South Canterbury Times. SATURDAY, JAN. 17, 1880.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2128, 17 January 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. SATURDAY, JAN. 17, 1880.

Thk Lord Mayor of Dublin thought proper a few days ago to telegraph to the Mayor of Melbourne an appeal in aid of the distressed in This appeal has fallen upon willing. and sympathetic ears, for already it has been echoed far and wide oyer the Australian colonies. Money, we learn, is being contributed freely, and here, in New Zealand, the well springs of human benevolence are

already overflowing in centres-where the-.wail of‘ the unemployed starving laborer lias scarcely ceased ascending. It: |says? much undoubtedly Cor the elasticity of our resources; thai with the misery of and" privation in our midst we can afford to be so charitable. For communities that are, like Phoenix, rising from their ashes under the revivifying influence of insurance brokers, or -recovering their prostrated -energies through the agency of that grand commercial panacea, the bankruptcy laws, to ba able to extend a helping hand to Lord Beaconsfield and ■ the ; Lord Mayor of Dublin is something to boast of. Auckland, Wellington, and Invercargill have led the way with the hat, and other centres will doubtless follow. Already' an influential portion of the press of New Zealand has taken up the wail on behalf of the potato-famishing landlord-afflicted and sorely-turbulent tenantry of Ireland, and lachrymose hysterical editorials are making an impression on the soft parts of the population. Men who could button up their pockets and shed crocodile tears at the misery around them—who could turn a callous car to the cry of the breadwinner, willing to dig, to break stones, to do anything in fact for the sake of his afflicted and famishing family'—will now be found joining with alacrity in the highly fashionable game of throwing in a charitable donation in aid of the perpetuation of Irish national beggary'. We are quite aware that our views regarding this Irish famine movement may be far from popular, but at the risk of offending the Colonial Pharisee who is prone to be benevolent at the expense of his creditors we intend to put the facts of the case plainly before our readers. The necessities of Ireland are great ; her condition is deplorable. This, however, is no novelty, for it is a, state of things that has prevailed in that unfortunate branch of the British dominions for more than a century'. Since before the days of Daniel O’Conriell, the Irish liberator, the relative condition of England and Ireland, has been that of a wealthy landlord and his poor relation— Dives and Lazarus, The cause of this condition of affairs is a debatable subject upon which we do not intend to enter. Those conversant with Irish national history' are aware that constitutional wrongs- and social abuses arc chiefly responsible for Ireland’s perplexities. In times past the pernicious union of Church and State formed a perpetual source of discontent, and did much to sow the seeds of deadly' hatred ainong the population. This has been removed, but a question of still greater importance has arisen, and Ireland is in the throes of revolution. The potato failure and the decay of the linen trade are but red herrings thrown accross the trail. Thtr peopleof Ireland arc famishing—not for potatoes but for self-government such as we in the colonies. Their immediate sufferings are not due to the decay of the linen trade, but to the inability to contribute to the demands of cruel, reckless, inexorable landlords, who with their engines of torture, the bailiff, the policeman, and the soldier are driving the poor Irish peasantry from a soil rendered sacred and fertile by the sweat and toil of their forefathers. Irish disaffection springing from the sources we refer to is the true cause of Ireland’s present distress.

Can this be cured by money contributions ? Wc deny it. I£ the pouring of money into Ireland would restore tranquility, repress the demand for Home Buie, and bring about a good understanding between rural tenant and feudal lord, the British Government has the remedy in its own hands. A Government that can spend eight millions, and waste valuable lives on a Zulu war, should hardly be under the necessity of sending round the hat for Ireland. If money would suffice, we have no doubt that some of the wealth now being expended on the slaughter of Afghans, would be diverted into Irish channels. We are told that in his speech at Guildhall, Lord Beaconsfield, alluding to “ our brilliant brethren in Ireland,” said that while he deplored their proneness to rush blindly into foolish extremes of political agitation, he must ask them in their distress to remember the purse of England was at their disposal, and was ready at that moment with active substantial help. But mark the rejoinder w'hen relief works were promised. The cry, that arose at the monster meetings of Irishmen was “we don’t want your relief ; we will have none of your alms ; we want our civil rights— Land and Constitutional reform.”

This begging appeal from Ireland does not emanate from true Irishmen. They are willing and able to work, and to tieat them as mendicants is to gratuitously" insult them. If we sympathise with their misfortunes let us hesitate about wounding their tender national susceptibilities by a wanton affront. The potato-blight and the decay of the linen trade have we believe been magnified. The people of Ireland .hive been satiated witli linen and potatoes to their heart’s content and they" want a change of diet. They" want the right to govern themselves and participate in the fat of the land. A deadly decisive straggle has been commenced between feudal oppression and the rights of labour. The telegram of the Lord Mayor of Dublin is simply" an invitation to the Colonies to throw in their coppers in the hope that it will divert the incensed victims of misrule and landlord-

ism from their purpose, and turn the battle into a scramble.' Let, colonists remember that the appeal is not the result of any mass meeting or memorial, nor is it justified by the details of any extreme vicissitudes such as we heaid of in Scotland last Winter, when to keep the fuel alive in, the fire-place the blankets had to be sold that covered the dying bread-winner. If Irishmen, like Indians; would submit to lie down under the heel of oppression and starve to death, the Lord Mayor of Dublin would probably applaud their fortitude, and Lord Beaconsfield might put up a prayer for their souls, but there would be no appeal to the colonics. This cry for pecuniary relief comes with a bad grace from the lender to the borrower. If the appeal is justified—if it is necessary' or warranted —if the afflicted and oppressed people of Ireland arc a consenting party' to it, it should be backed up by' something more tangible than a ten-pound cablegram from the Lord Mayor of Dublin. What Ireland wants, we submit, is not eleemosynary assistance she has been insulted long enough with that kind of thing—but a fair field and no favor—better land laws and less misgovernment. Irishmen can thrive and pick up their living independently on any’ other soil but the soil of Ireland. Their present position is due to no fault of the weather, the soil or its cultivators, but to a fettered commerce and a corrupt and oppressive land system —the result of a sadly imperfect constitution, which robs the people of their rightsjand liberties, andwhen they cry for bread offers them a stone.