The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-10-28
To Give Ireland Home Rule is to
Unite Her to the Empire, Says
John Redmond.
The Demand is not for a Repeal but
for Readjustment of the
Terms of Union
1t is Demand for a Parliament
That Knows the Country
and its Needs.


tobcr 9th Mr.. John L. Redmond deliv-
cred an address In which he explained
the meaning of Home Rule and the
probable results that will follow from
it in a way that won the heartiest ap-
plause of his vast audience. He said
in part:
Tonight l am going to try to repress
my incoherent eloquence and to en-
deavor to put before you plainly, with
out attempt at rhetoric or eloquence
what Home Rule means. The pro.
posal is that there should be q read
justment Of the terms of the Union Of
the two Parliaments Of England and
Ireland, which was carried In the year
1900. That Union, by the universal
Liberals, was passed by force and
fraud, which could not be exercised at
this time Of the worlds history. a
great pillar Of the Unionist Party, and
Il distinguished literary man, Profes-
sor Dicey, said on this point:
"The Irish Protestants We're dazcd
with horror at the rebellion, ana tbs
Irish Catholics were luled into az
quiescence by promises which were
only made to be broken. No appa:
was made to the Irish constituencies.
and the members Of both Houses o.
the Irish Parliament were corrupted.
The Act of Union was, in short. an
agreement which. could it have been
referred to Court of Law. must ut
once have been cancelled as II con-
tract hopeessly tainted with fraud
and with corruption"
The Effect Of the Union.
That Union, 50 carried. has been
subjected to the test of over I; hundred
years of work. with the result that
never in the history of the world was
there such a record OF failure. The
population of Ireland has been halved
while that of Scotland has doubled,
and that of England has quadrupled,
and that of every other country in Eu-
rope has increased. During that pc
Rod there have been periodic falnines
in Ireland and In one Of these great
famjnes hundreds Of thousands Of peo
pie died OF starvation on the roadside.
The industries Of the country. which
were flourishing ut the time of the
Union. almost entirely disappeared.
and practically the only industry that
remains is that of agriculture. The
education Of the country is today, by
the admission of Unonist statesmen
themselves. fifty years behind the
standard Of every civilized country Of
Europe. The cost of government. nat
urally, because it was government
carried on against the will of the gov
crned is greater per head of the popu-
lation than that Of any other similar
country in Europe. The cost of gov-
ernng Ireland under the present sys-
tenn is almost three times the cost of
! governing Scotland with an almost
! similar population. The taxation per
llCdu VI lAC SOullIiy uouDIcu uui
| ing these hundred years, while that Of
| this country has been halved, and at
| the end of the hundred years, by uni
versal admission-because it is part Of
the case against US that we are dis
| loyal to the present system of govern
| ment--the Irish people are profoundly
disaffected towards the system of rule
under which they live, and q National
demand is made, and made constantly
year after year, and General Election
after General Election, by five-sixths
of the people for a modification of the
Union, SO that the mass Of the people
and the public opinion of the country
may govern the country.
| Not Asking for Repeal.
We are not asking for repeal Of the
Union. We are asking for readjust-
ment of the terms. We are not ask
ing for the restoration of a Co-ordi-
nate Sovereign Parliament such as Ire
land had before the Union-although
in practice the Irish people would be
justified in making such demand Do
you realize that Ireland he'd Parlia-
ment of her own as long as England? ?