IRELAND

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 3

IRELAND

Sir,—ln reply to Mr. Scanlan, let me say that I do not for a moment think of' denying the fact of the famine of 18-16. I know the facts of that terrible calamity as well as your correspondent, but 1 did cast doubt on the statement that a great British statesman deliberately allowed food to leave Ireland when ho should have known it wns needed by the etarvinc peasantry. Ono thing is certain, as soon as' the facts were grasped in England it called up such a burst of sympathy as the world had never seen. Twelve millions were- raised in a short time—a gigantic sum in those days—and measures of relief were put into operation which undoubtedly saved the population from annihilation. The assumption that en Irish Parliament would have handled tho crisis in time is a purely gratuitous one, and tho whole question of the famine might bo woll

left out .of the consideration of modern politics. ~ ■. _ ■ Tho real causo of the declino oi Ireland's population, apart from tho famine, was her lack of mineral resources. Outside the industrial north the only occupation of- the people was the production of food for the markets of Great Britain in which Mori* tho (lays of freo trade they had a practical monopoly. I lie invention of steam locomotion on soa and land rendering possible the -opening up ot the food resources of the west. .1 he adoption by England of free trade wiped out Ireland's privileged position in this respect, and the farmors were obliged to turn their land into grazing grounds necessitating only a tithe of the labour. Tho absurdity of Mr. Scanlan's statement that the impoverished landlords should have started industries in Ireland at the very time when they were obliged to part with their estates at ruinous prices to meet their obligations will at onca be apparent. I have not taken the trouble to verify Mr. bcanlan's figtires under the licod of income tax, but presuming them to be correct, the relative superiority of Leinster is easily explained. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is in that province, and from its Customs house the salaries of all ofiicials' throughout Ireland are paid. It is the practice to deduct the income tax when issuing the cheques, and Lcmster therefore gets credit for huge sums which should really be credited to the other provinces. Dublin is also tho centre of Society in Ireland, many of fhe wealthiest people who belong to other parts of Ireland keeping winter homes in the city, and paying their 'taxes there on property which they hold in other parts of the country. The fact ihat Ulster returns a majority of Home Rule members to "the Imperial Parliament is easily explained by that long-standing disgrace, the over-represen-tation of Ireland. For instance, Belfast, with * 47.G72 voters, . returns four members. Roman Catholic Donegal returns an equal number with an electorate of 25,837. Place the representation of Ulster on the same basis as New Zealand, and Ulster will return a solid majority for the Union. Mr. Scanlan can be assured that Ulstermen will accept the hand extended to them when they are satisfied that behind it {here is friendship and loyalty, lyul not. as at present, 'hypocrisy and deceit. They cannot forget how often Nationalists have spoken with two voices, one for the Liberals of England and the loyalists in the British dominions, and another for their own people in Ireland and the United States.—l am, etc., JOHN JOHNSTON. Nelson, October 30.