Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-16
British Governments
Blow to Irish Industry

DUBLIN June :. 1907.
n IsTRVsT of the present British gov
eruments protestations OF Friendship
| for Ireland has been intensified by
the action taken by the home office In clos
| Ing the explosive works of Messrs. Kynochs
| UImitcd). at Arklow Messrs. kynochs are
| an English firm. but they have shown prac-
teal sympathy with Ireland by establishing
| a great Industry which gave contant en-
| ployment to 800 people and spent $500
week in wages alone in the town. The cN-
plosive factory has been running since 1881.
| and there has never been an accident.
There has been change In the method
| of manufacture yet a few weeks az" the
| English government discovered that the pro-
| cess was dangerous and ordered the rae
| tory to be closed. Precisely similar pro-
cesses are used in English factories. which
are not disturbed by tie English officials.
| Herbert Gladstone. the home secretary. IL
| simply applying To the explosives INDUSTRY
| in ireland the same methods which killed
! the Irish wooden industry in the reign or
! William III, and 1t wsuld seem for the same
! reason-to build up and protect the lhh"S
| tries of England, That ne IS MOI alSl'srh
to listen to reasonable argument - SHOWN
| by the fact that he has stuhbarniy reiuS'i
TO receive deputation from MessTs, NY
nochs and from the people OF Arkl""' INA
this is no fancy picture il borne oHt Nv
! Arthur Chamberlain. the Chairman OF NY
! nochs who declared plainly that the actl'h
| of the homo secretary was dictated pS nos
| tility 10 Ireland. III,
| Mr. ChamhcrIain's own views are outlined
| In the following interview which hau
with him recently in Dublin
when | announced several years ago
he said that | was going to establlsh
large plant in ireland every one toa me
that | was mad. l was told that the people
would not work; that they were lazy; that
they were not steady; that they took TOO
many holidays and that the priests would
Interfere with me. | took courage IN bo.h
hands and started. and my experience mas
cnnnnleteIy given the lie to these predic-
ttons OF course. we had TO teach our men
the technicalities of the trade at first, ana
they required some extra supervision on
| that account but in every other respect
i'm intelligence and steadiness-l found the
| Irish workman the equal and indeed: inc
! superior of any ever employed in England,
| and he is a much pleasanter fellow to deal
with / called on the priests and arranged
with them to stop work on church holldays,
| and | found that these were actually FEWER
| then the voluntary holidays in the manu-
| featuring districts of England. So far from
interfering with me, the priests helped me
in every way, and owe much ol my SUI
That is the testimony of an English bust
ness man, and 1t ought to bring encourage.
ment to those Irishmen who are lnclihcu
to despair of the Industrial possibilities OF
their country. Mr. Chamberlain is giving
the best possible proof of the faith that Is
| in him. for, in spite OF his experience with
| his own government, he is making arrange
| ments to open paper factory near Dupih'
in which he has invested s2Jo00o and which
| will give employment to hundred men. lie
| is also heading an agitation to compel the
| British government to specify lrish-made
| goods in all contracts for government sup
| plies for consumption In Ireland.
-
Dublin Castle has awakened from the
| sleep which it simulated while the Birreli
'home rule farce was being played, and
is now proceeding to govern ireland in the
e same old manner for which castle govern
ment has been notorious for generations.
r Hundreds of extra police are being drafted
" in Roscommon, Galway. Cork and Clare to
deal with the people there who are demand
ing that the great grass ranches be broken
II up and given to the people of Ireland for
IF cultivation. Evictions are being proceeded
II with on a scale unheard of for years and
is with show of force that would be
"a ridiculous IL it were not so tragic. A few
i days ago 400 police were sent into County
/ Cork to superintend the eviction of. q
dozen families, and because some half
grown girls pelted the constabulary with
, mud and clods of earth they were dragged
p, off to prison. Even the constabulary Is
ashamed of it's work. for at one of these
evictions when the landlords agent spoke
insultngly to of the women of the
family the county inspector In charge OF
0 the police informed him that If he repeated
e the offense he would withdraw his men and
f leave him to carry out his work OF eviction
g alone
One of the most important features OF
I. the Irish national revival which has &C
l. companied or resulted from the Sim Fem
l. movement is the revival of the Irish ma
= tional drama, and this revival has attracted
|, attention from serious students OF the
: drama outside of Ireland.
e Even London Is awake to the fact that
8 the Irish drama is alive again, and one
8 of her leading theaters Is about to produce
s a series of Irish national plays These
: must not be confused with English plays
h by Irish playwrights. or course there are
h hundreds of them, for Ireland has supplied
England with most of her dramatic talent
h from the days of Sheridan until now. The
3 | plays which have been produced by the
q Sim Fem movement are truly national
d will be produced in London are THE Play
: Boy of the Western World" Spreading
d the News" Riders to the Sea-" The Jack
;. daw," 'Shadowy Water" THE Goal Gate"
The Rising of the Moon,' "On Bales
Strand "Hyacinth Halvey" and "Kath-
r | leen Nj Houlihan."
y Something OF a split has occurred re-
t Gently among the advocates OF the Irish
t national drama. One section complains
= that some of the playwrights like Mr..
i Yeats, have lost their nationality in their
d | devotion to art, in other words, that they
e are neglecting the national movement in
their pursuit OF dramatic art pure and
, | simple. The larger party however holds
n | that they are working for the revival Of
. true Celtic dramatic art and that in doing
? SO they are doing quite much for the
d rehabilitation of Ireland a nation as
i those who are preaching the gospel of
8 nationalism In a more obvious fashion.
= -&
: SUMNER IN SWITZERLAND.