The Irish standard., 1912-02-03
Dillon Denies That Securing Free
hold of Land is Destroying
Interest in Home Rule.
Plunkett's Agricultural Society by
Hostility to National Cause is
Injuring Cooperation.
Is in Reality Dragging Agricultural
Movement Into Mire of
Party Politics.

The London "Times" has been pub
fishing letters written by Sir Horace
Plunkett in which. under the guise Of
political neutrality, he is damaging
the cause of the Irish Nationalist par
ty. Mr.. Devlins reply which also ap-
pcared in the "Times" points out the
motive which actuated the writer OF
those letters. He says:
: Sir--You have recently given great
prominence in your columns to Sc
ries of letters from Sir Horace Plunk-
ett, and taking these letters for u
emphasized and driven home what you
conceive to be their true significance
and their moral. l quote two pas
sages from that leading article and L
fully accept your Interpretation of the
| object and working of Sir Horace
Plunkett and his machine. You say
that owing to the working Of Sir Hor
ace Plunkctt's movement 1.-The peasant
farmers who have secured the free
hold Of their farms, or expect soon to
acquire ii, are losing all their zcst for
the barren politics OF Nationallsm and
turning to the practical movement for
which the way has now been cleared
They join Sir Horace Plunketts Agri-
cultural Society and contribute freely
to it's support. but they leave the Ma
tional cause to subsist by mendicancy
in other lands" But it that be u fair
ace Plunkett's operations it ought not
to be Il matter of surprise that Ma
tionalists in ireland who believe in
the political faith they have preached
all their lives to the Irish people
should object to a movement which
has as it's avowed object to turn the
farmers Of ireland from the barren
politics of Nationalism to the pract-
ical movements for which the way has
now been cleared. AS Sir Horace
Plunkctt's letters and your article
base !! upon them have taken the shape
of a most defamatory and unjust at
tack on the Irish Party and upon me
personally, ! shall ask you in common
Justice to give equal prominence to
the letters in which | propose to an
swer them. If you consent to do so l
shall. with q view to brcvity, sum-
| inn al f.I ~
Sir Horace Plunketts letters and your
leading article give a few extracts
from the letters, and l shall then pro-
coed to- show that IL would not he
possible to draw up a statement more
inaccurate or better calculated to mis-
lead the public than that contained in
. those letters.
az Sir Horace Plunkctt commences
, by stating the objects of what he de-
scribes as ''his movement" He gives
the well-known formula, Better
farming, better business, better living,
as If it was an inspiration which new
cr had occurred to any human being
into the practice of farming, and OF
cooperative methods into all its busi-
, ness" II he had confined himself to
, this program he would not today have
, an opponent in Ireland.
(2) Hc next lays down the guiding
, principle of his movement in the fol-
1o,yipp ,yorCs--"Our work dcDcnuS abb
solutely on rigid abstcntion from par
, ty politics. We cannot for q moment
the -scctarian and political pledge
I to which we largely owe whatever
success we have won." And again, in
, his third letter, on this point he says
, that the Minister of Agriculture in
. Ireland, instead of seizing the splen-
, did opportunity of building upon tho
foundation which have been laid for
him, has dragged down this hopeful
scheme of National progress into 1.-THE
mire of party politics"
!, (3) He represents me as an irrecon-
, cilable enemy of agricultural co-opera-
ton, and grossly msrepresents my
) action at the time the Act Of 1899 was
3 passed. In this connection he uses
: this extraordinary language - "Mr.
Birrell would have been more than