HOME RULE MEETING. GREAT SUCCESS. Auckland, November 7.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 419, 13 November 1889, Page 4

HOME RULE MEETING. GREAT SUCCESS. Auckland, November 7.

The meeting held last night in the City Hall to hear the Irish Delegates plead the cause of Home Rule for that country was a conspicuous success. It is hardly necessary to mention that these delegates were Messrs John "Dillon, John Deasy, and Sir Thomas Esmond c, Bart., all distinguished members of the British House of Commons and of the Irish ? arliamentary Party, whose object is I to gain for Ireland such constitutional advantages as are possessed by these olonies. Mr John Dillon, on coming forward to speak, was received with prolonged applause, the audience standing and cheering, while the ladies waived their handkerchiefs. Mr Dillox said : — Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen : I can assure you I feel it to be a very great privilege indeed to be allowed to-night to address so vast an assembly and so influential an assembly of the citizens of Auckland, on the question of Ireland ; and to plead here before you the cause for which I and my colleagues have been struggling during ten hard aud bitter years. And I feel confident of this, that whatever may be the views of those who are now before me who may be undecided — as I suppose there are some hei'e who have not made up their minds on this question — whatever may be their views now, after I have concluded what I have to say, tney at least will give me the credit that. I will not say one word calculated to sow discord or disunion amongst the people of this country or among the people of the Old Country from which I have come (cheers), but, on the contrary, they will be convinced that our mission here — as it has been in Ireland and in the United Kingdom — has been in its ultimate objects and in its tendencies

A Mission of Peace and a mission of goodwill amongst men. (Cheers.) 2s ow, ladies and gentlemen, it has often been asked — repeatedly asked — of us to explain first of all what it is that we complain of in Ireland, and next, to explain what we want when we ask for Home Rule, and I shall endeavour very briefly — for it muss be very briefly — to answer both questions. (Cheers.) First of all, what we complain of in Ireland is that in that part of the United Kingdom, and in that part alone, in matters relating to the people of Ireland alone — and not to the people of England or of Scotland— the ■wishes and the rights of the vast majority of the li-ish people are simply overridden, and laws which are distasteful, and which are injurious in the opinion of fourfifths of the people of Ireland, are forced upon the people of li-eland in spite of the protests ot their representatives — laws which have no application to other parts of the United Kingdom — and we contend that in Ireland, as in this country, all classes of people who are to be subject to a law ought to have a right to some voice in the making of that law (cheers), and we say that it is neither just nor expedient, nor indeed i 3 it tolerable, that a Parliament at Westminster composed of but 103 Irish members, as against 560 odd members fiom Scotland, England, and Wales, should pass laws affecting Ireland alone against the will of the vast majority of Ireland's representatives. (Cheers.) We contend this : That these laws, which are habitually passed in disregard of the will of our people, are administered in Ireland by an Executive — not, recollect, the Queen's Executive — which administers the laws, but of an executive distinct in all its methods from all the executives of the United Kingdom. We complain that these laws which were passed for Ireland separately, without reference to the will of the majority of the people of Ireland, are administered in that country by an Executive commonly composed of strangers (not Irishmen), and strangers who are in no way responsible to the people of Ireland, so that we have to submit for long periods of time to an Executive in Ireland which is not responsible to the people of Ireland (cheerd), and which from the operation of that vicious principle delights in setting the wishes of the people ostentatiously at nought, and indeed, as we have seen on very recent occasions, seems to take pleasure in treating with contempt the most popular leaders of the people ot Ireland. (Cheers.) This Executive is known by the name of

" The Castle." And you will ccc, therefore, that in Ireland, with regard to the most essential matters there are separate laws. What we complain of is this : That in the making of these separate laws, and in the control of this separate Executive, the will of the Irish nation has no power whatever. (Cheers.) We further complain that the operation of that Executive Government in Ireland is always systematically directed towards maintaining in power over the heads and over the necks of the vast majority of the nation a small section of the Irish nation. And what is that small section ? That small section of the Irish nation consists mainly of the descendants of those who came over in the past days of conquest, and to whom the lands of Ireland were handed in confiscation over the heads of the people of Ireland. (Cheera.) Well, I should be the lasb man who would for one instant tolerate, even if we had the whole control of Ireland in our hands to-morrow, that we should go back upon these times of iniquity and past conquest and disturb any man in Ireland because of those transactions that are long gone by; but I maintain that- it adds to the bitterness of the situation inlreland that this smallfactionis maintained in power by might and strength, and against the will of fourfifths of the people of Ireland. (Cheers. ) Now, before Igo on to answer the second question, which I have put, I would ask you to allow me to make one remark. It seems that whenever our names are mentioned, the theory is set up thab this is a religious question, and not an Irish question. I say it is

Not a Religious Question. (Loud cheering.) Some of tho most dangerous anr" greatest attempts that were made to shake the power of England in times past were arranged and brought to a head by Presbyterians and Protestants of Ulster. Fiona the earliest days you will find that the Irish question in its essence is not a religious question (cheers), that it is in reality a question ot a privileged class against the mass of the people. (Loud cheering.) It is a pure accident, as I shall prove to you in a moment, that the majority of the privileged class profess the Protestant faith, that a majority of the people profesu the Catholic faith. What do we find ? We find that section of the Catholics in Ireland who belong to the privileged class are just as bitterly, or nearly as bitterly, opposed to the granting ,of Home Kule to Ireland as are their Pro-

