SPEECH BY MISS PARNELL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6051, 9 April 1881, Page 7

SPEECH BY MISS PARNELL.

Miss Anna Parnell spoke on Feb. 13 at a meetirig of the Ladies' Irish National Land League, held at Claremorris. She said : —You know also for about twelve mouths the landlords of Ireland have not been getting as much rent as they think they are entitled to— (cheers and laughter)—and they are very savage in consequence, and perhaps within another twelve months 'they will get less — (cheers)—and then they will get still more savage. Well, some other people are getting savage too—not Irish landlords. I will mention three o£ them —three Christain gentlemen. They are Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Forstcr, and hone3t John Bright—(loud groans and hisses.) Well, the reason why they are savage is that the Irish people refuse to be satisfied with a mixture of buckshot and good intentions instead of food and clothes ; that they refuse to be pleased and happy when they are turned out of their homes in the dead of winter, and when they are robbed of all they possess ; that they refuse to be pleased and go down on their kness and call Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright their friends, and so it is no longer possible for Mr. I Gladstone, or Mr. Bright, or Mr. Forster | to parade themselves in Ireland as the [ friends of Ireland—(hear, hear) —and that is making them very savage. Well, now, what is it they want to do ? They are bringing in a. bill—they are trying to pass a law, and it may be passed next week, which will enable the Lord-Lieu-tenant of Ireland to put any person, man woman, or child, in prison, and keep them there for a year and a-half. Mr. Forster, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Bright hope that when the Habeas Corpus is suspended the relief branch of the work of the Irish National Land League will fall into confusion, and the tenants wiio are evicted may be left to want, and that the families of persons. imprisoned may be left to want and starvation. That is what those Christian men, Quakers and such like, want to do,- and that is what we will prevent them from doing. (Cheers.) Wo will sue that the lives and families of people imprisoned—if they are Land Leaguers—shall not starve, and we will see to this as long as the Land League has a penny to give us. It has a great many pennies—(laughter and cheers) —• and if the men and women of this country tako up a manly and womanly attitude respectively, they will have a great many more pennies, still —(cheers and laughter)—for I do believe that the Irish people of America will send us vast sums of money if we only act riirhtly. If wo are not cowards or fools they will send us money, and make extraordinary sacrifices to help us. Now, there is one thing I just want to say to you It is intended for the ears of the women alone. (Laughter.) You know something about those nice young mon, the regular Irish Constabulary. (Cheers and laughter.) Now, lam not going to advise you not to have them for sweethearts— (laughter)—because I know that you won't. Sly ad vice is, if you see one of the green coats coinin" into your houses, you ask him to walk out. (Cheers.) Ifoneof them speaks to you in the street, don't answer him at all. Have no communication with him, and then I think you will bo quite safe. Now, we never can tell what is going to happen. All we can do is to be prepared for it. Within a month from this there may be a thousand people imprisoned, or there may not be twenty ; there may be 5000 people evicted or there may not be 100; but we must be prepared for the 1000, and we must be prepared for any number of evictions. I conclude by moving the resolution which I read. (Loud cheers.)