The Irish standard., 1909-09-11

hear) If the people of Ireland bss
come disunited, IL the National organi~
cation Is broken up, the landlords will
take heart of grace and tho opportun-
ity of freeing Ireland will pass away,
There are. unfortunately. in this
country some men who. calling them-
selves good Nationalists, are doina
their best to disrupt the league by sow->
ing the seeds Of disunion and distrust
among the people. These say "Oh, this
movement has been going on for the
last thirty years, and what good have
they done?" He welcomed that ques>
ton. 1t was positively encouraging to
be asked what the National movement
for the past thirty years had done for
ireland. They knew as we'll as he did
that thirty years ago the Irish farmer
was q serf to the landlord. Only this
day week he was speaking to a farmer
at Kilsaran. That farmer was now a
very Independent freeholder but in the
conversation he said he remembered
the time when his father fairly trernbl-
ed in presence of, not the landlord, for
the landlord rarely visited him, but
Of the agent, and even the face Of the
bailiff had depressing effect on him.
CLEAR, hear, and laughter.) The case
Of that man was the case Of tens 81
thousands today who were freeholders
for ever-free from the blightirg in
duence Of landlordism. Under the
ers became the owners Of their hold
ings; since the Act of 1903 came into
operation 22s,953 farmers had become
freeholders, making in all 316,s61.
cloud applause.) That was a revolu-
ton In ITSELF Most of them remem-
bered the position Of the agricultural
laborer thirty years ago and previous
to that. In the words Of an English
traveller. who was not sympathiser
with Ireland or a philanthropist, the
Kaffir in his kraal, the Tartar on the
Steppes Of Tartary, and the Red In
dian were better housed than the Irish
laborer Of that period. Clear, hearl
The Irish laborer was the worst hous-
ed. worst fed, and worst clothed of any
worker on the face Of the earth. Today
all rejoiced in the fact that something
like decent houses-7,000 in number,
,,y{% 14<s - knI
for the workers. and that these deserv-
ing men had now an opportunity Of
living in decency. and comfort and
bringing up their children amid healthy
surroundings. (Applause.) Dealing
with the achievements Of the Irish
Party. Mr.. Nolan referred to the edu-
cational improvements primary and
secondary-and laid special emphasis
on the advent Of the National Univer-
sity, the Old Age Pensions Act, the
Town Tenants Act, and the Workmen's
Dwellings Act, and he proceeded to
make an appeal for financial as we'll
as moral support for the Irish Party.
| People, he said, sometimes heard Of
the Irish Party spoken Of as paid MEM
bers. He had bsen connected for
long time with the Party. and he never
knew member who was paid actually
for his services in attending parlia-
ment. Half dozen or dozen men,
bers gave their services freely to the
National cause, but there were, Of
course, some members who had been
in the habit of receiving a certain al
lowance, which partly covered their
actual expenses and he thought it
would be an unfortunate day for ire.
land and the Irish cause If the Irish
people failed to assist these men in
their work. cloud applause.)