fcestant friends ; and we will find, if we j cross the Channel, that the men who are our main pillars of support in England are of the Nonconformist party, and the Nonconformist ministers of England (loud and prolonged cheering), whereas English Catholics, as a rule, are strong supporters of the present Government. Therefore this is not a religious question, and you may dismiss that matter from your minds. Our object in Ireland is now, as ib has been ever, to destroy in Ireland and to wipe away for ever that abominable spirit of religious faction and bigotry which has been deliberately— and I charge it with full knowledge — encouraged, maintained and fostored by the "Castle" of Dublin, lest the people of Ireland should unite for the common good of their country, and prove too strong for the faction which now destroys her. (Cheers.) A,nd you I will notice this fact, thab you will never hear in Ireland, in the colonies, or in America, one syllable from the national Irish platform as to any form of religion, but when these men who call themselves Loyalists and Unionists meet you, you never hoar them enter into the question as a political question, but nevertheless the question of religious bigotry and intolerance peeps out before ten minutes is over, (Cheei's. ) Our idea in Ireland is in politics, and where ib is a question for the good of the country, we know no religion" (Cheers.) We (the national party) never inquire whether a man professes to be a Catholic or Piotestant, or no faith ; if he is an honest man in his public life he stands before an Irish constituency on the same level as the strongest Catholic. (Cheers.) We leave to those who talk about maintaining die Union this question of religious intolerance and bigotry, which has been misunderstood in the past, and to which they trust for the maintenance of their detestable system in the future. (Applause.) Let me ask, when we come to the second question, viz. :

"What Is Home Rule." Let me ask those who exercise their thoughts on that question if they ever considered or studied carefully what is the "Union." You should know exactly what the " Union " is. You will find, if you converge with men who call themsolves " Unionists,'" that nine out of ten cannot tell you what it means. They will say that the Irish Union has given to the people of Ireland the same laws and the same privileges as the people of the rest of the United Kingdom enjoy ; and they will say, " Why are you not content to abide by the same laws as England ? Why should you, a small section of the United Kingdom, seek to have a difteient law from the people of England ?" What is the Union ? The Union is this : The English people have been compelled by necessity to recognise that we are a dif ferent nation from them, and a difteient people, and we have not the samo laws ; nor could any statesman be mad enough to propose to apply the same laws to Ireland as to England. In most essential matters, as questions of education, marriage, and the management of the land and a host of other questions, the law England and the law of Ireland are radi cally different, and the statutes passed by the people of Ireland no one would think of applying them to England, and vice versa. That being so, how can you call that a fair or just union, or is it in any other sense of the word a union which does uot give the arne law to the people of the United Kingdom, but which enables tho people of England to make their laws, whereas the people of Ireland have laws made by English people, who for the most part have never I put their foot in the country. 1 (Cheeis). Then 1 come to tho question ot the Executive Government, and I have pointed out already that we have in Ireland a totally diilerent executive from the I people of England ; that, whereas in England no Minister can hold office or administer the law for a single day after he has lost the confidence of the people of England, as expressed through the House of Commons (applause), in Ireland a Minister — who, recollect, has nothing to say to anything outside of Ireland, who is an Irish Minister alone — ho continues to administer the law? and control the whole system of Government in Ireland, although he can only rally to his support 14 members out of the 101 who represent Ireland in the House of Commons. (Cheers.) Is that equal privelege or is that a reasonable law? Is that putting us on the same footing as England ? (Cries of "No" and cheei's. ) That is no union; and the union means to the people of Ireland, not equality, but subjugation. (Cheers.) And the reason why we object to the union is because we hold oursehes to be while men, and claim we have a right to equal Jaws and equal privileges with the people of England. (Cheer?.) What then is the Home Rule that we demand ? It is very simple. Some people endeavour to make a mystery about it, but there is no mystery. All we ask is rhat wo have the right to have a Parliament in Dublin, with the right to legislate on matters referring to Ireland, and to Ireland alone (Cheers.) We concend, and we have repeatedly stated ssando — and we have stated so on behalf of the Irish nation —we are content to leave to the Imperial Pailiament all questions affecting the Empire. We are content to leave to the Imperial Parliament all question affecting the military forces, all those securities such as the control of the Army and the Navy, We do not want any military or naval forces in Ireland. We do not want or claim to interfere with the foreign relations or with ambassador. All we claim is that in the making of laws which are to apply to Ireland alone, and in the administration of those laws (which is even more important) the people of Ireland shall haveconsideration. Thatisall weclaim. (Cheers.) We have over and over again expressed our willingness to the fullest extent to give to the Imperial Government every security and guarantee which they may consider desirable, that no attempt shall be made in Ireland to shake the authoiity of the Queen in the country. We have offered to them, and it is understood as a part of any proposal for Home Rule, that all the strong places in Ireland shall bo garrisoned by the Queen's troops under the command of the Imperial Government, We claim no authority over the Queen's troops in Ireland (heai-, hear), and we say it is idle and futile to talk about any attempt at insurrection, or disintegration ot the Empire, when such tremendous guarantees as those are given. (Cheers.) All I can say is this : When I hear men talk about disintegration of the Empiro following upon Home Piule. it seems to me, the traditional valour of the British race must have degenerated when they think that five millions of unarmed and undisciplined Irishmen can tear asunder the British Empire in spite of all the fleets and armies of Her Majesty (cheers). I confess that what I look to as a safeguard and as a security for the future good working of this system, is this — not force of arms, though we are willing to give every kind of security to the Imperial Government in that direction. I do not look to force of arms ; I look to the fact that I believe by conferring these privileges upon the people of Ireland, you will gratify and satisfy the national aspira i

