The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1921-11-24

II not paid, he was turned out Of his
home, which was q great hardship.
Many a sad sight was witnessed dur.
ing these evictions. This grew to be
such an evil that the people In the
south and west shot many Of the
landlords and agents. Then England
woke up and the British Parliament
gave us good laws, the best land laws
now in the world. Our Irish menu
bers had been agitating for years
over this matter, but IL was only after
outrages had been committed that the
laws were changed. The trouble with
the British Government often Is that
IL only gives when forced. We Irish
folk realize this, and now we use the
knowledge. England treated us bad
ly for centuries, bit for the last forty
years the British Parliament has done
more for ireland than has been done
for any other country in the world.
Under successive Land Acts two
thirds Of the Irish farmers now own
their own land. Light railways have
been built to connect the backward
and scattered portions Of the country
with the large railway systems.
Harbors and piers have been built to
help the fishermen, and grants have
been given for teaching farmers the
most modern methods Of agriculture,
poultry-rearing. and fruit-farming;
and In the cities and towns large
grants have been given for technical
education, and a new university set
up in Dublin. ireland, too, Is ex.
empt from many Of the taxes which
are levied on England and Scotland.
For many years the greater part
Of ireland has been agitating for
Home Rule Parliament in Dublin.
We In the North have always OPP
posed IL, as we knew IL would be
Rome Rule, for the Roman Catholic
church has q tremendous hold on the
people. At least three-fourths Of
the population belongs to that church.
We in Ulster were quite satisfied with
being represented in the British Par.
lament. tUlster contains the great.
est number Of Protestants, whilst the
other three provinces are mainly Ro-
man Catholic, thus the name Ulster
has come to mean the Protestant
Loyalists Of the north. At las. the
English got tired Of the Irish ques-
tion and determined to give US q Par.
lament, Ulster was reused then and
finally the Protestants organized
themselves into the Ulster Volunteer
Force in 1912 to resist any law of
that kind. England would not be-
lieve US at first, but our folk went
TO work, drilled, brought guns and
ammunition into the country and de-
clared they would fight II put under
Dublin Parliament We were on
the brink of Civil War in July, 1914,
and expected an outbreak in August,
but the World War saved us from
that. Then the Ulster Volunteer
Force showed their loyalty to the
British Empire. They rallied to the
flag in great numbers and went to
foreign land. where thousands were
killed in battle.
Ulster recruited splendidiy and the
south did fairly well. for they were
not, on the whole, disloyal that first
year Of the war, and the Southern
regiments fought as bravely as any
others.
As the war progressed more men
were needed and finally the Govern
ment decided on CONSUMPTION for
Great Britain, but-and here was the
mistake-not for ireland. The men
ia the South expected to be conscript-
&c and said they would 20 when they
were taken. 1t was known that the
Roman Catholic church authorities
were at the bottom Of the ron -con-
scription and that the Government.
in a weak moment, had given in to
them.
The Sim Fein Qrish-"we our
selves") party in Ireland are those
who desire complete separation from
England and the British Empire.
They took advantage Of the European
fCorx;rc>A m p.~~ c.-.rN