Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 22 July 1909, Page 1147

Irish News

ARMAGH— Cardinal Logue on the Budget In replying to an address presented to him in Derry | in connection with the dedication of Long Tower Church, Cardinal Logue said: I can say that I love my country, and I heartily wish it well, and do what I can for its welfare when the opportunity arises. There is one thing certain, and that is that there is no one in this assembly more anxious that this country should have its rights and its full measure of its just rights, than I am. I am reminded of the comment of Dr. Johnson at the time of the proposed Union between Great Britain and Ireland. Dr. Johnson had the merit of being a man who always tried to tell the truth if he knew it, and if he did not know it he held his tongue, and his advice to some Irishmen about the proposed Union of the two countries was, 'Do not unite with us, because we will rob you.' We in Ireland have united with them, and they have robbed us, and they are continuing to rob us. We have never had a stronger proof of the absolute need of having the management cf our own affairs in our own hands than we have by the Budget now before Parliament. I am not much good at elucidating figures myself, and I cannot go into the details of how exactly all these new taxes will affect us, but 1 have got th<» impression that this Budget as a Bill is further proof that Dr. Johnson's advice to Ireland was a prophecy. England had- not only robbed us, but continues to rob us, and the heaviest hand laid on us foT years was laid on us at present, and by a party about which we were all so enthusiastic — the grand old Liberal Party of England. CORK— Death of a Priest The death took place on May 29, at the Mercy Hospital, Cork, of the Rev. Father Ahearne, Newcestown, at the age of 33. He was educated at St. Finbarr's Seminary and All-Hallows, and was ordained for the foreign mission nine years ago. He came out to Atistralia, and was assigned to Maitland, New South Wales, where he labored, in failing health, until twelve months ago, when he returned home. DERRY— On Historic Ground The City of Derry (writes a Dublin correspondent) was the scene of a great ceremony on the last Sunday in May, when a new church was opened and dedicated on the sits of one of the most historic churches in the North of Ireland, the Long Tower Church, which traces its connection with a wooden church erected by St. Columcille in A.D. 546. The new building and its appointments and ornamentation is truly a work of art, which reflects great credit on Father W. Doherty, Adm., to whose energy its erection is due. It has been erected at a cost of £25,000. Cardinal Logue, Bishops McHugh, O'Donnell, Boylan, O'Neill, Tohill, and Miller (Johannesburg) were present on the occasion. Bishop Miller was celebrant of the Mass, and Bishop O'Donnell the special preacher. In the course of an eloquent discourse, Bishop O'Donnell, referring to certain trials undergone by St. Columba, said that ' in every age the wisdom, if not the motives, of those who sustain an heroic part in great contests is called in question by those whose view or interest is different. This is particalarly true of the saints. The clouds are sure to gather from some quarter. Even • the great and gentle Anselm, whose eighth centenary the Church has been celebrating, did not escape. The cloud, however, that from some points of view shaded Columba, was only a thin mist compared with the awful thunderstorm that nine centuries later burst in the city of Rouen on this very day of the year, the 30th of May, around an heroic Maid, a true child of* Mary Immaculate, who never learned letters, and was mdeed concerned in many battles. But the Church of God discerns, and forgets not her saints. Joan of Arc is beatified by Pius X. ; and Columba is not forgotten in Leo XIII.'s famous letter to the Scotch nation.', KILKENNY— The Bishop of Ossory The Most Rev. Dr. Brownrigg, Bishop of Ossory, who succeeded Cardinal Moran in the Bishopric of that diocese, will celebrate the silver jubilee of his consecration in December. MEATH— Evicted Tenants In May the Estates Commissioners visited the County Meath, and parcelled out among a number of evicted tenants and other applicants tracts of grass land lately acquired from the Representative Church Body. Among the partitions dealt with were Newtownmoynagh and Kiltoom, near Trim ; Dulnane, Knockglass, and Normanstown, on the Williamstown estate, and the Thomastown estate. At a

