IRISH NATIONAL LEAGUE—CHRISTCHURCH BRANCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 13, 18 July 1884, Page 7

IRISH NATIONAL LEAGUE— CHRISTCHURCH BRANCH.

The first half-yearly meeting of the Christchurch branch of the I.N.L. was held at their rooms in Lichfield street, on. Thursday evening, the 10th ult The meeting was convened by circular, and it was hoped there would be a larga attendance. The several political meetings, however, which were held in and around Christen urch on that evening had the effect of keeping a great, many members away, and when the meeting was opened it was found that out of a total of about 160, there were only 14 members pressnt. It i* true that a large proportion of these consist of men who live a long way out in the country, and who, at this time of the year especially, find it very inconvenient to attend meetings in town, but still it was considered that we ought to have had a very much larger meeting than we had. Shortly after eight o'clock the President took the chair, and opened the meeting by reading the circular aad briefly explaining 1 the purposes for which they -were called together. He was sorry to be obliged to apologise for the absence of the Treasurer, Mr. Leahy, and regretted that that gentleman was prevented from attending by a slight indisposition. He then read several letters of apology from membera who had been prevented by various causes from being present. Among these was one from the Key. Father O'Connor, P.P. of Lyttelton, regretting his enforced absence, and enclosing a subscription, of £1 towards the funds of the League. While commenting on the spirit which animated Father O'Connor, and thanking him for the good wishes expressed in his letter towards the League, he informed the meeting that he had received letters from several other Irish priests in various parts of the diocese, in which these good men, ever true to the land of their birth, expressed themselves in terms of sympathy with any movement that had for its object the amelioration of distress in poor old Ireland. Foremost among them he mi°-ht mention the name of the late respected and beloved Father McManus of Palmerston North, who, perhaps, was the truest, the best, and the most devoted friend the League had, when he was in Christchurch He then read the following letter from J. Mullin, Esq., of Rangiora enclosing a cheque for £10, which had been collected at the time of the Redmond mission, and remarked that Mr. Mullia was one of those men whose love,of Ireland was of that generous and practical nature which is gradual ly becoming more rare in these colonies. Such men are few, but, like pearls, they are precious when you find them. The following is the letter referred to :—: — „*, , „ . " Rangiora, May 16, 1884. Mr. Nolan, President Land League, Christcburch Branch. "Dear Sir,— Enclosed please find cheque for £10 for Land League purposes, beine amount subscribed by persons whose names are attached hereto, with amount given by each. Mr. O'Halloran, of Glentui, has been most active in collecting, and, indeed, to him is due the thanks of your committee, as he never neglects the OH Country s chubs. Please acknowledge receipt and publish names. This is the sum floating, as mentioned by you and reported in " Yours truly, T XL V * , nr, " JNO - MULIiIN." In the absence of the Treasurer, the consideration of the balancesheet was postponed until the next monthly meeting, which will be held on the second Thursday in August, after which the amount of the Rangiora subscription, -with whatever other monies are standing to the credit of the League in the bank, will be sent to the Treasurer m Melbourne. The President adverted in very Btrong language to the paucity of the attendapce at the meeting that night, and said that although he would resret it exceedingly he would be obliged if members did not attend more regularly in the future than they had done in the past, if they did not exhibit more sympathy with the cause of their oppressed countrymen at home ; in fine, if they did not prove that their love for Ireland consisted in something more than mere idle funning, he would give his vote to disband this branch of the League altogether. He had met men who boasted of being Lsaguers, and who were vociferous when talking about the wrongs of their country and yet these men were never seen at their meetings, nor did we even get a shilling of their money to send to their starving countrymen at Home. He bad sent out some two dozen books or more, by men who asked for them, to collect money in the outlying and suburban districts, yet not one of these books had been returned up to this, nor did the men who took them ever turn up since. All this was very disheartening and discouraging, and unless the members present promised to attend the meetings more regularly in the future, and influence others also to do the same, he would call upon them to pass a resolution that night that the Christcburch Branch of the Irish National League be dissolved and cease to exist from that night forward. ° Mr. John Barrett rose to apologize for the several occasions on which he was through pressing business and absence from town, unable to attend the meetings of the League, and said that he would regard it as a misfortune if this branch of the League was to fall to pieces now. We had overcome some difficulties which are, for the most part, inseparable from all such societies, and we should therefore hold on as long as we could, even though our meetings were not large, and he would, theiefore, regret to see the suggestion of the chairman carried into effect. Mr. Mahalm proposed that, instead of every alternate Thursday, the meetings of the League, in future, be held on the second Thursday of every month. He was not able to attend regularly because he lived in Lyttelton, and was therefore prevented from being present at all its meetings. He would like, however, in order to test the mind of the meeting, to see some gentleman propose that this branch of the League be disbanded. Members would then have an opportunity of giving expression to their opinions about it. He himself always enjoyed those meetings, and, as a proof of the interest he felt in keeping alive the spirit of Irish sentiment and nationality he would read a paper on a highly interesting subject to all Irishmen at the next meeting.

