The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-06-15
The Race Which Little More Than Half
Century Ago Was Barely Tolerated
in This Free Land
Rises Up To-day as Great intellectual and
Physical Factor in All the Leading
Walks of Life.

poverty of better dwelling places; seg~
their faith; denounced because Of their
terrible homesckness. those forlorn
foreigners chose to heguile the drag-
ging hours in the dance-is it much
wonder that. at times. the weaker Of
those heartsick refugees turned to tbs
rum and gin of commerce-( (the foun-
daton of so many rrincely Puritan
fortunes) for the forgetfulness, the
folly of the times? But, alas they
We're Irish--not of the soil nor of the
social sanity class. They might en-
rich the hypocritical Puritan masters
nf the traffic by their unwiEe pota-
tions, and for their greater edification
We're thrust into prison to be later
bcggared by tyrannical courts. which.
together with their spolntion. uttered
the edicts of social ostracism.
No one may tell the infinite acts Of
cruelty and injustice heaped upon the"
Irish immigrants in this land of lib
erty. They were rated at the very
lowest notch of the social scale. And
this Notwithstanding the fact that in
gain an education: and despite the
fact that they had been despoiled until
poverty had all but lost its sting. And
yet these same poor immigrants were
ity as the needle to the pole. and
matchless in works of charity. lgnor-
ing these virtues, the enlightened and
cultured citizens of early America de-
nounced the fathers and mothers Of
Irish America as low, ignorant. shift
less, superstitious Papists.
We call up these things not in a
spirit of rancor. not tn blame too
harshly the thoughtless heartlessness
nf the people Of those times: rather to
point to what stupendous folly false
pride leads. and to what immeasurable
conquests industry and charity point
the way; and too to point the moral
that. ultimately that race which abso-
lutely believes in liberty and in God
must triumph in land like ours.
The early Irishmen to reach these
shores were not all paragons of vir-
tue; nor will il be admitted that even
the most reckless, rolicking lads
among them were, as their detractors
would have them known. devoid Of
virtue. Every true Irishman had cour-
to recommend him--and faith and
hope That he had learned how to
suffer in silence and to endure great
wrongs without the show Of lamenta-
ton, no doubt worked him a hardship;
since the silent sufferer in the noisy
multitude is too often Ignored, whilst
the scandal Of the noisy, lesser
scourged, moves hypocrites to set him
free. :
But the Irshman was not long in
learning to have his say. Nor was he
long in gaining the knowledge thai,
although personally held in disrepute,
as a toiler he was held in high esteem.
The Irish were good and faithful SER
wants. Irishmen were willing, resolute
and honest laborers. Irishwomen were
chaste, industrious and faithful. In
time their virtues came to be whis- (
pered by those who hoped to profit
by them but who published their sins,
magnified by bigotry and venom, to
the world
But all the while the Irish imnli-
grant was learning. He had begun to
take his own measure. and to locate
and measure the enemy. Here was
freedom in name, servitude and os-
tracism in fact. Why? He would learn
why: and he did. These were his as
|sets:industry intellect, integrity, cour-
age and faith, hope and charity. And
what forces were there in free land
that might hope TO oppose these. plus
health' Were they intolerance hy-s ,-s: