The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-03-01
''Defend Old Sod You Love-"
ExhOrts HOme-RuIer.
GERMANY WOULD CRUSH US"
Sons of Erin Have Been Antag-
Onized About Fighting.
Cities Have Responded, but
Farmers Slow to Enlist.

London, March John Redmond,
the veteran leader of the Irish Home
Rulers. has been conducting a notable
and strenuous campaign in Ireland
for army recruits. He has held meet
ings in scores of centers, directing his
attention particularly to the agricu1-
tural classes, and appealing to them
TO defend the 'old sod" which they
love.
1t is not easy yet to Judge the sue
cess of his trip. In large measure lie
hopes that he has soWed a secd which
will later bring forth fruit. Even Mr..
Redmond is a little uncertain as TO
how much his campaign has done.
Il often wonder" he remarked IN
reply to a question, whether the Irish
farmers realize what is at stake in
this war 1 have tried to show them
that if it goes on Indefinitely ireland
will be crushed by taxation and her
completely the whole value of all That
they have won IN the past. If Ger
many is victorious, L believe that the
country will be beggared.''
Not an Easy job.
rs it easy to convince them" Mr..
Redmond was asked.
mol it is not" he replied. II am
afraid they have not been approached
properly in the matter of recruiting.
They have been unWiSely attacked and
abused, and in some districts prove
cative speeches have been made.
Turning to his belief in Ireland's
vital interest in pushing the war, Mr..
Redmond said:
Every day that has passed since
the war began has convinced me more
and more profoundly that the highest
interest of Ireland from every point
of view is the speedy and victorious
end of this war. 1 feel it so strongly
that if / stood alone / would still raise
my -ce, even though it were in vain,
and l would face any consequence,
political or otherwise, which might
ensue. And when this great contest
is over, when Ireland has faced the
test submitted so suddenly, when
success has crowned the arms Of the
Allies, then 1 am certain, Ireland will
! have added a proud chapter to her
history"
/ Address in Dublin.
/ Mr. Redmonds method of dealing
with his audiences was well illustrated
by his speech at the Dublin Mansion
House, perhaps the finest effort of
his tour. He said in part:
I'VE come to speak to you about
recruiting The towns have done mag
nificentIy. and it is mainly with the
agricultural districts that we now have
4 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 n patriot as the man who
! is unnecessary on the land and who
goes to the front.
II deprecate anything in the nature
of indiscriminate attacks on the farm
! ing classes. The great difference be-
tween England and Ireland is that
Ireland is mostly an agricultural coun-
| try, and England mainly an industrial
one. If you compare the action OF
the agricultural counties in England
with that of those in Ireland, you will
find it 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
4 that recruiting in purely agricultural
/ England has been no whit better than
in agricultural districts here.
Farmers Should Enlist.
"At the same time it is true of both
countries that there are many men
who are not necessary for the cultiva-
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
comparatively small farm, where they
are not necessary for its working, one
at least, if not more, should brave the
risks and do his duty.
Farmers in Ireland, above all 9TH
ers, have an especial interest in a
speedy end to, and speedy victory in,
the war There is no class in any
country who have had so magnificent
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 prop
erty even in the improvements carried
out by their own thrift and industry
but today they are the owners of the
soil they TILL"