The Irish standard., 1913-02-15
NOBLE SACRIFICES
FOR |RELAND'S SAKE
Severe Party Discipline Willingly
Borne for the Sake of
Final Triumph.
Lack of Funds and Abundance of
Temptation no Hinderance
to the Struggle.
lll-Health, Poverty, Suffering and
Loneliness Endured by Bril-
liant Champions.

4AQA@ SAAOAApAOAos
The sacrifices the Irish people have
made to win the right to govern
themselves will never he fully real
lied, not even when the history of
that great struggle is written. The
suffering the men in the irish party
have had to endure In ".d.., to main
/ tain their place in the ranks is a
phase of the struggle hat will be
passed over lightly by the Pen of the
historian, and yet it is one Of the most
remarkable demonstrations Of loyalty
that any people could show. Deeds
of v;llor performed on the field of bat
tie when the sight OF slaughter clouds
the reason and stirs up personal feel
ings Of spite and revenge do not COM
pare with the long drawn out suffer-
ing of the men who, ncagerly main
tanned, have stood by their purpose
year after year, i'm bright day and
dark, never yielding to defeat.
Some illustrations.
n. T.. OConnor, writing in the Chi
cago Tribune, enumerates some Of the
striking examples of suffering by the
men who have fought for Ireland's
rights.
asss sss many ~ t.aI Ies y could tsll, he
writes OF brilliant men having to ,,n-
dergo not only poverty bus i'll health
and the loneliness of poor lodgings in
London suburbs while there were
| 100000 standing to tile credit Of the
400 pounds I, year for a parliamentary
salary, what the poor Irish member
got for his indemnity each session
amounted ON an average to $50 pounds,
or $3.50. 1t is marvellous that such Il
body of men could have been found
to sacrifice during such a lcngthened
period all the temptations Of the rich
est treasury in the world.
However, as l have said, iron dis
cipline is willingly submitted to by
these stalwart, large-heartcd and in
tclligcnt Irish politicians, and this
discipline is, if possible made stricter
by it's administration in the hands OF
the Irish whips. There are four Of
them. The two chiefs of IT,, four are
Captain Donnellan Ind Patrick
OBricn, two very typical lrlshmcn.
! A Farmer Soldier.
7 Captain Donnellan is an Irish Prot
estant one of the many PrOtestants
! who arc among the most fervid OF
Irish nationalists. He is a former SOL
dier and looks a. soldier to this day;
well groomcd, spick and span, though
at the same time always modestly
dressed, precise, an lncurablc old
bachelor. with the old-worl! courtesy
and almost punctiliousness Of the
eighteenth century. Add that he has
n temper of angelic sweetness; that
he is lofty in character, and the soul
of truth ana honor, and You will un-
derstand why he is personally the
most popular member in the whole
party. He helps enormously in MAIN
tanning the unity and the spirit of his
comrades.
1 Patrick O13rien, or Paddy as he is
universally known, is quite different
man. Captain Donnellan is u we'll set
up man Of about five feet ten in
height; Paddy is the smallest man in
stature in the house. But within this
small body there is the vitality and
the forcefulncss Of a dynamo. He is
never out of the House OF Commons
during business hours; never absent
from a division; knows everything
that is going on, public or private. In
the old hot days he was in Jail sew
eral times and for long periods and
always laughed at his iailors; sweep.
ing out his own cell when lie felt the
time hang heavily on his bands; one
Of those unconquerable spirits that
nothing could frighten or even de-
press
A Pathetic Case.
The case of poor ]. p. Nannctti is
the most pathetic Of all. The name is
Italian, and Nannetti is the grandson
of an Italian who came to Ireland in
the days before the accursed act of