tiona of the people of the country, and tha Prosperity and Peace will Follow in the train of this measure, and that the peoplo when they are prosperous and peaceful will not be led into any insane and purposeless movements, but will settle down with contentment with what they have, and will bo slow to l'isk the good things which they pos ess. (Applause.) Well, gentlemen, 1 have endeavoured in a vei'y few words to tell you what it is we want when we demand Home Rule. 1 cannot for tho life of me see anything unreasonable in the demand, and I think ib lies upon those who call themsolves Unionists to point out what isunreasonableinourdemand. Itisnoanswer to adopt the attitude of some, who are in my judgment untib for controversy, and who say, " We do not believe what you tell us." What is the future of the British Empiro if we who represent four-fifths of tho people of Ireland, when we come forwaid and speak as representatives of the people of Ireland — if we como forward in that capacity and pledge our solemn word of honour that we mean what we say, that we have no designs hidden and concealed which we do not unveil to the public, how in tho name of goodness and common sense is the Empiro to be guarded if tho words of a great people aro to bo troated with contempt, and they are not to be believed ? (Cheers.) I say that, in my judgment, ib lies upon the dcten Jers of the present system, called tho " Union ' (and that is a misnomer), to show why our demands should not be granted. Let us consider for a moment what has been the eflccL of that system upon the Irish nation. In any other bysteui

The Tree should he Judged by its Fruits, and if the so-called Union had been ft beneficial system it is now time that the fruit should be showing. Wo lia\e had it in full working order for 89 year.°, and we have the records of that period to iook back, to see what has been the effect of the Union botween England and Ireland. We have had an infinite variety of evils springing up in our count) y under the system of the "Union;" we have had a paralysis of industry and trade. (Applause.) Wo have had widespread and deepening poveity, and mo have had periodical famines on a scale unknown amongst the civilised races of the woild in these modem times, and that in a most fertile country. Wo have had agrarian disturbances and ciime, and I must say when I hear people denouncing our movement on account of the crime disturbances which have accompanied it, I ask myself wa? it when we h'tst entered upon this struggle for fieedom that agrarian crime appealed in Iroland ? Ife ib not known that in the " thirties " and " forties " the crime in lielar.d in a single month was gieater than the crime now recoided in three or four years ? What kind of process of reasoning have those who argue as if the whole pa«t was a blank, and that we know nothing of what occurred bofore 1880 ? Our mission has been all along to substitute public agitation and combination for secret conspiracy and crime, and we ha\e been splendidly successful in our task. (Cheers.) We have had springing up under this l ' Castle " hyatem of rule, discontent) insurrection, corruption, and crime, and now in the year 1889, we have it announced officially on the pait of the Government that for a period of at least 20 3'ears — Lord Salisbury says — we are to have a Coercion Act enforced in Ireland. And those are some of the fruits that have spiung trom tho " Castle " rule in Ireland, and I ask you in all sin cerity is ib reasonable or wondeiful that Ireland should not be enthusiastically loyal? We arc sometimes called "disloyal." If that means that we are disloyal to the English throne I say "No!" but if you mean disloyal to tho Dublin Castlo I accept the title. (Cheers.) And then, hnally, one of the worst of all the results which ha\e followed trom this Castle rule in Ireland is, that there has grown up under the diiection of that system (he most monstrous, most unjust, and most degraded system of land laws that the world has e^erseen. (Cheer*.) And I can say, and say with truth, that had the Irish people been allowed at any period duriug tho last 96 yeaia to

Make Their Own Land Laws and to administer them, humanity would ha\e been spared the terrible and disgraceful story of the wrongs and ruin of tho peasantry of li eland. (Cheers.) 1, of comse, as ill not attempt to go into any details of that story. It has become in a cci tain sent-e a classic, and any man who has read history or knows anything of history knows of it, and I am proud to &ay that there is beside me on this platform to-night an English gentleman who has seen some of these matters with his own eyes and who has written about them (prolonged cheering), and who I bolievo is able, from one of tho most wide and varied experiences of human nature given to any man in our lime — will bear me out when I say he has rarely seen a nation of men subjected to so demoralising and degrading a system. (Cheers.) Weil, I have just said that had the Irish people been allowed to make their laws we never should have had Irish land question ; we never should have had boycotting, the LanJ League or the Flan of Campaign, nor any of those things which trouble some men so much to-day. (Applause.) And if you consider, some of you 1 daresay do consider, all of these things great evils, I would a&k you to suspend judgment until you look into the history of the matter, when you will be able to judge whether the moral blame of these evils>, if they are evils, should not be laid on the shoulders ot those people who had driven them to adopt this course. What were the words spoken by that great .Englishman John Bright. (Cheers) ? Speaking on the first of November, 1866, to a meeting of tenant farmers in the County of Cork, hesaid, " If you had a parliament in College Green, clearly the tenantry of Ireland, with the present feeling in Ireland, would be able to force that parliament to any measure of justice they named ; but as you have to deal with a great parliament sitting in .uondon all the clamour you make, or the demands you may urge from this side of the Channel, come with a feeble effect.'' That is from the lips of a great English statesman, the ess once of the Irish question ; and since that period a tide of agitation has swept over Ireland, nearly submerged the Irish landlords and their whole system, and I venture to say that no man who kno\V3 the history of the people of Ireland will contra' diet me when I say that if tho Irish landlords had listened to the words of warning in those days, and consented to an Irish Parliament in Dublin, they would be in a much better position to-day by trusting to thoir follow countrymen than by fighting them with the aid of the British Government. (Cheers.)

