HOME RULE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1955, 12 October 1889, Page 2

HOME RULE.

A public meeting was held in the 1 Volunteer Hall, Temuka, last Wednesday; evening for the purpose of making arrangements for the reception of the Irish delegates—Mr John Dillon and hisj colleagues. ; On the motion of Mr Quinn, Mr K. F.< Gray, Chairman of the Temuka Town Board, took the chair, and, after having; lead the advertisement calling the meeting:, and briefly explaining its object,' called on Mr J. M. Twomey to more the ficst resolution.

Mr Twomey said he was extremely pleased to see the chairman occupying the position he did thai night, and he eould assure him that he spoke the feeling of bis fellow-countrymen when he said they were most desirous of securing the co-operation of men of other nationalities in the great cause they had at heart. Ostensibly it! was the cause of the Irish, but in reality it was che cause of the oppressed and , down-trodden. It was a cause similar to the cause of the London dockmen, and they might remember all Australia and the civilised world sympathised with them —and certainly the condition of many Irish tenants was much worse and' more deserving ( of commiseration than the London dockmen.; They were told that to relieve the sufferings of the poor was a work of mercy for which they would have sternal reward, and, if so, there was a reward for those who would assist the Irish tenantry in their battle with the landlords. Ireland was at present leading in the vanguard of Freedom ; all the eyes of the civilised world were upon her, and some were copying her example. The Scotch crofters copied her example, and got redress; the Welsh were copying her, and getting more consideration from their landlords—and thus through the example shown by Ireland the sum of human happiness had increased, and the condition of millions had been improved. Henry George found the most telling arguments in favor of his proposals in Ireland j the ground nrork of Wallace Russell's book on the land question was based on Irish wrongs, and thus everyone who wanted a frightful example of bad landlordism went to Ireland for it. He held that it was a work of mercy to assist the oppressed tenants, and that those who assisted them would have their reward. The meeting; had been called together to arrange for the reception of the Irish delegates. It'was more of a business than of a speech-making -meeting, and he, therefore, was not going to make a long speech. But there were a few things to which he would like to refer. The great argument which well-meaning people raised against discussing such questions in this colony was that we ought to! leave all such matters in the Old Country ; that we had no interest in them, and that we should not sow dissensions by introducing them at all, This argument was very plausible, and consequently carried gteat weight with it, but, if examined, it would be found that it asked Irishmen to do an unnatural thing. It asked them to forget their native country, their father, their mother, their brother, their sister, their 1 friends and relations. It asked them to forget all early associations—to sever the ties of filial affection and the bends of friendship. Was it reasonable to ask them to do all this ? Let them put the matter in another way, aad suppose that: England was at war with Prance, what, would be thought of the Englishman who would say:, "Oh, let England fight her own battle. We have no interest in the matter. We are in this colony; it is j nothing to usf" Very little would be; thought of the Englishman that would, say it. It would be 1 said he deserved to go , <-. . ... j • . "Down To the vile dust from whioh he sprung—- , Unwept, [unhenored, and uasung." No Englishman would do it. There is no Englishman who would notjjdo his best for England. The descendants of,, the 'Scot nha ha wi' Wallace bled 'would bleed once more to uphold " The flag that brayed a thousand years The battle »nd the breeze," and the Irish would still be found, as they always had been, ; in the front ranks fighting for the integrity of the Empire. (Great cheering.) What more was wanted

