Ireland In The New CenturyPlunkett, Horace Curzon, Sir
History
Ireland In The New Century
Plunkett, Horace Curzon, Sir
Ireland -- Economic conditions; Ireland -- Politics and government -- 1901-1910; Irish question
Mr. Anderson, who sometimes accompanied me and sometimes went his rounds
alone, had similar experiences. I may quote a passage from some of his
reminiscences, recently published in the _Irish Homestead_, the organ of
the co-operative movement in Ireland.
It was hard and thankless work. There was the apathy of the people
and the active opposition of the Press and the politicians. It
would be hard to say now whether the abuse of the Conservative
_Cork Constitution_ or that of the Nationalist _Eagle_, of
Skibbereen, was the louder. We were "killing the calves," we were
"forcing the young women to emigrate," we were "destroying the
industry." Mr. Plunkett was described as a "monster in human
shape," and was adjured to "cease his hellish work." I was
described as his "Man Friday" and as "Rough-rider Anderson." Once,
when I thought I had planted a Creamery within the precincts of the
town of Rathkeale, my co-operative apple-cart was upset by a local
solicitor who, having elicited the fact that our movement
recognised neither political nor religious differences--that the
Unionist-Protestant cow was as dear to us as her
Nationalist-Catholic sister--gravely informed me that our programme
would not suit Rathkeale. "Rathkeale," said he, pompously, "is a
Nationalist town--Nationalist to the backbone--and every pound of
butter made in this Creamery must be made on Nationalist
principles, or it shan't be made at all." This sentiment was
applauded loudly, and the proceedings terminated.
On another occasion a similar project was abandoned because the flow of
water to the disused mill which it was proposed to convert into a
creamery, passed through a conduit lined with cement originally
purchased from a man who now occupied a farm from which another had been
evicted. To some minds these little complications would have spelled
failure. To my associates they but accentuated the need for the movement
which they had so laboriously thought out, and the very nature of the
difficulties confirmed them in their belief that the economic doctrine
they were preaching was adapted to meet the requirements of the case.
And so the event proved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account