The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1919-07-26
By JOHN NELSON QUINN


ISN9lNTI-BRITISH orators in
lM the United States hold Ire
LAI land before their audiences
S as a land oppressed by Eng
land, land unable to become
prosperous because Of restrictive
laws enforced by the British Par
liament. Fifty years ago these
men would have good ground for
their charges against England; but
today they are absolutely without
excuse in their TRADE against the
land of Shakespeare.
One of the clearest, sanest pre-
sentations of conditions in Ireland
fifty years ago, in contrast with
present conditions, is given by G.
0. Sylvester Gawson, Lift. D., Phi.
D., and it will be read by all can
did persons with a great deal of
satisfaction. 1t clears up the Irish
atmosphere entirely, and presents
the great ally of the United States
as friend, not an enemy, of Ire
land. l copy from Geographical
Manual and New Atlas, page 253
Doubleday, Page & Co., New York
City; 1917:
Ireland Fifty Years Ago
"Glancing at the condition of Ireland
fifty years ago, an Irish writer, IT. w.
Rolleston, ireland and Poland-A Com.
parison }, says:
"At that time almost the whole agri-
cultural population were in the position
of tenants-at-will, with NO security either
against increased rents or arbitrary eyic-
tion. The housing of the rural popula-
tion, and especially Of the agricultural
laborers, was wretched in the extreme.
Local taxation and administration were
wholly in the hands of Grand Juries,
bodies appointed by tho crown from
among the country gentlemen in each
district. Irish Roman Catholics were
without any system of University educa.
tion comparable TO that which Protes.
tants had enjoyed for three hundred
years in the University Of Dublin. A
church which, whatever its historic
claims may have been, numbered only
about IL per cent of the population was
established by law and supported by
tithes levied on the whole country. Tech,
nical education was inaccessible to the
great bulk of the nation; and in no de-
partment of public education, Of any
grade or by whomsoever administered
was any attention paid to Irish history
the Irish language, Irish literature, ol
any subject which might lead young
Irishmen to better knowledge and un
derstanding Of the special problems Of
their country and its special claims tc
the love and respect Of Its children.
"That was the ireland Of fifty year.
ago. 1t is an Ireland which at the pres
ent day lives only on the lips Of anti
British orators and journalists. 1t il
} an Ireland as dead as tho France Of
, Louis XVI. OF the abuses and disabili
ties just recounted not one survives to
day.
: GLAND REFORM Ireland, owinI
to the wars and confscations Of the sew
enteenth century, had come to have ,
landowning aristocracy mainly of Eng
lish descent with Celtic peasantry hold
D ing Ntheir farms as yearly tenants. Thi
/ object Of British land-legislation ha
! been to appropriate the landlords 30 IA
as their tenanted land Is concerned, ant
/, to establish tho Irish peasant as absolut
: owner Of the land he tills.
"The Irish tenant is now subject onl,
I to rents fixed by law; he can at an,
: time sell the interest in his farm, whicl
he has, therefore, direct interest il
: improving; he is also assisted by grea
, scheme of land-purchase to become own
:. er of his land on paying the price b,
terminable instalments, which are usu
ally some 20 per cent less than tn
n amount he formerly paid as rent. Unde
a this scheme about two-thirds Of tn
! Irish tenantry have already become own
4 ers of their farms, while the remainde
i enjoy a tenure which is almost as cas-
and secure as ownership itself. II is no
surprising then, that German econC
Q mist who has made a special study o
: this subject should declare that 'th
I Irish tenants have had conditions as
sured to them more favorable than an
. other tenantry in the world enjoy ado
Q ing the dry comment that in Ireland tn
: magic Of property appears to consis
v in the fact that 1t is cheaper to acquir
: it than not. prof. NJ. Bonn, Of Munic
University, Modern Ireland and He
!. Agrarian Problem, translated from Di
v Irische Agrarfrage,') That magic ha
. been worked for ireland by the Britis
Z legislature and by British credit.
Z The state is now pledged TO about e130
: 100000 for the furtherance Of thi
! scheme, the installments and sinkin
fund to the amount Of about $4,000, 90
. year being paid with exemplary regy
9 larity by the farmers who have take
advantage Of it. (F. W. Rolleston, cir,
( land and POland--A Comparison. -
1879
"AID FOR WESTERN IRELAND
D In the moro backward regions Of wester
/ Ireland it has been felt that the aboy
!. measures are not enough, and specil
agency known as the Congested Distric,
/ Board has been constituted with wid
u powers to help the Western farmer, an
Q not only the farmer, but the hshermai
the weaver, or any one pursuing o pr,
!. ductive occupation there, to make IL
8 most Of his resources and to develop h