The motion that the meetings be held monthly was seconded by Mr. McCury, who said that, at the next meeting, he would bring forward a motion to discuss the advisability of opening a fond for the payment of Irish Members in the British House of Commons Mr. Milner certainly thought that it was a great farce for Irishmen to say that they loved their country, that they were Land Leaguers, and all the rest of it, and still, notwithstanding. all this idle " blow " about their country and her wrongs, never so much as to attend a meeting that had been got up for tue purpose of overcoming those evils which they complained of. In order to make onr meetings as attractive as possible, it was intended to organise a series of readings, recitations, songs, lectures, and other things of an Irish national character. "We have," he said, " good men among us who are to take charge of these things. Some expense and trouble had been gone to, yet, what was the fact ? He was sorry to be obliged to say that it was not at all to the credit of Irishmen, as Irishmen. He had come to those rooms time after time, often at inconvenience to himself, to find, perhaps, only one or two members before him." He was not an Irishman himself, and, therefore, he could not understaud this inexplicable trait in their character. He knew certain Irishmen in this city who were in the habit of sometimes growing poetic in their fervour when describing the smiling plains, the green slopes, the valleys and the mountains of their native country, but who had never been known to put their hands in their pockets to relieve her distress, or to encourage or aid any movement that is set on foot for the relief of their distressed countrymen at Home. Such men do not deserve any gratitude from their country. He would be sorry to see this Branch disbanded, but he would much rather see it brofcen up than continue it in the languishing condition in which it has existed up to this* time. It must be borne in mind that we have to pay for the use of this hall, and for a long time our meetings here only resulted in bringing the President, the Treasurer, himself, and sometimes one or two others from their homes in order to be compelled, as it were, to bear witness to the indifference of the majority of their countrymen to the wrougs of their country. He would now ask the President to request every member present to promise to be more regular in his attendance at all future meetings. After some routine business being transacted, the chairman said that, before closing the meeting, he wonld ask those present to lay the words of Mr. Milner to their hearts, and to act as honourable men, who, when they became members of any society, felt that they were under obligations to it, and had responsibility to fulfil iv becoming members of it. In every condition of life wherein men unite for any given object, they willingly incur certain responsibilities, and are expected to perform certain duties for the advantages of membership. So it is with us ;so long as we willingly consent to remain members of this Society we are, as honourable men, bound to do what little is in our power to support it. This cannot certainly be done if we do not attend its meetings and pay our subscriptions. This is what the Society was organised for, and if the purposes of its existence be not fulfilled, the sooner it ceases to exist the better. Before he would sit down he would ask the meeting to pass a hearty yote of thanks to Mr. Milner, their secretary, who, from its very inception, displayed a devotiou to the cause of the League that puc to shame many of our countrymen. He had known Mr. Milner. on one occasion, to get out of a sick bed to attend one of our meetings, lest his absence would cause inconvenience. When it was recollected that Mr. Milner was not an Irishman, his conduct deserved all the more praise t> and his services to the League rendered its members all rhe more indebted to him. We must admire him if we contrast his unceasing and unwearying devotioa to the League with those Irishmen whose love for their country seems to fall from their hearts into their boots when they cross the Equator. This closed the first* half-yearly meeting of the Christchurch Branch of the Irish National League, and it is to be hoped that the clouds by which its infancy has been overshadowed may soon pass away.