The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1883. THE STATE OF IRELAND.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1102, 8 May 1883, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1883. THE STATE OF IRELAND.

Some parts of Ireland are in a terrible state of distress at present. From the papers to hand by the last mail we learn that several deaths from starvation have occurred. In a place called Skibbereen, a poor family had been reduced to such a state of destitution that they had nothing to sleep on but straw on the do rap floor of amiserable cabin, In this state the mother was confined. As soon as she became ill her husband obtained a ticket fer (he dispensary doctor and a nurse from the hospital to visit her, but neither of

them came tor 24 hours afterwards, and in the meantime she had die 1, At the inquest the nurse was censured for her negligence, but nothing was said to the doctor. The Dublin papers state that at a place called Swinford there weie on the 14th of March last 700 persons on the relief list, and 3© others suffering from famine fever. The latter malady is breaking out in several places, and committing fearful ravages. It is said that in some parts people are subsisting on seaweed, nettles, and such things as they can get. All papers contain letters from priests appealing to the charitable for aid to keep their fbck from starving, or acknowledging receipt of donations from such as are charitable enough to give them help, A deputation of five Bishops headed by llis Grace the Archbishop of Tuam waited upon the Lord Lieutenant on the 9th of January last and presented a memorial asking for Government aid for the starving poor. In the memorial they asked that remunerative public works might be started that would give employment to the people. Their suggestion was that Government should lend farmers small sums on the security of their holdings, to enable them to drain and improve their lands, the money to be paid in proportion to the improvements made. On the Bth of March the Lord Lieutenant’s secretary replied that the matter had been submitted to the Government, who had declined to accede to the request. Subsequently the Bishops met and issued a manifesto in which appeared the following : —“ That to refuse relief to householders and landowuers until they become inmates of a woikhouse is in our judgment an outrage on humanity, and a violation of one of the first duties of Government. That it is a covert indirect system, not now used tor the first time in our unhappy country, of exterminating the native race of Ireland from the soil ; that the people have a right to resist it, that we advise them rr. d' so, by clinging to their homos, and that if they are left to pine and die there from hunger on the Government shall rest the guilt and responsibility of their deaths.” A conference of priests gives the cause of the distress as follows : » The cause of this exceptional distress is not to be found in the poor themselves but in the exhaustion produced by rackrents, successive years of depression, the failure of the potato crop, and the strain put on to avail of the Arrears Act.” The question has been discussed in Parliament, and Mr Trevelyan the Chief Secretary fer Ireland, said Urn object the (Government had in tieclii ing to give any relief was to compel the people to either enter the workhouse, or emigrate. Evidently the Bishops hit the nail on the head when they said the object was to exterminate the Irish race. And still evictions go on as well as ever. A telegram from Tralee in the Dublin papers of the Bth of March says:- “ Yesterday at half-past three p.m. subsheriff Hartnett, accompanied by Leary and Browne (bailiffs), and Mr B, Hilliard (agent), evicted John McMahon, of Croughmore. A fine young girl (a daughter of McMahon’s) aged 18, was ill, and was token out forcibly. She died a few hours afterwards, and her remainswere conveyed to a neighbor’s house.” Comment is needless on the inhumanity and cruelty of this proceeding, It is fearful to contemplate that so much heartlessness should exist in a civilised country in the 19th century. It would not be a matter for wonder if the people were very willing to emigrate, and that it would not be necessary for Government to drive them to it. The emigration returns show they are leaving the country fast enough. It the year ISB2, 89,186 people emigrated ; and in 1881, 78,288 ; that is 167,424 in two years. As they have continued to emigrate since these returns were made much more numerously than before, it is very probable that the number for this year will reach 100,000. That ought to be sufficient to satisfy the, Government without resorting to starvation to drive them out of the country. The principal part of these find their way to America where there is room for them all, and where they thrive and prosper. Verily Ireland is the most unfortunate country on the face of the earth.