The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-28
REDMOND SAYS
 IRELAND WILL LOSE UNLESS ALLIES WIN
Veteran Home Rulers On Recruiting Trip Among
 The Farmers.

London, Feb. 28.-John Redmond, the veteran leader of the Irish Home Rulers, has been conducting a mo- table and strenuous campaign in Ire land for army recruits. He has held
 meetings in scores of. cenrers, direct ing his attention particularly to the agricultural classes, and appealing to them to defend the "O1d sod" which they love.
 It is not easy yet to judge the sue cess of his trip. In large measure
 he hopes that he has sowed a seed
 which will later bring forth fruit.
 Even MT. Redmond is a little uncer-
 tain as to how much his campaign
 has done.
 sI often wonder he remarked in
 reply to question, whether the
 Irish farmers realize what is at stake
 in this war. I have tried to show
 them that if it goes on indefinitely Ireland will be crushed by taxation
 and her farmers will lose absolutely
 and completely the whole value of ! all that they have won in the past. If { Germany is victorious, T. believe that fthe8 country will be. beggared.' .'' ! t'Ts it easy to convince them?'' MT. Redmond was asked.
 NO! it is not,'' he replied. 'tI am afraid they have not been approach
 ed properly in the matter of recruit 1 ing. They have been unwiseIy at tackled and abused, and in some dis
 tricts provocative speeches have been l made" Turning to his belief in Ireland,s vital interest in pushing the war, MT.
 Redmond said:
 Every day that has passed since
 the war began has convinced me
 more and more profoundly that the l highest interest of Ireland from ev- cry point of view is the speedy and
 victorious end of this war. I feel it
 so strongly that if I stood alone would still raise my voice, even though it were in vain, and would face any consequence, political, or 1 otherwise, which might ensue. And when this great contest has crowned the arms of the Allies, then am cer- tain, Ireland will have added proud chapter to her history.s'
 MT. Redmond's method of dealing with his audiences was well il1ustrat- ed by his speech at the Dublin Man sion House, perhaps the finest effort
 of his. tour. He said, in part:
 tfWe, come to speak to you about recruiting. The towns have done magnificent1y, and it is mainly with the agricultural districts that we now have to deal First I want to say that the farmer who remains at home because he is necessary for working the land is as much akpatriot as the man who is unnecessary on the land l.
 CT deprecate anything in the nature Of indfscriminate attacks on the farm ing classes. The great dffferencetbe- tween England and Ireland is that Ireland is mostly an agricultural country. and England mainly an in sdustria1 one. If you compare the action of the agricultural counties in England with that of those. in Ire1ands you will find 1t is pretty much the same. We have had no figures with reference to recruiting in agricultural districts in England, and I venture to say that if they were produced you would find that recruiting in purely agricultural England has been no whit better than in agricultural districts here.
 At the same time it is true of both countries that there are many men who are not necessary for the cultiva-I ton of the land who have not fulfilled their duty in the matter of recruiting, and who ought to do SO. Where a farmer has two or three sons and a compara lively small farm, where they are not necessary for it's working, one at least, if not more, should brave the risks and do his duty.
 ssFarmers in Ireland, above all otn- CTS, have an especial interest in speedy end to, and speedy victory any country who have had so magnif-S icent a fight made for them by the whole nation. In the past generation they were serfs, but they are now free men. Then they had not the | smallest property even in the im- provements carried out by their own thrift and industry, but to-day they ] are the owners of the soil they ti1lt
 HLet the farmers remember that this great change was carried out by | the sacrifices of the whole Irish na- ton, and especially by the courage andr sacrifices of the 1aboring classes and of the towns What haveY3 the owns gained by the last generation of sacrifices? Very little compared with the agricultural classes. That, 4 however, has not prevented the -ownsfoIk from being in the fore sront of the fight for the farmers. It would be base ingratitude to the la boring classes in Ireland if the far ners were to seek to throw on them heir property.
 irish, farmers if they left to the ownsfolk the duty of protecting the property which these men had won r. or them and their children.
 Some people say that Germany will not bother about Ireland. I ven .ure to say that there is no single part of the British Empire which f; Germany would seize more greedily han the fertile fields of Ireland. Re- member the Prussian planters who were foisted on the sconf1scated lands If Poland. Do you think that you would fare any better ?''
 WHO IS THE PRESIDENT