The Irish standard., 1912-06-22
ACHIEVEMENTS OF
THE IRISH PARTY
Dillon Points Out Reasons Why it
Should Continue to Have Con-
fidence of Nation.
Twenty-Five Years Ago the Farmers
Were Slaves; Today They are
the Only Landlords.
Aim of Home Rule to Make Ireland
a Model of What Christian
Democracy Can be.

At an Irish Nationalist meeting in
bellina June 3, John Dillon made a
strong plea for the continuation of
the support which the Irish party has
received on the ground that In the
last the party has earned the conf
denco the nation has placed in it,
For twenty-five years." said Mr..
Dillon, "the people had loyalty and
consistently and generously stood by
the Irish Party. Had the Irish Party
earned their confidence? Were they
worthy Of their trust? Twenty five
years ago the farmers and laborers
of Ireland were slaves In their own
land. Today over a vast area Of Ire-
land the farmers were tho only land
lords. For the laborcrs who twenty-
five years ago were living under con-
ditions that were Il blot upon humans
ty fifty thousand cottages had been
erected, and a quarter of a million of
agricultural laborers and their fam
lilies were living in bright and cheer
full cottages. healthy and sanitary.
Thirty years ago Irish Catholics were
denied equal opportunities in the are
ma of University Education. Today in
the Irish capital there was a National
University instinct with Irish and 81
Catholic genius and imbued with
Catholic ideals. If there was any man
In that great meeting who despised
the boon of n great National Univer-
sity let him tell him that this intel
lectual institution was not for the
idle rich and the sons Of the idle rich
as SO many universities of the world
were, but 1t was for the democratic
sons of tho working-class men, so
that when Ireland was free, from the
halls of that great university would
go forth mentally endowed sons of
part as tho educated leaders OF a free
nation. Referring to the boon of old
age pensions, Mr.. Devlin said they
had carried great measure which
lifted the squalor of the Poor-Law
system from the whitened hairs Of
Irish fathers and Irish mothers
lreIand's Soldiers Of Industry.
"The Government, backed up by the
Irish Party, had recognized that there
were greater soldiers in the state than
those who fought battles in the field,
h. ls.L
try who built up nations. Whatever
might be the view OF critics and ene-
mics the Irish Party had been the
most powerful and irresistible weapon
that had ever been welded by the
Irish people to help them along the
thorny paths to freedom. But their
task was still uncompletcd. On Sat-
urday he had an opportunity of vis-
iting parts Of the congested districts
in that constituency and he there
found a great and abiding argument
for Home Rule. He was told that one
Of the reasons why the congests in
the West had not these grazing
ranches parcellcd out amongst them
was because they had not repre-
sentative on the Congested Districts
Board. Who was responsible for that?
The bill Of 1909 was carried three
times in the House Of Commons, and
that bill gave to every congested dis
trict the right to representation on
the Congested Districts Board, but the
House Of Lords stepped in, and de-
nuded that bill of the representation
which 1t gave to the congests. and
that was why Erris had no repre-
sentative on the Congested Districts
Board. But the time had come when
these people living under these
wretched conditions should have add
ed to their small holdings SUFFICIENT
land to make them economic. If in
eighty years they had lost four and
half millions Of their people out Of
nine millions, and forty thousand Of
the best of their population left Ire
land every year. how long would 1t
take until Ireland lost that which
counted in land-her strong men
and virtious women. Therefore. they
were fighting, not alone for the lib-i