The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-03-21
Continued from Page /. Column y
The 1ye-EIections.

Thk eye-EIeetions.
The result of the bye-election in
Leith Burgh was as follows: Mr.. g.
w. Currie (U) s, 159; Mr.. M. Smith
liberal and H. RI s, 143; Mr.. J. N.
Bell Labor and H. R.) 8, 346; Tn
ionist majority, 16. Thus. the Union
lists won the seat, although they poll
ed only 81 per cent of the votes given.
This makes the seventh Home Rule
seat which has been won by the I'm
ionists on minority vote. The 9th.
ers were Bethnal Green, Crewe, Mid.
lothian, Oldham, 8. Lanark and Cam.
loche. At the last General Election,
there were 10 tree-cornered fights
in Liberal constituencies, end in only
was the seat lost. Since the General
Election, Labour candidates have
caused three-cornered fights in FL bye
elections, including each in Bethnal
Green and Keighley. In 6 of these
bye-elections, the seats were lost to
the Unionists by the Intervention Of
the Labour candidate, and in one
(Reading) the Tory polled 68 votes
more than the Liberal and the Labour
candidates combined. Since August
last. there have been II bye.elections,
and the total votes cast have been:
Liberal, 53.115: Labour, 1886; Union.
list, 50,S85. AS the Liberal and the
Labour candidates all supported Home
Rule. the Home Rule vote in these IL
bye-elections works out at total of
1861, as against the Unionist total
OF 5O,sS5; showing a majority for
Home Rule Of 1916. Home Rule is
undoubtedly, to Judge by the bye-elec-
tions, the most popular cause before
the British electors today. But the
loss Of Home Rule and democratic
seats to the Unionists owing to the
opposition of Liberals and Labour
men to one another, is most unfortu-
nate, and all the friends Of liberty and
progress would be glad If such con-
tests could be averted in future. The
Government majority at present in the
House of Commons is nominally SO,
including the eight O'Brienites, who,
according to the Pail Mall Gazette"
are IAN uncertain quantity" SO far as
supporting the Government is con-
cerned.
1.-THE Great Resigner."
All London, and all Ireland, for that
matter, has been laughing over a very
clever skit, under the above title.
which appears in Punch" forecast
ing future designations of Mr.. VIM.
O'Brien, M. p, for Cork City, and the
occasions of them. In one case, Mr..
O'Brien is represented as resigning
because "Mr. John Redmond denies
that he is sea-serpent' in another,
because 'Mr. Redmond is seen to
smile;;" in another, because ian Al
derman of Cork refuses to take off his
hat to Mr.. O'Brien"; in another, be.
cause Mr.. Asquith doesn't mention
Mr.. O'Brien's name in speech; and,
in two other instances, because Mr..
Redmond "says nothing" or takes no
notice.! The skit is evidently from
an Irish pen, and is. specimen of
genuine humour. But it is rather hard
upon any politician who takes him.
self SO seriously as Mr.. O'Brien does
to find his most epoch-making and
dramatic achievements made the SUBJ
ject of merely humorous treatment.
It is probably only a coincidence that
the Cork Examiner" of February 26th
appends the following letter to it's re-
production of the punch" skit:
super-statesmanship.
Sir,-Mr. William O'Brien, speaking
at Mallow on January 25th, 1910, said:
"Well now, is there man in Ire
land or England today but is laugh
ing at the way in which Mr.. Redmond
was swindled by Mr.. Asquith. ="
Mr.. William O'Brien, speaking in
the House of Commons last Tuesday
night, said:
II believe intensely in his (the
Prime Minister's) declaration that he
does not intend to betray the Nation
alist cause"
Comment is not necessary.
Yours faithfully,
OBSERVER.
Cork, Feb. 25th, 1914.
The Kingston Case.
Mr.. John Redmond, M. p, has done
a good service by publishing the true
facts about the Kingston case. Mr..
Richard Kingston, of Kilmurry, Co.
Cork, took an evicted farm and was
boycotted in consequence. The Union
ist sought to make out that he was
boycotted because he was Protes-
tant. This was disproved two years
ago, and Mr.. Redmond said that, If
any case of persecution or boycott of
a Protestant, as SUCH in Ireland, could
be pointed out, he would himself go
and denounce it, and use all possible
influence to put it down. But no such
case exists. Now, however, Mr.. Wal
ter Long, M. p, ex-Tory Chief secre-