The Irish standard., 1910-11-05
|RELAND'S STRUGGLE FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT,

a UT1eI r6V1eW OF pOluLS Oh Interest
touching the life and time of the Irish
people in the struggle for better gov
eminent, covering long period, will
not be amiss at this time. 1t must
not be supposed that prior to the in
,auguration of the land league of which
this article will principally treat, that
political organization was unknown in
Ireland and that it was not until
Charles Stewart Parnell became lead
er of Irish parliamentary party that
any effective measures OF remedial
nature were attempted. 1t was during
= the life of the Irish parliament that
Irish oratory was at it's best. Though
composed exclusively of Protestants,
many of the members were as much
Interested In the welfare of their
Catholic countrymen as the Catholics
themselves. Though spoken of in
history as a body which might be re-
garded as representative of the peo-
pie, 1t was anything but that. It was
not an Independent body in the mod
ern sense Of the term; neither was it
representative; while it made laws for
q country, fve-sixths of whose popu-
lation were Roman Catholics, yet a
Catholic could not be a member of
d" that parliament, nor even vote for a
member of parliament. Yet, CON-
posed as it was exclusively of Protes-
tants, many of them endeavored to
pass laws for the benefit of their
Catholic countrymen. Though COM
posed largely of landlords and law
yers, Grattan and his noble band of
followers were able to accomplish
some reforms, chief of which was the
granting to Catholics the right to
vote for members of the house of COM
mons. Having succeeded in this, Graf.
tan determined to pass other laws,
and to that end he and his friends
decided to cooperate with all in SYM
pathy with the cause. It was at this
time, 1891, that Theobald Wolfe Tone
organized the society of United Irish
men. Though himself a Protestant,
his chief object In founding this So
ciety was to obtain Catholic eman-
cipation and parliamentary reform in
Ireland. Writing of him, Justin Nc
earthly says: "Wolfe Tone was a
Protestant patriot, man of genius
and indomitable spirit and rich men,
tai resource" Wolfe Tones ambition
was to make the Irish parliament
representative of the people, exclud-
ing everything bordering on the Sec
tartan. So earnest and zealously did
he enter upon his great task that,
though a Protestant, he was elected
secretary of Catholic association
formed for the purpose of obtaining
relief from penal disqualifications un-
der which the Catholic people then
lived. The Society of United Irish
men was mainly composed of young
/; Protestants, who were for the most
part highly educated and leaders in
social life. Such men as Lord Ed
ward Fitzgerald, Thomas Adds EN-
met and Hamilton Rowan We're mem.
! bers Of It.; bankers, merchants and
4 professional men belonged to it. Ac-
I;scording to its own pledge, its aim was
TO "endeavor to promote brother
Z, hood of affection and union among
;lrtshmen Of every religious persua-
sion" to the end that equal and ade-
s.quate representation be granted all
sthe people of Ireland in Parliament.
This implied the wiping out of all re-
sligious disqualification and a full
measure of parliamentary reform. But
1.-The then reigning sovereign of Eng
land, George ILL.,, who could see moth
Ing but evil in Catholicism, declared
that no matter what protestations of
loyalty his Protestant subjects in Ire
land made to him, as long as they IA
vored Catholic emancipation they
> were according to his mode of reason
ing, enemies of the chown.
TX In 1895 the society felt sure of it's
mission and it's success seemed as
,.sured when it was announced that
Lord Fitzwilliam was appointed and
proclaimed by imperial edict viceroy
OF Ireland. He came to Ireland to
!, satisfy the demands of the country.
He threw himself into the task be-
;, fore him with all the earnestness in
!dicative of his ambition. He con-
.ferred with Grattan and others of his
followers and assisted in drawing up
some of the measures of religious
and political reform, the acceptance
nfof which by King George would have
done more for Irish peace and pros
per4ty than all the gunpowder in AL
= der hot But the narrow-minded king
was not equal to thu occasion He
allowed his preiudices to dominate