Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2, 9 January 1908, Page 27

Irish News

ANTRIM— An Appointment The Rev. W. Murphy, P.P., Ann oy," has been ap- : pointed parish priest of Ballymoney in succession to the late lamented Rev. P. Farrelly. An i Endowment Mr. Bernard Hughes, of Belfast, has presented Most Rev. Dr. Henry, Bishop o£ Down and Connor, with £1000 for the endowment of a bed in memory of his father, in the Mater Infirmorum- Hospital. ARMAGH — Almost a Centenarian The interment took place on Sunday, November 17, in the family burying-ground at" Middletown Catholic Church, County Armagh, of the remains of the "late Patrick Hughes, of Drumgarron/ Middletown, who had attained the ripe old age of 99 years. Deceased retained in a remarkaible degree the use of all his faculties, 1 uniimipaired to the last. Up to a short time ago> he was able to go about and assist in some light work on the farm. He was a person of a . wonderfully robust constitution, and scarcely ever had a day's sickness in his long lite. CARLO W — Parliamentary Representative Mr. John Hammond, M.P. for County Carlow, died unexpectedly on Sunday morning, Notvenuher 17, from heart disease. The news of his death plunged the entire county in grief, for. deceased, who was engaged in business, was much esteemed by all classes. He was a member of the Irish Party for sixteen years, having been elected in- succession to The O' Gorman Mahon. Although unobtrusive and seldom heard in the House, he worked assiduously, and at much personal sacrifice devoted his time to the cause wfiich he had at heart. The Most Rev. Dr. Foley, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, when announcing his death at early Mass in Carlow Cathedral, said he was as perfect a specimen as he had ever known of an honest man and a devoted Christian.. His, loss would be felt by the town he loved and the county he so faithfully represented. In the Protestant church -Dean Kinlay, rector, said Mr. Hammond never uttered a word calculated to cause bad feeling or disunion. Although differing from himi in religion and politics, he and his congregation admired his honesty of purpose, and sympathised with his bereaved relatives. The deceased, who was a leading merchant of the town of Carlow, had reached the age of 65 years. CLARE— A Successful Student The prize of £10 from the O'Curry Memorial Fund, which is awarded annually to the student from University College, Stephen's G-rccn, Dublin, Vvho sliall have obtained the highest honors in Irish at the examinations of the Royal University, has been won this year by Mr. Arthur Maguire, of Kilcairrol, Kilrush. The Needs of Social Ireland The Bishop of Killaloe, in the course of a letter to the secretary of a great Nationalist demonstration held in Ennis on Nov ember 17, wrote in part as follows :-— The Parliamentary Party has a world of free critics 1 just now. Criticism is, however, proverbially cheap. Whatever may be said of individual Ministers, whose friendly opposition is not to be doubted, each succeeding ';BritishA,Caibinet, with the exception of Mr. Glad-stone'^,-seems content to look on with callous indifference while . this country of ours, the government ,of which they have assumed, is dying daily before their eyes, its population steadily decreasing, a-nd its industries languishing at almost expiring point. Any Govern.ment which had a paternal interest in the prosperity of.the. community would years ago have grappled effectively and thoroughly with what are the three most clam lorous needs of social Ireland, nairely, to put" the people back upon the land on living terms, to build up the industrial life .of the country, and to give the nation an acceptable and integral system of education. It was the operation of English law in the past— in times which it is painful to look back upon — that cleared! the people off the land, deliberately killed our industries, and closed down our schools 1 . What haive our modern rulers done to repair the national ruin which, as the handiwork of their predecessors, they cannot contemplate with pleasure ? The answer to that 'qpesc tion will furnish the true explanation of the widespread and angry feelings of discontent . whioh, to our .sorrow, affect the entire community, and shows very clearly that the root remedy for the greatest grievances of this country is Home Rule, or the right to-- manage

