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Show : FATHER MALONE : X WRITES OF THE POLITICAL : SITUATION H IRELAND :: (Editorial Correspondence.) Dublin, Aug. 6. 1000. What of the political po-litical situation in Ireland? This is j: question which I have no doubt the j readers of The Intermountain Catholic would be pleased to have me dwell upon, at least in some degree. The reunion of the factions of the Nationalist party is an accomplished fact. Whether it has an enduring basis ba-sis I would not like to answer affirm- i atively. for already Mr. Healy appears to be "chafing under the restraint which a solidified party involves. It is true, he is not working directly, but he would seem to be tending, by indirection, indirec-tion, towards the same 'result. The United Irish League, under the leadership of Mr. William O'Brien, is at present a prominent factor in Irish politics. The principles of the league seem to square at all points with Nationalist Na-tionalist aspirations, and such men as Dr. O'Donr.ell, the Bishop of Raphoe, and Mr. John E. Redmond have assured as-sured the people of Ireland that there is nothing inconsistent in giving hearty support to Mr. O'Brien's project. Mr. Healy takes vigorous exception to this and daily attacks Mr. O'Brien's wife because she happens to be of Hebrew birth, in the columns of his paper, the Nation. If I were to hazard a guess, it would be to the effect that Mr. Healy will soon be in open opposition again to the Irish party. He may be deterred from this course, however, by the certain fact that he will have no follow ing in a nr.! i.v revolt against party discipline. All over Ireland one hears kind words of Mr. Redmond, who in all the troublesome trouble-some times since Parnell's death has made himself obnoxious to no one, for while standing for his convictions, his bearing has been gentlemanly and courteous towards all, foes and friends alike. A general election is imminent, and whenever it comes it will sorely try the resources of the Irish people. It takes money to carry on a canvass in Ireland Ire-land as well as in America. In the coming election the Tories will manage man-age to institute contests enough to necessitate ne-cessitate a severe drain on the exchequer ex-chequer of the Nationalist party. To meet this emergency Bishop O'Donncll and Mr. Redmond are at work in an effort to raise a campaign fund. I believe they will find it necessary to call on their compatriots in America before the work is accomplished. Now that the party is practically united, such an appeal to Irishmen in America will meet, I am sure, with cordial response. re-sponse. The indifference felt by the Irish in America towards the Irish Parliamentary Parliament-ary party was clearly the result of factional quarrels in that party itself. In face of a reunited party I presume there is no doubt that indifference has given way to interest which will surely. sure-ly. If slowly, develop into the old-time interest which was characteristic of Irish-Americans in the days when Par-nejl Par-nejl ruled the party with the iron hand, not always covered with a velvet glove. That the Irish here at home are unanimously working towards a common com-mon end, actuated by a single purpose, is indicated in many ways. The following editorial paragraph from today's Freeman's Journal, is quite ad rem.: "The demonstration held yesterday in Manchester in honor of the Manchester Man-chester martyrs, when 20,000 Irishmen, with bands and banners, marched through the great English city, where they met their fate thirty-three years ago, to the cemetery in which a beautiful beau-tiful monument has been erected to their memory, was one of the most notable Irish National demonstrations that have taken place in England in the present generation. Our correspondent correspon-dent states that it reminded manv of those present of the McManus funeral in Dublin. Its significance certainly could not be mistaken. The procession proces-sion took place in a downpour of rain of almost unprecedented severity, yet the ranks were never broken; and the determination of the processionists to do honor to the glorious dead was superb. su-perb. Many of them had come far to pay this great act of homage 600 from Dublin; 1,500 from Liverpool, other hundreds from London and the great manufacturing towns of the north, even so far away as Newcastle-on-Tyne. It was a splendid proof to the people of one of the wealthiest and most populous towns in England of the j vitality of the Irish National idea, a reminder to those, and the sons of those, who tried in vain to make criminals crim-inals of the martyred patriots of '67, that "their souls go marching on," and that the race believes as firmly in the National ideal today, as it did on the morning they were murdered by the Brit is h g vernir.en t." Of course the interest felt in the Irish Parlianientry party. insofar as the future