Absentee Landlords I have said, ib is impossible for me to go into details of this land system, bub you know that one of the great differences between the Irish and English land systems — and I believe between the Irish land syetern and the land systems of all civilised peoples — is that in Ireland for two centuries the

landlords, as a body, expended nothing upon their land. Many of them lived out of the country, and those who lived there spent nothing upon the farm ; that, whereas in England no tenant will take a farm unless fully equipped, and various matters must be kept in order at the expense of the landlord, in Ireland the tenants do everything for themselves. In hundreds, ay in thousands of cases, they had to reclaim from the wilderness, and to | make land worth nothing reasonably ' tortile, while the rents were raised systematically upon the strength of the improvements thus effected. That is the essence of tho difference between the English and the Irish systems, and when I hear a man talk comparing, and reasoning, by drawing analogy between a man who may rent a house here in Auckland from somebody else and does not pay rent, and an Irish tenant who cannoc pay rent, ho either shows an extraordinary display of ignorance or has no sente ot honesty or fail play at all. The Irish tenant has either built a houso out of which to be ovicted, with his own money, or his father bad built it befoie him (cheer*) ; ay, and in moat casos aftei ho had built it has bought it back by paying rent to tho landlord who allowed him to build it, for many a long and weary year. That is the system under which the Irish people have grown up, and some people >say they are not industrious.

I Say They Are Industrious. and I know, for I have lived amongst them. No country could prosper, however industrious, when all they put upon the land — and it was estimated that £150,000,000 sterling had been received from the land by the landlords who never pub a shilling of money or labour into the creation of it. (Cheers.) Talk of robbery, why I tay that in the whole history ot mankind I doubt whether an instance of such gigantic and long-continued robbery has been known as that practised upon the poor of Ireland by their landlords. (Cheers.) Some may tell mo that this is all past history, and that the Irish tenantiy now sutler no grievance at all, and in point of fact, some ot those gentlemen who call themselves " Loyalists " say that but tor us (the delegates), the Irish tenants would have settled down peaceably and given up agitation. (Laughter). Well, I had 8,000 electors on my roll, and although r.ot a rich man 1 will give anyone l'soo who will go and poll 500 votes against me. (Oheeih.) If the Iri&h tenants want to settle down in peace (if we would only let them), they must be the most cowardly lot of people in tho world. How can we coeico them ? The coercion is all on tho other side. The fact is chat we are very

Frequently Coerced Ourselves. (Laughter.) Wo are fold that these are all inatteis of ancient history, and that the Irish peoplo now have no grievances. Are you award that those very words were used to Daniel O'Corncll in the days when Sir Gavin Dully started the Tenant Right Association in 1855? The " Times " and the Loyalist organs oi that day said tho very same thing ; the people of Ireland had no £.'iic\anceb, and that but for the " big beggar man ' (as O'Connoll was called) there would bo no agitation. It is the fashion now amongst the Loyalists to say that O'Connell was a respectable man, and that we are very low by compaiison. (Laughter.) I have looked over the \ocabulary of abute in the days of O'Connell. I tind that the abuse with which he was assailed was very severe, and I say that we have not yet summed up such a list on tho roll of honour, and I consider it is really tin honour to be abused by these men. We have not yet reached that point of distinction reached by O'Connell. You will nlwnys hear the enemies of Ireland and of tho privileged classes admit that we had grievances in the days of O'Connell, but that they ai'e all done away with now.

General Gordon's Opinion. In order to show you that these grievances are nob a matter of ancient histoiy,l will lead you extracts which willsettlo this matter from a letter written by General Gordon, who fell at Khartoum. (Cheers.) Surely even the Loyalists will allow that General Goi don's word is worthy of conbideration. He gives a description of a visit to Cork in 1880, when he spect a month or two travelling through the country in\ estimating the condition of tho Irish people. He says : "I must say, from all accounts, and from my own observation, that the state of our fellow-countrymen in the parts I have named is worse than that of any people in the world, let alone Europe. I believe that theso people are made as we are — that they aie patient beyond belief, loyal, but at the same time broken-spirited and desperate, living on the verge of starvation in places in which we would not keep our cattle. The Bulgarians, Anatolians, Chinese, and Indians are better on" than many of them are. lam not well off, but I would oiler Lord Bantry or his agent, JVlr J. VV. Payno, J.P., £1,000 if either of thorn would live one week in one of these poor devil's places and feed as these people do." That is the tostimony of General Gordon.

Gevcral Buller's Testimony. Now, 1 will take the testimony of another distinguished Englishman, given at a later period, and that is the testimony of General Buller, who was sent by the English Government to take charge of the County ot Kerry in the epiing of 1887 only two years ago. When the Plan of Camgaign movemont was beginning ho was sent to put down tho Irish tenantry in the most disturbed districts of Ireland, County Kerry. Before Gencial Buller took command in Kerry 17,000 human beings had been turned out ot house .and home on the roadside in that country alone (cries of 11 Shame. "') Keeping this tact in your mind that thin happened in ono county within five years, just listen to what General Buller says in his evidence given beiore a Royal Commission in 1877: " My view of the country is this, that the majority of the tenants meant to pay the vents, and where they could pay them, they did pay them ; but the rents have been too high. 1 do think they are too high." (Cheers.) Ho also said: "I should like to have a court which would have a certain amount of coercive power on a bad tenant, and a very strong cocicive powor on a bad landlord." (Cheers). Now that is after the land courts had been in operation for six years, and that is the to&timony of a man selected by the present Tory Government, and sent to coerce tenants into the payment of their rents and lucked out ot Ireland by the landlords for not doing their duty. He was selected for the unenviable duty, and his heart revolted against the work which Irish policemen are demanded to do. (Applause.) He was a soldier and was prepared to storm and assault Zulus or Afghans, but he was not prepared to bring a battering ram ngain&t tho mud cabins of the peasants. Then ho goes on to say : " Nobody did anything for the people until the League was established, and when tho landlords could not let their farms, then they wore forced to consider tho question of rents." There you have the testimony of General BuJler that nobody would do anything for the people until the Land League was started, when land-

