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Show . , Cbe If wakening Orangeman T. W. Russell, M. P., Unionist and Protestant, is nevertheless a patriotic Irishman, who thus demies his position and hopes in the Irish People of Oct.' 31: The Land Conference did much to make certain a settlement of the agrarian question. But I doubt if this was its greatest achievement'. Let anyone acquainted with the history of the great Unionist struggle from 1886 to :1805 cast his mind back to the arguments employed in that famous fight. I should certainly know, what these arrangements were. And right through the speeches of the leaders, lead-ers, it yill b found,, ran this. straSriTTrthat an Irish parliament could' not.bc.trusteAtVta-vpal ;with the land question.1' Ve believed what tmjS sai-dh We knew some of us," at least -the history crf;thc' Irish land question how'it had' been marked hy confiscations and hideous Avrpngdoing';" how it had Idecimated the people and ruined the counYry. ""We'-believed that the descendants of the oppressed could never meet the representatives of the oppressors that the wronged could never be trusted to do justly by the conquerors of their country aiid confiscators of their soil. Apart from the 'Landing oyer pf Uster" an argument which was founded upon exactly the same idea this was the contention that carried conviction con-viction to the British mind and sped the verdict against Mr. Gladstone's great scheme. We were nil wrong. F'or, before the Christmas bells rang out last year, eight men, truly representing, as I believe, be-lieve, the landlords and tenants of Ireland, had met in the Dublin Mansion House and agreed upon a basis of land settlement which alone enabled the government to pass the Irish, land act of last ses-.sion. ses-.sion. Many distinguished men have asked me how it all came about how the great reconciliation was accomplished. There is but one answer to the ques-"" tion. We agreed because we were, one and all, in deadly earnest because heavy responsibility was cast upon us because we know that failure meant throwing back Ireland into unspeakable trouble and woe. And let this be noted : The terms were ruinous ru-inous to no class. The State made a good bargain. The landlords were secured in their second term income, in-come, and the tenants got the land upon terms that enabled them to live and thrive. All the fears conjured con-jured up in the past went at a touch of reality. The landlords ruined and Hying from the country, the Protestant Episcopal church crippled, and the laborers beggared the whole editice has come toppling top-pling about the ears of those who stood shivering upon the brink of land reform. This great achievement achieve-ment has had its effect upon the people &L Ulster i. e., upon those who think of public affairs-. The whole theory of an Irish parliament giving wa to plunder has vanished. The Land Conference has, made an end of that once potent argument. And having gone so far, and having achieved so much, to stand still is impossible. And there are things happening in Ulster which newspapers fail to appreciate; ap-preciate; which those to whom a united Ireland is a dread specter desire to keep out of sight. At the present moment the education controversy bulks largely in that province. If the issue were not so serious much that takes place in connection with the question would be subject for laughter. In a democratic country the voice of the people must ultimately prevail. But on such a subject as higher education I may be excused for paying more attention atten-tion to the proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church than the resolutions of the Grand Orange Lodge. For years the Assembly has been absolutely hostile to the recognition, of anything any-thing but mixed education, and it has been relentlessly relent-lessly opposed to anything in the direction of recognition rec-ognition of the Catholic claims as regards higher education. Some years ago Mr. J. B. Dougherty, now assistant secretary at Dublin Castle, made a speech in the Assembly which even today is regarded regard-ed as a landmark. But. triumphant in debate, Mr. Dougherty had not a dozen of supporters all told. A good deal, however, has happened since then, and although Mr. Dougherty will make no more speech es on that or any other subject in the Assembly, the seed sown has fallen upon good ground. For what happened last June? The Rev. .7. B. Armour of Ballmoney assailed the non-possumus attitude of the Assembly upon the question and told them bluntly blunt-ly that if they did not wake, up the question would be dealt with and settled without their aid, and only lost his motion sanctioning a settlement by a majority ma-jority of forty in a house of over three hundred! What has happened? I was in Belfast at the time, and I found ihe young ministers were almost to a man with Mr. Armour. And the vote was a ballot bal-lot vote! The division was a great shock to Belfast. Bel-fast. But it showed a new growth a