our own affairs. At Hie same time, I earnestly appeal to the people, while they 1 struggle- uncompromisingly ami manfully for a rectification of their many wion,gs, to keep within the limits of what is just, and -lawful, for no good cause- is served "by violence. DUBLlN— Higher Education At the opening meeting of the Leeson Park Christian Literary and Debating Society, •. Dublin, Mr/ii'ane; the auditor, in his essay, advocated the claims-: 'af Catholics for justice in the matter 01 higher education: Sir Thomas Myles followed. The Imperial Parliament, he said, gave a grant to found a University inKhartoum, where Mahommedans could be educated without danger to their faith, and were not Irish Catholics, who had shed their blood ,for the as worthy" of trust and confidence as "the Mahommodans ? Mr. Stephen Gwyn-n, M.P., followed on the sa.me lines. 'Lord Justice Holmes did not see why Catholics should not ' ,c ye a U niV6rsity o£ their owu > but he did not -think the prcibaem would- be solved, because- there was-, a very strong body in England opposed to any thing-like-denominational education. All the speaker's were ndnCatholics. „^i" The International Exhibition -.'..,' ,'„ ; The Irish- International Exhibition was formally closed on November 7 by Lord Aberdeen, after .a. run of six months,- during which it 'is said nearly "; three millions of people \isiled it. KERRY— Leaving for Australia A public meeting was held in the Town Hall, Killarney, for the purpose of presenting an address to Key. Wm. O Connor and Rev. Charles O' Sullivan, who were selected by his Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Mangan to visit Australia to collect funds ; for the "completion ot the Killarney Cathedral. Mr. D. M. Moriarty Chairman County Council, presided, and there was a large attendance. The address was signed^- by the following .--Kenmare, H.M.L. of Kerry ; 1). M. Moriarty, Chairman County Council; D. A. Spillane, C.U.DC Michael -Healy, Clerk; John Murphy, M.P., Killarney Signed on behalf of the committee :— M. Puller Adm chairman of com-miltee ; J. M. Reidy, T. J. Lyne M*' Leonard J T. O'Connor, J. D. Kellv, D. BrosW President of St. Brendan's Seminary ; J. Kelly J M Loughran, J. Egan, D. Hurley, J. T. o,'Connor, ' d". 0 Connor, County Council ; J. Scully, sees. The chairman having formally presented the address, Father Sic comj'liment.^ 11161 ' °' Sullivan suitabl 7 acknowledged GENERAL Evils of a Landlord System I have noticed here in Australia (says Mr Keir Hardie) many good Irishmen, prosperous and well-to-do occupying positions of honor and trust, and when I .look as I sometimes do, at the Irish people at home 1 ask why is there this difference ? How does it come about that this race should have lost half its population in 50 years ? We have been told that the Irish peasant is not diligent or thrifty, yet when he comes out here the Irishman invariably becomes - prosperous. Ireland suffers from- all* the evils which a hateful landlord system can impose, and all the oppression which co>mes from the rule of-' an alien' iface Give to the Irish people freedom" in their own" 'land and they will prove as good- and as- loyal citizens as are to be found within the limits of the British Empire. And what is true. of . lreland in that respect is true of 'every, other nationality, whether it be Indians in. their own country, "of -other" people in their country. ' . . .-- ._ - t .„. . . An Effective Answer Speaking) at a great Nationalist demonstration in Ennis on November 17 Mr. J.ohn Redmond, M.P. referring to the charge of intolerance * made by Mr! Bal- . four against the Nationalists df ; Ireland, said that- when Englishmen talked to Irishmen of-.- intolerance, it was worth -recalling . the fact-. -that though- there Tl xvere over two millions 1 of Catholics in Great" Britain'," "(Jut.'6f- 567 British members, there were only live" Cattholicsi returned to the House of Commons, -whereas in the case ..of Ireland, out of 103 members representing an overwhelmingly Catholic nation, 27 were Protestants. This talk about intolerance; was-absurd and dishonest. Taking foui\~ representative anti-Catholic counties in the North , .of- ..Ireland, ■ .and "four .of the most essentially Catholic counties in' "the" South; what" did • they, find ? They would find that intolerance was not on the side of the Catholic and Nationalist majority, but was on the side of those very men who went to London and incited Mr. Balfour to make his foul accusation against Ireland. Taking Armagh, Antrim, Fermanagh, and Tyrone, which had a population of 537,479, the Nation-

