THE UNITED IRISH LEAGUE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3072, 17 December 1908, Page 7

THE UNITED IRISH LEAGUE.

NATIONAL CONVENTION. MOST SUCCESSFUL YET HELD. The fourth biennial National Convention of the Irish League of America has passed into history as the moat successful gsthering of representatives held within living recollection, writes the correspondent of the New York "Irish World." From the standpoint of the attendance of delegates, their representative character, the enthusiasm with which the work of the Convention was •carried out, the harmony and good feeding which prevailed, the splendid -recoiti of achievement presented to ■the gathering by the envoys from -Ireland, and the stern determination »of the Convention to i stand by and support the Irish the deliberations of the Convention, and -never had a -superior among Irishmen in America. "This was the opinion expressed by the Press, by the public who witnessed ■* the deliberations of the convention, -and by the deiegates from every section of the country and Canada who attended. The universal opinion was that never in an Irish National Convention anywhere in America was the spirit aroused more intensely favourable to Ireland, or the dptermination of the friends of the •cause, represented by the delegates, to sustain the Irish leader and his colleagues more pronounced. To ; those who had been cioss observers of the preliminary work of arranging for the Convention the result did not come altogether in the nature of a surprise, although the remarkable success of the gathering probably exceeded the expectations of even those who had been more closely connected with the work of preparation. There had been, of course, prophecies of evil that the Convention Would end in failure; that, owing to the depression •in business and other causes, the •attendance would not be large; and that apathy had crept into the movement. For these reasons it was predicted for week-s before the event that the gathering would be a per- • functory one, and would accomplish very little practical work. But what happened? At the close of Mr Redmond's speech, which occupied about; an liour and a half in delivery, spokesman of the Nationdlistparty was received with wildly enthusiastic cheering, which continued for fully ;five minutes. In all the visits that Mr Redmond had paid to Boston, and all the times that he has addressed , meetings in that city, he never re- ' ceived such an ovaiion as on this occasion. And wiien President Ryan rose and asked thy immense audience to translate their cheers into something practical, the response was both hearty and spontaneous. The Committer on Resolutions had asked for a pledge to provide 50,000d0l (£10,000). Within five minutes of the appeal b?ing made by President Eyan that sum bad been exceeded, i and the work of the Committee re- j quired revision. "Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, through their , each pledged I 10,'UUOdol. Baltimore, Washington, | •jersey City, Fall River, Lowell, Lawrence, Worcester, Rhode Island, arid ether places each vied with •the other in promising an old-time subscription to the general fund. .-Sandwiched in between these pledges • ■came individual subscriptions ranging from lOOdol to 2,500d01, white the list of fifties, twenty-fives, and smaller amounts prevented the < officials of the Convention from ♦keeping run of them, so numerous J were they. Within half an hour more than 80,(i0od')l had been pledged, and j a large portion of it actually sub- i scribed. The Convention then, with j a unanimous shout, declared that the j pledge should be for 100,000dol, and j directed that the officers of the Co'i- | ■•vention should cable that determ. • j ation to the leaders of the organisation in Ireland. It was a unique scene. The danger of the Irish .National movement being allowed to drop or falter for want of American support had been swept aside in les3 than an hcur. The American newspapers, after exhausting their descriptive powers in the effort to do justice to the seen?, declared that no j such sight had been witnessed in an i Irish National Convention before. The Irish Parliamentary party were represented by its-leader, Mr . -Joseph Devlin, JVLP., and Mr Fitzgibbon, M.P. Amongst notable Americans who took part in the Convention were Patrick Ford, of the "Irish World," his brother, . Augustine Ford, his sister. Miss Ellen Ford, Mi <3 Sabina Davitt, pister ot the late Michael Davitt, Captain E. O'Meagher Condon (author of the Irish sentiment "God Save Ireland"), Judge M. V.. Gannon (of towa), John.P. Leahy (of —St Louis), Robeit O'Flaherty, Captain Stephen M'Farland, K. J. Kennedy (of New York), Michael Donohue (president of the Philadelphia ■ Council), and Thomas Reilly (treasurer of the organisation oE the same city), Mr M. J. Jordan, (of Boston), Bishop M'Cready (of New York), Mayor M'Carthy (of Providence), Monsignor O'Callaghan, .P. F. Enwright (of South Bethlehem), J. L. Hasscn (of Baltimore), and l)rs Timmins and Dillon, Michael Maynes, Denis O'Reilly, Mark Cre- . han (of Boston), P. J. Duane (of Waltham, and E. J. Gallaher (of Lowell). Two of the best speeches in the Convention were made by Rev. Frank J. O'Hare, of Newry, Ireland, and by James T. Gleason, of Auckland, New Zealand. The latter aroused the Convention to a high pitch of enthusiasm when he declared that he had been around the world, and that, great as England\s influence was claimed to be, Ireland could constitute with America, Canada, and Australia a democratic Irish alliance which would hold its own against England at any time.