THE IRISH ENVOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2758, 23 January 1907, Page 16

THE IRISH ENVOYS.

MR DONOVAN IN MILTON. Mi IJot.it An. ouo of the lii=li delegates, »riivod in MiHon by the express on the ftli iri-t. and cleliverod an addret* in the St. Ceor'jre'.s Hall on Homo Rule. Tho Mayor (Mr Donald Rev!) occupied the chair, and the Yt?r\ Kirn. lather O'Neill and th^ R->v. H. \\ . Cloary were also on the plrtloim. lhoi"c was a \ciy repreSPinativc gaihei/iig. and the Very Rev. P. O'Donnell and *he Rev. M. Rj an were aiiiOng the pudienc". In inhod.iCiiig the delegate the Mayor stated thsit Mr Donovan was a delegate of thtf Irish Parliamentary party, having been chosen for that purpose by the unanimous \c'o of the I ri-h leader*. Mr Donovan was a gifted speaker, and would be able to place before that audience the object oi hi«< mission and win its sympathy in tho .struggle tluit the Iri-h people are. making to win the privilege* of ,-olfgovcrnment which the peop'e of New Zealand enjoy. -(Applause ) The_ granting of this boon would not lead to the disruption of the Empire, and would not be conducive to disloyalty on the part of _ the Irish people to the Empire. He (the speaker) could ne\er understand the objection to the Irish people enjoying the right of self-government. It was not for l.tck of intelligence. Irishmen furnished many of the greatest scholars, the pluckiest soldiers, and the mon loyal of the King's subjeots. — (Applau«e.) Mr Donovan had bsen on tour in Ausrtalia for 11 months. addressing hundreds of meetings. «ome of them attended by two or three thousand persons. - He had met with an enthusiastic reception and o\ery support fiom the people of the Commonwealth. He concluded by promising Mr Donovan a sympathetic and coidial greeting.—(Applause.) Mr Donovan, who on rising was received with warm applause, said he had come 10 New Zealand ac an Irish envoy to advocate Ireland for the Irish as they (his hearers) advocated New Zea'and for the New Zealanders.— (Applause.) They were on the e\e of success, and he hoped that he and his colleague would win all intelligent and rational minded p*op!<_> in the country into sympathy v. ith Ireland. Australia had rallied around them and accorded them majrn:li"ont supjxirt. ry>ntributing £20.000 a*- a tistjmoin of their sympathy with tho -trutrirle of the Iri-h people to secuie the advantages enjoyed by every State in Australia (Applause.) Mr Donovan said that he and Mr Dovlin had come from one of the croat Orange -centres, of the North cf Ireland. Belfast. and that in itsolf was proof cf the irreat -change that had taken place in th»- North of Ireland on the- Home Rule, question. Their policy was one of conciliation. They were emp'.ovcd in the holy work of breaking down the power of sectarianism and prejudice. This now change and tolt rant .spirit were shown in a remarkable degree when his colleague, Mr Devlin, won the »eat in West Belfast through the united efforts of C.ithohcs nnd Protestants, who fought side by siJ". Mr Devlin appealed to the \ir-op\o of Ins native city to »ink their feud*, and hold up bt'ore them Ahe banner of conciliation and love

for their common country. — (Applause.) Regarding Mr Sheehan's and Mr Crean's lemarkii, as repori-ed by cable, declaring that there wes " a split " in the Irish party, he exp'ain-ed that Mr Shcehan had, by 84 of his colleagues in the Nauona'ist par4y- ?i been expcllod as an undosiTai? I .^. Hit,,,t'xpu'aion did not represent 'ativttWft™ an- the nature of a split among - 'Kiii ionalists. l<ut rather emphasised the consolidation of the party. Mr Crean had joined Mr O'Brien in. tho support of what wa.? known as the devolution theory, which was a halfway hoi.se to Home Rule. The Irish party wouid never accept anything less than a Parliament elected by and responsible to the people. They were not prepared to accept a compromise, but required a Parliament elected on democratic principles, similar to that of New Zealand, and their hopes wouid be realised wiihtn tho next }'par or two. Regarding the a'legation that he and Mr Devlin were preaching Mr O'Brien's policy, they had never preached any other doctrine than conciliation and toleration, and by thk means would i^ecure the unification of all creeds aiid classen, while Mr O'Brien only wanted to conciliate a small gioup of landlords. — (Applause.) The eximi.sion of an undesirable was not a split. They had to uphold their prestige, and wero not prepared to tolerate men who b:>trayod the princirjles of the Irish Nationalist party. For 20 years th«y were the only party in the Hoii'^e which would not accept power, office, or emolument from the British (io\ernment. They stood four-s-quare to the word, fighting for the right of Ireland to be governed by it~ people as New Zealand is governed by New Zoa-lander-s — (Applause.) After d' aling with the misrepresentations of writers in the Australian press in regard to the mission of the envoys and to tho work done by the Irish National party in the eaiKi<> of democracy during the past 30 vea>rt=. he affirmed that the statements that Home Ru'o would lead to dismemberment of the Empire, to foctarian rule in Ireland, arid to persecution, were vtithout foundation. The majority of members from Ulster were Home Rulers. The few who were net of the Nationalist party were mostly in the pay of the Government, and were drawing fat salaries ranging from £2000 to £10.000 a year. They talked much of lovalfy ; of eour-e they did. They would readily understand how ea<-y it i-3 to be loyal for £2000 or £10.000 a tear. — (Laughter and cheers.) The>r cauto was a cause of justice. They wished to establish a po'icv of international friendship, of amity, and concord between tho British and Irish peonies ; to bur\ past bitterness in a blessed oblivion of forgiveness and peace. He believed the end of this struggle is near, and that they — Mr Devlin and himself — were tho last envoys that would come to Aivtraha on si'ch a mi?' ion as they had come on The groat hoart and conscience of the British people had boon touched; in Ireland 'they had their own pecp'c banded together in a great, organisation ; they had on their side all that is best of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Mr G. T. Martin mo\ed— "That this meeting accor*le Mr Donovan a \ery h-oartv vote of thanks for tho able manner in which he has placed the wants of the In-Oi |>oodlo before the meeting, and s,y_mpaUiie«g wilh

the cause, trusting that in the near future Ireland will enjoy freedom the same as ' in Australasia." | Mr John Tough (county councillor), in seconding the mot:on, eaid that it had given him great pleasure to listen to Mr , j Pan pvaji, who, had the entire sympathy of J Tokotnaii iro with him in bis fight. H<2 • hoped Mr Donovan would fight to the bitter end and come out on top. i The motion was carried unanimously. 1 Dr Sutherland moved and Mr Maroney seconded — "That this meeting also helDs in a practical way." . j Th's motion was carried, and on a collec- , tion being taken up the sum of £60 was the result-. 1 A he a rty vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting.