LETTER FROM HENRY GEORGE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 461, 10 February 1882, Page 7

LETTER FROM HENRY GEORGE.

Thb short day was closing in long twilight as I got into Cork and made haven of the first hotel I could find, and as the Dublin tram would not leave until ten, started out to learn something of the news and, if possible, the feeling of the people. I soon found that the people were afraid to talk to a stranger about the things uppermost in all men's minds. I did not know a soul, nor could 1 remember any name I had heard of before, and as I had originally proposed to go first to Dublin I had no letter of introduction to Cork; but I knew that if I could find the leading men ot the Land League I would discover somp one who would know me. But the people in the stores into which I stopped to inquire were the most perfect " know-nothings." There wasu't any Land League ; it had been suppressed ; it didn't have any officers ; or, if it did, they did not know who they were or who they had been, and did not want to know, for, as one shopkeeper expressed it, "the less a man knows about such things these times the better he is off " In. tict, to take them literally, one would have thought there never had been a Land League in Ireland, and that the proclamations pasted up on the dead walls warning people against having anything to do with a criminal association calling itself the Land League were levelled at a chimera from Mr. Forster's fervid imagination So, I turned to my car driver. "Do you know°any of the clergy, men of Cork who have been in sympathy with the Land League ?" ' ] i°l S^ d ??\" th , ere ' 8 Fath " r * * ' who wa * going to be suspended by the bishop for the par the took with the Land League " • Drive me to his house, then." But Father * * was not there • ne had been sent away ; but from another clergyman I found to whom I might go. I went, made myself known, and was in a moment among the people who would talk freely. The Laud League was not dead, they said. But with leaders in prison, with communications out, with detectives everywhere and au irresistible force garrisoning the country, it was having its 'head to the storm. Its meetings were still held-one had been held th-re the day before -but held in se C( et. And the spirit of the people was unbroken. Nobody dreamed of forcible resistance to anything the Government might do-m.n armed with sticks and stones could not fight repeating rifl -sand flying arUlk-ry ; but the principles of the Land League had sunk deep, and to beat them out of the hearts of the people would be like beating wa.er. which yields only to close un again All this and much morel heard at Cork, before taking the train for Dublin, to shiver away the night hours, and see the rifleb -aring constabulary at every station, as though one were passine not through a peaceful country, but through the lines of an army in time of war. First impressions of Dublin are pie isant, for, landing by th- train, ona do»s not see the poorer quarters. Splendid railroad stations, fine streets, paved as an American would hardly believe possible, handsome shops in the retail streets, and in the residence streets long rows of spacious, old-fashioned houses, built of a sort of yellow brick, which blackens with age— each house with a great bijr knocker ; imposing public buildups and churches— some of them grand specimens of architecture— as plentiful as in Brooklyn. The main avenues are lively and picturesque enough— two-storied trams and trie national jauntmg car, drays drawn by horses that remind you of elephants, and carts pulled by rat-like donkeys, with exaggerated ears Kosy-cheeked ladies, with sensible dresses that show the boot • barefooted and ragged urchins, who try to tell you what is in their papers in the most musical of brogues, of which you understand about onehalf, but are willing to pay a penny now and again for the pleasure of listening to it ; and— uniforms everywhere. If soldiers and policemen make a people happy ,this must be nearly paradise. The police are a stalwait body of men, clad in comfortable, dark uniforms : the soldierg are the pick of the English and Scotch regiments— strong, active men, m the very prime of life, wearing smart clean uniforms. They move about in twos and fours and sixes, with fatigue caps set jauntily on their heads, a light cane in their hands, and geneially a sword-bayonet by their .side. Every now and again you meet a detachment marching down the streets with rifles on their shoulders and blankets on their backs, on their way to the country to guard somebody's castle or help evict somebody's tenants. And, as you talk to the people and read the papers, you soon begin to realize that all this parade of force is not idle show. You are in a country ruled by brute force where the whole governmental organization rents not on the consent of the people, but on the clubs of policemen and the sword-bayonets of a standing army. I doubt if an American, until he comes here, and gets " the feel of the thing," can realize— l am certain that the vast majority of my countrymen do not begin to realize— the tyranny under which Ireland lies to-day. To our notions it does not seem possible that such a state of things can exist in an English-speaking community this late in the 19 th century. Our fathers had a very vivid recollection of British tyranny, and a very thorough contempt and hatred for it, but for some time past the common belief of Americans has been that personal liberty is really as secure under British institutions as under our own ; that the English monarchy had, in fact, become a republic in all save the name.

