The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-04-11
THE MOST DECISIVE MOVE TO-
WARD IRISH AUTONOMY MADE
SINCE o'coNNELL INVENTED
CONSTITUTIONAL AGITATION.

"Claidheamh Solish" (the Sword OF
Light, the official organ of the Gaelic
League. Three distinct parties, each
too weak to be of much force in poll
tics, have ranged themselves against
Home Rule. These are the Orange in
dustrial workers, mainly Church OF
Ireland Protestants; the Presbyterian
rural community; and the remnant OF
the feudal aristocracy. The first two
elements have been drawn together
by what is called the "No-Popery'
sentiment. This fact has been turned
to account by the third element, and
when dual ownership, land purchase,
and the abolition of grand jury gov,
ernment had apparently consigned
feudalism to the incurable ward, a
combination of landlords, land agents,
land lawyers and their adherents, in
return for comforting the stamp of
"respectability' on the "No-Popery''
sentiment, has managed to secure the
control of an alliance of wage-earners
and rent payers. That this is literal
ly true may be verified by anyone who
consults the newspaper files for CD
the names of those who took the
initiative in the organization of the
Ulster "Unionist Clubs" and (2) the
names of the numerous personnel of
the Ulster provisional Government. "
To attain such an ascendancy seems
almost a miracle of political adroit-
ness, but there is another side to the
picture.
A Volunteer Force.
The Parliament Act deprived Irish
feudalism of what hitherto had been
it's chief resource, the effective sup
port of British feudalism in the legis-
lature. Then the masters of the
Ulster triple alliance decided on an
extraordinary step, the enrolment of
a volunteer force manned by their
"allies," the "Unionist' wage-earn-
ers and rent-payers. Of the three
| "allied" forces, one only. the man.
aging element, is really ''Unionist. !"
Intermarriage, social intercourse, and
self-interest, unite the decaying feudal
aristocracy of Ireland to the still opu-
lent feudal aristocracy of Great
Britain; but history shows and obser-
vation confirms that the Orange
democracy and the Presbyterian rural
party are Home Rulers in principle
and in essence. The loyalty of Or
angemen to the Crown" the "Con-
stitution," and the Empire" and the
Union" arises out of the notion that
these entities secure them in posses
sion of Home Rule and little more.
But whenever any abatement of that
little more seems likely to come from
constitutional developments, loyalty
and affection instantaneously put on
different face. The Presbyterian
country party, as it's history shows,
though slower to move and under
stand, is not less radically attached to
Home Rule than the Orange party.
A Home Rule Movement.
The skill of the feudal element in
obtaining the lead is more than coun-
terbalanced by their faulty in start
ing among the essential Home Rulers
of their present following the most
decisive move towards Irish autonomy
that has been made since O'Connell
invented constitutional agitation. The
Ulster volunteer movement is essen
TALLY and obviously a Home Rule
movement. 1t claims, no doubt, to
hold Ireland "for the Empire;;" but
really it is no matter whether Ireland
is to be held for empire or for the
empyrean, against the Pope, against
John Redmond, or against the man in
the moon. What matters is, by whom
Ireland is to be held. Lord Lans-
downe, speaking recently against
Home Rule, spoke fine old medieval
words, I'VE have Ireland and we mean
to keep her" The Ulster volunteers
reply, 1--WE are going to hold Ireland
of course for your Lordships."
The true meaning of this extraor-
binary development is dawning pain
fully on English Unionists. They are
beginning to understand that Sir Ed
ward Carson has knocked the bottom
out Of Unionism. To add to their COM
fort, Mr.. Arnold White has been
proving in elaborate detail that the
present available resources Of the
British army are not sufficient to put
down the volunteer movement in four
of the thirty-two Irish counties. In
any case, it appears that the British
army cannot now be used to prevent
the enrolment, drilling and review
ing of volunteers in Ireland. There is
nothing to prevent the other twenty
eight counties from calling into exist
ence citizen forces to hold Ireland
''for the Empire" It was pre-
cisely with this object that the vol
unteers of 1882 were enrolled, and
they became the instrument of estab-
fishing self-government and Irish pros
perity. Their disbanding led to the
destruction alike of self-government
and of prosperity, and the opportunity
of rectifying a capital error of this
sort does not always come back again
to nations.
The more responsible section of
English Unionist opinion has taken
alarm and is tentatively drawing away
from the two-edged sword of "Ulster." !"
But even the rashest English Union
lists are clearly in great uneasiness; !;
and while they threaten with Ulster,