The Irish standard., 1906-11-03

evidence had sent many men to penal
servitude. If the jury had been en-
panelled as it should have been, 1t
would. not have been possible to find
MCGOWAN Of Sligo. guilty. He was a
Catholic. and in Sligo, ninety per cent
OF the population was Catholic. yet
the jury was composed of twelve
Protestant Unionists. He would not
for moment suggest that this jury
had been false to their oaths, but they
wore certainly predisposed against
ciaent or coincidence, but the result of
jury packing.
Trial by judge or trial by jury can
be abroEated by the Lord Lieutenant
at any time, and trial be held by two
resident magistrates, who are at the
mercy of the government which ap-
points them and may remove them.
The reason for these resident magis-
trates' existence is given as political
crime. The Prime Minister and Chief
Of Police. of Russia would probably
say crina is the reason for the drum
head court martials going on now,
whereas everybody knows it was the
despotic government. They are mis-
taking the symptoms OF the disease,
the result: for the cause. Many an
1j~1 1oiv in oil cir
cerity that it was a terrible thing to
soc q. mon condemned as Dreyfus had
been. Yet within three hours sail
from the shores of England things as
bad, on smaller scale, as tho .Drey-
fuss affair were being accomplished
by the rotten Judiciary system.
NO question should raise moro feel
i ng In an Irishman than that of edu-
cation. Young 1rishmen, given equal
chances, could hold their own. A
voice Yes, and more" WELL" re-
marked Mr.. O'Connor, my friend says
more but he is a Canadian. l.. as
an Irithinan, am more modest and will
say 'chn hold his own" Tho Irish
Board OF Education did not contain Il
single elected member. The school
houses were mere huts. the teachers
poorly paid. They had no fuel except
what the children carried to school.
Primary education throughout was in
a miserable condition.
AS to University education, for fifty
years they had been crying out for an
institution which would be to Catho-
lies what Trinity was to Professionals
In Ireland. Every Irish Secretary. in
GLIDING Kafour, Wyndham and others,
was tn favor Of a Catholic University.
The brightest minds in England, Scot
land and Wales favored it, yet bill
to, create 1t could not be passed.
1T is not the public opinion of Ire
land that settles this question" said
thea speaker, but tho bigotry and
prejudi . of certain sections of public
opinion in England" This might be
regarded as too gloomy d picture, but
he had tried to confino himself to
facts. Things were growing brighter,
as, instanced by the conditions on the
Dillon estate, which since five years
had been transformed from sWanlpy
four-acre holdings into prosperous
farms OF twenty to twenty-five acres.
The peasant proprietary system in
ireland would save the country.
AZ to the prospects of Home Rule,
MI. O'ccnnor relied upon the assur-
anceA of. Sir Henry Campbell
man, to whose integrity and honesty
Of purpose. he paid the highest tribute.
The question of Home Rule had come
up at the last election. The Tories
said the question was not Free Trade
or Protection, but one more import
ant, Horne Rule. Imagine the heresy
Of such q statement" declared MIR.
O'Connor. ITO call Home Rule for
ireland an important ISSUE" The peo-
pie had replied to tho Tories by their
votes.
One Of the posters issued by the
Tories at the last election held the
motto: One CROWN" that was beyond
criticism; One Empire" that also
was beyond. criticism, but the third,
"One Parliament" was open to ques-
ton. Why. in Canada there are ten
Parliaments, while in Australia there
are four or five; some more in New
Zealand and others, amounting alto
gether to, twenty-five. If one more
should be added, and some day they
should wake up with twenty four,
would it dt5integrate the Empire?
Mr.. o'Connor cited as u fact, on
which he did not offer any comment,
that the reproachment which states
men Of England and statesmen of the
Unitad States were so anxious to bring
about was retarded by the prospect