The Irish standard., 1907-10-26
An Intensely Interested Audience Gathers in
Philadelphia to Hear Spirited Address
in Behalf of The Movement.
In The Stores and Shops Of Dublin, Wares
= of Irish Manufacture Are
Seldom Found.

I ~>~sS~%@S
affairs when he hears Of an Irish in
dustrial movement will probably at the
! first blush associate it with the name
Of Horace Plunkett
Perhaps can best explain my view
Of the position of the Plunkett indus
trial revival by a simple comparison.
During my last trip to Ireland 1 had
occasion to enter a. Dublin department
store to purchase hat. Acting on the
i principles of the genuine Irish indus.
: trial revival, I looked inside each sam
pie hat that was shown me for the
name of the manufacturer. I noticed
to my surprise that they We're all made
in London. 1 then asked the salesman
if he could not show me an article of
Irish manufacture. He went a short
distance and took down another sam
pie, which he banded me. .BsinEspf a
rather skeptical disposition, 1, looked
inside. and beheld the name Of another
London n'ahufaoturs thstnn.r side
OF the crown.
I asked him how the name of this
English manufacturer happened to be
placed upon an Irish hat. He replied
that it referred only to the manufac-
ture of the felt. then asked him
where the silk and leather bands were
made, and he admitted that they. too.
were made in England. How, then"
said I, can you claim that this is an
article Of Irish manufacture 'Look
here" he said, pointing to the leather
band within. 1--WE sewed on this por-
tion of the trimming, and we printed
this motto in letters Of gold upon it,
God saoruigh Dia An Righ' (God Save
the King) That is the Importance Of
the Plunkett movement in the general
revival of Irish industry. It is an ef-
fort to write God Save the King" upon
the band of its hat.
In order to give fair view Of the
struggle that Ireland must undertake
to develop her industrial life it will be
necessary to go back in history for a
period of about three hundred years.
Most Of you are already acquainted
with the general outline of 1reland's
historic land struggle. Everybody
knows that Irish landlordism was one
of the greatest tyrannies recorded in
history. yet. in theory the system of
land holdings which the English gov
eminent tried en- vain to enforce upon
the people Of Ireland was the same
system to which the English people
themselves have tamely submitted. It
is the system which still holds un-
challenged sway in England, and in
which England is behind every Euro
pean, country, not even excepting Rus
sia. What has made the system un-
bearable in Ireland is that. bad as the
landlords were, the industrial laws
were worse. If an Englishman failed
as a: farmer. or If he were dissatisfied
with his. rent, he could turn to one Of
the many factories that grew up in his
netghborhood under the fostering care
Of his home government. but Ireland
was not allowed to have factories. II
an Irish farmer. failed he must either
die or emisrate.
But 1T was not toward Ireland alone
that England adopted this policy of in
dustrial repression. It was her general
policy. toward all those. countries that
an adverse fate threw under her con-
troll. To illustrate this. need only to
refer to an event that occurred in this
city Of Philadelphia in the year 1865,
IL years before the Declaration of In
dependence. In that year the mer-
chants and traders of this city to the
number Of 375 met and drew up the
famous Non.1mportation Declaration.
A copy of that document is considered
worthy Of place in your Independence
Hall, side by side with the Declaration