of them ? They had contributed to build up the Empire ; they had given England hor best soldiers, and they ware still ready to fight for her. (Cheers.) Let them look around them. In Dunedin, Christchurch, Invercargill, and Auckland there were Irish Volunteer Companies; there was not a volunteer corps in the colony which had not Irishmen in its ranks. Those who went to the Soudan were largely nude up of Irishmen, and Cardinal ¥oran—a thorough iTrishman—blessed them. What more could be expected of Irishmen ? • They wereready to spill their blood, as they, always had done, but the very moment they Attempted to speak of the grievances of their native land they, were, accused, of disloyalty, Feniarilsm, and so ori. It was J unfair and unjust. Merry-hearted .boya made, the best of old men, and the beßt Irishmen made the best colonist*. (Applause.) Irishmen asked toothing only the toleration which they extended to- others. ; ;Ne Irishman ever/ found fault with Englishmen for singing "Rule Britannia," or with Scotchmen fer singing '•Scots wHa ha wi' Wallace bled," and they only desired similar toleration ; , as : regarded themselves. Ireland. was at present at war with the landocracy arid, 'aristocracy of England and Ireland. The best, and the noblest, and • the most generoushearted of Englishmen had deserted from the banner of coercion and oppression, and taken their stand'under the emblems of peace, unity, and goodwill beside their great leader—the glorious Grand Old Man of England. (Great cheering.) In asking Englishmen in this colony to unite, with them in the cause of Home Rule, therefore, s they did not ask them to do the unnatural thinr of opposing their ! own country. They asked them to ally themselves with the best, and the noblest, and the most generous-hearted of their own .countrymen against oppression,.. landlordism, and monopolists, They were asked to ally themselves with the Grand Old Man, who. ,of all. others did rrost during' a long' career to extend human liberty—that"" statesman. .whose name shall for ever remain embalmed in his. cqußtry'a history, and whose deeds shall constitute his most enduring monument. As Irishmen they only claimed the right to express approval of the polioy of Mr Gladstone, and they, were perfectly right in doing so,_ All agreed that patriotism was an ennobling feeling, and must Irishmen regard it. as a vice while all the world—even :f ilhe untutored savage .—regarded it ;as? a virtue t< It was unreasonable to ask them! to Jdo so,' and they were not going to do it. (Cheers.) J great objection raised .by Mr Chamberlain to Home"'Rule was. that it excluded Irish members from the English Parliament. • Messrs Gladstone s and 'Parneil agreed to : allow the Irish members in Parliament, and now the Marquis of Hartirigton/ia ; screaming ' out against allowing Irish members to remain in the British Parlia- : ment. Thus whatever way it was mahagis'd i it could not please these. Another objec- , tion was that Home ltule meant separation. Did they think Ireland was mad ? What wetild Ireland separate: for if she got the making of ..her own laws t The colonies showed no' disposition t;o separate. Supposing Ireland wanted to separate, how could she do it? How could she raise a fleet of ships to cope with England? Did they think Ireland was going to throw herself into the arms of j France, to exchange one set of misters for : another and begin to learn another language? Did they, think America would gj to the trouble of keeping an immense army'and navy in lrelandto'defend her against England ? The" idea was 'nonsensical. Separation was merely » cry to frighten people with. Then, there was the cry of the North and the South. The fact was there were only four counties' in the North which' did n'dfc return a majority in favor of Home Rule. Thus 28 Irish counties were in favor of Home Rule, while there were only four against it. The law of England recognised government by majorities, but in Ireland it was a case of government by minorities. The- very essence of Democratic government was government by majority, but this was reversed in the case of Ireland. There was a great deal made of crime, but "he would remind them of the Chartist 'riots, of the bread riots, and of the corn law riots, and other riots in England, where crimes were committed. A certain amount of crime was always incidental to agitation, but in Ireland, the temptation te crime was greater, owing to the heartlessneas of the landlords. The fact was, the reason why the Unionists of England opposed Home Rule was that they were afraid Ireland would develop her own industries and compete with English industries. Mr Chamberlain said so, and Lord Hartington said so. They both said they were afraid Ireland would adopt a policy of Protection. That was at the bottom of it all. He apologised for speaking at such a length, and moved—" That a committee be now formed to arrange for the retention of the Irish delegates." Mr G. McS. Gentlemuu seconded the motion, and, oh bein£ put, it was carried unanimously. , Mr M. C»juinn said that after the speech of the previous speaker he felS at a loss as to what to say, as the wind had been taken out of his sails. He would make a few remarks—and they would be few. He had heard it repeated that it would be a great mistake to give Ireland Home Rule because Ireland was incompetent "It* de so. It appeared to him very strange that they could rise to the most distinguished positions in all other countries, and become good, true, and honest citizens, while at home they could not govern themselves. Some ef them had to fly from their country, where they were regarded as criminals, and afterwards they filled (he most important positions in the land of their adoption. He might instance the case of Sir C. Gavan Duffy. He was a '4B man, and had to fly from his native land. He came to Australia, and, after a few years, rose to the highest position in the land there, and filled them with honor and dignity, and advantage to the State, (Cheers.) He might refer to another Irishman of gentle birth who settled in Victoria. He was a man of gentle birth, of great gifts and talents, and when the Ballarat riots broke out he took the lead. fle was supposed to have been shot, but ifc was afterwards discovered that he was not, and a reward of £SOO was offered for bis body, dead or alive. He escaped and made his way to Geelong, and was afterwards pardoned. He got into Parliament and became Speaker of the Legislature. That man died recently, a very wealthy "man, and one of the most respected men in all Australia. Thus wherever an Irishman gets