alists were 40.1 per cent, of the whole population, yet Catholics had only 12 per cent, of the salaried appointments. Taking, on the other hand, the counties of Galway, Cork, Westmeath, and King's County, which had a population of 718,976, the Protestants were only 7.7 percent, of the "whole, and yet these Protestants had 23.8 of all the salaried appointments. Taking one Ulster county — Fermanagh— in which he believed Catholics were in a small majority, £5077 was paid to Protestant anti-Nationalist officers and only £600 to Catholic and Nationalist officers. In the County Clare, on the other hand, there were only 2272 Protestants and antiNationa,lists, and 112,334 Catholics and Nationalists, and yet most of the best paid offices, in the gift of the people, were held by Protestants, including the county surveyor, three assistant county surveyors — one of whom was elected, recently against a Catholic— and the secretary. These figures were a conclusive answer to the calumny of Mr. Balfour. The University Question In view of the cable message a few days ago with reference to the disagreement between the Chief Secretary for Ireland and Sir Anthony MacDonnell over the University question, the following forecast of the measure to be introduced by Mr. Birrell, which has been supplied to the ' Freeman's Journal ' by a correspondent, will be of interest : — First — A new University for Belfast, with a special money grant, and with full power to grant degrees and control its own curriculum of education. Second— A new University in succession to the Royal University, to consist of three namely, the present Queen's Colleges of Cork and Galway and a new College in Dublin.. Third — A Parliamentary grant of £300,000 to be made fox the founding and equipping of the new College in Dublin. Fourth— An annual grant of £40,000 to be made in respect of this new College and University. A Generous Benefactor There passed ;away en toard a steamer between Queenstown and New York recently, in the person of the late Mr. Peter M'Donnell, probably the most generous benefactor of Ireland that ever left her shores to settle in Americai He and his famdly were returning, froira Ireland, after having completed a motoring tour there occupying several weeks, together with Colonel and Mrs. Hayes (a brother of Rev. Father Hayes, of Melbourne), who visited Sydney two years ago. Mr. M'Donnell was born at Drumleish, County of Longford, 64 years ago, and went to New York "at the age of 22. He was a type of many other brainy Irishmen who had an opportunity of developing their talents under a friendly flag. He was engaged in many enterprises, chief among which was the oil industry, being a member of the only combination that the Standard Oil Company was not able to wipe ' out of existence, and was many times a millionaire. No Irish or charitable movement in New York was ever complete without the presence and cheque of Mr. Peter M'Donnell. Rescue Work Ever since the Catholic Church in Ireland (writes a Dublin correspondent) began to recover from the effects of the Penal Laws, its charitable and benevolent associations have been wonderfully numerous and active. In rescuing the young from the perils of proselytism good work has been clone. Yet much more remains to be done, and the Catholics of Ireland will heartily rejoice at the prospect held out on Sunday, November 3, by his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. In pleading for the Sacred Heart Home, an institution which has rendered splendid service in combating, proselytism, his Grace told" how he had been struck by the arrangement made in England with Dr. Barnardo's Homes for the prevention of that evil, and by the generous and spirited way in which the Catholic public meet a vast an-*-nual J expenditure for rescue purposes. The Archbishop raised the question of an equally comprehensive organisation being set up in Ireland, and remarked that if the idea were realised there would be an end of proselytism in six months. He would not hesitate about starting the undertaking at once in Dublin ; but it could not, of course, be attempted anywhere except as part of a comprehensive plan cowering the country as a whole. Stamping out Tuberculosis A deputation from the General Council of the Irish County Councils waited recently on the Chief Secretary at Dublin Castle to urge the necessity of adopting measures calculated to stamp out the disease of tuberculosis. The Chief Secretary undertook to mate representations to the Treasury on the matter, and also on the subject of loans to local bodies, which the deputation suggested. . «