GENERAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 13, 28 March 1907, Page 28

GENERAL

Small Damages The lonig-talked-of case of Mr. ■ William O'Brien against the Dublin ' Freeman's Journal ' was tried at the Limerick Spring Assizes. The jury found that certain speeches of Mr. John Redmond .and Mr. John Dillon were libels, and that various comments were unfair. The jury awarded one farthing ' -damages for each of the six libels. A motion will be made to set aside the verdict. , Export of Pigs and Bacon The number of Irish pigs exported to Great Britain during 1904 was 505,247, valued at £1,742,039, The value of bacon, hams, and pork exported during the same period was £2,287,148. This brjngs,,the value of the export in pigs and pig products to £4,029,187 sterling}— a very important item in the national income. The. importance of the trade is a matter of serious moment. Its development and stability deserve consideration. The value of the entire imports of bacon, hams, and pork to the United Kingdom is stated (statistical abstract for the United Kingdom) to 1 be £17,609,688. Thus, Ireland produces for Great Britain about one-eighth the amount of swine products that are imported from other countries. The University Scheme The Irtish Hierarchy (writes a Dublin. correspondent) cannot either approve or disapprove of the Government plan for settling the University question until full details of it are published. However, in the -final report -of the Royal Commission which has been*" issued appears a letter from the Archbishop of Dublin to 1 Sir Antony MacDonnell, in which his Grace points out that when consulted by Mr. Wyndham as to whether the University question could be settled by the establishment of a second college in. Dublin, to be as Trinity College is, a College of Dublin University, the Irish Bishops replied in the affirmative. On the other hand the Bishops of the Irish Episcopalian Church have not waited for any details of the proposed scheme. They have issued a letter rejecting it. They contend that one university is not sufficient to meet the varied needs of Ireland, and unhesitatingly condemn the proposal to destroy the absolute identity of Trinity College with the University of Dublin, and decla r e that the constitution of colleges in such a university sharing the prestige of Trinity College would depreciate Dublin University degrees and the Imperial connection of Dublin University with Oxford and Cambridge. The National Demands The seventh annual meeting of the National Directory of the United Irish League was held in Dublin, on January 29, Mr. John Redmond, M.P., presiding. Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., was elected general secretary, and Mr. David Sheehy, M.P., chief organiser. The action of the Irish Party in relation to Mr. John O'Donnell, M.P., and Mr. D. Sheehan, M.P., was strongly apprpved and endorsed by a resolution unanimously adopted. Resolutions were also adopted callingon the Government to take immediate steps to meet the distress in- the west of Ireland. On the motion of the chairman, a resolution was passed declaring that the national demand for a- native Parliament with a responsible Executive remained unaltered and unalterable, and that, while the Irish people were prepared to give fair consideration to any soheme for the extension of popular power and responsibility, no change which did not give the freely elected representatives of the people full control over the" affairs of Ireland could be accepted or treated as a settlement of the national question or could bring prosperity to Ireland. A resolution, moved by Mr. John Dillon, M.P., and adopt-, ed, welcomed the report, of the Royal Commission on the University question and the recent pronouncement of Mr. Bryce, and stated that, while they would mot commit themselves to any scheme for settling the University question, they were prepared to give favorable consideration to any plan- brought forward by the Government for the removal of the grievances of Irish Catholics. The standing committee received directions to summon a national convention after the introduction of the" Government scheme for Irish Government in Ireland. '