The Irish standard., 1916-06-03

ms mlnd the Sim Feln-Whcthel
leader or adherent-promptly, forciblS
and absolutely refused to take: even
as the Canadian of 1887 protested his
right to Canadian mind and Canada
an ways.
And just as Darcy MCGEE and Sir
Charles Gavan Duffy and John BOYLE
OReilly, with hosts of others protested
i'll the past, he also protested against
laws being made for him in London in.
stead of Dublin. He based his protest
constitutionally on the English Act of
Remuneration of 1888: BY which Act
the said right claimed by Ireland to
be bound only by laws enacted by his
Majesty and the Parliament of Ireland
is hereby declared to be established
and ascertained for ever, and shall at
no time hereafter be questioned or
questionable"
On this Act of the English Houses of
Parliament, unrepealcd and unrcpeal-
able, the Sim Fein based his argu-
ment of the illegality and non-exist.
ence of the Union Act.
Just as in Canada there were pre.
vlouS to 1887, many shades of protest,
but nonc-until the Misunderstanding
msurrection. so ii has been in Ireland
a very few like Papneau asked for an
independent State The majority like
Lafontainc demanded only entire self
government, and many like George
Eticnnc Cartier. young and idcalistic
took up their guns merely to follow Il
beloved national leader ....
a couple of quotations from authori
ties on 1887 and 1916 will emphasize
the idea OF similarity
This is from John Boyd's extremely
valuable Life and Times of Sir
George Eticnnc Cartier" in which he
outlines the long contest in Canada
from l77i to 1887 for popular sovc.
roignity the control of the executive
power by the representatives of the
people"
ut is difficult to understand how
any English statesmen could have i'm.
asined that representative and ir.
responsible government could be sue
cossfnlly combined
And again, he voices the passionate
objections Of the Canadian people, lea
by Mackenzie in Ontario and papincau
III Quebec in their complaint that the
officers of the Government should be
appointed without any reference to the
wishes of the community. whose inter
csts are entrusted to their Keeping
That might have been a paragraph
copied from the protests of the SUP
pressed Sim l'cn papers against the
appointment of Matthew Nathan last
year. or more recently of CarsOn's lieu.
tenant and close friend as Attorney.
General of Ireland! But it is only John
Boyd refreshing our minds upon the
unhappy state of Government in
Canada previous to the fortics of last
century.
Compare with these extracts IL para.
graph from Sydney Brooks. "Thc New
Ireland CAS- this book is little known
hero yet, may state that Sydney
Brooks, an English author of standing
III 1906 made a special study of Ire
land as correspondent for the Daily
Mail and Morning Post, forming the
articles finally into a book.)
at is hardly worth while at this
time of day to denounce Dublin Castle
That amazing medley of ovcrmanncu
overlapping Boards. with all the vices
or bureaucracy and little even of its
mechanical efficiency, has long been
and is today the standing example OF
all that is wastcful, incompetent and
dcmoralising in government.
1T has scarcely Il single defender
anywhere in Ireland. A Russian bur
caucracy in Finland could not be more
utterly divorced from the symDathics
and confidence of the people it rules
The stronghold Of small minority, of
a single class, almost of a single creed
overrun with placemcn, impenetrablc
I nj <1p ~ IL
by Parliament in London or by any
representative body in Ireland
scarcely know what merit it Possesses
or what fault it lacks It's days, of
course are numbered, and it will soon
cease to flout our proud claim to know
something of the elements of good ad
ministration.
If, after that, any doubt still re
mains in your readers of the basic
truth that Canadian law as admins
tered in Canada by and for Canadians
is a century apart from English law as
administered by Dublin Castle in Ire
land for Irisllmcn they may read
Brooks impartial evidence farther:
"A country with onc-fourth the mum
Der Of indictable offences to her dis
credit as Scotland maintains a police
force over twice as large, and charged
81 100000 a year more for it's upkeeI
and it is like going to Siam tc
see the way in which law is sometimes
administered in Ireland, and to watch
tho Sllhlimn StrnOu1n hot uoor ri oh