The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-11-01
concluded from last weekly

! Concluded from last week.)
We have even more than that.
Counting the votes cast, out of a lit
tie over a million and half of the
total votes, there were only some
three hundred thousand for union with
England, that is on the popular vote,
bare twenty per cent of the people
voted for England. And yet these
twenty per cent claim that because
they do not think with the majority,
| they should veto the will of the ma
jority; and England tries to make use
of that fact that we are not unani-
nous, and misrepresents and makes
| it appear that this question is an Irish
| question, because the Irish cannot
| agree among themselves. Isn't it suffi-
| cient if the majority can agree, three
to one and four to one? No, we must
have this impossible thing, unanimity
wonder how many laws would be
passed by the United States if you put
a condition of unanimity in! I won
der whether the treaty would be rati-
| fed or not if the whole senate had to
be unanimous! Great cheers.) l
| wonder what would be your position
on the question of prohibition if the
whole nation had to be unanimous!
| am giving you these examples SIM
ply to bring home to you the idea that
unanimity is an impossible condition;
that it strikes at the base of the de-
mocracy-democratic rule, rule of the
people, by the people and for the
people. 1t is the end of all rule; it
makes anarchy, because every man
becomes law unto himself. (Cheers.)
An Irish Majority.
Now, we don't claim we have una
nimity in Ireland; but what we claim
| is we have come closer to unanimity
than you had, and which Washing
| ton had when he went out to fight
against England. You know how he
spoke of Tories and Royalists - how
he spoke of them as pests of society,
and how he told them they had bet
| ter cross into the territories of those
to whom they were ready to give their
allegiance.
Now, our position is, we have a ma
jority sufficient to indicate which way
the will of the Irish people is. There
is nothing extraordinary in the ma
jority in Ireland. In Ireland there
are two political parties-we may
leave out any other. There are only
two political parties in Ireland-one
that makes for independence and the
other pointing in the other direction,
making for union with England. The
parties are divided politically, be-
cause it is a political question. They
are divided politically on these two
lines, one for union with England, and
the other tending in the opposite di-
rection, that of complete independ-
ence. 1t does happen that these lines
do roughly correspond to the lines OF
religion. And that mere fact, which
is not at the bottom OF the question,
the mere fact is made use OF by Eng
land to make it appear that it is 9th,
err than political The minority, like
all weak minorities, will use every
means to misrepresent the other par
ty and get support of the other party
In order to misrepresent it and make
those who would not tolerate for mo
Ement the idea that mere political
minority should veto the will OF the
majority, they misrepresent the mat
ter. in order that you may think II
:, eo,,,otbipo else
We have always wonderful sympa
thv for any man that is likely to be
injured on account OF his rellglous
opinions; for any man likely to be II
any way injured or suffer because O
his religious views. They try, there
fore, this political minority, to orlns
to this side the sympathy and all thu
prejudice that they can, by appealln!
to that fundamental sentiment in hu
man nature. They have come her
and tried to make it appear that thl
minority in Ireland, which is pol1t1
cal minority, would suffer in lrelan
because of it's religious views. NOW
Won must understand that the rea
: factions are political ones; but 1t doe
. happen by accident that the lines
religious division fairly closely tolloN
the lines of political division.
/ Irish Presbyterians.
We need not bother to go back
l history, but I will just point out tina
a hundred years ago the founders
T this republic which we have set VI
e the fathers of the republican ide
+ were not Catholics at all; they wei
4 the Presbyterians of the north OF If
y land. It amuses me sometimes VINE
y we find some of that stock in Amerie
, asking America to support the attltut
II of the nationalists in Ireland, becaus
IL some Protestant Ulstermen fougl
= in Washington's army.
- One of our speakers the other ds
a. said. Before Martin Luther nailed
n his thesis, Ireland was Eighth
~ against England; before there was
=. Protestant in the world, Ireland W
II fighting against England-one nati'
was Catholic England; not mere
that, but some of the bitterest {
n ponents opposed to Ireland's indeper
of ence are British Catholics" The la
ed Duke of Norfolk was one of the me
re prominent speakers all over Englar
ir- And it is absurd to say that the qu'
ic rQ1iOinnS