The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-10-13

now lamenting the loss of 100000 Of
her people-"westmins westmin-
ster, give us back the 100000 of peo-
pie whom you have driven from the
shores and the hillsides of Ireland"
Take the question of taxation. When
Pitt and Castlereagh proposed the Act
of Union and the destruction of the
Irish Parliament, they said-perhaps
they said even in good faith-that one
of the first results Of that would be
that the wealth of Ireland would be
enormously increased by her closer re-
lation and partnership with England.
Well, choice Of partner is almost as
and as difficult an opera
tion as the search for a suitable hus-
band or a suitable wife,,
ireland Robbed Of $17,0o0,ooo Yearly.
What has been the result Of this
act? We have commission appoints
ed by the British government. That
consisted of an Irish mi
nority and an English majority. The
tribunal was not packed, will say
that, but the tribunal was manned
against Ireland by an English MAJOR
ity. The question put before that ap.
pellate tribunal with q British majority
was: Is Ireland fairly taxed? And
the answer of that commission, of that
British majority, was that Ireland was
taxed yearly $'7,5O0,O00 more than she
justly should pay under the present
conditions Of taxation.
And, of course, as you all know,
we had a war, which, in addition to
being an unnecessary and unjust war,
was an extremely expensive war. 1t
cost $1,250,0O0.0oo. Now, there was
not an Irish Nationalist in Parliament
or out of Parliament who was not op.
posed to that war. We would be very
poor apostles of Irish liberty If we
were not in favor. of. liberty all the
world over.
Ireland's Death Grip with Landlordism
Mr.. Gladstone had an open and
sympathetic car in 1880 for Bulgaria.
Rpunania, Romelia, Zululand and
Afghanistan-I can't remember all the
places. He had an open ear for all
these people. They deserved to be
heard. 1 do not criticise him for that.
You can go from the shore of England
to the shore of Ireland in two or three
hours, and yet while Ireland was pre-
pairing for this mighty death grip with
Irish landlordism, while. there was all
the thunder of the coming storm in
Ireland, it never got to Mr.. Gladstone's
ear. There was not word about
Ireland, accordingly, in the Queens
speech, or thought of Ireland in
Mr.. Gladstone's mind, but OH the
very first night of the session I got
my first order from Mr.. Parnell.
They We're orders that If. had dared
1 would have disobeyed, because the
orders were to make my maiden speech
the first night of my Parliamentary
existence. Being an Irishman, and
therefore shy, of .corse, I found 1t
rather difficult to obey the command,
but on the very first night made my
maiden speech, and what had to tell
Mr.. Gladstone was that Ireland was
not going to wait, that there was a
land crisis in Ireland, and the gov.
ernment would have to listen to it.
The Effect Of Unity.
Within a few weeks of the opening
of Parliament those Parnelites, TWEEN.
ty-five in number, brought the Glad.
stone Ministry to their senses, and
within four weeks of the opening Of
q great new Parliament, with one
hundred of a majority on the Liberal
side, we. had brought the government
to their knees, and they were stalking
their existence on the Irish land bill.
The year .afterward they gave the
crushing blow to Irish landlordism by
the act of 1881, which destroyed the
power to evict;. and in July, 1885, five
years after Mr.. Gladstone had come
into Office, because he had passed a
Coercion act, because he had allowed
900 of our people to be sent to jail
without trial, and merely by the die.
tation of the chief secretary of the
period, we determined. to. strike back
and at 2 o'clock one July morning the
great ministry of Gladstone, begin.
ming with a majority Of 100 and moi
saying a single word about poor Ire.
land in the Queens speech was in the
dust. and 1t was the: hand of ireland
that struck the fatal blow. -. =