The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-07-18
THE FACTS ABOUT ULSTER

The population of Ulster il
100000. Of these 100000 are
Catholics, 100000 are Presby
terians, and the remainder il
made up of Episcopalians, Meth
odists, and smaller sects. Thus
Catholics. ARE the most numerous
single denomination; and they
are, of course, on the side of Ire
land and Of democracy as they
always were. And strange though
it may seem, there is a formidable
body Of non-Catholics in Ulster
who are brave and strong and en-
lightened enough to face social
political and business persecution
at the hands of their felloW-Prot
estants for the sake of freedom
and of progress. These men be
long mostly to the Liberal and
Labor organisations; they vote
silently for the right and THEN
vote turns the scale in Ulster it.
self in favor of Home Rule. Out
Of 80 members of Parliament
elected by Ulster II are Home
Rulers, as out Of Ireland's total
Of 104, 81 are Home Rulers
Ulster Home Rulers see that Eng.
lish rule is ruinous to Ulster as tC
the rest Of Ireland; that emigra
ton from Ulster is larger than
from any Of the other provinces
that the social legislation so neces
sary to cure the sweating and
other industrial ills Of Belfast
cannot be secured so long as
Ulster Professionalism is a mere
blind tool in the hands of English
and of Ulster capitalism and
aristocracy; that religion itself
suffers deadly injury by being
thus degraded; that the only hope
for progress in the North is in the
enlightened rule Of untrammeled
Irish minds.
Real religion in Ulster is not OPP
posed to Irish freedom. The ole
spirit Of ascendancy dying hard
is opposed to it, as it was always
opposed to human progress. Just
now, of course, there is an orgy OF
bigotry in the ranks Of Carsonism
but that is nothing quite new
What is new about it is the open
support and encouragement il
has received from the party OF
reaction and Of privilege in Eng
land. And this support has abso
lutely nothing to do with religion
or with the merits of Home Rule
as an Irish or even as an Ulster
question. 1t is just an attempt tC
arouse the dying bigotry Of Eng
land against the Liberals, so as tC
kill the vast movement of social
and political reform which Lloyd
George is making effective in Acts
of Parliament. The Rev. DR.
Macauley, Moderator of the Gen
eral Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church, speaking in the General
Assembly, June 2, 1913, said: 81
deeply deplore that in Belfast
where our people are massed IL
such large numbers, a large pro
portion are out of connection
with the Church, and live apart
from her ordinances. -. The
Church Presbyterian has wit
messed and permitted the growth
of a most injurious caste system
even within her own realm, anC
this has had the effect of alienat
ing large numbers of the working
people," At the same Assembly
on June 6, 1913, Rev. John Galley
spoke Of the Protestant working
classes of Belfast as follows: "GC
down to our frightful slums, tt
our unclad, unfed children, to oul
hooliganism, drunkenness, poverty
and crime, to our sweated IN
dustries and our unemployed, anC
see what hold our religion has
upon large masses of our people
On Saturday night | spent some
! hours in and around streets ad
i joining Shankhili Road (the very
heart of Orangeism) and I wa
shocked with the widespread
awful drunkenness In this Prot
estant district. I came home Will
my head bowed down in sham,
| for the condition of much tina
goes by the name of Belfast Prot
estantism.'' In that hooligal
pagan element Carson finds tn
core of his army. So far is
from having anything religion
about it, that the Catholic aristo
Gratis of England patronise
quite as effusively as the vii,
| politicians who pretend that tn
whole Ulster movement is a hol,
war for religion.
Irreligious is the right word 70
the whole movement. Hatred