The Irish standard., 1909-10-09
IAN AMERICAN EDITOR IN IRELAND \
GIVES INTERESTING INFORMATION
Mr. Hugh Sutherland Of the Staff Of Phladephia Newspaper
Tells What the Irish Constitutional Party Under the Leader
ship OF John Redmond Has Accomplished During the Past
Seven Years in the Parliament at Westminster

From Castlerea, County Roscommon,
to Castelar,, the county seat of Mayo,
is less than fifty miles as the crow
travelled the distance is almost three
times as great. Between breakfast IN
Castlerea and dinner in Castelar,
have traversed one hundred and forty
miles of country, all of it in the con-
gested districts, where lies the most
acute problem of the land. have, in
fact, covered precisely the same
ground as l covered seven years ago,
and a great deal more. For the pur-
poses of the comparison which / came
here to make between conditions then
and now, l have the record of those
former observations and the evidence
of my own eyes during this tour
through the same territory. What has
been accomplished has already been
discussed in statistics and extracts
from official reports. 1t remains now
to tell the story In description of what
has actually been seen, writes Hugh
Sutherland to the Philadelphia North
American.
There 10 no guesswork or vague the-
Dry asont u, ssssults. They are WRIT
ten indeiibly across the face of the
land-peace and plenty where / had
seen wretchedness and want homes
where there was desolation; men and
women who had been starving IN
swamps or on stony hillsides now liv-
ing in comfort and contentment on
fertile farms that once were grazing
ranches. Not all the scars of injus-
tice have been healed. This could not
be accomplished in so short space
of time. 1 saw today some haunts CT
which were described in 1902. But
they are to disappear. All around
scenes of poverty are isolated amid
wide stretches Of prosperity. heard
the promises given to the patient vic
Tins of adversely that their turn is
soon to come; that in time they, too.
will know the blessings of real home
and the inspiration of self-respecti:,g
independence.
The tour which seven years ago was
made by jaunting car was made to-
day by automobile; the thirty miles
were expanded to one hundred and
forty. The fact has no real 'signiti-
canoe, yet In way It is suggestive O:
change. On the former occasion it
seemed as though q wide territory had
been covered, but on this the inspec-
ton was carried a hundred miles fur
ther, not only along the main high
ways, but through countless side roads
and little travelled lanes. My guide
knew in, general way the route Of
the former trip had taken. and
agreed that SO far as practicable we
should follow It, But there was an
apt coincidence in the fact that our
first stop was precisely the same.
There was a simple reason for this
1t provided an eminence from which
we could get panoramic view of many
miles of country. Curiously enough,
too, at no point In the trip was there
presented more vivid picture Of the
changes wrought in Ireland during
those few years. From that very hill
one may see the story that justice has
written on the surface of the land.
This may sufncei as an apology for
quoting what was written of this scene
seven years ago.:
From the top Of fairy mound,
where the elves dance of a summer 9
night. I have seen the Problem Of the
Land as in picture ten miles wide.
- mile on mile of the fairest land
the mind can conceive, rich with prom
Use of fertility, green still to the very
verge of winter, smiling. beautiful
and empty. =" A few miles out the
jaunting car stopped at the foot Of q
lane and we walked to the top Of a
hill, then climbed low stone wall.
Bsfors US was a circular mound Of