THE IRISH ENVOYS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 27, 1 February 1907, Page 6

THE IRISH ENVOYS.

Messrs. J. Devlin and T. J. Donovan, the envoys of tho Irish Parliamentary party, have finished their Australasian campaign. For twelve months they have been in tho great British dominions of tho Southern Hemisphere, enlisting the sympathy of the freeborn people here. As a result of their mission a cum of over £22,000 has been collected as the sinews of the Home Rule campaign, and outside the monetary contributions the permanent moral effect of the Nationalist pilgrimage is too great to be estimated, to quote Mr. Donovan's wouds. Everywhere in the Commonwealth and New Zealand the delegates have been received enthusiastically, and have been given a respectful 'hearing. I It has been recognised that they, ha-vo been the mouthpieces of a great Irish party and they have certainly been treated with the consideration due to their status. Consequently, on the eve of their departure for Home they assure Australasians that they are carrying away the pleasantest recollections of the generosity and sympathy extended to them hero. Whether people are convinced or not that Ireland should have government on the lines sketched by the envoys, all will gladly admit, m accordance with the best British traditions, that the Irish Parliamentary party is entitled to fair play in the battle that it is fighting so strenuously. Therefore citizens of Wellington, whatever may be their opinions about Homo Rule for Ireland, may congratulate Mr. Donovan for his clear, logical reply to the allegations that purport to come from Mr. William Ofßnen,O f ßnen, according to recent cable messages. Answering questions put by a representative of the Post yesterday, the envoy showed tha* the mossages that havo como across the seas were distinctly misleading. Their effect, whether originally intended or not, was rather to put tho Nationalist party under a cloud. Australians might havo fancied that tho members of that party were just a parcel of Kilkenny cats. But the truth appears to be that while the Irish party is solid for whole Home Rifle, and nothing bub whole Homo Rule, Mr. O'Brien, with a couple of members of Parliament and a small rotinuo of thoh' aupportors, wants to rest for a while at tho half-way houso of "devolution." Mr. O'Brien has made vague charges about maladministration of funds, but 'Mr, Donovan's clear statement of the caso should convince contributors that the monsy is placed ip .handfl JfcaJt jki j^joy,! ~M&toftSk< *~