The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-03-26
HISTORY OF HOME RULE KOHL
AGITATION I'M IQEI ANT

Ireland has striven for home r,lla
without a moments cessation ever since
the Irish parliament was abolished and
the legislative union of Great Britain
and ireland was proclaimed on january
i, 1901. In the 113 years that have
passed since that date, the agitation
mas gone on under various forms, pa
chic and violent, led by such patriotic
as Daniel O'Connell, William Smith
OBrien, Charles Stewart Parnell.
ODonovan Rosa and Michael Davttt,
TO mention only a few of the more
the Redmonds and the Healeys, who are
IN the forefront OF the movement today.
The Eatriotic movement wa sup
pressed Vine after time by coercion acts
passed by the British parliament only
to take another form. The Molly Ma
CURES, the Young Ireland party, the
Land league and the National league
were all Irish political societies which
had their day.
thousands OF Irish nationalists served
terms OF imprisonment for their par
ticlRation in the fight for legislative in-
dependence from Great Britain. Hum
dreds were exiled, many of them pro-
ceedlng to the United States. ea
Marked by Violence.
The agitation sometimes took on the
aspect of extreme violence as when
ANSAN ~ ASh SdNCklhlShs liz ~
secretary for Ireland, and T. III. Burke,
permanent secretary, were a~ssassinated
by ~'invincibles" on May 6, 1882, in
Phoenix park, Dublin.
The parliamentary fight for home
rule was wagcd for many decades and
gave rise to extraordinary scenes in h
usually staid British parliament, often
bringing about the expulsion of mem
bers and the stoppage of business.
The first effort Of the British gov
to meet the demand for Irish
home rule, was made by h late Will
liam Ewart Gladstone, when premier In
1885. The bill was rejected after its
introduction had brought about a great
split in the liberal party, which caused
the secession of Joseph Chamberlain
and other liberal leaders, who since ON
Irish questions nave acted with the o
sentative party. Since then several
Irish home rule bills nave been intro
duced by liberal governments and the
last one passed the house OF commons
but was rejected by the house of lords.
This led to the passage three years ago
of the parliament act under the proyi-
ions of which n bill not an appro-
prlatiOn bill rejected by the house OF
lords becomes automatically a law on
passing the house Of commons in three
successive sessions. ...t%a
The present agitation has been
mainly brought about by the practical
certainty Of Premier Asquith's Irish
home rule bill becoming law without
the consent Of the house of lords. Sir
Edward Carson is at the head of the
agitation against homo rule among the
u%nionists OF Ulster. He and several
other leading men o. the initiative
in organizing an army of Ulster Volun-
teers to resist the introduction Of home
rule for Ireland in its entirety. They
insisted that Ulster should be left out
OF its operation.
The chief point at issue in Ireland Is
the religious one. Out Of q total popu-
lation OF about 4,5OO, 900, approximately
500, 900 are Professionals Of various de-
nominations. Most of these are found
in the four Ulster counties of Lopdon-
derry. Antrim, Armagh n Downe.
The other five counties of Ulster are
predominantly Catholic. AS a matter
of fact Ulster returns II nationalists
and only 16 unionists to parliament.