loids could no longer let their farms. After three months' experience of Kerry these are the opinions he had formed, and you should bear in mind he was both an an English soldier and a landlord, and that during the live years px'eceding his visit 17,000 people were turned out of their homes in spite of the fact that General Buller saye, " I do think they were willing to pay their rents, but the rents were too high, and they were unable to pay them." Ib is impossible togo into this question as one would desire, but I think 1 have shown you that it is not so very ancient history that there was a grievance in Ireland, and that there is a grievance today. I would be the last man to say for one moment that great advances have not been made in the condition of the Irish peasantry. Actd which - have been passed have gone more than half-way towards emancipating them from the horrible- condition of servitude, but I want to know how the Acts were won. We have won them peaceably (like you in this country get reform in the law), not by ordinary constitutional means, bub by thousands of men going to prison, by force of agitation on the hillsides, by that combination which you are now invited to denounce, f (Choers. ) What I have got to say is this, it is ! my deliberate conviction, bated on all the knowledge that I have gathered, that no greater work ot emancipation was ever undertaken by any body of public men than these who started the National League, 1880. (Cheers.) Now aften ton years of continuous hard work we are asked, when the work is threequarters done, to throw down our weapon?, and to leave unfinished this great task of leading our people out of the land of bondage towaids the land which is indeed the land oT promi.se. (Cheers.) We shall do nothing of the kind. (Renewed cheering.) They have learned a lesson during these years of the value,

The Power of Public Opinion, which I am proud to say has relieved them nearly altogether from the horrible and detestable methods prevalent in the past. They have learned to follow in the footsteps of the great combination which have dignified and rusecl labour — combinations ■tthich are smiled at and encouraged by the Government in England, but are still coerced in Ireland. Ibis also true that the position of labour to-day is much better than it was ten years a»o, but it ia equally true that a good many reforms remain to be won, and that the people of Ireland will continue to use, so long as necessity exists, the same weapons by which they won the first relief from their misfortunes. Gentlemen, this is the causo in which we are engaged. It is a cause which ought not only to lecommend itself to every Irishman, bub they are also bound by every sense of honour and manliness to aid us in raising up their fellow creatures. It is a cause which ought to recommend itself to every man in this room who believes in the dignity of human labour and the dignity of human nature. (Loud cheers.) It is a great and mighty effort to rescue by law, as I contend — I do not know whether it is lawful in Ireland ; I do not much care, but by all means lawful in every free country — that is the way I will put it— which are morally justifiable, and which are honourable, to raise up a people who have been for centuries subjected to a monstiousand organised system of degradation and robbery, and to plant them in such a position that they may in future be free men and enjoy the fruits of their own labour in their own country. (Prolonged cheers.)

MR DEASY'S SPEECH. Mr Joiix Dkasy was received with prolonged applause. He opened with, Mr Chairman and Loyalists of Auckland. (Applause.) He eaid bhab they had come there that night for the primary purpose of assisting the evicted tenants of Ireland, and to maintain the integrity of the (treat British Empire and to assist in placing Her Majesty upon the throne with even more firmness than she ha& been in the past. (Applause.) Here they spoke under the shadow of the Union Jack of Great Britain. They spoke under the shadow of that flag which owed so much of its glory and its lustre to loyal Irish hearts and Irish hands. They were there to show that if the Irish people were allowed their proper position, the position to which t-y their genius, abilities, and loyalty they were entitled, they would show that no people would be more loyal than them. They came not to sow dissension, but to settle those differences which had distracted the country for the last 90 years. They held that their policy had not continued those dissensions, but had been conducive to what they all desired —a happy and prosperous Ireland. (Applause. ) It was such meeting as that which was to be held in the course of the next few nights that retarded that work. He consideied that the outcome of the piesent meeting would be not dissension, but a practical expression of sympathy with sullering humanity in Ireland. (Applause.) Thy were there to show that Irishmen are not opposed lo the English connection. In the past no people had been more ready to shed their blood in defence of old England than Irishmen (applause), and they would do it scill if only given fair play. They did nob wish to be opposed to the English nation. They would nob interfere with the so-called integrity of the Bribish Empire. (Applause.) A great English writer had said that no man pulls so steadily aa does the man who pulls against the stream. Well, thoy had been pulling steadily for some time, and it was hard work, What they had been struggliug against was a miserable fanatical opposition something like what they were told they would have to meet within the next 48 hours. (Laughcer and applause.) The present meeting would serve bo show that the Irish question had made progress not only amongst the people of Ireland, bub also amongst the peoDle of England, Scobland and Wales/ That ib had also spread amongst the English, Scotch, and Welsh who populated these islands. Thab the people out here in JNew Zealand were in great numbers upon their side just as they were now in Gieab Britain. Out here in the colonies very little was known as to the real tbate of the people in Ireland. It was the custom ot those who were termed Unionists to state that in Ireland they lived under equal laws wich the people ol England, and that such being the case, the people of Ireland should be satisfied. Well, if not having trial by jury— that institution for which any Englishman would shed his blood to retain — if not having that was being under equal laws, then, ot course, they were. (Applause.) If nob being able to hold meetings in Cork, Kerry, Clare, and several other portions of bis'untortunalo country, such meetings as that held thab night, such as would be permitted in England— if nob being permitted to hold such meetings in Ireland was living under equal laws, then he must plead guilty to not knowing what was really meant, and having committed an entire mistake, (Applause.) No, they had nothing of freedom in Ireland for the masses, but everything 1 in the shape of favour for the classes by the Government. Thab Government had said they would put an end to coercion, and would give to