is concerned, must in lar-;e measure be based upon what that i arty has dune in the immedia te past. The Irish people are informing themselves, therefore, on the net results re-sults r.f Irish representation in the session ses-sion of Parliament jim drawing to a close. Here is a list of hills, all of which have become law. and all or" whk-h are distinctly beneficial: 1. The Tanner Teporn lion Bill. 2. The f-r Retailers' and Spirit Grocers' Gro-cers' Licenses Bill. 3. The Intermediate Education Bill; and 4. Three Bills Amending the Local Government Act. The first of those measures, though on its face affecting England only, intimately in-timately concerns Ireland also "and sweeps away a grievance against which the Irish people had long protested pro-tested in vain. It practically prevents henceforward the deportation of Irish poor persons from England, as an act of 1S!)S prevented the deportation of Irish poor from Scotland. The second measure remedies in a satisfactory manner a defect in the licensing law, which, if it had not been removed.' would have worked most disa trous results. re-sults. The third is an educational 1 measure of very great importance, revolutionizing, as it does, the Inter- I mediate system, and doing so on lines I which have distinctly met with public approval as well as the approbation of I experts. As for the group of measures placed fourth in the list of the Irish acts of the session, they dr. not. of i '"ourse. make .my considerable change in the law; but they clenr up some difficulties, dif-ficulties, and In some respects for instance, in-stance, in enabling the procedure of ' County Councils to be so altered as to permit those bodies to enrnloy labor directly on the public repds and in ? making it possible to effect sanitary j, improvements without taxing those who do not benefit by th"m the enactments en-actments in ouestion will be a useful, if not a very important, supplement to the great reform in Irish local government govern-ment effected in isos. in fact of all this it can hardly be said with truth that the session, as far as Ireland is concerned, has been, a barren one. It should be remembered, too, in this connection, that during the greater i part of the session the Iri?h represcn- ;T tatives were disorganized and at war with each other, as well as with the j common enemy. From this we can readily conclude that the prospects of f I the future are much brighter than they 1 have been in the past. A united party ; ! under a wise leadershin will cm-ot-r . J prove more efficacious in Ireland's be- I half than a disorganized mob which is I practically what the Irish party has been until the recent past. Yes, but what of Home Rule? I hear I some on -2 ak. Is that scheme for the . amelioration of Irish wrongs to be shelved? Bv no means. On the contrary, con-trary, the very philosophy of the situation sit-uation and the logic of events are. in my judgment, hastening this consuma- I tion. Thanks to the perseve-ance of the Irish members. Lord Salisbury's gov- 1 ernment has made some concessions. j which are working out results quite different from what the British govern- I ment hoped. That larger measure of j Home Rule which is embodied in , the 1 principle of county councils is the step- j ping stone, in my judgment, to another I scheme for local government in Ire- j land, which 'will prove satisfactory to f i the Irish people. f The rural councils are working well. j I They are demonstrating that the Cath- olic majority may be trusted with :he c J administration of home affairs, and r'l that such administration will be carried ' j i on in a spirit of justice to all. J Already the edge has been taken from J the Unionist opposition to Home Rule, ( and even Mr. Balfour himself admitted f the truth of Mr. Redmond's contention that the manner in which the Irish people were administering the laws en- trusted to them was destroying the principal argument of the Tory party ; I against granting Home Rule to Ireland. j Ireland's liberation will come, but as conditions have changed in the course of time, a satisfactory Home Rule scheme will be worked out along new " lines. It seems to me it must come ;: from within and not from without the Irish rieople themselves. The principle princi-ple of self-sovernment which i3 in- j ' volved in the county council bill must I inevitably produce a central govering body located in Ireland, to which the rural councils are responsible. Thi3, in addition to the fact that this meas- t ure of local self-government furnishes f to the Irish people tha opportunity to f. demonstrate to the world their 'ability . f to govern themselves, must eventually ; J break down all English opposition. I Pessimists, of course, will never find much that promises good, but one does ; not have to be an optimist to realize ,' that there are nromisin? conditions gradually developing m Ireland. . THOMAS H. MALONE. |