the chance he always proves himself clever and shrewd, and as capable of government as a man of any other nation. (Cheers.) They had instances of two Irishmen filling distinguished positions in this colony.. He referred to Sir George Bowen, who some time ago was Governor of New Zealand, and Sir William Jervois, who recently left the colony—a man who »as beloved of everyone in New Zealand, and who had represented Her Majesty for many years. (Cheers.) Thus in every position of trdfct Irishmen always proved themselves worthy of tb» trust, and they would do so ,in their own country it they* got the opportunity. (Cheers.) As regards religion, it had nothing to do with Home RhU, and he aiocerely hoped it never would. (Great cheering.) All the most prominent members of the Horns Eule party,)were Proteßtants, and it was originally started by Protestants. With regard to the finanoial aspect of the affair, they all knew that money was necessiry to carry on the agitation. The London Times thought to crush Mr Paroell with expenses. They were rich, and they thought they would completely crash him with want of funds. He bad to fae the ablest ia England—Sir Charle Russell—who was himself an Inabmai and »-Hone Baler, and his fee wai £IO,OOO. If America and the Australiai colonies had net come to the 'assistance o: Mr Parnell, Ptgott and 00. would hav< reigned supreme, and Mr Parnell anc Home Eule would have been crushed foi ever. Ho would not detain them anj looger. There were men coming to speak to them ef Home Rule who could explais it.' 'They may not come to Temuka, bul efforts would be:made to get these to come; and if they did not corns be hoped they would do their beet to assist Timar*. He woald, therefore, move—" That tke following gentlemen (with power to add toitheir number) constitute the committee to receive the Irish delegates, namely: Messrs K. F. Gray, G. McS. Gentleman, i. Blytb, A. M. Olark, J. M. Twomey, E. Lee, J'Fitzgerald, W. N I Cathro, M. ScannelljD; Henry, T. Connolly, P. Coll, A. Rueaell, T. Daily, T. Barr, J. Angland, W. Fitzgerald, G. J. Mason, T. Geaney, S; Obughlan, A.' W. G»ze, D. Hoare, M. O'Driscoll, G. H. Mogridge,, D. Angland, T.'Rooriey, R. TFilson, P Dalton, John Brosnahaa, and the moyer." Mr John Angland seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously.

This having completed the business of j the meeting, Mr Quin,i moved a h»arty :| vote of thank* to the Chairman for the able Manner in which he had presided. He had found Mr Gray most willing to flkftkfcjisn active part in any good moiement that was set on foot, and their thanks weredue to him for presiding that •venipg.

The motion, having bean seconded by Mr Twomey, wbb carried by acclamation. Mr Gray acknowledged the compliment, •ndjn doing so said he was sorry some one.who knew more nbont the sebjeot had not been put in the chair. He knew very little of the subject, in fact, only Irishman understood it properly, but ho was anxious to learn. He had often got Home papers, and he felt keenly at wrongs done at the cruel evictions which took place. It wbb troe,as MrQuinn bad stated, that wherever Irishmen got the chance they proved worthy citizens, and when placed in power acquitted themselves with honor to themtelyes and credit to thoir country. (Cheers). He wished 'hey had all heard the speech delivered by Mr Twomey recently at the Debating Society. He learned more about the Irish question there than he had ever dene before. Ha learned that religion had nothing te do with it, and those who heard Mr Twomey were satisfied that it had not. He firmly believed that it was entirely a question of trade jealousy. (Applause.) England was afraid of Ireland adopting Protection, and that wsb all that waß in it. Qe thanked them for the vote, and sincerely hoped that Ireland would soon be happy. The meeting then dispersed. MEETING OF IHE COMMITTEE. A meeting of the Committee was held immediately afterwards, at 1 which Messrs Gray; Blyth, Quinn, Twomey, Cathro, J. and W. Fiizgerald, Geaney, Wilson, McS. GentlemuD, Angland, O'Driscoll, Daly, Dal ton, and Brosnaban were pre■ent. Mr G>"»y having declined the chairmanship of the Committee, on the ground that he could not attend to it and that it would be better to appoint someone who understood Ibe subject thoroughly, Mr Twomey said that under these circumstances he would propose Mr Qninn as chairman of the Committee, and this, being seconded, was carried unanimously. Mr Twomey was appointed hoD. sscretary, and Mr G. McS. Gentlemun treasurer. About fourteen collectors were appointed tofcanvasa for subscriptions, and the secretary was instructed to forward lists ta them. A discussion arose as to the probability of Mr. Dillon and his colleagues visiting Temoka, and it was ultimately decided to invito them, end if they accepted to make an effort to render the meeting a success. Mr Quinn read a letter from tbe Kev. Father Fauvel regrettiDg inability to attend, and enclosing a subscription of £5.