The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1886. THE IRISH QUESTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1246, 25 May 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1886. THE IRISH QUESTION.

The intense feeling which has been evoked amongst the people of Ulster and the other loyalists in Ireland by Mr Gladstone’s Home Rule proposals shows how little likely those proposals would be, if carried into law, to promote the peace and prosperity ol Ireland. Ulster ol itself contains a large population, and is the most prosperous part of Ireland. It is so because its inhabitants have for a long time past shown themselves obedient to the law and have relrained from giving themselves up to the wiles of the hired agitators who have obtained such a hold upon the people in other parts of the country. The people of L ister know full well what consideration or meicy they might expect

from ;i Parnellite Parliament. They have a lively collection of the frightful atrocities committed upon their ancestors by tire predecessors of the Irish Nationalists, when the latter temporarily gained the upper hand, and they find the same spirit pervading the utterances and actions of the Nationalists of the present day as formerly heralded those atrocities. When we see eminent men of opposite political opinions, like Lord Randolph Churchill and Mr Chamberlain, publicly declaring that the people of Ulster would be justified in forcibly resisting the authority of a Parnellite Parliament silting in Dublin, we may take it for granted that the danger jis neither light nor imaginary. Lord Salisbury, in a speech delivered in March last said— I “ The Protestants of Ulster are prepar- ! ing themselves for the worst. They j believe that great dangers are impend- ! ing, and they are preparing to resist them. cheers.) You have heard Mr Morley denouncing as the most tlagitious action of his experience, the effort of my noble friend—-an effort, I believe, brilliantly successful —to rouse them to a sense of the terrible unprecedented dangers that hang over them at this moment. (Loud cheers.) Do not judge your Ulster friends too harshly, you who are safe and comfortable here. (Hear, hear.) In the mere matter of right, after all. if it is right that Ireland should be allowed to secede from the larger community of the United Kingdom, it is equally right Ulster should be allowed to secede from the larger community of Ireland, (Hear, hear.) Tut, remember, that what to us are mere distant tales of things that are read in a newspaper, and thrown over and forgot, are to them terrible realities. It is proposed here to adopt a system of policy which will hand them over, bound hand and foot, to their hereditary enemies, and we know by experience what that means.’ The loyal Catholics and Protestants in other parts of Ireland have likewise to be considered. We saw, by what took place at Dublin, Cork and elsewhere on the occasion of the Prince of Wales’s visit to Ireland, that while the Nationalists have in their ranks the bulk of the population in certain districts, there are in the same districts powerful bodies of Loyalists capable of making themselves felt. Yet it may safely be asserted that in a Parnellite Parliament in Dublin these Loyalists would be no more represented than theyare by the Parnellite members now at Westminster. Nor should the tights of property holders be disregarded. To the excited mind of an Irish peasant of Nationalist tendencies, a landlord may be a person to be shot I down without mercy, and his proptrtx confiscated for the benefit of Ins tenants, while every person who during his life time, choses to have dealings with him to the detriment of the Nationalists ought to be boycotted and ruined, but impaitial observes will look at the matter in a different light. There are good landlords as well as bad landlords in Ireland; and if there are hard landlords there are likewise bad and dishonest tenants. As a writer in the Nineteenth Century justly observes, the refusal to pay rent may be patriotic, but it is also profitable. Kents may be excessive in

some localities, and it may be proper to adjust them by Slate inteiference; but the landlord is entitled to be protected in his ownership of the soil, -and the law should enable him to recover what is justly due to him. Now, the Parndlites boasts that one of their objects is to destroy landlordism, root and branch; in other words, to deprive the landlords of their rights in the soil and transfer them to the tenants. As Sir George Grey tersely pul it the other day, the only effect of Mr Gladstone’s Land Purchase scheme would be to change the landlords. Home Rule, itself, as developed by Mr Gladstone, means the vesting of all political power in Ireland in the least intelligent, least law-abiding, and least loyal section of the community; while the loyal, educated, and propertied classes would he completely at thejmercy of the others. It is, therefore, not surprising to find that not a single irishman of real note is supporting Mr Gladstone’s proposals. The probable ultimate result of Home Rule to the Empire must be gathered from a perusal of the speeches of the Nationalist leaders before imprisonment had taught them caution, and of the tirades against the British Empire which for years past have appeared in the Nationalist newspapers published in Ireland and the United States. To the conviction that the most serious consequences would occur in this direction it Home Rule were granted, must be attributed thedefcction of Lord llartington, Mr Chamberlain, Mr Goschen, Mr |ohn Bright,sir Hum y James, and Mr Trevelyan from Mr Gladstone’s siandard. Only the strung consciousness of impending peril to the State could have induced such men to secede from the leader of the Liberal parly, and it docs credit to the public spirit that they should be willing t o sacrifice office and all parly considerations when the public safety demands it. Meanwhile, and although the Nationalist leaders are supposed to have passed the word (or outrage to cease lest the passage of the Home Rule Bill should be imperilled, many districts are still in a stale of wild disorder. On March 12 last the Grand Jury of the county of Kerry thought it its duty to pass a resolution drawing tire attention of Government to the social state of that country. The resolution said—“ Crimes of serious character extensively prevail. Murders, assaults with firearms, the maiming „of individuals, intimidation, boycotting, night attacks on dwellings, raids for arms, incendiary fires, mutilation and stealing of cattle, Kc., and the number of such cases reported to the Constabulary lias almost doubled as compared with the corresponding period of last year, while the perpetrators of about 97 per cent, of them remain undetected. We desire to record our conviction that unless the power of the law be speedily re-asserted, and the societies whence these outrages emanate be dissolved, what remains of security for life and property will assuredly be at an end, and we believe that unless a general measure for the suppression of crime be adopted, steps should immediately be taken to deai specially with the disturbed districts.” Similar reports come from other districts. And ii is to the instigators and perpetrators of these outrages that Mr Gladstone proposes to commit the government of Ireland !