Ireland every measure of self-government that was given to England. And at once when they ciime into power, they cave the Irish people all the coercion Acts' of the pracediner 40 years. If they were to get fair government why was it, he asked, that in 1886 when the Coercion Act- was passed only live of its clauses had been discussed, when the leader of the House of Commons, the present leader of the Government, put the cloture in force, and carried the other 16 clauses without discussion. (Hisses.) He would like to know how the people of New Zealand would stand that kind of Government .which passed an Act that would close its publi meetings, prosecuted its editors, and threw its representatives into prison. The socalled Loyalists of the North would not long sland such treatment ; it was only the patient people of the South who had to stand it and were at ill standing it, not because they were cowards and not because they were ignorant of their rights, but because they knew that the future would biing to them that justice which was their due, and that the Irish nation would i ule its own destinies according to the will of the majoiity of Irishmen. (Loud applause.) How do the enemy, as they must be called at present, behave when the screw is put on them ? They had only to look at Belfast for the answer, wheie the bloodiest riots of our time took place in 'S4 or '85 — where they saw tho "Loyalists" of the town need a force of 10,000 police for several weeks to quell the disturbances. Were those people law-abiding or not ? For the " lawabiding "' city of Belfast 10,000 police were required, while for the other five million inhabitants of the country 4,000 were sufficient. (Laughter.) In truth, this argument of lawlessness was a ridiculous one. Men did not observe the recent coercive laws, simply because they were not binding on their consciences, were contrary to the expressed defeire of the whole people, and were passed without due consideration or discussion. (Cheers.) The people were not lawless in regard to laws which had a true moral sanction ; on the contrary, there was no more truly lawabiding nation on the earth. But there was no need to continue the argument in this strain, or to laise the old question of Lhe religious toleration which would exist under an Irish Parliament. For years and years their opponents could not bring a case of Catholics injuring or persecuting their neighboms on account of religious belief. (Hear, hear.) These enemies dinned into people s ears that under an Irish Parliament, Mr Parnell, because he is a Protestant, would be deprived of his ettatep, and that he and other Protestants could not live in peace in the country. Nothing of the kind would happen. (Cheei^. ) If anyone' contra&ted the conduct of the two religious parties in Ireland tor yeais past ho would find the balance very much in favour uf the Catholic*. He was glad to say the day had passed at Home when such diffeiences existed, and when it was possible for an Irish Parliament to persecute any man for the faith that was in him. There need bo no fear of religious persecution ; but thete was great hope that the present minority would see the error of their ways, and come into the ranks of Ireland's tiue fiionds, giving their country the benefit of their experience and ability. They would be welcomed heartily and received with open arms. (Applause.) There was no doubt that at the present time the good cause was making headway everywhere, largely on account of the atrocious brutality of Balfour. E\ery act of oppofition helped their cause and added fuel to the lire. (Cheers.) They were gaining votes and seats everywhere, and the day of retribution \\as> near aL hand tor the Conservative party, and that retribution would oomo hot and heavy. The day was notfardistant when the English democracy, who were now the rulers of their country, would wipe out the stain of injustice to Ireland. The net result of three years of brutal opposition was that out of 70 bye-elections 67 had gone to show in favour ot Home Rule. In the paso thiee weeks theie had been five such elections ; three they had won, and in the others they had gained ground. They ought not to bo dissatisfied with this particular result of Balfour's benign rule. They must acknowledge that at the present time the English Parliament was not at all in touch with tho people on this question, and that the people were opposed to Balfour's rule. Their plain duty was to go before those people on tins principle and accept the deci-ion of tho majority, and he was perlectly satisfied that Mr Gladstone would ha\e the majority of the British electors with him, and would carry his measure triumphantly through the Lower House, and even, so strong would be the pressure, through the House of Lords. Every incident such as this meeting would be recoided in history ; and when all this struggle was over he hoped no man would regret the assistance he had given to the Irish people in their hour of trial : and that the Irish people would show to the world thot they were worthy of the benefits of selfgovernment, and knew how to put their freedom to its best use. His prayer wa& now, as it had been on many a platiorm before, that he whose name he saw on the banner before him, the last yoais of whose life and career as a statesman were given to tho cause of justice and humanity, would live to complete his triumph, and that he would yet see William Ewart Gladstone and Charles Stewart Painell establish an Irish Parliament, and carry over the Union Jack of Old England and the Irish flag, and plant them above the old house in College Green. The speech was interrupted by frequent bursts of applause, and at the close hearty cheers resounded through the building. There were loud cries for Sir George Grey, but Mr Tole explained that there was a resolution to propose before Sir George would speak.

RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY. Mr (4. L. Peacocke said ifc was his pleasant bask bo propose a vote of thanks to the delegates from thablrish Parliamen tary party which was striving for Home Rule in Ireland. (Applause.) This resolution was: "That while tendering Mr Dillon, Sir Thomas Esmonde and Mr Deasy, hearty thanks for their ablo addresses, this meeting: desires bo express its warm sympathy with tho efforts of Mr Gladstone, Mr Parnell, and other members of. that party in the British Parliament which is earnestly striving to secure by constitutional means the blessings of selfGovernmenb for Ireland." (Cheers.) It was unnecessary for him to justify that resolution, for all would admit that thanks were due for the able way in which the matter had been laid before them. But their sympathies were due to these gentlemen because every free community had the right to manage its own affair?. Moreover, for many years they had been fighting against a class which had been trying to rivet on Ireland a land system which was the result of class tyranny, (Cheers.) These gentlemen wero lighting the fight of Democracy the world over. "Loyalists" hurled charges of disloyalty, but their own loyalty was simply "brummageri" — "jingoism,"

