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Show What the Land Leagm Stands Tor The Associated Press telegrams published pub-lished last week only briefly outlined the magnificent demonstration accorded accord-ed John E Redmond, M. P., at New-York New-York with a mere synopsis of his address. ad-dress. T,ne New York papers at hand contain Mr. Redmond's speech entire, from which we take extracts. In proof that the United Irish league has the hearty approval and support of all classes in Ireland in favor of home rule and the land for the people, Bishop Clancy of Elgin, at present in this country, sent a letter to the meeting meet-ing expressing regrets for unavoidable absence, and among other things saying: say-ing: "As a member of the Irish Episcopate, Episco-pate, I desire to emphasize the fact that, at present, there is absolute unanimity amongst all classes of Irish Nationalists in regarding the present Irish parliamentary party as the most able and authentic spokesman of the Irish cause, and as the most uncompromising uncom-promising advocate of our country's interests that Ireland has ever sent to the English house of commons." In the absence of the Hon. Bourke Cockran, the chair was taken by the Hon. William A. McAdoo, ex-assistant secretary of the navy. The Hon. Mr. McAdoo made an eloquent elo-quent and powerful speech on behalf of the cause of Ireland, and then called ; upon the Irish envoys to address the meeting, first calling upon Mr. Redmond. Red-mond. Explaining how this great Irish party was formed, Mr. Redmond said: "Within "With-in the last fifteen months there have assembled in the capital of Ireland two great national conventions. These conventions con-ventions were representative assemblies the most representative, I believe, that ever came together upon Irish soil. "These conventions were based upon the widest possible democratic franchise. fran-chise. Every Nationalist organization in Ireland of every sort and kind was given representation in these assemblies. assem-blies. Every representative public board, every elected public body which was in existence for the government of purely local Irish affairs was given full representation. The clergy of all denominations denom-inations were ex-officio members of these assemblies. And there was no city or town or county or parish in the whole length and breadth of Ireland Ire-land which was not represented in these assemblies. "The most absolute freedom of speech and of discussion prevailed; and after long, serious and mature deliberation, these two great national parliaments, as I call them, came to unanimous decisions de-cisions upon every question of principle, of organization and of policy." fe -V Mr. Redmond said that the United Irish league had spread into every part of Ireland, until today there are more branches of the United Irish League in existence in Ireland than there ever were either of the National League or the Land League. "There remains one other test. In this materialistic age, this cynical and commercial com-mercial age, people are apt to regard the money test ate the best of all. I do not share the view. Still, I bow to the prevailing opinion upon the subject, and I give you one test more. Within .ne last fifteen months in Ireland there nas been subscribed forthe purposes of the new movement, for the purposes of the new organization and .the new party, subscribed entirely, every cent of it, in Ireland itself, the sum of $150,000. "Not one cent of that has come from abroad.' It has all been collected in Ireland, collected for the purpose of carrying out the decisions of the conventions, con-ventions, of carrying through the elections elec-tions and of supporting the Irish party in the house of commons. I emphasize again the fact that none of this came from the Irish race in America or the Irish race in Australia, or from friends of Ireland in every land. Every penny of the $150,000, every cent of it, was subscribed out of their poverty by the people of Ireland themselves. "Now, fellow countrymen, ladies and gentlemen, I claim that this record which I have recited to you establishes beyond the possibility of doubt of uis-pute uis-pute this first fact which I wish to put before you that Ireland is once again absolutely united. United in organization, or-ganization, united in principle and united unit-ed in policy." -Jv "The Land League did not lay down a3 its cardinal object the reduction of rent. Its cardinal object was not to deprive Irish landlords of the power of unjust rent and capricious eviction, but to sweep landlordism off the land altogether. The programme of the Land League was the land for the pecple. (Loud cheers.) And it is to accomplish that end, that is, to complete com-plete the work which the Land League half accomplished, that the United Irish League has been established. "I have heard good Irishmen arguing that all this work of twenty years was practically useless. Why? Because emfgration still goe.s on. Well, as your Chairman, in his eloquent address, has pointed out to you, the most serious of all features of Irish national life is the continuation of this .emigration.' ' But it is easily explained, and, as' l' believe, if only our hands are strengthened, strength-ened, can easily be stopped. Now, I am sure that I am addressing; many men here from the west of Ireland, and I will take the west of Ireland as aa example of what I mean. "All around the western seaboard of Ireland there are people huddled together to-gether in almost unhealthy and indecent, in-decent, numbers upon patches of -barren mountain and unproductive bog-- places where, if they had the land for nothing, without any rent to pay, they could not win a living from them. Yes, and it is from these districts that the news from their relatives of the free and hospitable shores of America come like a breath of fresh air or a gleam of sunshine through the mist. America to these young men and women wo-men seems almost in their dreams linked with heaven. It means for them plenty, and freedom, and