Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-28
FEELING IN ULSTER
Marquis of Londonderry Gives
Idea of Conditions.
OPINION NOW UNDIVIDED
Movement Against Home Rule Is OPP
position of the People.
SAW RECENT DEMONSTRATION
Unionist Leader Was Deeply I'M
pressed With Earnestness of Those
Signing Covenant.
BY TIMOTHY O'CONNOR.

Foreign Correspondence OF The Star.
| DUBLIN, October 10, 1912
| The Marquis of Londonderry. one OF
| the unionist leaders. gives some of his
impressions OF conditions i'm Ulster. He
recently attended the anti-hOme rule
demonstration in Belfast and says:
My acquaintance with Ireland and
Ulster goes beck many years. / can re-
| member the time when, as member for
Down. l found opinion divided there as
| it is now in England. We were con-
| servatives and liberals, our views on
| public questions tended. No one re-
garded home rule as subject Of con-
troversy.
~ recall that period, since its memory
gives my first impression of Ulster to-
day the greater emphasis. Now, under
the impending danger Of homo rule, the
differences OF opinion which divided us
have vanished. My former political OPP
ponents are now my colleagues in this
fight. We lunched at the Ulster Reform
Club At one time it was the headquar-
ters of the liberal party in Ulster. To
day its members are as much opposed
TO home rule as any conservative.
.'Unanimty of opinion-that is the first
and foremost impression. And those VINO,
like myself. can claim long association
with Ulster know how great a change
the home rule bill has brought about
There are no faint hearts, no Mr..
Facing both-ways, in unionist Ulster The
movement against home rule Is the OPP
position of q people. Men OF every class,
tile 1t is not opposition proceeding
originally from few leaders VINO. by
organization. have given it an outwardly
democratic expression. 1t is not 4 dis
organized outbreak of irresponsibles-
Within it are merchants, leaders Of in
dustry and commerce and workers in
factory, shop and shipyard. Men or
brains and men Of muscle. The land
owner, the farmer and the laborer! The
peasant from the wilds Of the Mourne
mountains, the farmer from the glens OF
Antrim. the jewellers on the land, of rug
ged look and simple views of life
Seriousness of Purpose.
Il was struck by comparison of the
professions at the country demonstra-
tons and in Belfast. Seriousness of
purpose, firm resolve on every face; but
the types entirely different.
'At Portadown / saw men who had
marched miles from the countryside to
greet their leader. They bore the stamp
Of the village and the farm. Their
clothes. their walk their speech told Of
lives spent away from the din Of cities, in
ignorance of the seamy side of politics.
Men of simple faith and deep conviction.
Not reckless. but. having counted the cost.
ready to sacrifice all to preserve unim-
paired religious freedom and civil liberty.
The faith of their fathers meant much to
them From father to son. from genera
ton to generation, the plain religious
truths had been handed down. and re-
peated Sunday after Sunday in thou
sand little churches and chapels on the
hills and in the valleys. We did not
smile at the old man who carried his
Bible in the procession. 1t was his most
cherished possession. 1t was the out
ward sign Of what he was willing to fight
for. Let no man underrate what 1t
meant.
mot for them are the clauses of the
| bill, the amendment in committee. the
| niceties of language, the professions of
| liberation and regard. the dialectics OF
ministers. Irish history, with the dark
pages Of rebellion and massacre, is as
| real to them today as it was to those who
| lived through the time of disturbance.