As to England this may be measurably true, but as to Ireland nothing could be more erroneous. There is to-day no country in th« world making th« slightest pretenca to civilization where the funda-

SK? P l^^, of P°P ular ri e ht «re «> flagrantly outraged, *or rather so utterly ignored ; where the government is such a reckUss conscienceless, irritating tyrann/. It is not merely a despotism -it v i • despotism sustamed by alien force, and wielded in the interests of a privileged class, who look upon the great masses of the beopte M^ntended but to be hewers of their wood and drawers of their It is a common English opinion, which has been extensively reflected on our side the water, that the Irish are a peculiarly restive race, prone to agitation, and hard to satisfy-* race whose natural ?£&£"%*£ ?** " agin the <*""»»»*> " ™ matter how wise or how good that Government may be. But I do not think any rieht£K ed . ma J lCan r ? allßewh »ttbe Government of Ireland is without m tS&^^&^T MM Underit ""***"«" ««a-i leaVG °s**?* cw i ßid « r » tion *>r the moment the present extraSSSTi/i!" 1 ?*"* 1 ° f t * 8 When constitutional guarantees for £S?Sfi, ib ?^ y utl « rl y Bnapeaded, and any man in the country may be hauled off to prison at the nod of an irresponsible dictator I speak of normal times and the ordinary working* of government ' n XS *&**. wblch Prevails in Ireland ignores completely "the ci P i e ♦ v 1 even in regard to that part of the population to wlom any semblance of political right is accorded. To lay a gas-pipe m a town, to build a one-horse tramway in any part of the country, to do, in short, any of the things which concern alone the local community, permission must be got from what is virtually a foreign Legislature. Over their judges, down even to the pettiest magistrates, over their local police, over the teachers of the publii schools, over the management of local prisons and workhouses, the people of Ireland have no control whatever. All authority not de£7 e j? 71 from tbe Im P erial Government is centralised in the hands of boards or commissions which have their source and centre !£ v i n a L e> and t0 itß tallest details the administration is in &T £*?> Albur^»crA I bur^» cra I c y wb <> do not feel the slightest respomibility to the people with whom they have to deal. The moment a man joins the police force or constabulsry, or takes any Government position, even the smallest, he is at once cut off from the people. He ™* Cc be ? r c>me ! a member of the garrison that holds a conquered country. How he may conduct himself towards the people makes no 25T£ I r^ pect> their eood will, can do him no good and JHT ?• >!m! m rriChr UU i Ch £ anX V For continuance in place, and for promotion, he has to look only to his official superiors. So long as they ShSS^S.* TT d an , dd ff l ithful Be " ant b * ma y be as ins^°t ™* as brutal a? he pleases to the people with whom he cottes in contact, «> many cases it would seem that the more insolent and brutal he may be the better a servant he is considered by those who alone have the power to reward or punish him. Tt if ffinT*!^ **?•?