happiness; and the result is that they rush away from these wretched habitations whenever when-ever they can to this free land. "But just inside this belt of bog and mcuntain that skirts the western seaboard sea-board of Ireland there are vast tracts of tens of thousands of fertile acres of land where one may travel for miles without seeing one human habitation from which the people have been driven off to herd upon the mountain and the bog, and which are solely occupied oc-cupied by the herds and flocks of a little handful of rich graziers. "Now, the United Irish League has grappled with this question in a practical prac-tical manner. It is advocating the taking up, not the confiscation, mind you, notwithstanding the past history of landlordism, the Iris'h people are not advocating today taking up this land without compensation to the owners. own-ers. We are advocating the taking up of this land upon fair and just terms from the graziers and dividing it up in small allotments among the neighboring neighbor-ing people on the bog and the mountain, moun-tain, who thereby would be, enabled to live in comparative prosperity and plenty in the land of their birth. "Now, this work is on foot in Ireland Ire-land today. Already the United Irish League has succeeded in either persuading per-suading or coercing use which word you please large numbers of these graziers to sell these lands, and I am convinced, as I am of many questions, if only this movement goes on in the future increasing in strength as it has done for t'he past twelve months, the result will be that all these vast grazing graz-ing lands will be divided among the people, and that we will at last have formed an effective means of keeping the young men and women of our race at home in Ireland and stemming the tide of emigration. "Fellow countrymen, it is, after all. when all is' said and done, a question of saving the remnant of the old Irish race. If nothing practical is done until we can achieve our independence in other words, if we failed or remained idle and sat in silent apathy, dreaming of the day when we may be able to take up arms and win the independence indepen-dence of Ireland, I will tell you what the result will be. "Before that opportunity comes the Irish nation will have ceased to exist, our. island will be turned into an Eng- (Continued on Page 2.) WHAT THE LAND LEAGUE STANDS FOR. (Continued from Page 1.) ; lish or Scotch or a .British Ireland, but the Irisn of the island will have disappeared dis-appeared from the soil that we love. Now, we believe that by disciplining our people in the United Irish League, by fighting landlordism In every parish par-ish in Ireland, that we will at one and the same time make English rule difficult, dif-ficult, dangerous and in the end impossible; impos-sible; and also keep the remnant of our race at home, rooted in the soil from which their forefathers were driven in the past by the ruthless hand of persecution per-secution and oppression. "Can any man truthfully lay his hand on his heart and deny that that is the great work tending directly toward the I which all our hopes and aspirations are set namely, the triumph of our national na-tional cause? And I ask with some confidence, can any Irish-American, whatever his views upon other matters mat-ters be, refuse to give his aid to a movement of this character? (Loud cries of "No," and cheers.) t "Now, that is the first agency on w hich we rely in our effort to strengthen strength-en and push onto success the national na-tional cause. The second agency for making English government of Ireland Ire-land difficult and dangerous and impossible, im-possible, is by .the action of an independent inde-pendent and united Irish party in the center of the British citadel, in the English parliament. "Now, I claim with confidence in any assembly of Irishmen in the world that the record of the present Irish party last session is something to be proud of. Let me take one instance, and I am reminded of it again by your eloquent elo-quent chairman. Were it not for Ireland Ire-land not a single voice would have been raised last session in the English par- liament in protest against the Boer war. "Who was it that fought and by every means in their power opposed, thwarted, obstructed the vote of every single penny of money for the Boer war? Who was it that exposed the infamies before the gaze of the world of the concentration camps, where innocent Boer women and children chil-dren have been subjected to atrocities before which the cruelties of Weyler in Cuba sink into insignificance? Who was it that denounced before the gaze of Europe, denounced in the very citadel cit-adel of English power, the murderous hangings by British officers of brave men whose only offense was that they were captured with arms in their hands fighting for their country? (Great cheers.) "It has been said, and, indeed, I tt-iinb- ir.li- li-;.-n-.-v almn-t Vii-.tr? 4t himself, that in taking this course we made some great sacrifices which were likely to injure the cause of our own country. Ah, ladles and gentlemen, the cause of Ireland is the cause of justice, jus-tice, humanity and liberty. And that cause can never be injured by Ireland standing forth as she did through her representatives last session In the English Eng-lish parliament, as the defender of justice, jus-tice, humanity and liberty in every land. (Loud cheers.) "For my part, I believe that perhaps the proudest boast of the Irish race in the future of freedom which we believe is before it will be that in this dark hour, when she herself had perhaps on the surface so much to gain by being conciliatory to England, that she thought only of the broad interests of justice, humanity and liberty, and that in a materialistic and selfish and commercial age, Ireland at any rate was able to prove, as your chairman has said, that she Is an idealistic nation na-tion devoted to high ideals and separated sep-arated by a wide gulf from the modern materialism of the civilization of other nations. (Prolonged cheers.) |