THE IRISH QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1916, Page 6

THE IRISH QUESTION.

To the Editor. Sir, — ; "0 wad some power the giftie gie us To see ourselves as ithcrs see us." A very old writer tells us that few are improved by travel. That makes a lot of things clear. Mr, Wright travelled, at his own estimation, about S-lOfl miles a year in Ireland. To judge from results, his gyrations were confined to a small area. It is a physical fact known to every schoolboy that rapid revolutions in a limited space produce lightness of the head. Mr. Wright will never eclipse the lighthouse on Cape Egmont as a source of illumination, but I have hopes that lie will understand the following statement of three historical facts:—(l) England, by virtue of the Prussian principle, "Might is right," deprived the Irish people of thejr lands; (2) England, on the admission of her own statesmen, in modern times, defrauded Ireland' of hundreds of millions of pounds; (3) England now says to the Irish fanners, "We robbed you of your lands, but we will lend you some of the money we stole from you to buy back the land." Mr. Wright is no doubt a philosopher and a philanthropist of cosmopolitan views. lam quite sure that the religious differences of less gifted mortals do not ruffle the calm serenities of his outlook; but even a man who puts all his trust in "the Great Architect," with sublime contempt for dogmatic nuances, eitnnot ignore t'he principle, "Thou shalt not steal." Would Mr. Wright look on me as a benefactor if having stolen his cows and burned his home, I said to him, "Forget it, old chap, and 1 will lend you the price of a tin of Glaxo"? I don't think!—l am. et.>.. READER. Opunake, August 21.