new birth. And with the General Assembly within an ace of taking a forward attitude upon a question so controversial con-troversial and so difficult, I feel that I am justified justi-fied in saying that the signs of progress are more than apparent. Another matter I approach with much greater- difficulty. I mean the evolution of the democratic Orangeman. I never belonged to the Orange society -and I know nothing of its inner in-ner working. But its public history is open to everybody. And the thing borne in upon one's mind in connection with it is that this powerful and organized body of men has been patronized and used by the landlords for the maintenance of landlordism. land-lordism. Whatever may have been its primary objects, ob-jects, that is the base use to which they have been put. But the Ulster land movement has settled this as well as other things. In Antrim there were Orange districts which voted solidly with the Nationalists Na-tionalists for land reform. In Fernmagh the home of the imperial grand master the same thing took place. But the real revolt has , taken place in Belfast. Bel-fast. There is no need -.to 'enter into pariculars. What it all means is that the scales have fallen from the eyes of some of the ; people that the dem--ocratic instincts of the Belfast artisan have revolted re-volted against the autocratic, tutelage to which he has been so long subject. For,' strange as it may appear, the Belfast artisan is not a Tory. He is a radical with a monomania about the Pope -which colors his whole liftf and bedevils his every action. At present they are as men escaping. from a dark room into the sunlight. They are dazed and hardly know where they are. But with capable leaders and with a little more intercourse 'with their fellow countrymen, and with the artisans of England they will see things as they really are. To sum up the situation places, in my opinion,' a very heavy responsibility re-sponsibility upon all those who lead or who influence influ-ence in any way the public opinion of the country. I know, of course, the aspirations 'of the Irish -Nationalist.- Personally, I would do nothing to damp the feelings which stir his blood. All over Ireland today aye', and in the cities of America. on the sheepwalks of Australia, and amid the solitudes of South Africa; Irishmen are full of hope and brimming brim-ming over with enthusiasm.- I know, too, all that is possible in politics. I have not fought in the House of Commons those eighteen years for naught. 1 know politics, and I know politicians. There are no fixed principles, just as there are no eternal enmities en-mities in politics. Lord Salisbury was notedly hostile hos-tile to Irish local government. He and his party passed it. 'In my time I have seen Mr. Chamberlain Chamber-lain pass from the secularism of the Birmingham Education league to the sacerdotalism of Lord Hugh Cecil from the free trade of Lord Cobden and Gladstone to the protection of Henry Chaplin and James LoSvther. T also know all that is possible pos-sible in the way of achieving Irish national rights for a compact body of Irish members, capably and ably led and thinking of Ireland always. I do not view the question, however, from such a standpoint. I am a-double-dyed Fnionist. I am for a union of the Irish people as well as a real union with the people of Great Britain. The healing -effect of the land act will speedily be apparent, and we may reasonably rea-sonably hope to see an end of the misery and strife which the agrarian question has caused. There are signs that justice and efficiency in educational matters mat-ters will speedily be secured. The condition of the laborers is about to be considered, and the alleviation allevi-ation of their hard lot attempted. It is impossible that all this can take place without a great change being speedily apparent. What ought Nationalists to do? My answer is plain. It ought to be the duty of every Nationalist every man belonging to the majority of the Irish people to make it easy for the minority of his fellow countrymen to do the right thing by Ireland to make it hard' for them to do the wrong. Let them even, if need be, suffer. ' fools gladly. Let them repress sectarian strife as if it were a plague. Let them make the great reconciliation recon-ciliation easy. And if this, according to my thinking, think-ing, is-the' plain duty of Irish Nationalrststhere is a! duty laid heavily upon another class upon men like myself and all who think with me. It is our duty to diligently seek out opportunities for hearty co-operation with our Nationalist fellow countrymen; country-men; to vie with them in our desire to work for the regeneration of the country. We ought to discountenance dis-countenance and repress all ihat tends to internecine interne-cine strife to tight against that sectarian feeling which poisons the public life of Ulster. We ought to labor to create a real united Ireland and to face whatever it brings with courage and-with confidence. confi-dence. - 4 . ' ' " 1 |
