEP THE COUNTRY POOR.
Her purpose, I believe, was to keep
Ireland weak and helpless, for England
feared to have strong and vigorous
and, perhaps, hostile nation in such
close proximity. So to accomplish her
purpose most oppressive laws were
passed. l do not refer now to the
cruel and tendish "Penal laws" d.
of ireland, but rather tc the laws in
restriction of trade. These laws were
90 numerous and so drastic that the
industries of Ireland were totally
annihilated. Not only that, but as a
prominent Irishman said to me, 1.-THE
Industrial spirit of the Irish people has
Of sSs pocy %5qe s
some years ago. The people were an
agricultural people and could live from
the tillage of the soil. But now
American imports into Ireland have
rendered farming a losing business
American grain from the far North
west can be bought cheaper in Ireland
than 1t can be raised. So the state Of
Ireland can be imagined. No manu-
featuring, no industries of any kind,
and the farming Improbable. The
country 10 given over to grazing. Cattle
and sheep are the chief product OF Ire
land to-day, beef and mutton. The
consequence is, that
THERE Is NO WORK FOR THE VERY
POOR.
Those who have large farms, and
have met farmers who have as many AZ
100 acres of the best land In the world,
have large incomes, and comfortable
ploy many men. Grazing involves no
labor; tillage Of the soil does. Perhaps
I rode between 800 and 1000 miles
through the fields Of County Meath,
and can remember having crossed
only two ploughed fields. The result
Is no work for the ordinary laboring
man. His hope is to be able to earn
enough to bring him to land where
bis strong muscles can earn what Is the
right Of every man born into this
world, the means to live. How they
look to America! What love they have
for our country! When they speak OF
but as 1.-THE land of the free,' and
similar expressions were frequently
addressed tU me.
One fact learned during my stay in
Ireland surprised me more than all
others. 1t shows most forcibly the
tyranny and injustice of the English
government. l met one evening at a
dinner party at my hosts house, a
scholarly and public spirited gentle
man, well and favorably known
throughout Ireland. His name is
Eve "a Colone eh E S, He Invited
day at his home. He owns beautiful
estate called Randlestown. l went
there at the appointed hour and had a
most pleasant time. During the
luncheon, noticed an odd-looking
wooden figure standing in the corner Of
the dining room. The walls also were
covered with magnificent paintings
After cigars, he volunteered to show
and explain to me the ornaments of
the room. There was among others q
beautiful painting of his grandfather,
who was associated with Warren Has
painting is by Sir Joshua Reynolds and
Is valued at from $40, 900 to $50, 900
Another painting is there of an ances-
tor who was speaker of the House of
Commons In the Seventeenth Century.
Finally we came to the quaint figure
standing in the corner, which l re-
ferred TO above. He explained that
IT WAS THE FIGUREHEAD OF THE
AMERICAN sLoOP-OF-wAR WASP"
which was captured by the English In
the war Of 1912. 1t will be remembered
that the Wasp encountered the British
ship Frolic and captured her. AS she
was proceeding to port with her prize,
she met the Poiters, a much larger
ship belonging to the enemy, and the
Wasp was in turn captured and made
q prize by the English. The queer OBJ
ject l noticed during luncheon was
then, the fgurehead of the Wasp,
which was presented as souvenir OF
the fight to an ancestor of the COlOnel's
who was an officer on the Poitiers
Among other things the Colonel makes
specially of breeding Hereford cattle
He generally takes first prize at the
cattle shows Of Ireland and frequently
In England. We inspected the stock,
and l never saw such magnificent AMI
mails. The fullgrown bulls we're
larger than bison. saw yearlings and
some 10 months old, that it was hard
to believe were not two years old
They are great cattle for beef, and he
ships many to foreign countries,
especially South America. for breeding
purposes. Then the Colonel showed
me bis tobacco barn. This was pri-
marily the object of my visit. l had
told the Colonel the previous evening
at dinner that I was from Connecticut,
q tobacco growing state, had seen to-
bacco raised and had even worked at