The Irish standard., 1916-05-27
Great lrish-American Orator
Arraigns England's Conduct
Monster Gathering of Irish Sympathzers Hear Wm Boue
Cochran Give Detailed Account of Irelands
Oppression -Confesses He Has Lost Faith
in the Parliamentary Party.

Address of Hon. William Bourke
Cochran at Irish mass meeting in New
York City.
came here this evening expecting
that would speak to the adoption of
resolutions. That task has been an
ticipated. The resolutions have been
adopted by the spontaneous act of this
gathering, and now that the sense of
the gathering has been expressed, it
only remains for me to interpret, If
can, the lesson Of this evening.
The resolutions themselves carry
their own vindication. The preambles
explain and justify the one single reso.
luton which denounces to the con.
science of mankind the long-continued
infamy whose elimination we are de-
nouncing tonight; and it declares the
solemn judgment Of the American peo-
pie to be that the system responsible
for such an outrage upon the elemen-
tai principles of civilized society must
be terminated and Ireland must her.
self prescribe the conditions under
which her national existence shall be
prosecuted and her manifest destiny
accomplished.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don't be.
lieve it is necessary to say one word
in support Of the facts embodied in
this preamble. It certainly is unnec-
essary to say one word in order to
describe the barbarity of this mas
sacre. The judgment of mankind has
already been expressed on that in
every quarter of the globe, even in
England itself. Nor is it necessary to
say one word in vindication of the
quality Of the martyrs, these last fif-
teen martyrs, whose blood has been
shed that the soil Of Ireland, sanctified
to freedom, shall soon become it's
theatre. Their rich excellence is con-
fessed by the butchers who took their
lives and in taking them have elevated
them to Immortality. But the resolu-
tions themselves, far from exaggerat-
ing the virtues, the talents, the disin-
terestedness, the patriotism, of these
martyrs to Irish liberty, err on the
side Of moderation. Reading these
words, one might assume that these
men were Of the high character that
we associate with distinction in other
countries. take it as being said here
that they were equal to the best in
any country Of the world. I say that
they were better than any in any other
country of the world. Yea! not in
the long martyrology of Ireland her.
self, not in all the annals Of patriotism
recording lives sacrificed for countries
throughout the world could there be
found in any one generation fifteen
men equal in talent, equal in virtue,
equal in self-abnegation, equal in abso-
lutely spotless lives to these men who
have been butchered by the authority
that proclaimed the butchery Of such
men essential to its own existence!
Now, much has been said about the
technical rights, the legal rights of a
government to take the lives of men
who have borne arms against it. I
fully agree with all that Mr.. Colby has
said on that subject tonight, and go
further and I say the lesson of this
meeting, which nobody can question,
which nobody can doubt, which no.
body can dispute, is that the system
which finds it necessary to immediate
such lives as these, in their prime
aye, at their very threshold-by that
act, confesses itself Infamous, and one
whose destruction is essential to hui
man liberty.
My friends, have been some years
studying the history of mankind. I