They were only loyal to old prejudices and bigotry, not to the Empire The Irish party was working in the interests of true loyalty. The only true union was that of hearb and mind, the community of interest', and "•' without such feelinga it ' was ridiculous to call it a union. There must be a cause for, Ireland's discontent, and that cause was the present system. Disturbances in Ireland formed no argument for the union. Ireland had been with England and Scotland in many a bardfought struggle for the honour of their Queen and country, and in all the artg of peace Irishmen have shown themselves worthy. Was it likely that now she was going to break the alliance ? (Applause.) Mr VV. Duncan, J.P., seconded the resolution. This was not simply an Irish question. It was a world-wide question. It was both cruel and unjust that the loyalty of Irishmen should be discredited when history taughtus that they had proved it on many a bloody field. Patchwork legislation would not effect the desired reform. England and Scotland were now ready to do justice, and the people of these colonies shoald show and were showing their practical sympathy with that readiness. He trusted that the delegates would haveasuccessfultour through thiscolony.and that they would find a general readiness to do something towards hastening the enactment of such legislation as will increase the happiness of Ireland and promote the peace and prosperity of the whole Empire. (Loud applause.)

SIR GEORGE GREY. " Sir Georoj? Geev, when called upon for a speech by the Chairman, rose Irom his seat in the front of the platform amidst the most enthusiastic applause. A large portion of the audience and the majority of tho&e on the platform rose to their feet and cheered the veteran as he began. He said, in addressing the Chairman and the audience, that he was delighted to see the manner in which the citizens of Auckland had gathered that evening to give their aid in the cause of liberty and right for their fellow men. The splendid meeting showed that the people had not forgotten to act up to their grand sentiments ot old. They had just heard from Mr Dillon a most perfect and excellent statement of the gra\e evils which still exist in Ireland, and which he was sure all present wished heartily to see removed. (Cheers.) They could all see that the remedies which had as yet been applied by those in power to the present condition of Ireland tverepowerless to obviate similar evils in the future. The only thing which could touch the root of the great difficulty and bring about a better state of things in Ireland would be to allow them to exercise the same rights and lawful privileges which the people of this colony enjoyed. (Cheers.) Were the people of New Zealand, he asked, less faithful or less true to the Britiah Empire because they were enabled to exercise the rightful and reasonable powers of self-government? (Cries of "No, nc") No ; quite the contrary. (Applause.) If they in the colony had been governed until now in the same manner in which the people of Ireland were being ruled at the present time, did they think that they would have reached that point of progress and advancement which bhey had now attained here? Not at all. Their position would have been very different to this. ( Applause.) The very fact that the English Government had declared that they had found it necessary for the preservation of rule in Ireland to make such laws as they had, laws so severe, so repulsive, so repugnant to every feeling of liberty and right — proved beyond denial that some

Sweeping Radical Change in the condition of that unfortunate country was urgently needed, and should not be denied the Irish people. (Cheers.) It had been said that the British Government had compelled Ireland to stand still, as it were, under coercion and tyranny. But then, did any nation really stand still for a single instant ? It was impossible. (Cheers. ) ~ The world that he lived in now was not the world that he occupied . in his youth. In his early days communication by steam had not been developed, the wonderful powers of the electric wire were unknown, and anything 1 in the nature of freedom of election and liberty in Aoting was a thing unknown. But great, very great changes had passed over the face of the world, and advancement and progress must continue everywhere. (Applause.) An absolute standstill could never occur, and even though the upholders of tyranny and coercion did their utmost, the cause of liberty and light must and should continue. (Loud cheers). It had been the rule that the greatest pros* Ferity and progress existed where there was the greatest freedom. It had been shown that people might possess their freedom and perfect liberty and still be the best and most faithful ot subjects, thafc federation might exist between free nations, and that the granting of the boon of selfgovernment, equality and liberty to a portion ot the Empire would not result in its breaking away fnmi the Crown, but on the contrary add to the

Strength and Stability of the Empire. (Prolonged applause.) This principle had been exemplified niO3t strongly in fchab great country, the United States of America, where large states,many in numbei*, each with perfectly independent-self-government and legislation, were bound together in one magnificent! nation, the most remarkable on the face of the earth. America had advanced and progressed, was still advancing, and Australasia was ad\ancing\ (Cheers.) Then, coming to the work of the Tory Government in Ireland — what did he hear and read in late news from Home but the declaration by Mr Balfour that by the coere ye laws enforced in the country he had gained all the ends he hoped to attain ? And he (the speaker) said to himself then. " Good heavens ! What can have been the ends that that man was aiming at ?" (Prolonged laughter and applause.) Mr Balfour had unknowingly advanced the cause of liberty by his coercive measures in Ireland, and the effects of his action were felt not merely in that country but everywhere, i It had been said by the Government in explanation of their action that by their coercive laws they had been putting down and stopping combinations amongst the people which would tend to upset their government in Ireland. But were they doing this ? On the contrary, they were raising more combinations in Ireland, and nob only in Ireland, but a series of combinations throughout the whole Empire, whose object waa to do all possible to secure justice for the land. (Applause.) Thoso who formed these combinations were actuated by the desire to secure for their fellows their liberties ancj rights, and he asked was there ever such a time of combination as the present ? By hie folly and tyranny Balfour had

