HOME RULE FOR IRELAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13357, 11 December 1906, Page 5

HOME RULE FOR IRELAND.

SPEECH BY MB. DEVLIN. [BY TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Invehcargill, Monday. Mr. Devlin, the Irish Envoy, arrived today, and was welcomed by the Mayor and 'Sympathisers with Homo Rule. Mr. Devlin is of medium size, squarely built, with a 'kindly Irish face, but he has the gift of eloquence, and while speaking is transformed by earnestness and enthusiasm. He was presented with a sympathetic address of welcome, and in returning thanks said the mission in Australia had been a triumphant success. He had been instrumental in some degree in removing some of the prejudices, misunderstandings, and misrepresentations, which constituted the only opposition to Ireland's claim for the essential right of self-government. Coining to New Zealand, a country endowed by Providence with beauty, and enriched with the priceless gift of freedom, he thought he would receive the same impartial hearing, and the sympathy of its people. In the evening Mr. Devlin had a. splendid reception at a meeting of about 600. He referred to .the Irish party as the principal agent in securing reforms for the working classes in England, such as workmen's compensation, eight-hour day for miners, etc. He said his party wanted for Ireland what New Zealand had. .Sir Henry CampbellBannerman had laid down the dictum on the Irish question 'that good government was no substitute for self-government. Ireland demanded self-government for bad government. Ireland's demand for Home Rule was not mere sentiment (though defensible on that ground alone). He advocated it from a view of national existence, industrial welfare, agricultural development, intellectual advance, and the spirit of enterprise that went hand in hand with greatness. There never was in the tragic story of human wrong a more appealing story of ruin, impoverishment, and tyranny brought to a brave and gallant people, or such disaster brought to an empire as 100 years of Irish history. At one time Ireland had a Parliament of its own, and though Protestant, privileged, and undemocratic, it was responsible to Irishmen, and was responsible for unparalleled progress along the lines of industry and agriculture, and economic and artistic advance. That Parliament was robbed from Ireland by a policy of corruption and fraud. The Act of Union, and the imposition of a system of ignorance and folly, led to an appalling story of ruin. Empty mills and factories 'testified to the destruction of Ireland's industries, power, and resources. Prosperous villages had disappeared, the inhabitants having died of starvation or disease or fled to America. The produce, instead of satisfying the hunger of the people, went to fill the rapacious maw of landlords. Ireland's lifeblood was ebbing away to the extent of 40,000 annually, and the condition of Ireland was a, blot on Christianity. Wages were low. labourers lived in hovels, and lunacy, cancer, and consumption were increasing appallingly, as the result of general gloom and squalor, poor clothing and had food. Ireland was overtaxed. He denied that Home Rule would mean the dismemberment of the Empire. Quite the reverse. The argument that Home Rule would mean Rome rule was a phantasy of disordered minds. It was also absurd to argue that the Irish were not capable of managing their own affairs. Mr. Devlin concluded by saying that the mission was part of the fight for the preservation of the last remnant of his race. A resolution was carried in favour of Home Rule.

■ Perhaps a later generation may be inclined to forget that Canterbury settlers had the distinction of building and opening the first railway in New Zealand, says the Lyttelton Times. It is. therefore, a pleasant memory to look back over the 43 years that separate to-day from December 1, 1863, when the line connecting Christ - church with Ferrymead (or Heathcote Valley) was auspiciously opened. Forty-three yearn does not seem a long period, but the changes wrought in Canterbury and the colony during that time might with credit have extended over a much greater period of years. When the Canterbury "pilgrims" arrived, the only communication between harbour and plains was a Maori track, and it could barely have been expected that in 10 years' time the enterprising settlers of Canterbury would have obtained Parliamentary sanction for the promotion of a raliway, and that three years later the first portion of the line, and the first in New Zealand, would have been opened for traffie. The undertaking was on a scale of ambitiousness that would probably have been too great for the nerve of the present ratepayers of Christchnrch, for it included the construction of the tunnel which is today the greatest monument to .the undaunted spirit of the guggger*