meeting of the Central Vigilance Committee at Kells, the Very Rev. Dr. Dooley, P.P., V.6., presiding, a vote of thanks to the Commissioners was passed on the motion of Mr. P. P. Maguire, U.D.C., seconded by Mr. Duff. SLlGO— Death of a Member of Parliament The death is announced of Mr. P. A. McHugh, M.P., which occurred on May 31 at a private hospital in Dublin. Mr. McHugh (says the Freeman's Journal) returned to Dublin from London about a week before his death,, feeling very unwell, and, on the advice of his friends, he at onco sought medical aid, and was recommended to lie up in a private hospital. Early in the week the illness took a very serious turn, when unfortunately Mr. McHugh was subjected to a stroke of paralysis, and his son, Mr. Eugene McHugh, solicitor, Secretary of the Sligo County Council, was at once summoned to his father's bedside. The announcement of Mr. McHugh's death will, we are sure, be received with deep regret, not only by his colleagues of the Irish Parliamentary Party, but by the public of all sections. There was no more able, eloquent, and strenuous worker in the Nationalist cause since he first entered public life, about twenty years ago, as certainly there was no more amiable, tolerant, and kindly Irish gentleman than Pat McHugh, as he was known to his friends and colleagues. He was the proprietor of the Sligo Champion, a weekly paper of large circulation and great influence in the West of Ireland, and he has been on several occasions Mayor of the town. For many years he represented in Parliament a division of his native County of Leitrim, where he was born fifty years ago, and at the last general election he was returned unopposed for North Sligo. WATERFORD—Copper and Lead Mines Very rich deposits of argentiferous copper and leal have been discovered recently on Ardmore promontory, West Waterford (says the Waterford Star). It seems that very profitable mines were worked there many hundred years ago, and those old workings have been explored recently. The result of this exploration shows that sufficient quantities of ore-bearing lode remain for their future development. These old mines were worked by one of the Earls of Cork and subsequently by Sir Walter Raleigh, and according to tradition they realised large fortunes from their working. The condition of these old workings shows that only the very crudest and most primitive mode of mining was adopted, as the existing levels and cross-cuts are too small to admit of their ever being of any use for vehicular transport of the large quantities which have evidently been removed, and it is probable that this was effected by means of sacks conveyed daily by the ancient miners. An essay of the samples obtained lately shows that the present approximate market value of the ore varies from £13 10s to £31 10s per ton. The successful working of these mines in the near future is now beyond the region of probability. A company is being formed for their development, and in a, short time it is to be hoped an improved condition of trade in this long-neglected district will be the result. WEXFORD— The Gaelic Language The eighth annual Feis of the Wexford County Com mittee of the Gaelic League was opened at Enniscorthy on May 30, when there was an attendance of about 10,000 persons. The Rev. Father Fitzhenry, addressing the meeting, said it was his valued privilege to introduce to them • the distinguished gentleman who was to perform the opening ceremony. The -Hon. W. Gibson was the eldest son of the late Lord Chancellor, and was not only a distinguished student of Dublin and Oxford Universities; he was not not only a distinguished writer and author, but he was a distinguished philanthropist, who took a prominent part in every movement for the elevation of mankind, and who for" years had been known as a prominent, learned, and sincere advocate of the doctrines of the Gaelic League and the Irish-Ireland, Movement. The Hon. Wm. Gibson firai addressed the gathering in Irish. He said this was the first time he had been in Enniscorthy, and he had no idea that the people were so interested in the Irish language* as they had shown themselves by that enormous gathering. Speaking in English, he said he was proud to stand in their midst in the county which had always been noted for having, perhaps, the most Irish spirit that was to be found in Ireland. He should like to speak to them altogether in the language of their ancestors, but he knew that the language was almost gone out of that part of tho country, and therefore for the good of the cause he would ask them to allow him to say a few words in the language of the enemy. GENERAL The Land Bill in Committee Whilst the Irish Land Bill was considered in Com* mittee in the House of Commons last week the Government

managed to carry their proposals by only narrow majorities, especially those relating to. the increase of the tenants' annual interest on advances made. Mr. Redmond's amendment had for its object the reduction of the interest ;o the old rate. Under the 2£ per .cent, stock arrangement the Irish tenant paid a purchasing-annuity of 3£ per cent., to cover the 23 per cent, and sinking fund. Now that a 3 per cent, stock is proposed, tlie Bill also proposes a 3£ per cent, annuity, I per cent, being added on each side of the accounts. The issue of a 3 per cent, stock is deemed necessary because the 2% stock does not bring in enough money, averaging only 88. For instance, £30,000,000 of the 1903 2£ per cent, stock brought only £26,500,000 'n money. There is thus a huge loss to be faced. Mr. Birrell, Chief Secretary for Ireland, when introducing the measure last year, stated that the sales then completed under the Land Purchase Act totalled £25,000,000, while agreements were pending for an additional £52,000,000. Instead «.f £100,000,000 contemplated by Mr. Wyndham in 1903, £180,000,000 was needed. The Irish Secretary announced that he intended to relieve the Irish ratepayers of their prospective losses of half a million yearly. Referring to the issues of stock, he intended to issue 3 per cents., to increase intending tenants' annual interest on advances made, to reduce the bonus to 3 per cent., to increase the present limit to £12,000,000, and to graduate the bonus ir order to assist the poorer landlord to sell. Mr. Birrell commented on the Dudley Commission, and remarked that the possession of untenanted or grass lands must be obtained. They must decide which was the better, cattle or people. The Government therefore asked for compulsory powers. He explained that the congested districts board would consist of 18 members, whereof nine would be chosen by the local authorities of each congested district in each county. The finance would be controlled by an administrative committee of non-elected members. The Irish in Great Britain

Speaking at the annual convention of the United Irish League of Great Britain, which . was held at Manchester on May 29, Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., referred in the course of his address to the generous support accorded the Irish Parliamentary Party by the Irish in Great Britai.i. He said : Of course, as they all know, the whole country, and most working classes of all nationalities, have been going for the last two or three years through a period of more extreme and more continued trade depression than, at all events, in any period for many years in the history of the country. Trade depression hit the Irish people in England, Scotland, and Wales more than any other class m the community, because they belonged almost entirely to th-.? working classes, and, therefore, it was not a matter for wonder that their organisation should have felt the severe brunt of that terrible wave of unemployment which was passing over the country. But it was just as well to remember that their organisation had a glorious financial, as well as political, past. He found that they raised between 1902 and 1908 in Great Britain £26,792 Bs, and if he added another year or two to that he could show that in the eight or nine years since the reunion of the Irish Party they had contributed from England the very big sum of £30,000. And if he entered into comparative figures he found that of the total sum which was subscribed from all parts of the "world, and which was acknowledged in the Freeman's Journal; of that sum he found that in some years they contributed as much as 26 per cent, of the total, and - considering these totals included the Unite 1 States, Canada, and Australia, as well as Ireland herself, he thought that a very creditable and proud result. In one year they were 31.80 per cent, of the entire sum, and last year they were 23.45 per cent, of the entire sum, and on the general average of nine years their proportion of the entire money subscribed was 17-7 per cent.