Aroused the \yhole Empire to a sense of the wrongs of Ireland. Ifow all men had begun to pity the poor and tho unfortunate, to see th,at all men have equal rights and liberties, and that their interests are equal in the sight of their fellowmen henceforth. A change had come over the world in that respect, and when

men had arisen and implored for some amelioration of their sufferings, why, the greab men of the earth had joined them and said, "They have right on their eide." (Cheers.) These things opened wide vistas to us of hope for the future, and ib was something to see at an assemblage like the present members of the Parliament of England, from the other end of the world (cheers), striving for Home Rule, and ifc was something to know that even in these times of depression, and he might pay, almost want in some distiicts, that the people here had awakened to a sense of the misery of a far distant country and were determined to give their help to those who were suffering there from being

Driven from their Homes and the homes of their fathers in the Old World. (Loud cheers.) They had seen the glorious example sofc by Australia lately. (Cheers,) The people there felt the suffering of the poor in London, and see the noble response they made. (Applause. ) Was it not wonderful that they could see the ends of the earth come together in this way in times of sorrow, and that they should live to hear of and witness such things as these? (Cheers.) He felt indeed grateful to his Maker to see such an assemblage of the people of this city of a young land to endeavour to help forward the cause of suffering Ireland. This Jove for their les3 fortunate fellowmen in a distant land must redound to their credit. (Cheers.) The cause in which the friends of Home Rule and the delegates there that night were engaged was truly a noble one. (Cheers.) He asked all present to carefully consider what steps should be taken, and shen honestly and fearlessly and with a love for their fellowmen. and with a desire to carry out the laws of their Maker, attempt to make the world still better than io was now, and to help forward the movement by every means in their power. (Loud and prolonged cheers). Sir George Gkey concluded his most interesting and effective speech amid the greatest of applause, and was cheered again and again. Indeed, the cheering and applause were maintained almost continuously throughout his address. He spoke with great animation and warmth throughout, and the subject of the wrongs of Ireland is evidently one that lies near his heart. The Ciiairmax put the resolution of thanks, which was carried by acclamation with the greatest enthusiasm.

MR DILLON IN REPLY. Mr Dillon rose and thanked the audience most cordially for the .very enthusiastic reception they had accorded him and his colleagues. He tendered them his most hearty thanks, he said, for the truly magnificent manner in which Auckland had responded to the appeals on behalf of suffering Ireland and the Home Rule cause. He thanked them for their interest displayed in the cause of liberty and justice. Mr Dillon then spoke very warmly in approbation of Sir George Grey's services in the Home Rule cause, and in the amelioration of the lot of his fellowmen. The name of Sir Geo. Grey was a brilliant one in the list of upholders of truth and right, and through his long and distinguished career ho had won a deserved fame. (Cheers.) Long befoie he had thought of coming here and long before he met Sir Georere he had been familiarised with his name in the roll of those who had upheld the honour of the Empire in distant lands, and who were foremost in the lists on behalf of right and justice. (Loud cheers.) Abuse Sir G. Grey and abuse Home Rulers as others unjustly did — others who were opposed to granting liberty and equality to Irishmen — he could yet only describe that veteran English gentleman as the truest Unionist, in the true meaning of the word. (Applause.) He and other fighters iv the cause of Home Rule were really aiding in the truest manner the

Consolidation of the British Empire. (Cheers.) The people of the Empire were conquering the people of Ireland, not conquering them by the sword, but by kindly sympathy and their tokens of the appreciation of the great principles of justice and right. The peace and quiet which would surely be secured by the strivers for Home Rule would spread its influence not only over the counti-y of Ireland, but over the whole earth. (Cheers.) The people of the colonies had responded nobly to the call of the coerced Irish nation, and they were doing a great service to their Empire and to a suffering people. Mr Dillon, then moved a hearty vote of thanks to the Chairman, who had presided so ably over the meeting. Mr Tole, he remarked, was the youngest Minister of the Crown whom he had yet met, and he hoped that his future career would be as successful as it had been up to the present. He thanked him heartily for his address and his presiding over the meeting, and said that his only wish was lhab he might always sit under as good a chairman. On Mr Dillon concluding the motion was carried amidst loud applause, and Mr Tole briefly spoke his thanks.

THE FINANCIAL RESULTS. The Ciiairmax then rose and announced that the collection taken up in the hall just before was found to amount to £62 7s 3d. Together with the outside subscriptions and the money taken by the sale of tickets and at the door that evening the whole sum raised in Auckland so far reached the very respectable total of *>600. The statement was received with loud cheeis.

"GOD SAVE THE QUEEN." The band now struck up the National Anthem, the audience rising a8 loyally as the most pronounced anti-Home Rule meeting. When the strains of "God Save the Queen " had ceased, the assemblage, before dispersing, gave three ringing cheers for the Irish delegates. Hearty cheers were next eiven for Sir George Grey, Mr Parnell and Mr Gladstone. Three cheers were also called for the Evkxing Star, and given most cordially, The gathering, one of the most enthusiastic yet assembled in Auckland, disper&ed shortly before eleven o'clock.

Misfcres3 (returned from her summer vacation, to her cook)— I hear you have been entertaining your soldier love here. Didn't I forbid you entertaining company in the kitchen during my absence V Cook — Yes, madam, I took him to the parlour. Accordion-pleated skirts are ftill in high favour. The lace is not al ways to the favourite. Where does a light go when it goes out, Yes ! It is certainly true. Aek any of your friends who have purchased there. Garlick and Cramvell have numerous unasked for and very favourable commendations from country customers on their excellent packing of Furniture, Crockery, and Glass, &c. Ladies and gentlemen about to furnish should remember that Garlick and Cranwell's is the Cheap Furnishing Warehouse of Auckland. Furniture to suit all classes ; also Carpets, Floor Cloths and all House Necessaries. If your new house is nearly finished, or you are going to geb married, visit Garlick and Cranwell, Queen-strept and Lome-street, Auckland. Intending purchasers c»n have % catalogue sent fr«#.