* i 8 s!mply the worfit government possible. It is not merely bad ;it w insulting and vexatious to the lastdegree, S*£, » C £P \ ~ W u° uld not grow reßtive under Jt would be destitute »hm£f J P^ »" nb «tes of manhood. Fancy one of our States SSSSff ? J^ f t" C L New York or Massachusetts or California E^fl Washington as Ireland is governed from London, and maguie how well-conttnted its people would be. „.« J!o fc *? get * *^. id f? of tbe P resent condition of Ireland it is necessary to go further than that. Imagine a government such as I SXh ?S? lted #T e ded i n the intereßts of a P riv Wed class infuriated SetonofTw° 81D T gthe - P0W if ° f drawin S immenße incomes from ♦£f 2 . * I™"*"* all constitutional rights suspended, and £?. *t T? 7 at the merc y of an absolute dictatorship backed by ffiwhEhSfh^"? 8 ln Sl haQd9 Of foreign troops-a dictatorship 217? nothing is too arbitrary and nothing too mean. Imagine S^mfiSS 88 * 01 rt 6 *"^ le e ißlati ™ b °dy. the trusted leaders 2n tt * P f 7 - tbat embraces nine-tenths of the people, lyin- in S'nSJ tteated Wltb to which convicted f£ incfviltaS 2SX Ji are . no i 8ub Jected. Imagine the most respected and public ranted men m their respective localities dragged off daily toprison JSSS cba fg e .. or ln< l u «y, upon lettres de calhk issued by a govern" £££L. and Z1O?Z 1O? at the « u^estion of some landlord J police SSSJns'niSS^h T^l 7 Wher6 puWic meetin SSS S to diBCO(jB P ubl 'C t^ nS?n J^T ** hslh 5 ld _' where eveu the meetings of ladies are burst mnrt^n £ Po«cemen ; where the newspaper editor SrTl^P^ 8 cl ? 9el y leßt be ma y find nimself the next day under • ock and key ; where men of the highest standiog fear to SI of public affa.™ save with bated breath and in secure places -when SH-Mr yy ° U hat * h ™*™J movement is watched by deS; e riS their letters opened and read in the post-office, and warn you that J,° a U^ e r T atCh f M . Cl °^' fi»«g*w» • countrY where crime asiav^^if !° WMlowaohaiSdwith such heinous SThi«IJJJ?n g nl- f- with the queen," or who send boys to prison for wbibtlmg tunes policemen deem treasonable. Imagine a country where you hear of constables cutting to pieces with thrush of the/r ■word-bayonets young girls who are flying from them in terror where Yo r n? r th?T^ Cha h^ laßtbe Astor or Met" pollten of Mew oVhi^ fL c t o flwJ° U t-° f Ban will show you tha bruises 2n^T»S h- mhw own hoaße b y Policemen who rushed in SrfiSi *?' b^ aUB6 an im PulseP ulse of common bamanity he had exclamed when he saw them kicking a poor boy about the streets I ho »n? y American, xf he can, imagine a country such as thin and d ? terrnf B ° me ldea ° f tbC "»*«« of toiay. It i, I^eign O a t™T d \'Pht°? &7 *. thi<ii * not aU * The tenot is but superficial. Outwar,l demonstrations are suppressed ; the p-ople are cautious in wha : they >^y or do ; the landlords have taken tfeart, and areiuWiant But tile people are not frightened. There is no real eiviae war Stai^fd 1 ?*-^ tit 9 Phyßicftl terroM - To?hem Ben8 en whoJJe being llAnU d to it for their connection with the Land League it brines not Bnume but honor. And all this repressive energy irntates rathS ffifinJoSS 11 '-- ♦ « [iBT^ ryOppOne ° t8 haVe «® oSSSS the leadintr Communist of his time. Certain it is, that without intending ment tnTLT™?^} o^* laßl^ ew weeks to radicalize WaITSSS ment .ana dozen Land League Conventions conld have done. I have . 1U? been of opinion that the movement that commenced in

