Ireland as it is, and as it would be under Home RuleBuckley, Robert John
History
Ireland as it is, and as it would be under Home Rule
Buckley, Robert John
Home rule -- Ireland; Ireland -- Politics and government -- 1837-1901; Irish question
Mr. Wakely, of Mount Shannon Daly, said:--"I live in one of the
wildest parts of Galway, but all went on well with us until this Home
Rule Bill upset the country. Now I am completely unsettled. Whether to
plant the land or let it lie waste, I cannot tell. I might not be able
to reap the harvest. Whether to buy stock to raise and fatten, or
whether to keep what cash we have with a view to a sudden pack-up and
exit, we do not know. And I think we are not the only timid folks, for
the other day I took a horse twenty-four miles to a fair where I made
sure of selling him easily. I had to take him back the twenty-four
miles, having wasted my trouble and best part of two days. The
franchise is too low, that is what ruined the country."
Another desponding Galwegian found fault with the Liberal party of
1884. He said, "They were actuated by so much philanthropy. Their
motto was "Trust the people." We know what was their object well
enough, They let in the flood of Irish democracy. The Radicals got
forty, but the Nationalists gained sixty, and then part of the
Radicals--the steady, sensible party among them--ran out a breakwater
to prevent both countries being swamped. A break-water is a good
thing, but there was no necessity for the flood. They cannot
altogether repair the damage they have done. Look at the Irish members
of twenty years ago, and look at them now. Formerly they were
gentlemen. What are they to-day? A pack of blackguards. Their own
supporters shrink from entrusting them with the smallest shred of
power. Mr. Gladstone must be as mad as a March hare. The idea of a
Dublin Parliament engineered by men whom their own supporters look
upon as rowdies would be amusing but for the seriousness of the
consequences. Have you been in Ennis? Did you see the great memorial
to the Manchester murderers--'Martyrs' they call them? Their lives
were taken away for love of their country, and their last breath was
God save Ireland! That's the inscription, and what does it mean?
Loyalty to England? Would such a thing be permitted on the Continent?
Why, any sensible Government would stamp out such an innuendo as open
rebellion. It teaches the children hatred of England, and they are fed
with lies from their very cradle. Every misfortune--the dirt, the
rags, the poverty of the country, are all to be attributed to English
rule. Take away that and the people believe they will live in laziness
combined with luxury."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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