ARCHBISHOP CARR ON HOME RULE.

Evening Star, Issue 7248, 27 June 1887, Page 2

ARCHBISHOP CARR ON HOME RULE.

! The new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, in replying to an address of welcome, is reported to have said : A benevolent society like yours, one of whose ' chief objects is "to cheiish the memory of Ireland," must always command my deep sympathy and cordial good wishes. It is one of the peculiarities of the Irish race that no [ interval of time, no vicissitudes of fortune, ' and no remoteness from their motherland, can quench their lovo for Ireland, or lessen their , interest in her welfare. She is more dear to them in her sorrows and afflictions than she' wonld be if she enjoyed that peace and pros, perity which are for the present withheld. With you I believe that the remedy for Irish 1 discontentment, the renewal of Irish prosperity, anl the solution of the Irish question are to bo found in Home Rule. What the Irish question most needs is a temperate statement on the one hand, and an impartial consideration on the other. There are two main branohes of the 'question. One regards the ownership of the land, the other the claim for self-g >vernment. In regard to the land.it may appear that this branch of the question hasbeensuddenly and violently brought to the front within the last few years. But, in truth, the roots of the agitation lie down deop and far back in the i istory of the relations between landlord and tenant in Ireland. It must a'ways be romembered that Ireland is depending on the land almost exclusively. There are very few.other sources of produce or of profit. Why this is the case must be learned from Irish history. One thing is certain, that the question is not answered by saying that the disturbed state of the country and the uncertainty produced by political agitation have spared away capital, and this explains the matter fully, Ireland has been as peaceful as the grave many a time since the Union, and still capital did not flow in and raise her sinking fortunes. Now, it is well known that Irish landlords as a class were not very thrifty nor economical in their mode of living. Ab a consequence estates have come down from father to son for several generations binthened with ever increasing debts and mortgages. Money should bo found by one means or another to meet these crushing charges. As long as there was a profit to be made by the rearing or feeding of stock, as long as there was'a remunerative prioe to be obtained for any kind of crop which the land produced, Irish farmers struggled to pay the high rents which the needs of the- landlords imposed and exacted. But j about ten years ago things took a disastrous | turn for Irish farmers. Foreigu produce of every kind began to fill the Irish and the English markets. Livo and dead meat, corn, flour, butter every article of produce on whioh the Irish farmer depended, was imported and sold at a price which • left little or no margin of profit to the Irish producer. Then' again, to add to his embarraasrr.ent, the seasons underwent a most unfavorable change. Continuous rain and cold during the Hummer and autumn months blighted equally the pastoral and the agricultural prospects of the people. Thus it comes to pasj that the landlord, on the one baud, was unable to reduce his renlfl, and the tenant, onithe other, was unable to pay them and - live. Acts of Parliament were passed oreating dual ownership jn the land; but these Act:', wljile affording some ftl'eviation to the tenant, have failed to satisfy ether landlord or tenaut. Now both parties have come to see that the dual ownership will not work, and that the only remedy for the present intolerable state of things is to do away with the dual ownership on equitable principles, and give the occupiere an undivided interest in their holdings. It surely is not beyond the reach of statesmanship to effect this necessary change when both parties are anxious for it, and thus restore to the present landlords and to peasant {proprietors .a fair chance lof living in the land of their bir hj If the I land question were settled, I believe there would be little difficulty in arriving, at a solution of the claim for self-government. What success the English' Parliament has had in governing ■ Ireland sinoe the legislative uni.»n may be seen at once from the fact that tho number of ■ Coercion Acts passed for Ireland corresponds exactly with the number ot years that have passed since the Union was carried. The question of granting self-government to Ireland is no longer a question merely between Irish Nationalists and the Government of England. It is now a question between tho two great English parties. The unmeaning fear that self-government would lead to separation is fast dying away, and there is, I believe, every prospect that within a short time Ireland will become 'a self-governing, satisijed, and, after the example of Australia, a perfectly loyal portion of the British Empire, • i v