Messrs J. C. Duncan and W. B. Moss wore the only candidates nominated as Borouyn Auditors to-day, and were declared duly elected.

The Ashburton hounds met at Laghmor .yesterday. As is usual on the Queen s Birthday fixture there was a very large held, and an immense concourse of spectators. The hounds threw oil' shortly after noon, but some time elapsed before they settled down to a business-like hare. Ultimately the right sort of game was found, and a very pretty run from the Westerlield r ad to Tinwald followed. The hunting and riding was of the usual holiday description, but as Lire regular followers appeared determined to give their town friends an opportunity to onj y the outing, tlie utmost good humor prevailed, and the day was thoroughly enjoyed by one and all. The Master, Mr Matthew idtitt, and the Deputy-Master, Mr T. E. Upton, were both oir, and relaxed the usual rigor of their discipline to meet the exigencies of the circumstances and the day. We regret to learn that during the day Mr Bunting dislocated his elbow. The injured limb was at once attended to by Dr Leahy, and the sufferer is not likely to experience much inconvenience from the accident. The annual meeting of the subscribers to the Chertsey I'ubiic Library took place on Saturday evening. The attendance was limited, but great interest was evinced by those present in the welfare of tire institution. Mr J. Weils was elected Chairman, and Messrs Todd and I’atterson were re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively. Mr H. Striugfeliow was appointed to act as CoLibrarian with Mr Todd. Messrs Dowuie, Childs, and McDowell were appointed a subcommittee to see to necessary improvements to the grounds and and repairs to tiro building. A selection of books was then submitted to the meeting by the sub Committee appointed at a former meeting. The selection was approved, and a discussion then took place as to the advisablencss of entrusting the order to a local bookseller or obtaining the books from town. Ultimately it was decided to instruct the Secretary to send the order to Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, of Christchurch. The consignment ordered is of the value of about Tl 7. A vote of thanks to the retiring Chairman, Mr W, Btraohan, closed the pro-

ceedings

A concert organised by the committee of the Ashburton County Hunt Club was given in the Oddfellows’ id till last evening. The attendance was not very large, but the front seats were comfortably tilled, and the audience was a thoroughly appreciative one. The programme opened with a pianoforte duet, “ Pass Redouble,” by Misses Kidd and IShury, which the performers interpreted with their usual taste aud delicacy of execution. Coptain Cotton’s “ Forty Alinutes ” was received with rapturous applause, aud was undeniably re-demauded. Mrs Crisp and Mr W. G. Itees followed with items which merited the marks of appreciation they received, aud Miss Kidd’s pleasing voice was heard to advantage in “ Here’s a Health to Merry Scotland.” “The King’s Highway,” by Mr Atkinson, and “A Little Mountain Lad,” pleasantly rendered by Miss Guinness, closed the first part of the programme. The second part opened with another duet by Misses Kidd aud Shury, which was quite as successful as the young ladies’ first performance. “ The MeyneU Hunt,” by Captain Cotton, was, of course, re-demanded, and the popular sportsman good-naturedly responded !to the call. Mrs Denshire was heard to advantage in ‘•’Waiting Angels,” and acceded to a well-merited encore. Songs by Mrs Crisp, Mr W. G. Rees and Mr Atkinson followed, and .Mr T. E. Upton,, the gonial DeputyMaster of the Hunt, closed the programme with “ John Peel.” The last item was received with uproarious applause, but the sporting enthusiam of the audience did not reach its zenith until Captain Cotton stepped forward and announced that Dr P.oss’s horses had won the two principal events at the Dunedin Birthday Mooting. The news of the popular medico's victories was received with loud aud prolonged applause, and a call for ■* three uhoers for the doctor ” met with an enthusiastic response. During the evening Madame Rice, very graciously, contributed several items, and for each received a most imperative encore. The concert was followed by a daaae, which was well attended. —l-Iri \