Ireland with the institution of the Land League would prove a social and political revolution — a revolution as important, and even more far-reaching in its effects than that revolution which a century ago wa9 beginning in France. All that I see here confirms this belief. It is charact ristic of such revolutions that those who oppose then most bitterly do but nrge them most violently forward. And thwii what the so-called Liberal Government of England is doing. " Whom the Gods would destroy they first made mad," and this is the madn'esii with which Gladstone and Forster are raging. The reaction must come, and it cannot be long in coming. In the meantime the chance which Landlordism had of compromising with the advancing spirit of the age will have gone. The popular demand will but mount the higher for the violence of the attempt to force it back,aad the currents will run but the stronger

All this is evident even to those who see no f urthtr than frotiji day to day. Already it is beginning to be clear -that the men Wnb will soon be most bitterly cursing the exertion of arbitrary power which they at first hailed with such delight, will be the landlords. The shock is over but rents do not come tumbling in. The government has exhausted its strongest powers but there still confronts it a dogged passive resistance more determined than ever. With Davitt and Parn -11, and Brennan, and Dillon, in prison, it may go on crowding prisons with the officers of branch League? without a whit lessening the popular spirit. What it can do further than it ha» done unless the people can be provoked into some excuse for the declaration of martial law, it is difficult to see. And it is difficult to Bee how even this would accomplish anything towards getting the Landlords their rents or abating the increased and increasing determination to have done with Landlordism. The power of the clergy — or what of ifc could be utilized against the Land League— has been invoked with more effect than it can ever be invoked again. Archbishop Croke struck the heaviest blow that could be struck, and substantially nothing his been accomplished. As for Archbishop McCabe, his influence has been exhausted long ago.

One of the anti-Land League papers compare* the No Bent manifesto, soon after its issue, to the charge at Balaklava. "It is Splendor ; bnt it is not war. " With much more justice, it is now becoming clear, could this be applied to Gladstone's coup d'etat in favor ot the landlords. Nothing dees it more resemble than a furious charge into a line which wavers but for a moment, and then closes tip with unbroken front — than a tremendous blow which meets unyielding air and leaves the giver prostrate. The calculation of the Government was, undoubtedly, that the head of the Land League being severed from the body, the organization must die. But the movement hat gone too far for that. This, it is now evident, is an organization that has life enough in every part for the passive resistance that is now it* most effective weapon. In every locality the people have become accustomed to act together and to stand together. And farther than this the connection between head and body has not been severed. The Land League funds arc safe. New connections for their distribution wherever needed are being secured, and in every county arrangements are being maie which will ensure prompt relief of the evicted. This in all that is necessary to put the landlords in the hardest plight and wear them out. Evicting where there is nobody to come in and take the land will put no money in the landlords' pockets. And, as a rule, the landlords are hopelessly in debt. Most of the estates are heavily burdened with mortgages and rent charges, and further waiting for rent, even if tenants are evicted, will drive their owners to the wall.

In this condition of things the No Rent manifesto was a terrible weapon, and it is no wonder that the landlords went into convulsions over it. and that the landlord-run Government struck right and left with blind fury. Advice not to pay is always much more likely to b« followed than advice to pay. If at the call of patriotism, men will take money out of their pockets they are much more likely to obey the call of patriotism when what they are enjoined to do is to keep money in their pockets. When men don't want to pay — and I fancj there are very few of the Irish tenants who want to pay their landlords a penny more than they are obliged to — it does not take much entreaty to induce them to refuse to pay until they find they are compelled to.

And further than all this, there are many of the tenants who have a very strong personal reason for not paying their rent — they have not got it. During all this agitation, r.-nt has been more or less held back, and it is estimated that on an averaee it is at least a year and a half behind — a fact which explains why the Irish landlords made so little opposition to Gladstone's Bill, which they imagined would make sure the getting of rents, even if ihe amount they had been used to get in the good old times was reduced. But it is expecting too much from human nature to suppose that men in tne condition of the poorer classes of the Irish tena. t farmer , could hold back such an amount of money — even taking tbe cases where they had earned it — without spending it in whole or in part. And the fact is that, except in a comparatively few cases, rent is not being paid. Some days ago, when the effect »f the No Bent manifesto was much less clear than it is now becoming, a well-in-formed gentlemen said to me that if but one-third of the tenants hold back their rents, a perfect howl would soon go up from the landlord! for the release of tbe Land League leaders. Well, it now appears that not more than one-tenth of ihe tenants are paying and how contagious this example of non-payment is likely to be is apparent enough without the saying. And when the " howl " goes up from Irish landlords against Gladstone's coup d'etat it will not be confined to Irish landlords alone. The cheers which went up in Guillhall when Gladstone announced the arrest of Parnell meant mure than English prejudice against Ireland. The London banks and money-lenders, insurance companies and trust associations, which are represented in Guildhall, are large holders of mortgages on Irish estates. Those cheers were called forth by the prospect of getting interest long unpaid. But the arrest of Parnell, whatever else it may have accomplished, has not yet enabled the landlords to pay their debts.

Hsirar Gkosok.